Meghan Nguyen didn’t know Berkeley High School had a golf team until her sophomore year. Now, as a two-year captain and BHS senior, she leads the team on match days and holds the team’s one seed position, competing against opposing schools’ top players during matches and tournaments. In her golf journey, practice and consistency are values she lives by. For Nguyen, consistency starts with routine. “Most of the time, bad shots happen because I miss a step in my routine, or because I just think I can play fast,” she said. That same discipline carries her through high-pressure moments. Rather than trying to calm her nerves before a big putt, Nguyen focuses her attention on details, like the slope of the green and the distance to the hole. She tries to take emotion out of the equation entirely. “Hitting angry is probably the worst thing you can do,” Nguyen said, “Getting happy is also the worst thing you can do.” The key, she said, is staying somewhere between overconfidence and self-doubt. It’s a balance that Nguyen learned through her own struggles, and as a captain, she now passes on. Instead of critiquing swings, she acts as a mental coach, helping her teammates keep their composure during matches.
Athlete profile: Meghan Nguyen
By Reuben Wolf,
October 23rd, 2026