Four young Jasperites have made history by coming second in the Alberta Schools’ Athletics Association golf provincials.

The senior high school students, Kayla Carson, Kelsey Zaffino, Brianna Bossio and Kaily Auger played at the Lacombe Golf and Country Club last Monday (Sept. 28) and the Alberta Springs Golf Course last Tuesday (Sept. 29).

“We were in third place after Monday,” explained Della Carson, mother of Kayla, “and then on Tuesday came back and gained second place.”

“It’s a very big accomplishment,” said Dennis Zaffino, Kelsey’s father. 

While the girls took second place honours with a score of 616, their male counterparts Travis Chorley, Jason Zaffino, Ryan Ewald and Brandon MacDougall competed on the same courses and came sixth overall with a score of 511. Chorley’s individual score put him 25th out of 118 competitors.

Though it was a team competition, the Jasperites were split up throughout the courses each day, so they had no idea what scores their teammates were posting. Upon completion, the score was tallied using the best score from each hole for every team. 

“We were a bit nervous because we didn’t get to play together,” said Kayla Carson, “you try your hardest not to let your team down and everything.”

The girls have been playing for many years together, although it was the first time they’d competed in a provincial competition, so they were all a little nervous.

“We didn’t know what to expect because we never really experienced anything like that before,” said Bossio, “all the girls seemed pretty solid, so we weren’t really sure until the end.”

“We didn’t really think we had a chance, but in the end I guess we did,” said Kayla Carson. 

Auger said their physical education teacher, Mr Barker, had spotted them as soon as they reached Grade 7.

“Mr. Barker expected us to be the first girls golf team,” said Auger.

Both teams battled harsh weather conditions at each course. “It was very windy, anywhere from 50 to 80 km an hour. It was brutal – there was no way I’d be golfing in it,” explained Della Carson. “But, everyone of them had a smile, even though some of them had bad holes.”

“It was really windy and cold,” said Kayla Carson, “none of us could feel our hands and could barely move... you just kept moving your hands a lot and just swinging your hands and keeping them in your jacket to keep them warm.”

“We just tried to warm up between shots and it’s all we could do,” explained Bossio.

According to Bossio, the strong winds meant it was either to your advantage and directly behind you, or a cross wind that would really affect their shots.

But for Auger, who said she has a “terrible slice” the wind was sometimes helpful. 

“It kind of evened it out,” she said. 

It wasn’t just the wind the teams were battling, with cold temperatures meaning the usual summer dress for golf wasn’t enough.

“It was hard to swing with all the layers we had to have on,” said Kelsey Zaffino, “I was wearing two sweaters, a golf shirt, and your coat.”