New Carson High girls golf coach Terry Gingell hasn't been given much time to mold his young team before the season begins.
Carson began practice on Monday, but will begin the season in less than a week when the first Northern 4A tournament is held this Tuesday at Sierra Sage.
So most of Carson's golfers will have just about six practices to prepare for their first tournament. "A few of them have had a few more," Gingell said.
The team already is having a tournament today and Friday to determine who the top six players will be in Tuesday's tourney.
Gingell, a PGA pro, is a familiar face in the community and at CHS when it comes to golf. He is the Eagle Valley Golf director of instruction and has served as a volunteer coach at CHS for the past three years, providing a couple of hours of instruction each week.
"I enjoyed doing that," Gingell said. "I thought it was well-received. That's one of the reasons why I applied for this position."
Gingell replaces Paul Croghan, who retired after last school year. Gingell has taken on a a tough challenge. Of his 12 players, none are seniors, two are juniors and the rest are freshmen and sophomores.
Carson was dealt a big blow when Ciarra Christian, who qualified for last year's 4A State Tournament as an individual, didn't come out for her senior year because she's concentrating on basketball.
"She's a great athlete," Gingell said. "I'm sure she'll do well with basketball.
"That's where her passion is. It's good for her. I liked working with Ciarra."
The Senators have only one player with any extensive varsity experience in Gabby Gallegos, who played for Carson's varsity as a freshman before transferring to McQueen last year. She has returned to CHS for her junior year and Gingell is glad to have her.
"She's a good player and a really great girl," Gingell said. "She's doing a great job with the other girls."
Gingell said Gallegos could qualify for this year's state tournament. "I think she's got a great shot at state," he said.
As far as his young team, Gingell said the first step is to be one of the eight teams that qualifies for the zone tournament.
After watching his team's progress in such a short time, Gingell also isn't counting out a state berth.
"They may have a shot to go to state, you never know," he said. "We've got a young team. There's some really talented athletes. They're definitely developing into good golfers."
While Gallegos is the only golfer with any extensive varsity experience, Carson does return several golfers who have experience in the program. They include Kristie Borges, Lara Noad, Samantha Wang and Grace Ray.
Among the talented athletes who have come out include Lauren and Sarah Metcalf, who are both also outstanding swimmers. Others include Kristie Sifuentes, Megan Kotter, Tory Knutson, Kelsey Green and Gingell's daughter, Melanie Gingell.
"She hasn't played a tremendous amount of golf," Gingell said. "But she's starting to enjoy it. I hope she makes the team and plays in the tournaments.
"They're really a great bunch of girls. They're working hard. It's kind of a new team this year, which is fun."
The future obviously looks bright as well. I'm kind of excited about that," coach Gingell said.
Charles Whisnand is the Nevada Appeal Sports Editor.