By: Rich Fisher
Jaymee Boehmer knows that she has talent on the South Brunswick High girls golf team, she just does not know if it’s as talented as the rest of the teams the Vikings will face this year.
The world of high school girls golf has not exactly gripped the Greater Middlesex Conference yet, or Central Jersey for that matter. Thus, the Vikings will be touring the state to play many of their 12 matches, including trips to Atlantic City, Moorestown and Manahawkin.
"This isn’t like basketball, where you go into the season saying ‘Well, we want to do this and that, or we want to be competitive with East Brunswick,’" said Boehmer, who also coaches the Vikes girls basketball team. "We don’t know anything about these teams. We don’t even know where we’re going for some matches."
Wherever they go, the Vikes will bring a quality team with them as they begin the second year of the program.
Returning players include seniors Brittany Boyd, Katie Petrikonus and Danielle Eige, junior Lisa Nicolaison and sophomores Connie Chen, Kerri Tracy, Aditi Shukla and defending GMC girls champion Priyanka Chinchani.
Boyd will play No. 1 and Petrikonus will be at No. 2 after both qualified for the state tournament last season. Both are shooting in the 40’s during practice rounds.
Boyd has already shot three qualifying rounds of 12-over par or better and needs two more to return to the states (practice rounds count as qualifiers in girls golf due to the low number of actual matches).
"Kerri’s come back much improved," Boehmer said. "She played a lot over the summer and her and Brittany really look good."
Nicolaison and Petrikonus will be 3-4, although the order has not been established yet, and Boehmer is still looking to fill the No. 5 slot.
"We look good, but I don’t know if we’ll ever get out there," said Boehmer, whose team’s opening home matches with Peddie and Southern Regional were postponed due to the snow this week. "We had about two weeks of practice but (home course) Bunker Hill is closed all this week. It’s frustrating, but there’s nothing you can do about it."
Boehmer is once again the lone paid girls coach in the county, as the remainder of the teams are overseen by the school’s boys coach. So, as far as goals are concerned, the Vikings just hope to improve their scores each time out and see how that adds up in wins and losses.
"Until they really divide things up and get separate coaches and bigger teams, we won’t really have our own GMC," Boehmer said. "We have a county tournament for individuals, but that’s it. There are a lot of girls out there who golf, they just have to get them on teams."
And while the Vikings have a full contingent this year, the coach must concentrate on the future since no freshmen came out.
"We really need to try and get younger kids," Boehmer said. "I’m trying to figure out how to get freshman for next year, maybe go down to middle school. But it’s hard, you need your own equipment. It’s not something you can just pick up. You have to get lessons, you can’t just start in April and think you’re going to be good."
The Vikes will hope to start the season Monday at Steinert, followed by a home match with East Brunswick on Tuesday.

