Email This   Larger Font      Print This   Smaller Font Advertisement   Class 4A golf Winner: Avery Collura of Skyview claimed her second consecutive title, scoring a 159 for a six-stroke victory in the two-day tournament. Also advancing to state: Anna Jenks (165) of Prairie; Katie Nelson (168) of Battle Ground; Sara Taylor (169) of Skyview; Mary-Grace Jenks (177) of Prairie; Suzanne Patterson (178) of Skyview; and Veronica Lim (187) of Heritage. So close: Sara Taylor of Skyview just missed a hole-in-one on the 17th hole. Her ball landed about 10 feet past the hole, then spun back and missed the hole by inches before settling about four feet away. She made the birdie putt. Skyview’s Avery Collura wins the district title by six shots.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008
By Paul Valencia Columbian Staff Writer

WOODLAND — Winning a district golf tournament once does not necessarily mean it will be easy to do it a second time.

In fact, to some degree, it is more difficult.

“I had higher expectations for myself this year, so I was a little more nervous,” Skyview junior Avery Collura said.

Really? Sure didn’t look like it.

Collura was the class of the field Monday and Tuesday at Lewis River Golf Course, claiming the Class 4A District 4 girls golf tournament for a second consecutive season.

“This is just as exciting for me as it was last year,” she said.

Collura scored an 8-over-par 81 — the low round of the day — in rainy conditions Tuesday. That gave her a two-day total of 159, six strokes better than Prairie’s Anna Jenks.

While the half-dozen strokes were the final margin of victory, Collura said she had no idea where she stood going into the final stretch of holes.

When she followed a double-bogey on the 16th hole with a bogey on No. 17, she started thinking about her closest opponent.

“I knew we were both struggling on the back nine, but I thought we were closer than six strokes,” Collura said. “I tried to keep that out of my mind. It still got to me a little bit, but I think I played through it OK.”

In fact, she had one of her better holes to cap the day. A 230-yard drive led to an approach shot to within 8 feet on the 18th green. She two-putted for an easy par and walked off the course with another medalist honor.

Jenks said she played better in Monday’s round but struggled with her putter. Tuesday, her tee-to-green game was off, but her putting improved.

“I really, really, really wanted to play better,” she said. “An 86 is not very good for me. It’s not how you want to end your district, senior year.”

Jenks said she wished she could have given Collura more competition. The two were a stroke apart after Monday’s round.

“Avery’s a great player,” Jenks said. “If you’re going to lose to somebody ... there’s no sneezing at that.”

The golfers had decent weather for Monday’s round. Tuesday, however, reminded them of most of this past season. Battling the elements, 11 of the 15 golfers who made the cut scored worse Tuesday than Monday.

“It’s been pretty exhausting,” said Collura, referring to the season-long rainy period. “I guess it’s a good learning experience.”

She also was proud of her final hole, erasing the memories from the back-nine troubles.

“I had it in my head that that’s what I was going to do,” Collura said. “I calmed down and just took a smooth swing. It worked out.”

On Monday, Skyview claimed the team championship for the second year in a row.

“Our goal from the beginning of the season was this was the tournament that mattered,” fourth-place finisher Sara Taylor said. “This was the one that counted, and we made it count.”