Sherpa fires second straight 74 to take fourth in state

Pratima Sherpa shot her second straight 74 on Monday to claim fourth in the CCCAA Women's Golf State Championships at Morro Bay Golf Course.

Sherpa's 4-over total of 148 was just four shots behind the medalist, Haruka Koda of Canyons. Koda (70-74--144) tied teammate Jessie Lin (71-73), then won a scorecard playoff to win the state title.

Sherpa earned all-state honors as one of the top six scorers in the State Finals. The freshman from Nepal came within two inches of a hole-in-one on the par-3 fourth hole.

Canyons shot 304 on Monday and earned its second straight state title with a 36-hole score of 609. The Cougars beat runner-up Reedley by 39 shots. The Tigers turned in a 328 on Monday for a 648 total. Modesto (657) was third and Saddleback (661) placed fourth.

SBCC dropped a few spots with a final-round 342 and finished seventh in the eight-team field at 668.

Sophomore Alexa Bleth shot 82 on Monday and tied for 11th at 158.

"Pratima nearly had a hole-in-one and she finished strong by birdieing the last two par-5's and almost eagled No. 13," said SBCC's 20th-year coach Chuck Melendez. "We didn't play well today. We set a goal to be five strokes better per person and it kind of went in the other direction.

"But that's OK, I'm still proud of what we accomplished this year. We only have one sophomore leaving, so we'll build on this for next year."
 
CCCAA State Championships
At par-72 Morro Bay GC
Final scores
 Team -- 1, Canyons 305-304--609. 2, Reedley 320-328--648. 3, Modesto 323-334--657. 4, Saddleback 331-330--661. 5, Sierra 330-332--662. 6, Desert 338-325--663. 7, SBCC 326-342--668. 8, San Joaquin Delta 373-374--747.
 Medalist -- 1, Haruka Koda, Canyons, 70-74--144 (won scorecard playoff). 2, Jessie Lin, Canyons, 71-73--144. 3, Katie Stribling, Saddleback, 75-71--146. 4, Pratima Sherpa, SBCC, 74-74--148. 5, Melanie Anderson, Sierra, 76-75--151. 6, Paige Heuer, Canyons, 77-74--151. 7, Monica Yu, Reedley, 74-77--151. 8, Lilyanna Rodriguez, Desert, 79-77--156.
 SBCC scores -- 4, Sherpa 74-74--148. 11 (tie), Alexa Bleth 76-82--158. 49, Cally Casterline 89-93--182. 51, Paris White 87-99--186. 52, Marie Naud 96-93--189.
 SBCC overall record -- 53-28.