If Teresa Dorado had her way, she would not practice at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel this week for the state finals.
“I just like to go hole by hole,” Dorado said after Saturday’s Lafayette Jefferson Regional. “It’s just easier to go to the ball and see what I have to do.”
Dorado, a freshman exchange student from Spain who plays for Marquette, won’t have her way.
Her coach, Jordan Gallas, is insisting on a Thursday practice round with New Prairie’s Kara Blair and Lake Central’s Alexis Miestowski.
Dorado still hasn’t completely grasped the significance of high school golf. Only 14, her unfamiliarity about the gravity of the moment has helped her in a way.
She doesn’t process pressure the same way the other players do.
For the regional at Battle Ground Golf Club, she insisted on playing it blind. For most golfers, that’s a bad idea.
For Dorado, it’s how she played every road match on the Blazers’ schedule. Gallas thought about it and acquiesced.
Dorado shot 77 and grabbed the last individual state qualifying spot, beating Rensselaer’s Kerry Branson in a playoff.
Ultimately, Gallas decided he could coach her up at Battle Ground because he was familiar with the course.
He doesn’t know Prairie View so the practice round is required.
“I haven’t seen it enough to be comfortable with her playing it without a practice round,” Gallas said.
Gallas and Marquette have been energized by Dorado, a straight-shooting, soft-spoken girl whom Gallas says is “shy.”
She finished early at Battle Ground and when Gallas told her there was a playoff for the fifth and final qualifying spot, Dorado told him she didn’t want to do it.
It was hot and it had been over an hour since she swung a club. He had to explain to her how it worked in America.
Dorado calmly beat Branson, a senior, on the first playoff hole.
Gallas has applied one rule to nurturing Branson: Keep it simple.
She hits it straight and putts and chips well enough to play with the best players in Northwest Indiana.
“She’s super accurate,” Gallas said. “I just don’t want to overcomplicate it for her. She’s only 14.”
In Barcelona, where Dorado is from, her golf routine was consistent. She’d practice a couple of times a week and then play in matches with her club on weekends.
It was generally never more than that, according to Gallas.
He has adhered to a similar philosophy, taking Friday off while trying not to clutter her mind with swing suggestions.
Dorado is supposed to go back to Spain at the end of the year. It’s possible she could stay four years and then attend college in the United States.
That depends on a lot of factors. Gallas, however, is just happy to have her on the team.
Sometimes, even he can’t believe how well it’s gone.
“It’s just a great accomplishment for her to qualify for state,” he said. “She’s only been here for eight weeks. Anytime you qualify for state, it’s a good season. Great players miss qualifying all the time. To come here as a freshman and qualify with very little experience in America is incredible. I’m just super proud of her.”
Said Dorado about making it to state: “I’m excited and nervous. I didn’t know it was going to happen. I just hope to play good.”
Twitter @MikeHuttonPT
Top 5
With last week’s rankings in parentheses
1. Valparaiso (2)
2. Lake Central (1)
3. Crown Point (NR)
4. Munster (3)
5. LaPorte (4)
Player of the Week: Marquette freshman Teresa Dorado shot 5-over 77 in the Lafayette Jefferson Regional to advance to the state finals.
