TOWN OF TONAWANDA — Kenmore West’s Pamela Beltz was ecstatic earlier this season after firing a 43 to lead the Blue Devils golf squad to a 268-290 win over North Tonawanda on Sheridan Park’s front nine.

Not only was she thrilled about her season best score, but she was perhaps even more content to have quieted any detractors she may have had heading into the season.

Beltz, a junior, led all of her male counterparts in the opening match, including Brett Phillips and Billy Moore, who each finished with rounds of 44 for Ken West.

“It felt good. It felt like even though I’m a girl, I’m up to (the boy’s) standards,” Beltz said. “I’m just as good, if not, better than they are.”

Being the lone female on a boys team, Beltz said she hopes her consistent play this season can erase the stereotype that girls can’t hang with the boys.

“I think that the standards that people have are obviously wrong — to think that girls aren’t as good as boys, when they really are,” she said. “They can do everything just the same.”

Beltz began golfing when she was 7-years-old, and has steadily improved since joining the Blue Devils as a freshman. She’s also been taking lessons from Mark Becker, an instructor at the Town of Tonawanda Paddock Chevrolet Golf Dome, which has benefited both Beltz’s swing and confidence, Ken West coach Shannon Greco said.

“She goes out there and plays her game,” Greco said. “She doesn’t care what anybody else thinks. She’s the type of person that if she heard someone say something about her, she would go show them up on the course.”

With an average of 45, Beltz has maintained a solid season for the 4-4 Blue Devils.

“She’s able to stay focused. For her size, she manages the golf course really well,” said Greco who is in his first year at Ken West. “She doesn’t hit her drives really long, but she’s able to manage the course and give herself the opportunity to make par.”

Greco added that Beltz is just another member of the team.

“The guys on the team don’t treat her any differently, they harass her just as much as anybody else,” he said of the playful atmosphere among the Blue Devils. “They harass each other, and she gives it right back to them.”

Still, it doesn’t matter what people say about her, Beltz said. Once she hits the green, she lets her golf clubs do the talking.

Contact sports editor Brandon Koch at 693-1000, ext. 117.