Martin Is Able to Make the Best of the Worst

When it comes to weather conditions at golf tournaments, Allison Martin of Bakersfield Centennial said she always expects the worst.

That meteorological pessimism came in handy Tuesday when Martin overcame blustery winds and chilly temperatures to shoot even-par 72 to win the CIF-Women’s Southern California Golf Assn. individual championship at the SCGA Members Club in Murrieta.

Martin, a junior, finished a stroke in front of five players who tied for second--Ashley Forbes of Palm Desert, Selanee Henderson of Granite Hills, Carling Cho of Dana Hills, Jennie Lee of Huntington Beach Edison and Southern Section champion Nicole Smith of Riverside M.L. King.

La Jolla Torrey Pines successfully defended the team title it won last year, shooting a four-player total of 325, 12 shots ahead of runner-up Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Martin, ranked No. 6 in the Golfweek Magazine national girls’ rankings, used pinpoint iron play to make five birdies on the front nine, including three of the first four holes, and made the turn at 33.

She battled through the back nine as the winds kicked into high gear.

“I didn’t have much problem with the wind,” said Martin, a junior who finished second last year and eighth as a freshman. “I expect that when I go to golf tournaments. My problem was putting on the back nine. But I guess I made up enough strokes on the front nine.”

Torrey Pines, led by Hannah Jun’s 76 and a 79 by Allison Goodman, was the only team to have two players in the 70s. The Falcons, two-time San Diego Section champions, are 35-0 over the last two years.

Peninsula got an 80 from Annika Windon, an 82 from Julie Kim and an 83 from Shannon Yocum.

Sentimental favorite Long Beach Wilson had an admirable showing, shooting 342 to place third. Wilson’s top player, Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana, and No. 6 player, Diane Sirisut, were in a car accident Nov. 8 in which Tangtiphaiboontana’s parents were killed.

Tangtiphaiboontana, who suffered minor injuries in the accident, shot 78 to tie for 16th. Sirisut, who dislocated her shoulder and hadn’t swung a club since the accident, shot 106.

“This was the first step in a long road to recovery,” Wilson Coach Jim Ferguson said. “I didn’t think we would be able to play, but the girls wanted to.”