Emily Pellerin to feature in the boys team in State Golf Tournament
Although many critics are of the view that no woman will ever be able to qualify to participate in a professional men’s golf tournament, there is one young woman golfer who is all out to prove them wrong. Emily Pellerin is just 15 years old and has spent
most her time on the course playing with the boys. Pellerin will be featuring in the upcoming New Iberia High School’s boy’s team, which just submitted its entry for the State Golf Tournament.
The school didn’t have a girl’s golf team as there were not many players willing to participate. The 15-year-old sophomore Pellerin, who had been playing since the age of ten, was discovered by the school’s golf coach Jim Picheloup while she was practicing
at the school’s course and made her hit some shots. Realizing that Pellerin was able to play better than many of the boys on the team, Picheloup decided to give her a late berth on the boy’s team.
“I was on the golf course one day and she was out playing,” said Picheloup. “She was out with her grandmother and I asked her if she wanted to play on the golf team. I wish I would have known about her earlier in the season because she could have really
helped us last year.”
Pellerin shot an 85 at Class 5A Regional Golf Tournament at the Lake Charles Country Club, qualifying for the State Golf Tournament. She quadruple-bogeyed the 18th to end up sixth, and carded second and third scores several times, even when playing
against strength of as many as 11 boys.
Picheloup had been looking for a strong contender like Pellerin for quite a while and is quite upbeat about the team’s future prospects in the tournament. Pellerin’s best score on 18 holes is 86 while on a standard dual school match length, she has been
able to card a 41.
“I like the game because it is a challenge,” said Pellerin. “I'm not perfect at it, nobody really is. It's golf. You're never going to master it, but I keep getting better at it.”
The young golfer will be heading to the Copper Hills in Zachary for the State tournament and her sporting skills will be tested on a completely different course than what she has been accustomed to play on up until now.
Pellerin has spent most of her time in Teche Area with her NISH teammates. She will be teeing off on the same men’s tee rather than the standard tee for ladies golfers and does not feel any handicaps while playing with boys. Pellerin’s greatest wish, however,
is a bit different.
“My goal is to shoot under par,” said Pellerin. “I don't know how I'm going to do and but I'm going to do it.”
The young golfer is definitely poised to set some records straight in the ladies league of the sport.
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