Rancho senior hopes to inspire young players

But her most ambitious one has nothing to do with winning region or state titles.

Jordan is one of the top returning girls golfers in the Sunrise Region and expected to challenge for all-state honors this fall.

She’s also in the unique position to serve as an inspiration for young, African-American girls golfers in the city, a role Jordan is more than willing to embrace.

“I know for me, I didn’t really have that (role model),” Jordan said. “When I started playing golf, it was more of my cousins are doing it and it was like a family connection. And when they stopped, it was like I didn’t really have anything to look up to.

“And I’d love to give kids that opportunity to look up to someone and enjoy something, because this game is actually very fun when you get into it.”

Jordan began playing golf at age 6 after attending a clinic conducted by the First Tee, an international organization created to introduce golf to kids who otherwise would not be exposed to the game.

She dropped the sport a few years later to concentrate on softball, but after suffering two broken ankles on the diamond, Jordan decided to start playing golf again.

“I fell back in love with the game,” she said.

Jordan struggled to break 90 during her first two seasons with the Rams and finished 38th at the Division I state tournament as a sophomore. But she practiced every day until 7 p.m. during the school year, and the hard work paid off as Jordan’s game dramatically improved last season.

“Her dedication to the sport has just been unbelievable, and it shows,” Rancho coach Tony DiOrio said. “Every time she hits the ball, you see (her teammates’) jaw drop because she’s hitting the ball so far and (makes) such great contact with the ball. It gives them kind of a goal, a person to look up to and know that to get to that level is reachable.”

Jordan shot 76 at Las Vegas Golf Club during a Southeast League match last season and tied for fourth at the Sunrise Region tournament. She went on to finish tied for 11th at the state tournament and continued to impress this spring.

In February, Jordan was second at the Future Champions Golf National Tour Spring Series event at Boulder Creek. She lost in a playoff to Coronado’s Ashley Lung during the FCG Las Vegas Series event at Silverstone in early May.

“I look back at where I was my eighth-grade year and the beginning of my freshman year to now, and I’m proud of myself,” Jordan said. “My dad pushed me very hard. There was a lot of every-day practicing. There was a lot of conflict between me and my dad, arguments, but it’s all worked out for the best.”

Jordan shot 80 in Tuesday’s Southeast League match at Legacy and is aiming for a top-three finish at the state tournament in October at Primm Valley Golf Course.

Defending state champion Coronado has at least four players expected to contend for medalist honors, and Palo Verde’s Annick Haczkiewicz and Bishop Gorman’s Hunter Pate also should be in the mix at state.

“I think she can compete this year,” DiOrio said. “She needs to improve on her short game and getting the ball up and down if she wants to be in the top three this year at state. I think she definitely has the skill, it’s just putting everything together that will be the difference.”

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.