They say the waiting is the hardest part, so Wilson junior Emi Sverduk saved the hardest part for last on Tuesday at the CIF State Southern Regional.
Sverduk went out early at Brookside Golf Course and posted a 3-under round that put her in the running of the CIF title, but she had to wait and watch the leaderboard for all of the other competitors to finish.
“I checked like every 30 minutes,” Sverduk said. “I was nervous because I thought it was going to be really close.”
Her competitors didn’t finish the tough back nine as well as Sverduk did so she emerged victorious to cap a great season.
Over the last few months she’s changed the Wilson history books with low rounds, won an individual Moore League championship and this CIF title. Sverduk said she takes the most pride in this accomplishment because of the level of competition.
“She truly has a very strong mental game and stayed calm throughout focusing on each shot,” Wilson coach Jeff Evans said of Sverduk. “This has been normal for her especially over the past couple months her golf has been really solid.”
Sverduk wasn’t able to play a practice round this week, so she relied on yardages that Evans already had from years past.
“We just talked about a plan for the hole on each tee,” Evans said. “I gave her line to hit and club suggestion and then let her do her thing and she just executed all day. The greens are very tricky and she made some clutch putts to keep the round going.”
Sverduk gave Evans a lot of credit for her top performance of the season.
“He kept me calm and I was able to be more focused,” Sverduk said. “I went after it (late in the round) because my approach shots were good, and that really played into my game.”
