Sherpa takes third in Desert Classic; Vaqueros are fourth

Pratima Sherpa fired a 2-over 74 on Saturday to earn a share of third place in the Desert Classic at Tahquitz Creek GC in Palm Springs.

The temperature surpassed 110 degrees on both days of the 36-hole women's golf tournament.

Sherpa, a freshman from Nepal, had three birdies on Saturday. She shot 78-74 for a 6-over 152 and tied for third with Serena DiMauro of Reedley. Monica Yu of Reedley was the medalist with rounds of 73 and 71 for  2-under 144. Precious Saelee of Mt. SAC was second at 147.

Reedley shot 293 in the second round and ran away from the eight-team field. The Tigers totaled 604 to beat runner-up Desert by 26 strokes. Modesto (645) was third and the Vaqueros (334-325--659) finished fourth.

Alexa Bleth (81-81) tied for 11th for Santa Barbara. Cally Casterline and Paris White both shaved eight strokes off their first-round scores, shooting identical scores of 93 and 85.

"We played a little better today," said coach Chuck Melendez. "We have to focus on the fundamentals and keep working hard. We played a lot of golf this week (four rounds in seven days) and gained good experience."

The Vaqueros will take next week off, then host WSC No. 3 at the Santa Barbara Golf Club on Monday, Sept. 9 at 10:30 a.m.
 
Desert Classic
At Tahquitz Creek GC
Friday at par-74 Legends Course
Saturday at par-72 Resort Course
Final scores
 Team -- 1, Reedley 316-293--609. 2, Desert 327-308--635. 3, Modesto 326-319--645. 4, SBCC 334-325--659. 5, Mt. SAC 322-341--663. 6, Cuyamaca 364-359--723. 7, Mt. San Jacinto 403-375--778. 8, Bakersfield 471-472--943.
 Medalist (par 74-72) -- 1, Monica Yu, Reedley 73-71--144. 2, Precious Saelee, Mt. SAC, 74-73--147. 3 (tie), Pratima Sherpa, SBCC, 78-74--152; Serena DiMauro, Reedley, 78-74--152. 5 (tie), Preeth Singh, Modesto, 83-72--155; Mya Chao, Reedley, 83-72--155.
 SBCC scores -- 3 (tie), Sherpa 78-74--152. 11 (tie), Alexa Bleth 81-81--162. Marie Naud 97-88--175, Honey Lawrie 88-89—177, Cally Casterline 93-85--178, Paris White 93-85--178.
 SBCC overall record -- 9-5.