“This is the first time we’ve fielded a full team of five since 2015,” said La Jolla Country Day girls golf coach Bob Simon. Because of COVID? No. “Because girls don’t suddenly take up golf in the ninth grade. They play it growing up.”

At least that’s the case for girls who attend Country Day. 2015 is the year Simon, who was helping run the Coastal Conference’s league tournament at Mission Trails while he spoke, became head coach.

Andie Javier, 15, a freshman, is a case in point. Javier played the game off-and-on with her father growing up, but she started playing golf again for good two years ago. “I like the individuality,” said Andie, who was busy interacting with her teammates during warmups for the tourney. “You control how good you want to be, unlike in a team sport where the whole team determines the outcome.”

What are you working on right now? “My shots are going left,” she said. “I’m trying to open the face of the club to put the shot more in the center of the fairway.”

“Mom” of the team is Ashley Ding, a sophomore. “I take care of everybody else,” she laughed. Javier and Ding are two of the four “A”-named girls on the team, along with Ayla Desai, a sophomore, and Ariela Garma-Nieto, a freshman. Linna Yan is the only junior.

“I’m the oldest one,” Ding, who is 15, said. She’s also the “class clown,” cracking jokes and bringing attention to herself. In talking about her favorite courses, Ashley mentioned Torrey Pines, and quipped, “My name is going to be there on one of the plaques for great players.” Everybody had a good chuckle.

But that’s the camaraderie on a relaxed squad, one not dominated by a star to the exclusion of others. The word was that the Bishop’s team was a cut above all the other squads at the league tournament, which was also attended by Parker, Santa Fe Christian, Maranatha, and others.

Ding said she’d be taking a chemistry test right now if she weren’t at the tournament. “I got a 74” when she took it in advance, she said. She likes ceramics class and Mandarin, which she had the basics in before she took the class.

“We support each other when we’re down,” Ashley said. “We comfort each other.” Said Ayla, “Ashley and I do the leader things because we are the captains.” They formed a bond coming out last year for golf before some of the others joined.

Asked who is a life role model for her, Ding said, “My grandmother, Zubeda, in India. She was raised in a very poor area. She put herself through medical school. She helped a lot of people through the hospital she started. My grandfather (her husband) was in the paper a year ago at age 90. He was still helping people through the hospital.”

Shared Simon, “You know the biggest obstacle we’ve had? The heat wave this fall. We had to postpone two matches.”