In her second year on the golf team, Senior Jordan Martinez is a successful player and leader. Helping her team through the troubles and trials they inevitably have, she helps them manage to have a good time. She describes this year’s season as “Really fun. We haven’t really been winning, but at the same time, we’re all really enjoying hanging out with each other in general and watching each other grow.” However, no team goes without challenges, and they are no exception. Fellow Senior, Kelsey Cook became injured at the beginning of the season and cannot play, but despite the difficulties,
Jordan has helped to keep the positivity and spirit up in her team. Jordan expresses her fondness for her coach, Shane Sutcliffe, saying he’s, “Serious enough that we’re actually golfing, but he’s really cool because he wants us to really have fun. Neither year have we really won much or at all, but he doesn’t find that a problem as long as we’re growing and enjoying it and he’s made it a really fun experience.” Both Sutcliffe and Jordan have seen the massive improvement from the team. While most may assume golf is easy, Jordan is here to contradict: “Golf is a lot harder than you think, so everybody gets out there and assumes it’s just nothing, and then they realize that they can’t do it. We’ve definitely gotten a lot better. I’ve seen a lot of girls starting off missing the ball are great now. Tori was having issues at the beginning because it’s so different than a softball swing so she’s trying to hit home runs and it’s been difficult, but shes definitely looks awesome now.”
Among Jordan, many girls on the golf team are avid softball players and the change in swings have proved to be a challenge for many. Jordan herself has improved an incredible amount, stating she started off “Trying to swing like it was a softball and it was really ugly and everything was going to the right and it was horrible.” With much practice and time spent at the driving ranges, she now identifies her mistakes and is able to self-correct them.
Jordan’s inspiration to try golf did not come entirely from herself, but had Suttcliffe as an encourager. She says that she was nervous to begin playing, “but apparently there’s something about golf that makes all the girls really welcoming with each other.” Aside from that, Jordan says her favorite thing about golf is the comradery among the girls and how everyone is in the same boat of struggling: “It can be really frustrating sometimes. I’ve heard so many times “Nope, I’m done. I quit.” It seems like it should be so much easier than it is, and then you have a couple bad shots and it’s so annoying. You think, “Why can’t I just fling it? Why do I keep hitting trees?” That’s the one part that can be kind of stressful.” Despite the difficulty, Jordan and her team are there for each other to maintain positivity.
As a senior, Jordan has college constantly on her mind. She plans to stay close, and her dream is to attend San Jose State and play softball. Aside from being a fantastic golfer, Jordan has been playing softball for 10 years and pitching for 9. Besides those sports Jordan says if she could attend any sporting event it would be: “A football game. My family is really into football, so anything football related, we want to be there.” Her football team of choice she describes as: “As sickening as some people find it, I’m a really big Oakland Raiders fan and I’m given a hard time for it, but I was born into Raider Nation.” A girl of many sports, many skills, and many fans, Jordan Martinez is an athlete and leader to watch.
The Claw 