The Bernal sisters, Lina and Lucia, represented Central Valley High School’s girls golf team for the final time this past month.

Lina, a senior, shot a 136 while competing at the Central California Conference Championships on Oct. 18 at the Merced Country Club.

Lucia, a junior, fired a 156.

“I could have done better,” Lina said. “I was not at the level I should be. This is just my second year playing golf. I felt out of place. The other girls made it fun. They were really nice.”

“I tried my hardest,” Lucia said. “I wish I practiced more (leading up to the tournament). The weather conditions closed the driving range. It was raining before we played. The greens were slower because of the rain.”

Lucia and Lina were teammates for two seasons at Central Valley.

Lucia was a freshman and Lina was a sophomore during their first year playing together in 2019. Lina and Lucia shot 130 and 151, respectively, as the Hawks placed fifth overall at the CCC End-Of-Season Tournament at Rancho Del Rey Golf Course.

Lina decided to play this fall after taking a break from the sport junior year.

“I feel grateful we had a chance to play together,” Lucia said. “Our parents were really excited. Even though we were already close, we were able to share memories and get closer. We helped each other out during practices. Warming up, we joked around. During matches, we had a sisterly competition. We pushed each other to play better.”

“Playing together at the high-school level was fun,” Lina said. “We’re pretty even. We had very similar scores. We’re very competitive. It drove us to play better. Neither of us wanted to lose to each other.”

Lucia and Lina didn’t get to enjoy team success together this year due to a lack of numbers.

The Hawks lost all of their matches during the CCC regular season.

Central Valley had enough players on its roster to compete but never filled a full lineup for various reasons.

“It’s a bit upsetting not being able to post team scores,” Lina said. “The girls that were there showed up and tried.”

“It’s sad we didn’t get to compete as a team,” Lucia said. “At the end of the day, we had fun.”

Lucia will return to the team next season.

Cousin Kalaieda Bernal will suit up for the Hawks for the second year in a row.