Foothill golfer cruises to 4A crown

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 9:44 a.m.

Two years ago, Christine Fernandez captured the 4A state golf individual title in the most dramatic fashion possible, besting her older sister in a playoff hole for the trophy.

On Thursday, Fernandez made sure she would need no such late-hour heroics, shooting a 4-under par 69 to wrest the individual championship from Durango's Whitney Welch at the NIAA/U.S. Bank 4A State Golf Tournament at Black Mountain Golf and Country Club.

Fernandez, a senior at Foothill, posted a 4-under 33 on the back nine -- a stretch that included an eagle on 13 and birdies on 14 and 17. She finished with a two-day score of 142 (73-69), six better than Welch, the 2000 state champ.

"At the beginning of the front nine, I wasn't feel too confident about my strokes, but at the end of the front nine I started feeling more comfortable with my shots," Fernandez said. "Then, on the back nine, everything seemed to be working."

Paired against Welch, Fernandez said she'll look back on Thursday's round as an 18-hole playoff against a friend, and rival. The duo entered the day tied after even-par 73s on Wednesday.

"I was looking forward to playing with her. We wanted to have fun out there and play as well as we knew we could," said Fernandez, who has verbally committed to attend Tulsa next year. "But it was nerve-racking. It seemed like the whole day today was a playoff between the two of us."

Welch's Trailblazer squad had no trouble defending its 4A team championship, totalling a two-day score of 803, 77 ahead of its closest competitor. Welch, Erin Andrews (150) and Sondia Gogue (157) placed second, third and fifth, respectively, overall, and Katie McCandless (170) and Darci Sutton (178) rounded out Durango's scoring.

"They've earned it," Blazers coach Kathy Faber said. "They've worked really hard, and they're a great bunch of kids. We're going to miss the seniors. Durango was fortunate to have them."

Andrews, one of those seniors, finished her high school career with a 1-under 72 on Thursday.

"We never really took (the team title) for granted. Every day, we went out and practiced the things we needed to work on," Andrews said. "I have enjoyed myself these four years. The girls have been fantastic, and I will miss it. I hope college is as much fun as high school has been."

Green Valley (880) emerged from a tight three-team battle to claim second place, one stroke ahead of Bishop Gorman (881) and two strokes better than Silverado (882).

The Gaels' Danielle Reilly took fourth place individually with a 153, while Silverado's Chloe Nelson and Stephanie Bird, Palo Verde's Katy Barrett, Green Valley's Chelsea Pandleton and Galena's Luxchmi Gill rounded out the top 10.