Calabasas High golfer an ace at U.S. Women’s Amateur tourney

But now it’s back to the classroom



CONGRATS—Caroline Canales, a 16-year-old junior at Calabasas High School, gets high-fives at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in West Point, Miss., where she made it to the quarterfinals. Courtesy photo

CONGRATS—Caroline Canales, a 16-year-old junior at Calabasas High School, gets high-fives at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in West Point, Miss., where she made it to the quarterfinals. Courtesy photo

Caroline Canales probably never would have visited Mississippi if it weren’t for golf.

The 16-year-old junior at Calabasas High School competed in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in West Point, Miss., earlier this month, where she made it to the quarterfinals.

She’s been playing competitive golf for five years and said what appeals to her about the game is it’s a solo sport.

“You don’t have to rely on your team to help you out. You can just put in your own work and see how far you go,” Canales said.

The relatively low rate of injuries among golfers also appealed to her.

“I was playing competitive soccer as well as golf and trying to decide which to go with. One of my friends on the team blew out her knee at a young age—we were like 11. That was concerning,” she said.

After she made her decision, her family joined the Calabasas Country Club, and she started practicing regularly alongside her sister Olivia, who also plays. Caroline Canales started competing in local tournaments and worked her way up to regional, and most recently, national events.

She competes on her own but also plays on the CHS golf team. When she’s not doing schoolwork or hanging out with her friends, she’s probably practicing. Canales works with multiple coaches to improve her game.

“I have my physical trainer who’s in the City of Industry. I have a long-game coach who helps me with anything other than putting. He’s in San Diego, so that’s a bit of a drive,” Canales said. “I also have a short-game coach who helps with putting, chipping and bunkers. He’s the longest commute; he’s based out of Omaha, but it’s a short flight. Sometimes he’s in Arizona, which makes it easier.”

Canales said she’s about to enter her least busy time of the year—the start of school means fewer tournaments, so she’s working on her swing and anything else that needs attention. She’s been spending up to five hours a day on the links practicing different elements of her game. She also goes to the gym to keep fit and prevent injury.

Golf injuries are a far cry from contact sports like ice hockey, but they do happen. Canales works with a trainer who helps her train her core—since golfers only swing on one side of the body, the imbalance can lead to back injuries.

Once spring comes around, competition season starts up again and she’ll be competing in tournaments around the country.

“I’d like to compete internationally in the near future,” Canales said. “I’ve been to Texas, Mississippi, Kansas . . . a lot of Midwest areas I probably wouldn’t vacation in. It’s fun to go see what other cultures are like within the United States and be able to play in different environments with different types of grass.”

She has hopes of competing on a professional level but said she’s keeping her options open for a career. Canales is looking at universities with strong golf programs and is considering the academic avenues available to her, though she doesn’t know what she wants to study yet.

She said there are plenty of kids at her school who question whether the activity she’s dedicated herself deserves to be known as a sport. After all, it’s rare to see a golfer breaking a serious sweat while they play—if they do it’s more likely from the heat than physical exertion.

“People think it’s not that serious, but I don’t blame them,” Canales said. “You just have to be a golfer to know that it’s difficult and it takes a lot of hours put into it to develop skills. I don’t have a problem with people saying (it’s not a sport) though.”

Follow Ian Bradley on Twitter @Ian_ reports.