On any list of the most popular sports in the US today, golf ranks among the top 10, and more than 200 private high schools in California currently offer golf as an interscholastic sport. So why doesn’t Lick-Wilmerding High School have a golf team?
LWHS Director of Athletics Eliot Smith has been with the school since 1987. The reason the school does not currently have a golf team, according to Smith, is insufficient interest. “You have to be committed,” he said, because of the various demands involved. For one thing, a match can take five hours.
Smith recounted a time when LWHS did have a boys’ golf team, a group of friends who approached Smith to announce their interest in having such a team. From 2007 to 2010, they formed the membership of the LWHS golf team, playing in matches throughout the Bay Area. After their graduation, the team disbanded.
The Bay Area Conference (BAC), in which the team participated, currently includes Stuart Hall, University and Bay School (all in the city of San Francisco), as well as Marin Academy (in Marin). LWHS is listed on the general BAC site (bacbcl.org) for the current season for a number of other sports, both boys and girls, including basketball, cross country, lacrosse and track & field. LWHS was the winner of the League Sportsmanship Award for both 2005-2006 and 2012-2013, referring to other sports.
LWHS does have a girls’ golf club, as opposed to a team. Club chair Emmie Hou ’24 stated that the club was formed in the spring of 2021. According to Hou, the club seeks to create an environment in which members “can relax, have fun and enjoy the sport.”
Hou stated that the members had originally discussed the idea of forming a team but ultimately did not, in part because they were unable to find an interested coach. There was also a lack of motivation in the student body.
The National High School Golf Association (NHSGA) on its website offers two main benefits to a school for having a golf team. First, as a sport that is both an individual and a team sport, golf is relatively unique, offering the opportunity for development in both aspects. Second, participation in such a team can serve as preparation for playing in college, possibly with a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) scholarship.
The NHSGA proposes five main steps for starting a high-school golf team: gauge interest (through a survey), speak with the athletic director, secure a home golf course, find a coach and fundraise for equipment and tournament fees. The average golf team is said to have 10 players.
Students who wish to explore the possibility of forming a golf team at LWHS, either boys or girls, are invited to contact Smith, whose office is located in the school gym.
If sufficient demand did exist, said Smith, “We’d go get a coach and then we’d go get transportation and go to a facility where we can play golf.”
