Before she even stepped through the doors of Housatonic, freshman Ava Humes had already played in two varsity golf matches as the only girl on the team.
Humes became the only girl in the whole Berkshire League who qualified for the Berkshire League Tournament. This means that not only did she get a varsity letter the summer before coming to HVRHS, but she is now eligible to play in this tournament, with no girls to play against her.
“Well, my parents play golf,” Humes said. “I played a little bit when I was younger, and then I started playing consistently in the spring of this year.” When she joined the team this past summer, her coach, Peter Vermilyea, said she fit right in with the rest of the team. They were welcoming despite Humes being the only girl.
“She has been an extraordinary addition to our team and has fit in from day one,” Vermiliyea said. Despite this, outside of the Housatonics team, in matches Humes said that she sometimes is ganged up against for being the only girl surrounded by high school boys who occasionally heckle her.
This does not stop her. The CIAC state tournament point system has to be altered for Humes’s points to be calculated in terms of her gender. This is because, as the only girl, Humes has to hit off of tees 50-100 yards further away than where the women’s tee typically exists.
This has pushed her to improve. Although at first she did not believe she could hit off of those tees because of their challenging distance, she soon learned and grew to be successful.
“If a team can’t field enough girls to form a girls’ team, then the girls play out on the boys’ team,” Verymilyea said.
Players do not have to adjust the scores themselves, but an online application called iWanamaker seems to think that Humes does not belong on the boys’ team, constantly telling Vermilyea there is an error in his roster. Unbothered by this, however, Vermilyea still encouraged Humes, playing her in at least nine matches, therefore qualifying her for the league tournament.
Vermilyea recognizes how difficult it is for her on the team. “It is so hard to do what she’s doing.” However, Humes views her unique position in another way. “It’s also fun, because, like, I know that I’m the only girl doing it.”
