Amazing Players, Amazing Coach
From left to right: Karlee Tu, Emma Wang, Coach Doug Senz, Marley Vlieks, Paige Sovocool and Antong Cao. All played major roles in the golf team’s success in 2023.
“Attitude is a big part of the game,” Miramonte girls golf team captain, Antong Cao, tells me.
The right mix of great attitudes was a winning formula for the team in 2023, when the top five players placed third in the Division 2, North Coast Section.
Each member contributed her unique skills and mindset to the team to create this success.
Sophomore Emma Wang brought her great sense of humor to the NCS team – and her 180+ yard driving skills.
Karlee Tu, also a sophomore, added her design skills and artistry on the course.
Sophomore Page Sovocool, possibly the best putter on the team, brought her A-game every day.
Freshman Marley Vlieks illustrated notable emotional control, resulting in her amazing ball control.
Senior Antong Cao shared her positive attitude to keep things light for everyone on both sides of the matches.
And of course, there’s the chef whipping up the winning recipe. Coach Doug Senz leads the team with kindness and encouragement.
Senz is quick to deflect any compliments and always points the spotlight back to the student-athletes he’s coaching. But he deserves some praise.
Senz is a walking history book of Orinda sports. I’d title the most recent chapter “Winning Girls Golf Team Coached By A Man Who Doesn’t Play Golf.”
Yes, you read that correctly.
Senz played on Miramonte’s very first water polo team in 1967, coached by the legendary Bill Brown. Senz played on the tennis team as well, but not golf.
Years later, Senz accepted a job coaching basketball at Miramonte. He later coached tennis and diving.
Then he had a special needs son who absolutely loved golf. Senz absorbed a lot of learning from his son’s lessons. When the opportunity came up to coach girls golf, he raised his hand. The rest is history.
The teammates recalled some of his “Dougisms” like “One shot at a time” and “Years from now, when you’re a CEO, doing million-dollar deals on the course, you’ll remember the good times from the team experience, not who won or lost.”
Miramonte staff praised his demeanor. “I’ve never heard him utter a negative word – ever,” said Head Varsity Football Coach Jack Schram.
Principal Ben Campopiano said, “Doug isn’t just a coach – he’s a mentor, supporter and leader who embodies the values of Miramonte. His many decades of service to our athletic community have benefited literally thousands of student-athletes, and the positive impact he’s left will last a lifetime. Doug’s hard work, commitment and dedication to Miramonte is second to none, and I know I speak on behalf of the entire community when I say that everybody is grateful for his extraordinary contributions.”
Now in his fiftieth year of coaching at Miramonte, Senz is clearly beloved.
There’s a saying, “A good coach can change a game. And a great coach can change a life.”
I’d bet Doug probably has done both, multiple times, over his storied career.
Miramonte boys teams swept NCS Championships this fall. An unprecedented “Triple Crown” with each sport winning their sectional in the same year, so the Matadors hold all three titles at the same time. No other school in NCS history has ever achieved this, in any season, ever. Cross Country: NCS Division 4 Champions, Football: NCS Division 5 Champions and Water Polo: NCS Open Division Champions.
