The Bloomfield Bengals Golf Club Will Lose an Elite Golfer (Golf Master Tips) - The Bloomfield Bengals golf team will reluctantly say goodbye to senior Isabel Gonzalez later this month as she closes the book on a golfing career which will go down as one of the best in Bloomfield High School history.
Head golf coach Robert MacNett and Isabel Gonzalez stand for a picture before the First Tee Open at Pebble Beach last year.
Gonzalez has been a staple for the Bengals golf program since her freshman year and has matured immensely in the last four seasons. Head golf Coach Robert MacNett recently spoke about her evolution over the years, "As she’s progressed and gotten older, she has increased her golf IQ, which was already high as a freshman," said MacNett. "She’s learned to manage her way through the golf course, temper her emotions, play within herself, and she has these flashes of brilliance that obviously the college coach sees."
"She’s going into a situation where there is a high level of golf, but she is certainly ready," said MacNett. "She has competed at the high school golf level; she’s done this for four years. But she has also played every weekend in junior tour tournaments, so she is tournament tested. She has been playing in these tournaments for years and she knows what it takes to play a three day tournament. She won’t get beaten down if she has a bad day and "I really think she is primed and ready to play at the next level," said MacNett. "She definitely has the game for it and she certainly has the mental acumen for it. I’m looking forward to watching her progress, and watching her improve as the years go by," said MacNett.
Gonzalez was nothing short of brilliant this year, tying a school record in a round which she finished two under par through nine holes, shooting a final score of 34. For the third year in a row Gonzalez was named first team All-SEC and shot the lowest female score in both the Essex County Tournament and the SEC Championship. She tied for 6th overall at the Co-ed League Championship at Black Bear and also qualified for the Tournament of Champions where she placed in the top 40. Gonzalez led the club with a 5.7 average over par.
"In the past when she was younger she would allow a bad shot to perhaps influence either her decision making or her next few holes but she has learned to forget about it," said MacNett. "Her maturation and her ability to see her game as it goes ahead through the next couple holes, has really distinguished her among other players. She has learned to temper those emotions on the golf course and it has paid off."
Although the Bengals will lose an elite golfer, the program’s future is very bright, with the emergence of sophomore Mack Lancaster, junior Willem Jorgensen and freshman Kevin Bretz.
Lancaster earned honorable mention for the SEC with an 11.2 average over par and finished the season strong shooting two scores of 38 in his last three matches. Jorgensen finished with an average of 18 over par and Bretz with 19 over par.
MacNett is excited about the future of the program, "I definitely think Mack Lancaster and Kevin Bretz will take the next step next season," he said. "They improved so much during the course of the year and they are both the type of kids who are golf heads. They want to play golf, they want to be around the golf course, and I really think a summer of instruction and playing is going to make a difference. I really believe they are going to contribute mightily next year. Mack had broken 40 a couple times this year and Kevin had improved leaps and bounds as the year progressed." I think they’re primed and ready to make a difference next year and it’s nice that I am going to have them for one more year after next."
MacNett also noted the performances of freshman Louis Cestedes and Hannah Ruiz. The Bengals, who play their home matches at Forest Hills Country Club and Hendricks Field, recorded a final record of 7-15 in a very difficult Liberty division.
MacNett spoke to the talent of some of the Bengals divisional rivals, "The level of competition in our division has definitely risen. We are playing in a league with Verona, Glen Ridge and Nutley and this year was one of those years where we beat the teams we should have beaten but lost some tough ones to better opponents. But our scores continuously got lower as the season progressed and I was really happy with how the young kids progressed and how my older kids played."
MacNett, who is in his 19th year as an Algebra teacher at Bloomfield High School and his 15th as the golf coach, has a lineage of Bloomfield educators in his family, as both his mother and father taught in the Bloomfield School District for the better part of four decades. "I have a lot of Bloomfield ties. I’ve been going to Bloomfield sporting events since I could barely walk," said MacNett jokingly.
The affable coach spoke about his coaching philosophy and the skills he tries to instill within young golfers, "I’m not one of those coaches who needs to have his team have identical swings. Your swing is your swing. What I try to focus on is the mental part of the game where they make the right decisions, manage their way around the golf course. In golf there are a number of ways to get from A to B and you just need to decide the best way for you. My main focus is to make them a more cerebral golfer and lower their scores that way."
His intellectual pedigree has certainly manifested at the coaching level, as he emphasizes his athletes to take notice of the life skills they can derive from playing the game.
"Golf is the only sport that is self-governing," said MacNett. "From the moment you step on the golf course, there’s no official, there’s no one looking over your shoulder watching everything you do. So the amount of ethics and morals and the amount of self worth required to play this game is very much dependent of the individual. It’s your honesty and your word, so everything you do on the golf course when you’re playing, everything is predicated on the type of person you are, and at a young age its tough to always make the correct decision. But as you progress you become a better human, become a better person, and become a better golfer, all because you have been self-governing all these years and you’ve been making the right decisions."
The beauty of golf resides in its autonomy and the opportunities it presents to make tough decisions, whether it’s laying up on a difficult par four, or simply exhibiting honest sportsmanship even when you are in dire need of a stroke. Golf allows young men and women the opportunity to exercise their decision making skills at a time when a lot of the big decisions are already made for them, skills which will ultimately last them a lifetime. (Latest golf news source: Northjersey.com)
Head golf coach Robert MacNett and Isabel Gonzalez stand for a picture before the First Tee Open at Pebble Beach last year.
Gonzalez has been a staple for the Bengals golf program since her freshman year and has matured immensely in the last four seasons. Head golf Coach Robert MacNett recently spoke about her evolution over the years, "As she’s progressed and gotten older, she has increased her golf IQ, which was already high as a freshman," said MacNett. "She’s learned to manage her way through the golf course, temper her emotions, play within herself, and she has these flashes of brilliance that obviously the college coach sees."
The Bloomfield Bengals Golf Club Will Lose an Elite Golfer
Gonzalez will continue her golf career at Methodist University in North Carolina this fall where she will study PGA management and compete for a Division III program which has won 25 out of the last 29 National Championships."She’s going into a situation where there is a high level of golf, but she is certainly ready," said MacNett. "She has competed at the high school golf level; she’s done this for four years. But she has also played every weekend in junior tour tournaments, so she is tournament tested. She has been playing in these tournaments for years and she knows what it takes to play a three day tournament. She won’t get beaten down if she has a bad day and "I really think she is primed and ready to play at the next level," said MacNett. "She definitely has the game for it and she certainly has the mental acumen for it. I’m looking forward to watching her progress, and watching her improve as the years go by," said MacNett.
Gonzalez was nothing short of brilliant this year, tying a school record in a round which she finished two under par through nine holes, shooting a final score of 34. For the third year in a row Gonzalez was named first team All-SEC and shot the lowest female score in both the Essex County Tournament and the SEC Championship. She tied for 6th overall at the Co-ed League Championship at Black Bear and also qualified for the Tournament of Champions where she placed in the top 40. Gonzalez led the club with a 5.7 average over par.
"In the past when she was younger she would allow a bad shot to perhaps influence either her decision making or her next few holes but she has learned to forget about it," said MacNett. "Her maturation and her ability to see her game as it goes ahead through the next couple holes, has really distinguished her among other players. She has learned to temper those emotions on the golf course and it has paid off."
Although the Bengals will lose an elite golfer, the program’s future is very bright, with the emergence of sophomore Mack Lancaster, junior Willem Jorgensen and freshman Kevin Bretz.
Lancaster earned honorable mention for the SEC with an 11.2 average over par and finished the season strong shooting two scores of 38 in his last three matches. Jorgensen finished with an average of 18 over par and Bretz with 19 over par.
MacNett is excited about the future of the program, "I definitely think Mack Lancaster and Kevin Bretz will take the next step next season," he said. "They improved so much during the course of the year and they are both the type of kids who are golf heads. They want to play golf, they want to be around the golf course, and I really think a summer of instruction and playing is going to make a difference. I really believe they are going to contribute mightily next year. Mack had broken 40 a couple times this year and Kevin had improved leaps and bounds as the year progressed." I think they’re primed and ready to make a difference next year and it’s nice that I am going to have them for one more year after next."
MacNett also noted the performances of freshman Louis Cestedes and Hannah Ruiz. The Bengals, who play their home matches at Forest Hills Country Club and Hendricks Field, recorded a final record of 7-15 in a very difficult Liberty division.
MacNett spoke to the talent of some of the Bengals divisional rivals, "The level of competition in our division has definitely risen. We are playing in a league with Verona, Glen Ridge and Nutley and this year was one of those years where we beat the teams we should have beaten but lost some tough ones to better opponents. But our scores continuously got lower as the season progressed and I was really happy with how the young kids progressed and how my older kids played."
MacNett, who is in his 19th year as an Algebra teacher at Bloomfield High School and his 15th as the golf coach, has a lineage of Bloomfield educators in his family, as both his mother and father taught in the Bloomfield School District for the better part of four decades. "I have a lot of Bloomfield ties. I’ve been going to Bloomfield sporting events since I could barely walk," said MacNett jokingly.
The affable coach spoke about his coaching philosophy and the skills he tries to instill within young golfers, "I’m not one of those coaches who needs to have his team have identical swings. Your swing is your swing. What I try to focus on is the mental part of the game where they make the right decisions, manage their way around the golf course. In golf there are a number of ways to get from A to B and you just need to decide the best way for you. My main focus is to make them a more cerebral golfer and lower their scores that way."
His intellectual pedigree has certainly manifested at the coaching level, as he emphasizes his athletes to take notice of the life skills they can derive from playing the game.
The beauty of golf resides in its autonomy and the opportunities it presents to make tough decisions, whether it’s laying up on a difficult par four, or simply exhibiting honest sportsmanship even when you are in dire need of a stroke. Golf allows young men and women the opportunity to exercise their decision making skills at a time when a lot of the big decisions are already made for them, skills which will ultimately last them a lifetime. (Latest golf news source: Northjersey.com)
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