Rob Grant — Special to the Record-Bee
MIDDLETOWN — The LPGA Tour.
That being her stated goal, Middletown High School golfer Lisa Copeland obviously thinks big.
But she also plays big … big enough that, as only a sophomore, she would be the No. 1 player on the Mustangs” otherwise all-male golf team if that spot wasn”t occupied by Doug Quinones, perhaps the best Middletown golfer ever.
Quinones notwithstanding, Copeland has already begun to establish her own imprint.
Earlier this month it was by notching a hole-in-one on the 160-yard, par-3 16th hole at Adobe Creek Golf Club in Petaluma en route to a 9-over-par 81 during Coastal Mountain Conference South competition. To Kelseyville High School coach John Berry”s recollection, it was only the third ace in the last 25 years of CMC play.
Last year, when only a freshman, Lisa fired a 68 in a CMC South event on St. Helena”s par-64 (for women) Meadowwood course, second only to Quinones” 61. Only one other player in the otherwise all-male field was in the 60s.
And all this from a girl who is a year away from even being eligible to be recruited.
Pert, blonde and blessed with the athleticism of a daughter of a minor league ballplayer and her own consuming desire to excel, Copeland is hard to miss … if only because she will likely be the only player who”s arcing practice shot after another while barefoot.
“I just like it,” she says. “I played barefoot in the Fairfield Junior last summer because I had a blister and shot (rounds of) 84-75.”
She is not shy about her ability or her objectives.
“I want to play in college and then hopefully go on and become a professional,” she says emphatically.
Possible?
“That”s a great goal to have,” says former Middletown head coach and one-time Kelseyville High School standout golfer Shawn Auten, whom Lisa credits with teaching her most of what she knows about golf. “I myself at one time wanted to play on the tour. As in the case of everything else, time will tell.”
The college part of her ambition, Auten thinks, is a lock.
“Your junior year is kind of your window of opportunity,” he says. “That”s when you”re going to start getting people to look at you. Where we are right now with her is she”s still learning and she”s still getting better every year. So, there”s still that hope out there of going from high school golf to college to, hopefully, pro golf.”
Playing for her first time as an 8-year-old, Lisa”s progress has been on a fast track ever since. Almost mercurial, considering that last year she jumped from becoming a 90s shooter to an 80s shooter.
What she has yet to do ? and is on her list of immediate objectives ? is shoot a sub-par round. At Hidden Valley Lake, her personal home course, she crafted a 1-over 73 from the women”s tees — missing an even-par round when she bogeyed the short par-3 14th hole. From the white (middle) tees, where she plays competitively, she had a 77 at HVL.
She has had a sub-par nine, suggesting she”s on the cusp of accomplishing the feat for 18.
“Of course I want to do it, but I really don”t know when I”m going to do it,” she shrugs. “Right now, I”m feeling OK about my game, so maybe in a day and maybe in a couple of years from now.”
The only obstacle that may stand in Copeland”s way is distance. Quinones, while admiring of Lisa”s play, says she does not perform as well on longer courses. But that could change.
Copeland practices relentlessly and had a full tournament card last summer (which is the only time she competes against other girls) when she played in 19 junior events. She won a tournament at Buckingham and the county championship at Adams Springs. In one of her rare forays away from competing against boys, she was able to play in the Sonoma County girls” league. But when it came to the county girls” championship she was allowed to hang around only long enough to be the medalist.
The most important improvement in Lisa”s game, Auten says, is that she has gotten familiar with her swing and is able to adjust in the middle of a round.
“I”m not a mechanics (of swing) teacher. I teach you the basics, but I think the golf course is the best teach her,” he explained. “I tried to teach Lisa that you need to find a way for your swing to work for you on a particular day. Now, if she has a few bad holes she can salvage her round. She”s one of those people who has the desire to get better and to go out and practice.
“Another part of her game she needs to work on a little is she tends to get down on herself,” Auten added. “She”ll come to the realization shortly that you have to roll with the punches.”
Perhaps she is getting there. Middletown coach Joel Pyzer describes her as “even-keel.”
“If she has a bad hole, she”s able to shake it off,” he said.
Being only one of two girls in her league competing against the boys (the other is Berry”s daughter, Liz) has been a kick for Copeland.
“At first I think they thought it was crazy,” she says. “But when I started playing better, that changed.”
And beating those boys?
“I love it,” she says.
