In a frantic two-day tournament to close out the season, Olympia’s top golfers fought their way up the leaderboard throughout a tournament filled with personal records and birdies.

On Oct. 22 and 23, the Olympia High School girls’ golf team competed at the South Puget Sound League tournament. Upperclassmen Leilani Nguyen and Abigail Pierce represented the school and the team, with Nguyen placing fourth and Pierce placing 25th at the tournament. Both Nguyen and Pierce advanced to the district tournament this spring. 

On the first day of the league tournament, Nguyen shot an 80 to reach fifth place individually. “I started off on the back nine, and I ended up shooting seven over, which wasn’t very good,” Nguyen said. She then had a much stronger front nine, going only one over par. Bringing her momentum into the second day, she came back with two birdies, including one on the final hole of the tournament, to move up the leaderboard and finish 4th in the SPSL.

Pierce performed in a similar fashion at leagues, making each shot better than the last. She shot 102 the first day and then earned a personal best in a tournament with an 89 on the second, finishing 25th out of the 60 golfers in the tournament. Both Pierce and Nguyen qualified for the district tournament this spring with their performances at leagues. 

Now in her 12th year of playing golf and third as a Bear, Nguyen continues to improve in her ability and is committed to training year-round to improve her performance. Nguyen is set for her international debut at the Scotland Junior Golf Invitational in June 2026. “I’ve gone out of state for tournaments, but not very often. And I’ve never gone out of the country for a tournament before, that’s crazy,” said Nguyen.

The Scotland Junior Golf Invitational is an opportunity for top high school golfers from the United States to get a chance to play some of Scotland’s top golfers on historic courses. Some of the chaperones are players from the Professional Golf Association themselves, allowing athletes to learn from professional golfers during their tournament. Nguyen got this opportunity when golf coach Taelar Shelton received an email requesting Nguyen’s participation in the tournament this upcoming year. “My coach was just like, oh, I got an email, and you’re playing golf in Scotland,” said Nguyen.

After eight seniors graduated last year, the girls’ golf squad had a leadership vacuum. Nguyen and Pierce confidently stepped into that role, using their experience and expertise to guide the newer golfers. Nguyen placed 15th at state in the 2024-2025 season, so she already had a host of experience to share with the new golfers. “They know what practices and what our matches at home and away look like… Abby’s been on board for four years and Leilani’s been on varsity for three years, so they’re great leaders,” said Shelton.

Now, looking forward to a new set of tournaments this spring, Nguyen and Pierce are already back at work training for the spring tournaments. They have high hopes and are confident in their ability to perform strongly this postseason.