In the playoffs - or maybe a few days and weeks before that - there may be a comprehensive change in the name of preparation. Krystal Kelly isn't that guy. Veteran Santa Clara women’s golf coach learned from those around him, especially longtime Santa Clara principal women’s football coach Jerry Smith.
One thing about Smith’s view on the playoffs resonated.
"The reality is that we won't change the way we do anything," Kelly said, with Kelly's young Broncos playing the National Golf Invitational for the third consecutive year.
Kelly coached fifth and third place on Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona over the past two years. After Friday’s first round, Santa Clara ranked 5 in the second round, two shots behind Michigan East.
Angelica Holman of Eastern Michigan is the top of the individual rankings after 39 shots below 69.
Fraction: National Golf Invitational
Kelly said May games are always special because opportunities are so limited. This is the NCAA Championship or National Golf Invitational. But even with a long history and growing knowledge of the course at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, Kelly hasn't tried to make some magical changes in the final stretch of the season.
“The reality is, we don’t train any different, we don’t prepare any different, our game plan is still the same, I think it’s a lot of people, they’re watching the playoffs, they don’t play golf, they’re like, what are you doing differently?”
Now, Kelly loves the game plan her team is focusing on during NGI's third appearance.
"Some putts dropped today, some didn't, but we were also very young, so it's just a matter of building confidence in young players and getting them to the buying process. Overall, we're in a very good place."
Kelly brought three freshmen, a sophomore and an Arizona junior. The freshman scored a score for Sriwonggam's proud Sriwonggam leader with 70 and 2 shots, which was also her personal best this season. Her rounds included six birdies and a twin cypress, and Kelly was particularly proud of the way Sriwongngam bounced without letting such a big day go off the rails.
Sriwongngam has already started five times with the team this season and has never been in the first place. This changed on Saturday after gaining the right to play on Friday. Kelly hopes that freshman is a strong distance, far away, to embrace opportunities and see what happens.
Youth is an important factor in Santa Clara's return to NGI this year.
"This is my advice to get into the ad this year, and it's hey, we just need more experience, especially with three freshmen in the roster," Kelly said. "It's obviously giving the benefit."
Teenager Audrey Brust played Ak-Chin Southern Dunes three times, and sophomore Kelsey Kim ranked in the top three here last year. Kelly's team drove from the West Coast Conference Championship on April 19 (third in Santa Clara) and began asking if NGI would participate. Kelly told them she thought it would.
"They didn't miss any beats. They said, 'If we go in, we want to go.'"
The director of Santa Clara athletics gave the green light, and this week it was May 12-14 for the men's team to the NCAA area in Reno, Nevada, had sent a message of good luck. Obviously, women’s golf in Santa Clara has a lot of support, and it’s one thing, it makes the Broncos continue to be competitive in a deepening sport.
Kelly, who played college golf at UCLA, saw the creation of NGI as an "incredible motivation."
“The reality is that women’s college golf has gotten a lot better over the years and you have to be really good to get into the area,” Kelly said. “For us, over the past few years, we have added scholarships…so it’s incredible to build a team that can make the playoffs and have the chance to play.
“We hope to get into the area at some point.”
But first, Santa Clara has business. The NGI Championship ended on Sunday, not only Mother's Day, but Kelly's birthday. She already hopes to show something big.
"I put it in notepad a few days ago and we're going to win NGI," she said. "It's going to be an incredible birthday and Mother's Day."