Sabrina Bonanno ended her storied high school girls golf career on Saturday by finishing second at the Class A state tournament.
Bonanno put herself in position to repeat as a state champion with her round on Friday. She took advantage of the calm conditions at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur and shot a 5-under-par 67 to build a one-shot lead over Charleston freshman Lauren Chappell.
Bonanno had a rough start to her second round, however. The Ridgewood senior, who shot a 79 Saturday to finish the tournament with a 2-over 146, was 4 over on the day after five holes.
It was at that point when Bonanno knew she was in trouble, and for good reason. Chappell shot a 1-over-par 73 in her second round en route to a five-shot victory.
“Oh yeah, I felt it for sure,” Bonanno said when asked if she could feel the state title slipping away after bogeying the par-3 fifth hole. “I think even at one point I didn’t think I was going to finish second. I thought I was going to be fifth or sixth, just because of the way I was playing.”
Bonanno said she started to tense up after the second hole on a cold, windy day in which the conditions were almost the complete opposite of Friday.
“Yesterday, it was just calm,” said Bonanno, who has verbally committed to Arkansas-Little Rock. “Today, you stand over your putt and you have to back up. It was so windy that I didn’t want to putt, and everything was just a whole different ballgame today.”
Bonanno added that she also had difficulty choosing which club to hit going into greens throughout her round.
It all left Bonanno feeling torn between being upset with herself and satisfied with what she accomplished this weekend.
“It’s a mix of emotions at this point,” Bonanno said. “I’m disappointed, but I’m happy that I placed. It’s always good to finish in the top 10. I’m disappointed because I was in the lead and shot 67 yesterday. … There’s no one else to blame but myself, but there were different conditions (on Saturday) and I didn’t adjust to them very well.”
Bonanno finished second at the state tournament three times in her four-year high school career. She finished second as both a freshman (Class AA) and a sophomore (Class A), and she won the Class A state title a year ago.
