A final product of greatness is something that cannot be displayed overnight.

The dedication and determination to become the very best at anything, requires nothing short of a devotion and commitment that will be unwavering throughout the test of time. The greatness in the form of the Bulletin’s 2010 All-Area Golfer of the Year, Jillian Goulart, took just under four years to reach completion.

The dynasty that is East Union girls golf, took on formation way before Goulart began lobbing wedge shots and working the putting green with teammates at Manteca Golf Course. But once Goulart got her freshman taste of the Lancer legacy, becoming the school’s best golfer was her sole goal.

“Those years actually made me the golfer that I am,” Goulart said. “It wasn’t so much that I had the natural golf ability, but it was watching them when I was a freshman and seeing the seniors, and their work ethic.

“It taught me what it would take to be an excellent golfer, compared to an average golfer.”

East Union has not seen too many average golfers over an illustrious four-year run where they’ve won four straight Valley Oak League titles, and Goulart surely did not fit that part. In a season that saw VOL girls golf plummet from the peak competition of a few years back, Goulart and teammate Frances Telles battled and inspired one another for a season-long run that culminated in the Lancers’ VOL Tournament win at Lockeford Springs Golf Course.

With the league’s most valuable player honors hanging in the balance, Goulart took a hold of the challenging course and turned in a medalist honors earning round of 84. Telles was as close as she was all season, shooting the tournament’s second-lowest score for a Lancer one-two finish.

“Me and Frances pushed each other all summer,” Goulart recounts. “There was definitely a lot more pressure this year versus last year, we were more like the background players. I knew, especially since there wasn’t as much competition (VOL), that Frances and I would have to push ourselves.”

The drive continued well into the postseason as Goulart led the Lancers to their fifth consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section title, and continued her impressive play on into the Masters Championships. Goulart walked onto The Reserve at Spanos Park and shunned the seven-lake, fast-paced green, championship course and simply posted the best round of her career.

“Individually, I felt that the round of 82 was the best round that I had ever shot,” Goulart said. “I did have a few bad holes, but I knew that I was just a few shots off of shooting in the 70s which was my goal all year.

“Of course at Nor Cal’s you are going to have girls like Shawnee Martinez (Enochs High) shooting a 70, but you can’t focus on that. I was focused more on pushing myself.”

Goulart was just six-strokes off of advancing to the Nor Cal Championships.

When careers and seasons close with such dominance, it goes without saying that coaching played a prominent role. Goulart was under the tutelage of East Union’s co-head coaches, Dennis Wells and her father Brian Goulart. The success that the Lancers have had over the past decade can loosely be attributed to the unparalleled work ethic, which is not limited to in-season work.

“They really teach us to first of all appreciate being a part of the East Union legacy,” Goulart said of her coaches. “I don’t think everyone understands that not too many teams can win four section championships in a row. They taught us to be out here when the other teams are not practicing.

“Golf is a game where the more effort and practice you put into it, the better golfer you are going to be.”