KENT - Thomas Jefferson's experience and depth shot the homestanding Raiders to a 68-51 South Puget Sound League Central division girls golf team victory against crosstown rival Decatur at Riverbend Golf Course in the season opening outing for both squads on Thursday.

"I really like the nucleus of our team," related Jefferson coach Jim von Doehren. "We have players that have been with the program for three or four years and our team has grown from six players last year to nine players now. I really like our team and the potential it has. This was a good start at home and we were fortunate to be victorious. The 68 points at home is a score we would like to reach on the road as the girls learn and get going. The girls know what is expected and get along well. I like my mix. "

Senior Courtney Tappon and junior Jayme Carbon return after qualifying for state last season. Juniors Agnes Shin and Shayla Doherty are 3-year program players while Tammy Chung, a junior transfer from Todd Beamer, joins sophomore Katie Seo as players that von Doehren expects to become solid.

On this comfortably warm and sunny afternoon, Carbon paced the Raiders by shooting a score of 43 on the par 36 front nine while earning 20 points.

"This was pretty good for being the first match," three-year veteran Carbon explained. "My drives were good, but my putting was basically a little off. I was having fun."

Tappon delivered 16 points to the Jefferson cause with a 51 and felt all right about the performance.

"I had one bad hole," said Tappon who has been in the program for four years. "I hit the ball solidly and was good out of the tee box. The long putts got me pumped."

Other point scorers for TJ were Doherty (10), Chung (9), Shin (7) and Seo (6).

Decatur sophomore Stacey Blunt navigated around the course with a strong short game to card 42, garnering medalist honors.

"I started off pretty good before I played the fourth hole badly," recalled the energetic athlete. "My short game kept me in it because I was able to chip close enough for makeable putts. I had a lot of one putts. I have shot in the 30's before and would like to consistently do that in matches."

Short on experience after graduating an entire team of seniors from last year's team, the Gators got scoring from every player as did Jefferson.

Freshman Chanel Carlson notched 14 points after registering a 50. Additional point scorers were senior Loredanna Ribeea (7), senior Katie Donahoe (6) and freshman Samantha Zeeb (3).

"We are brand new," declared Decatur coach Rick Dennison. "We are reloading with one girl that has played Washington Junior Golf Association (Blunt). The rest are brand new to playing competitive golf. A big golf accomplishment today was that no one whiffed on any balls and all scored points."