Caitlin Pfaff carded a 90 while playing a practice round at Diablo Grande Golf & Country Club to prepare for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-IV tournament.
The Ceres High junior varsity girls standout returned to the Ranch Course on Oct. 21 and shot a 94 en route to a 12th-place finish at Divisionals.
Union Mine's Trisha Tolbert (83), Cosumnes Oaks' Morgan Walker (87) and Liberty Ranch's Natalie Whitford (91) received the three individual berths to the Masters Tournament.
"I missed it (qualifying for Masters) by two people," Pfaff said. "I had to get an 87 to go. I knew what I had to do. I just fell short. I let two holes get away from me. It sucks. The most frustrating part is I know I have the capabilities to move on."
Caitlin parred the No. 3 and 16 holes during her practice round.
She shot a combined 10-over par on both holes at Divisionals.
"As a golfer, you plan out the hole in your head," Pfaff said. "When you hit a ball out of bounds, you're in an awkward position. You have to map everything out again."
Pfaff capped off her junior season by shooting a par on the No. 17 hole.
"I could have gone to Masters easily," she said. "But today just wasn't my day. I actually thought I shot worse than 94. It gives me a new outlook for next season. I'm only going to get better from here."
Pfaff fired a 91 on her way to claiming the Western Athletic Conference End-of-Year Tournament title at Diablo Grande on Oct. 15.
Caitlin won her second straight WAC Most Valuable Player award.
She finished atop the individual standings (104 points).
Pfaff was awarded 24 points for her first-place showing at the end-of-year tourney.
"I practiced a lot harder this year," Pfaff said. "There are some things I need to work on to become a better player. My putting needs to improve. When I have a bad shot, I just need to stop letting it get to me. My giant goal is to go to Masters and advance to State."
Ceres High tied for fifth place with a team score of 538 at Divisionals.
Erica Hogner, Emily Nou, Brittany Turnbow, Monika Ramirez posted rounds of 104, 106, 113 and 121, respectively.
Marlen Diaz, Central Valley High School's lone Divisional qualifier, shot a 145.
"I'm satisfied with what we did this season," Bulldogs head coach Randy Cerny said. "We were competitive. We had the league champion. We'll look to improve next year."
Ceres High has amassed a 36-12 record in conference play and qualified for the postseason four times since 2010.
"It's a great feeling," Pfaff said. "Not only am I successful, but my team is. We all want the best for each other. We know we can do better."
Pfaff, Hogner, Nou, Turnbow, Ramirez, Dania Medina and Hannah Smith will return to the team next season.
Karen Delatorre will be lost to graduation.
Ceres High will be favored to win the WAC team title in 2014. Powerhouse Central Catholic will join the Valley Oak League as part of conference realignment.
"I feel like it's a reachable goal," Cerny said. "But we're not going to underestimate anybody."
