Riordan’s girls’ golf team is still a newly established sport among the sports program. However, this year has a bright future in its midst as the new girls’ golf coach, and Riordan alumnus, Abe Parnal ’95 has brought his talents and experience to grace the course of the program.
During his time at Riordan, Parnall played on the golf team throughout all four years at the school. He has been playing ever since and currently has two other jobs in golf: coaching at Harding Park in their First Tee program and working at Poplar Golf Course in San Mateo.
Parnall expressed that his initial goal coming into this position was to “Make sure my team has fun playing golf. That’s my number one goal for my girls, and hopefully, they learn a few life lessons through the game of golf.”
The players appreciate the new coaching establishment recognizing his fair and laid-back coaching style. “He really wants us to be a team and for the school to recognize golf as a sport. He’s very organized and wants us to improve, ” said Kyla Huong ’25.
Ashley Mishra ’25 added, “Our new coach gives all of us the chance to play in tournaments.”
With the organization of the new coach, the players are also getting the opportunity to train more consistently. The team practices once a week going to the driving range once a week and having a match, along with practicing other days of the week at a golf range simulator. The golf team practices at Harding Park Monday through Thursday, and gets practice at a golf simulator range, having at least one game a week.
“We have a lot more serious practices and we get a lot more practice which really helps us with our game and so we’ve been doing a lot better this year,” said Kyla Wong ’25.
A typical match involves the players being paired off with two girls from a different school, allowing them to communicate and socialize with other teams in a friendly competitive atmosphere.
“The girls are talkative and get along and it’s all positive. It’s very much more like I’m excited to go to golf,” said Savannah O’Boyle ’25.
“Coach Parr,” as he is often referred to by his team, recognizes the outstanding potential that has been shown thus far by saying, “My #1 and #2 golfers have the most potential on the team. They are Abby Barroso and Amberley Hamilton-West, both are juniors and I’m excited to have them coming back to the team next year.”
“A handful of the seniors who were on the team last year also show great promise to become good golfers. It’s up to them how good they want to be. I also have two sophomores and three freshmen who show a lot of potential and can’t wait to see them grow as golfers.”
Parr added, “No matter what you do in life, you always have to put in the time and effort whenever you want to be good at something. Steph Curry didn’t become the greatest shooter in the world because of natural talent. He practices many hours every day to become the greatest shooter.”
