The golf program at Kingswood Oxford has been at center stage this season—specifically, the newly established girl’s varsity team, who recently brought their 5-7 team to the New England Golf Tournament, looking to break the .500 mark.
The team is coached by Nicole Baratz. Coach Baratz has watched the program come to fruition, as two of this year’s captains have been golfing with Coach Baratz since she began coaching golf: seniors Avery Hersh and Ilianna Brett. With an eight-player roster, the team has gained status as a varsity sport and performed well against the competition.
Coach Baratz has a strong belief that golf is a team sport as much as it is an individual sport and that a strong collective dedication to matches has powered their season, most notably at the beginning of this season. “We started our season with two very close matches that we ended up winning 2-3 and 2.5-3.5 against Miss Porters and Ethel Walker respectively,” Coach Baratz said. “These two matches helped give us some confidence to start our season and carry with us as we take on our season. We are just coming off a big senior day win against Miss Halls and now we have finished our regular season.”
Coach Baratz prioritizes the friendships made during the sport as much as the outcome, recalling the team’s matchup against Choate Rosemary Hall and Miss Porter’s School, where players began every round as strangers and came back to the clubhouse as new friends. “It was a really special bonding experience and a great way to set the tone for the season,” Coach Baratz said.
The team features three captains: Brett, Hersh, and junior Avery Wolf. “The captains this year do a wonderful job bringing everyone together and leading by example for the younger players,” Coach Baratz said. “They have left their impact on the program and truly show how much they care about the team and putting the team above themselves.”
Brett takes inspiration from her great-grandmother who also loved the sport and gives her tips on her game whenever they visit.
Coach Baratz loves to push her athletes via fun contests that also improve their game. Mini-games that rely on accuracy and precision are Brett’s favorite. “My favorite moments with the team are spirited bus rides to friendly chipping and putting contests,” Brett said. “It is fun to practice the wide variety of shots on a day-to-day basis, and It is such a privilege to have access to a golf course almost every day.”
The team is no doubt elevated by the captains’ presence, and it is clear that their persevering attitudes have been on display at the New England Tournament and the entire season
Brett has watched along with Coach Baratz as the program has gained varsity status and recognition, and it’s clear that she has helped to make the team what it is today. She is driven by her desire to immerse herself in the outdoors whenever she can, golf being her perfect pathway to nature. Playing with her fellow captains is also a big plus, one of whom has also joined the program long before it was truly a competitive sport.
Brett is also no stranger to the spotlight that comes with the captain title. “I captained the girls varsity squash team this past winter, and there are many overlaps with mentoring teammates, working on our technique, and creating camaraderie,” Brett said. “I love co-captaining the team alongside Avery Hersh and Alexa Wolf. We complement each other well and are always willing to lend a helping hand to our teammates.”
Help from your teammates comes from every angle when talking about the girls, and that emphasis on respect is nurtured at the KO Middle School, which has also sent golfers to the varsity team, including seventh-grader Callahan Greig and eighth-grader Noa Taback, a returning player who joined the program last year.
“Trying out for a varsity team in general is scary for a middle schooler,” Taback said. “With such a prestigious sport and especially where I did not know one person walking into tryouts for sure was scary. At matches, it felt like I knew no one and all eyes were on me. Coaches did not know if I had skill or not as they watched me swing over and over as the pressure rises. I found out that I made the first ever girls varsity golf team a week later and I was beyond thrilled.”
Taback was brought into this team with open arms. At the annual Pippie O’Connell Golf Tournament last year, Taback finished in 20th place out of 75 golfers in the position she was playing for at this tournament. For this year’s tournament, the mighty middle schooler aims to build upon her previous performance, possibly making a top 10 or even a podium push.
The team hopes to continue their strength in the long game into this final tournament, an area of strength for the team, according to Taback. She says that as long as the team can get to the green as quickly as possible, it’s smooth sailing from there.
The team’s perseverance, grit, and encouragement of each other will be on full display heading into the final days of this season and next year’s matches. The team has a bright future, future, embodying these traits that the current captains have modeled, and they hope to bring home some hardware in a championship trophy from future tournaments! Be sure to be on the looking for one of KO’s rising sports programs: the girls varsity golf team.
