Bishop Gorman dominates; Peri takes 23rd

Bishop Gorman's girls' golf team continued its domination at the state level.

Led by medalist In-Ah Park, who fired her second straight 3-under-par 69, the Bishop Gorman Gaels shot an impressive 380 en route to their fourth consecutive team championship Tuesday afternoon at Empire Ranch Golf Club.

The Gaels finished with a 36-hole total of 777, a whopping 51 shots ahead of second-place Centennial. Coronado finished third at 901 and Galena was fourth at 906. Green Valley finished at 946 and Reno was sixth at 961.

Park followed in the footsteps of her older sister, In-Bee, who captured medalist honors last year and is now playing on the Futures Tour. She recorded six birdies, one bogey and one double-bogey on her round over the 5,563-yard layout.

Park credited her short irons for her low score, as none of her birdie putts were of significant length. She birdied Nos. 2, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 17.

Coronado's Bethany Glassford, who led after the first day, took a quadruple-bogey 9 on the 440-yard par-5, and she never recovered.

"It was a short course," she said. "The greens were tough, though. There was a lot of up and down (to them). I expected a little more competition for the team title."

That went out the window when three of her Gorman teammates lowered their scores on Tuesday. Jennie Sanford, who shot 83 on Monday, came back with a 79. Lauren Hernandez went from an 83 to 75 and Desiree Del Rosario trimmed her score from 84 to 77. Angelica Wright went up by two strokes, but still shot a respectable 80.

"The girls played more relaxed today," said Kelsey McCall, Bishop Gorman's head coach. "They were pressing a bit. They wanted it real bad."

Glassford finished with a 78 and a two-day total of 145, good for second place. Centennial's duo of Beth Burris (76-153) and Alex Borcherts 80-154) were third and fourth, respectively. Mandi Incorvaia and Centennial's Morgan Kerber tied for fifth at 155.

On the local front, Carson's Lydia Peri improved by two shots with an 85, but remained in 23rd place. Mary Sprinkel of Reed was 15th with a 162 after slumping to an 83. Reno's Alyson Felesina was 18th at 167 and Galena's Ashley Menante was 20th at 170.

Peri had three birdies, and probably could have shaved a few more strokes off her score had it not been for six three-putt greens, three on each nine. She capped her season with a birdie-bogey-par-par-par finish, and she was extremely pleased with her first state-tournament effort.

"I had a good finish; finished strong," Peri said. "I prepared well. I couldn't have done it any better. I'm hoping to be in the 70s at least a few more times next year.

"My short game (needs work). I need more control (short irons and chipping) and I need to work on adjusting under difficult conditions."

Carson coach Terry Gingell said Peri, with a little more work, could crack the top 10 next year and possibly even medal.

"I'm really pleased with Lydia. She played very well," Gingell said. "It was probably her best ball-striking round. She had a few three-putt greens, but she finished strong. Again, she didn't have a 7 on the scorecard. There were times early in the season when she'd have 8s or 9s. I think she only hit two bad shots all day.

"If she really knuckles down and practices, she can have a strong senior year. I think she could get into the top 10. She's capable of shooting in the 70s. She has the physical talent and work ethic to do it."

Two three-putts cost Peri dearly in the first six holes, as she dropped to 6-over-par. On the 337-yard par-4 7th, she shot a solid drive and ht a half pitching wedge onto the green and sank a putt she estimated at more than 35 feet for her first birdie. She finished the front nine at 45.

On the par-4 297-yard 11th, Peri hit a pitching wedge to within 10 feet and drained the putt. On the par-3 14th, she put her tee shot on the back fringe and dropped in a 20-footer for a 2.

Following a bogey on No. 15, Peri bounced back with three straight pars, two-putting each of the greens.

Galena coach Ray Isernhagen was disappointed at dropping down to fourth, but said the score was about what he expected. Coronado had to count a 117, but Glassford's 78 and Markie Paine's 77 made up for it.

"We were only five strokes over where I thought we'd be," Isernhagen said after the Grizzlies shot 458 on Tuesday, 10 strokes higher than their first-round score. "Golf is golf.

"We had a couple of girls who usually shoot in the 80s that didn't. What we haven't had in the last couple of years is a low-scoring girl or two. We haven't had a real low-scoring girl in a couple of years."

Only two Galena players dropped their scores from Monday - Allie Burns shot a 88 compared to an 89 on Monday and Meaghan Callahan improved from 97 to 93. Ashley Menante, the Grizzlies' top player, struggled down the stretch and finished with a 90 for a 36-hole total of 170.

Jessica Jones finished with a 175 and Burns was third-best for Galena at 177, Callahan was next at 191, and Colleen Mullins and Lexie Menante both finished at 194 after consecutive 97s.

Notes: The tournament was dominated by Southern Nevada golfers. Besides grabbing the top three team spots, the Southern golfers grabbed 17 of the first 20 spots ... Basic High's Megan Scharf had a great turnaround. After carding a 98 on Monday, she bounced back with an 84 yesterday, a 14-stroke improvement. She finished 32nd.