Liberty's Crabtree wins Central Section girls golf title
| Tuesday, Nov 11 2008 02:20 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 02:18 PM
Images
Mica Guzman of Garces has signed with Cal State Fullerton.
Liberty golfer Deidre Crabtree signed a letter-of-intent with Cal State Fullerton.
Garces' Cassie Clayton takes a good swing during the CIF Central Section individual golf championship Monday at The Links at RiverLakes Ranch.
Frontier's Melea Miller makes a short putt on No. 9 at the CIF Central Section individual golf championship at The Links at RiverLakes Ranch.
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A couple of spectacular shots and a knee-knocking 4-footer for par on No. 18 behind her, Liberty golfer Deidre Crabtree found a nice seat on the rocks overlooking the 18th green at The Links at RiverLakes Ranch.
Player after player came in, none with a score to beat her 1-over-par 73 and displace her as Central Section champion.
"I've been more nervous watching and waiting for people to come in," Crabtree said afterwards, "than I have been all day playing."
Crabtree shot 1-under on the back nine to edge Garces' Mica Guzman and Clovis East's Andrea Mersino, who both shot 74.
"It's the best thing ever," Crabtree said. "Senior year, that's what I wanted to do. ... I didn't know if it was going to be possible or not."
After nine holes, Mersino actually held the lead at the turn with a 1-over 37 on the front nine, and Crabtree dropped a stroke with a bogey on No. 11. But then she struck swiftly.
After her tee shot left her about 95 yards short of the pin on the par-4 12th, Crabtree gave herself a goal: Hit your second shot closer than Kingsburg's Shaylee Yano, who had stuck the ball close to the hole.
Crabtree hit wedge just inside of Yano's ball, then watched as it hopped and rolled right into the cup for an eagle.
"To get an eagle in a competition like this?" Liberty coach Steve Cabalka said. "That's huge. I mean, that's rare."
After that, Crabtree told herself to play steady and stay at 1-over. She holed a 25-foot downhill birdie putt on 14 and bogeyed the par-3 15th but was able to get pars everywhere else. That included a dicey two-putt on the par-5 18th.
"I had no idea," Crabtree said. "I had figured the girls ahead of me had come in lower, or I knew some girls behind me that would come in lower. I was just playing against the scorecard, figuring other girls had done better."
Guzman, a couple of holes ahead of Crabtree, was making her own move on the back nine. She chipped in from just off the green on No. 14 to move to 2-over-par, then made pars all the way to 18, where she hit the green in two but had to three-putt to finish in 74.
"I just thought that if I made sure of a par on 18, I'd be pretty secure," Guzman said. "But that's golf."
Two other Kern County golfers, Garces' Cassie Clayton (who shot 78) and Stockdale's Tammy Park (79), finished in the top 12 and earned the right to advance to next Monday's CIF Southern Cal Regional Championships.
Crabtree, Guzman, Clayton and Park are friends who play together during the offseason.
"Back and forth, just battling each week," Cabalka said. "So, I'm very happy for those girls."
Clovis West and Frontier qualified all six starters for the SoCal regionals at last week's Central Section team championships.
But this week, it was Crabtree's turn to shine.
"I am just so proud of her," Cabalka said. "She works so hard; I mean, she's playing six or seven days a week. It's a tribute to her, her great family. They've committed four years to encouraging this girl, so I'm stoked."
