Pasco’s Jalayne Martinez wins 4A state girls golf title

Leading the field by five strokes with just three holes to play at Sun Willows Golf Course on Wednesday, Pasco senior golfer Jalayne Martinez seemed to be cruising to the Class 4A state championship.

Martinez would go on to win her first state title, firing rounds of 69 and 73 to finish 3-under overall. But it didn’t come without some drama down the stretch.

Birdies on holes 11 and 15 — the two par 5s on the back nine — put Martinez at 2-under for the day and 5-under overall, but then the wind picked up.

Playing straight into a stiff breeze on the par-3 16th, Martinez came away with her second bogey of the day, and followed that up by putting her second shot in the water on the par-4 17th. But with the finish line in sight, she regrouped.

“I just had to take some deep breaths, and I just had to remember, you know, ‘You’re fine,’ ” Martinez said. “ ‘You’re here for a reason. You can do this.’ So I just had to pick myself up a little bit.”

Martinez made it up-and-down on her next two strokes on the 17th to save bogey, and three-putted for bogey on the par-4 18th to become a two-stroke winner over Eastlake’s Ashley Fitzgibbons and Union’s Taylor Hartley, who both finished at even par for the championship.

“It’s pretty much a senior’s dream come true,” Martinez said. “Winning a state championship on your home turf is the best feeling ever.”

Richland senior Danika Palm, who entered the day tied for third, shot 74 and finished tied for sixth.

For Pasco coach Cesar Martinez, watching Jalayne — his niece — win the state title was something special.

“She walked in this year with the world in her eyes, just thinking, ‘I can take this,’ ” Cesar Martinez said. “It’s an honor to be her coach, to be her uncle. It’s an honor just to be at Pasco High doing this, watching these kids go through this wonderful experience.”

Martinez has been at Pasco for eight years and has either coached or will coach several Martinez family members, including Jalayne’s freshman sister Maylie Martinez, who played hurt and didn’t make the cut on the first day of the state championship. Jalayne has become the first Bulldog to win a state championship during Cesar’s tenure.

Cesar Martinez said Jalayne’s biggest areas of improvement since finishing seventh in the state tournament last year were her physical power and mental fortitude, both of which were on display Wednesday as she rallied through adversity on the final three holes and bombed drives all day, twice reaching par-5 greens in two strokes.

“It’s been amazing to see her transformation, from starting as a hopeful to play at a college university and now be solid, where people are trying to vie for her,” Martinez said of Jalayne, who is headed to Boise State after she graduates.

Playing with Jalayne Martinez in the final group, Palm faltered down the stretch as well and also bogeyed the last three holes. She still finished at three-over (147) to take home some hardware.

“This is the highest I’ve finished in state,” Palm said. “I had a rough season, but I’m happy I finished strong.”

Wednesday also saw a Washington state girls golf dynasty continue its dominance as Bellarmine Prep won its fifth straight team championship as six of its players finished in the top 28.

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Pasco’s Jalayne Martinez wins 4A state girls golf title."