By MARTY JAMES
martyjames.sports@gmail.com
Coach Bob Freschi learned something about Kylee Scroggs right before the season-opening dual match for the Napa Valley College women's golf team last fall.
It was on Sept. 3, with Scroggs arriving at Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards, the Storm's home course in American Canyon, ready to tough it out.
Scroggs, a freshman, had a sore throat. As an extra precaution, she went to the Student Health Center at Napa Valley College to get checked out.
"She still wanted to play. I'm like, 'This is a dual match. You don't have to play,' " Freschi said last week from his office in the Athletic Department.
The response that he got from Scroggs that day went like this:
"No, I'm going to play."
Scroggs went out with the first group of the day, posting an 84 in her first college match, a score that counted for the Storm as they won their dual match over Sacramento City College, 358-371. She shot 6-over-par 42 on the front nine and 6-over-par 42 on the back nine. She had six pars on her card.
"She just grinded out a respectable score. So, I knew on that day she's a competitive, fiery person that loves the game and wants to play," said Freschi.
It showed the type of inner strength, mental toughness, grit, competitiveness, determination and spirit that Scroggs has – to go out and play on a day when she wasn't feeling well, to get through all 18 holes, to post a score.
After her round that day, Scroggs said:
"This was definitely an off-day, which I knew was going to happen. But no excuses out there.
"It's hard to drink water because my throat is super swollen. So, being able to play and not drinking much water was definitely difficult. Just to go hole by hole and hope for the best. I just kicked it through."
Scroggs, a 2025 graduate of Granada High School-Livermore, continued, saying:
"I just kept a positive mindset and just took it hole by hole and ended up on the 18th and saw my parents at the end. I was happy to be done."
Her parents, Brent and Shannon Scroggs, standing near the 18th green, were there to welcome Kylee at the end of her round.
Kylee Scroggs went on to have a very good season for Napa Valley.
She was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team, helping the Storm to a third-place finish.
Napa Valley placed third at the 2025 California Community College Athletic Association-Northern California Regional Championships at Madera Golf and Country Club.
The Storm finished in eighth place at the 2025 California Community College Athletic Association State Women's Golf Championships at the River Course at Alisal, in Solvang (Santa Barbara County).
"My team this year was amazing," said Scroggs. "We got along really, really well, really quick. We still hang out all the time now, and having that was so special. Because having that connection made it so much easier, and wanting to play golf more with the people that you enjoy, and like hanging out with.
"It's so great that I was able to come here and get this opportunity. I got to meet my best friends. I got to play a great season and play a lot of different courses. It helped my game improve a lot."
Scroggs will be continuing her college career by playing for the College of Idaho, an NAIA school in Caldwell, ID, in the fall.
She signed a national letter-of-intent on Feb. 4 and will receive a combined athletic-academic scholarship. Scroggs will transfer to College of Idaho, a private school, in August and plans to major in business. She has been accepted academically already by the College of Idaho.
"I'm so ecstatic and fired up for her to be transferring and going on to the College of Idaho and continuing her collegiate career," Storm coach Bob Freschi said. "She'll have three years there. She came in here for one year, played really well, and got acclimated to college golf. She understood what it takes to play at this level, and then progressing and moving forward, what it takes to play at the four-year level.
"She's a competitive grinder that loves the game and has a passion for it. She's ready to move on and play at the four-year (level)."
Scroggs will have three years of eligibility at College of Idaho. The Yotes play both a fall and spring schedule.
"It meant a lot to me, this year," said Scroggs. "It helped a lot, with getting the feeling about college golf. It helps a lot with moving forward and going to Idaho."
During her visit to the College of Idaho, Scroggs said she tried out for the team. She also got to meet the team.
"It really just felt like home. It's one of those things where I felt so comfortable. I was really lucky. The opportunity that I had there, it was really hard to pass up. It took a lot because my best friends are here, with the team here. So, it's really hard to leave them. But I knew that this opportunity was really good for me and good for my future," she said.
The College of Idaho is a member of the NAIA's Cascade Collegiate Conference. Also, in the league is the University of British Columbia, Oregon Tech, Lewis-Clark State College, Southern Oregon University, Bushnell University, Walla Walla University and Corban University.
"I wouldn't be able to get there without being here first," said Scroggs, 19. "Playing here and meeting these people and being able to be coached by (Coach Bob Freschi) boosted my confidence. I knew that I had the talent if I just kept working at it. And that's what I did. I'm really lucky to be where I'm at now."
Scroggs is working with David Knox, the Storm's assistant coach and a PGA Class A golf professional who is the Director of Instruction at Napa Golf Course, in the Storm's spring program.
"It's really just putting it all together," said Scroggs, who is playing out of Napa Golf Course at Kennedy Park this spring. "I've been shooting some low scores, getting better and hitting the ball lot further right now. I've been working with (Coach) Knox on my swing. All of that has helped a lot.
"So, getting my distances down and just lowering my scoring average is what we're working on."
Attending Napa Valley College, playing in the Storm program, and staying at River Trail Village, an on-campus housing complex, was a life-changing experience for Scroggs. As a golfer, Scroggs said she has become more consistent, adding that she has gotten a lot better with the mental game of golf.
"Before the season, I would really get in my head about my shots. If I had a bad shot, I would feel like I'm letting the team down, all that kind of stuff. Talking with Coach (Freschi) helped me a lot, taking it hole by hole. Toward the end of the season, I was able to get my scores lower because of that," she said. "He helped me so much. We had so many good memories throughout the season. He's a great coach. That was the main reason I came here, was because of him. I was so lucky that I was able to play for him."
Freschi, who is also the NVC men's golf coach, said:
"She really developed her game, mentally, to enjoy the game. Celebrate good shots. She has a real bubbly personality, so it was easy for her to make that transition, to really open up and just enjoy the game of golf and understand that it's hard, so applaud yourself and continue to move forward and shoot low numbers."
Freshman season for Napa Valley
Scroggs played in the No. 1 and 2 spots in the lineup as a freshman during the season for the Storm.
Highlighting her season:
* Earning low individual medalist honors, with a 76, at a Big 8 Conference tournament at Wildhorse Golf Club, in Davis.
"That was awesome. There were some really good people in that field. I was so excited when I came in and the coaches saw my score. They were all like hyping me up. So, it was really cool to see that. It was cool to come in and post that score, and everyone be super excited for me. It was a great experience," she said.
* Posting a 79 at a Big 8 Conference tournament, at the Bing Maloney Golf Complex in Sacramento.
* Shooting 80-88 – 168 for a 14th-place finish at the 2025 California Community College Athletic Association-Northern California Regional Championships at Madera Golf and Country Club.
* Tying for 29th place, with an 87, at the 2025 California Community College Athletic Association State Women's Golf Championships at the River Course at Alisal, in Solvang (Santa Barbara County).
"Having that opportunity to be able to go to states was amazing," said Scroggs. "We all wanted to get there, so we worked really well together."
Background in golf
Scroggs has a 4.9 U.S. Golf Association Handicap Index. She works and plays out of The Course at Wente Vineyards, in Livermore, her hometown.
She played high school golf for Granada all four years. She was team captain as a senior and first-team All-East Bay Athletic League as a senior.
She also played in Junior Golf Association of Northern California events.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.