Frontier earns section Div. 2 girls golf crown
| Tuesday, Nov 03 2009 08:27 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Nov 03 2009 08:27 PM
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Frontier High's Jordanne Barr pops out of the sand in the CIF Team Section Girls Golf Championships held in Tulare.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Garces High's Jasmine Rodriguez gets out of the sand as she plays in the CIF Team Section Girls Golf Championships in Tulare.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Stockdale High's Abby Marina tees off on the 14th in the CIF Team Section Girls Golf Championships held in Tulare.
TULARE -- Minutes after Frontier had secured its second straight Division II Central Section girls golf title, coach Tony Bernardin patted his chest five times.
It could have been once for each of his instrumental players, but as it turned out, five also was the number of times his heart stopped during the Tuesday tournament at Tulare Golf Course.
"You never know," Bernardin said. "They've still got to play the holes; you can't just say it's over."
The coach's five pats could have also symbolized something else: The top five players on his team, seemingly interchangeable and all vital to the Titans' success. On this day, four shot 83 or better, leading Frontier to a 419 that was nine strokes better than second-place Oakhurst-Yosemite and second overall only to Division I champion Clovis West (404).
"It feels amazing," said Jordanne Barr, who led the team with an 80. "Our whole team has come along so much."
Frontier has just one senior but hoped to challenge Clovis West for the overall low after the Golden Eagles set a section record with 378 at the North Area tournament. The Titans carded 395 at the South Area. But those hopes were all but dashed after nine holes, when Clovis West had a 14-stroke lead.
"They have some great players," Bernardin said. "... But we just set out to shoot our best score, and whatever happens, happens. We competed against the course today."
But the Titans improved on the back nine by 15 strokes, including a 37 from Barr after she shot a 43 on the front.
"I couldn't do anything right (on the front nine)," Barr said. "I was really pressing. ... My mom smiled at me at the turn, at that made me feel better."
Still, Barr knew that with her 80, more than two strokes over her average, and a 94 from Frontier's No. 2, senior Malea Miller, the next three players would have to pick up some slack.
"Me and Malea didn't have our best days today, so we really did rely on our bottom three players," Barr said. "And they played really great. They're really reliable."
On cue, in came Meghan Shain's 81, Tavia Rutherford's 83 and, to clinch the title, Cami Ullrich's 81 that was 16 strokes better than her playing partner from Yosemite, Brianna Smith.
"They worked hard, and they were afraid it was going to slip away from them," Bernardin said. "So they were excited to get it done."
With the second-best overall score, Frontier advances to the Southern Cal Regional Championships on Nov. 16 in Murrieta for the second straight year.
Twelve individuals also will qualify for the regionals at next week's individual section tourney at Rio Bravo Country Club.
Among them will be Stockdale sophomore Abby Marina, who shot 81 on Monday to lead the Mustangs to a 463 and second place in Division I. Last year, Stockdale was second-to-last at this tournament.
"We talked about it last year, that we wanted to finish better," said Nieblas, whose team started three freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. "I'm just really excited for them."
Garces shot a 487, led by Jasmine Rodriguez's 82, to tie for fifth in Division I.
