Wednesday, May 13, 2009
AUSTIN — Chilton senior Gabriella Dominguez left no room for doubt or drama.
The only question as Dominguez stalked the fairways at Morris Williams Golf Course for the last time in the Class 1A state tournament was how low she would go.
Dominguez fired a final round of 5-under-par 67 on Tuesday to clinch her fourth consecutive individual state championship by eight strokes over Huckabay junior Sarah Fulfer.
In the process, Dominguez broke the 1A scoring record for the third time in her career with a 36-hole total of 7-under 137.
As a freshman in 2006, Dominguez broke the previous record, set by Sabra Srader of Sundown in 1981, by four strokes as Dominguez shot 70-73-143 to win her first state crown. Now Dominguez has dropped the 1A scoring record by 10 strokes.
“I’m excited to have my own record in 1A and to have my name there four times,” Dominguez said. “It means all my hard work has paid off all these years.”
Following the round, Dominguez signed autographs and took pictures with family, friends and fans.
She took the victory in stride, just like she played this week.
Dominguez opened the state tournament with a round of 2-under 70 on Monday to grab a two stroke lead over Fulfer.
But Dominguez couldn’t get the putts to drop to post a number in the mid-60s during the opening 18.
She vowed to practice putting in her hotel Monday night, then came out sinking putts Tuesday.
Dominguez started the final round on the 289-yard par-4 No. 10 at Morris Williams and proceeded to birdie it along with holes 12 and 13 to quickly move to 5-under for the tournament.
Though Dominguez slipped up and bogeyed the 145-yard par-3 No. 14, she came right back with a birdie on the 275-yard par-4 No. 15 and finished her first nine holes with another convincing birdie.
Dominguez birdied No. 18 on Monday by hitting her drive about 10 yards short of the front-left side of the green. With a 15-mph wind at her back on Tuesday, Dominguez drove the ball even with the pin on No. 18. She two-putted from the fringe for another birdie, posting a 4-under 32 on her first nine holes and moving to 6-under for the tournament.
With a five-stroke lead on Fulfer going to the final nine holes, Dominguez put the tournament out of reach by making birdies on the 287-yard par-4 No. 1 and the 440-yard par-5 No. 2. Fulfer made pars on holes 1 and 2 to fall seven back, and it was time to start playing Brittany Smith of Petrolia for the silver medal.
“She kept making birdies,” Fulfer said. “I was parring, but it still wasn’t good enough to catch her.”
After going 6-under through 11 holes, Dominguez leveled off and played the final seven holes in 1-over after a bogey on her final state tournament hole.
Dominguez’s 36-hole score of 137 tied Ginny Brown of Austin Westlake in 2005 for the second lowest score in any classification in the history of the girls’ state tournament. Christie Cano of San Antonio Edison shot 134 to win the 5A crown in 1998.
Dominguez, who has signed to play college golf at Texas Tech, seemed pleased with her high school career accomplishment, but by no means satisfied.
“67 was good but I wanted it better,” Dominguez said. “I made a bogey on the last hole. I think I could’ve gone lower. I think I have a higher standard of what I want.”
Abbott senior Kyle Crawford posted a final round score of 7-over 79 to finish fifth individually in 1A.
Crawford, in his first state tournament, was one stroke out of a tie for second after shooting 4-over 76 in the opening round.
With a 36-hole total of 11-over 155, he finished 15 strokes behind individual champion Logan Philley of Robert Lee.
The Riesel boys’ team shot 363 in the second round to finish seventh with a 36-hole total of 723. Robert Lee won the 1A boys’ team title with a 36-hole score of 627.
Salado senior and Baylor signee Ryan O’Rear shot 2-under 70 to win the the 2A boys’ state tournament individual title at Roy Kizer Golf Course. O’Rear shot a 36-hole score of 143 to finish one stroke in front of Kyle Dickerson of Anson. O’Rear led the Salado boys to the team championship.
Crawford’s Jake Blenden shot 7-over 79 on Tuesday for a 36-hole score of 16-over 160, putting him in a tie for 21st place in 2A.
cconine@wacotrib.com
757-5711
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