History was recently made as Woodland Christian High School introduced its inaugural girls varsity golf team to begin the 2023-24 school year.
Junior Allie Nguyen headlines the Cardinals’ roster as the team captain. Her dad, Tuan Nguyen, is the team’s coach. For her underclassman years at Woodland Christian, Allie played on the boys team because a girls team didn’t exist. Allie more than competed with the boys and was often at the top of the pack.
However, the Nguyen family recently led the charge to spearhead history and introduce the first-ever Cardinals girls golf team. Other members of the eight-girl team include seniors, Emily Garcia, Gianna Lombardi & Marilyn Zou. The Class of 2025 is represented by Teagan Hayes, Belle Pulley & Allie. The team’s two sophomores are Kylee Bihlman & Kayla Sinor.
“With the growing popularity of golf over recent years, our school wanted to start a women’s program to introduce golf to our girls,” Tuan stated. “We welcomed eight girls to our roster with seven of our eight being brand new to golf.”
Despite Woodland Christian being a school that primarily competes in the Division V to VII level due to its enrollment, the Cardinals have joined the Golden Empire League in Division III thanks to supporters from other high schools like Dixon, Pioneer and Woodland.
“We were fortunate enough to join and compete in the Golden Empire League this season,” Tuan stated. “We are especially grateful for Frances Garcia (Dixon), Michael Monk (Woodland) and Jason Messer (Pioneer) for advocating for our team to join their league.”
Woodland Christian (2-0) began GEL play on Sept. 7 against Woodland at the Yocha Dehe Golf Club. The Cardinals earned their first win in their inaugural match, reaching a cumulative score of 266 to defeat the Wolves who totaled 301.
Allie recorded a match-low of 42. Hayes and Pulley tied for second with “respectable” scores of 51, according to Tuan. Garcia, Sinor and Bihlman shot respective scores of 60, 61 and 69.
Five days later, Woodland Christian traveled down Highway 113 to play Rio Linda at the Davis Golf Course. Allie tallied an impressive even-par 33 to lead the Cardinals to a 235-267 victory over the Knights.
Pulley was second on the team with a 46. Hayes and Garcia followed closely behind with respective scores of 49 and 50. Sinor shot a 57 and Bihlman improved 10-strokes from her first match to shoot a 59.
Woodland Christian will puts its undefeated record on the line today versus Dixon at the Davis Golf Course. The Cardinals will have their quickest turnaround of the season so far and host Mira Loma on Thursday.
