La Quinta’s Crist fires 78 to reach CIF-SCGA golf finals
Despite a difficult stretch in her closing holes, sophomore Joanna Bushnell Crist of La Quinta High School fired a 6-over 78 on Thursday in the CIFSouthern Section girls’ golf individual finals. That score was good enough for her to advance to the next round of the postseason.
“I pushed through. You really find that every single shot counts when it comes that close,” Crist said after her round on the Champions Course at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet in Beaumont.
Crist was the only desert golfer to qualify for the finals, and her 78 tied her for 33rd in the 120-player field. The top 28 golfers not already advancing to the CIF-SCGA event with their team earned individual berths, with a playoff for the last of those berths at 79.
Starting on the 17th hole in the shotgun start, Crist was 3 over after five holes, then parred six holes in a row. A birdie on the par-4 10th hole moved Crist to 2 over for the day, and that was followed by a par.
Then came a stretch where Crist, 15, made consecutive bogeys followed by a double bogey. Crist said she lost her focus a bit when her ball was embedded on the 12th hole and no one in her group knew the proper ruling, leading to her playing two balls on the hole for safety.
“I just tried to finish coming in, and I turned in my scorecard,” said Crist, who parred her last two holes after the double bogey. “And I made it by one, which is great.”
The next event, the CIF-SCGA tournament featuring teams and individuals from the Southern, Central, Los Angeles and San Diego sections of the CIF, will be played Thursday on the North Course at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills. The tournament also serves as a qualifier for the CIF state tournament.