Telles captures second place at state

“Having my dad there supporting me through each hole and reminding me that every hole is a new game, really made me change the way I played,” Telles said of her father and coach Dan Telles. “After those two bogeys I was ticked. My dad knew I was and he reminded me that I couldn't do anything about it, so just fix it and move on. And well, I did I ended up having a birdie on the next hole.”

Telles wound up tied with Pendleton junior Haley Greb, and they were eight strokes behind tournament champion Kiana Oshiro, of Crater, who had a 67-75 for a 142.

Summit’s Olivia Loberg (154), Crater’s Daniele Giles (157), Summit’s Rachel Drgastin (157), Wilsonville’s Kaitlyn Howe (158), Summit’s Sarah Heinly (165), Ridgeview’s Tianna Brown (168), Summit’s Josephine Fraser (170) and Pendleton’s Shelby Greb (173) rounded out the individuals.

On the first day, Oshiro had four birdies, an eagle and a bogey for her five-under par 67, and she followed that up with 11 pars, three birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys.

Haley Greb carded a 75 on the first day and then had 10 pars, three birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey on the second day and a total of 75.

Telles was tied for fourth place through the first round of play, but had eight pars, five on the back-nine, along with three birdies on holes two, three and eight.

She had a 77 and was 10 strokes in back of Oshiro.

After her round, Telles wanted to improve on her putting and her driver.

“My approach shots were pretty much the only thing working for me,” she said. “I wasn't consistent with anything else.”

Under harsh winds on the second day, Telles changed her approach and added a strategy of shooting with the wind to better her scores.

She had only five bogeys in the second round, but had four birdies and had five consecutive pars to end her round at a one-under 35.

“She played much better today. She was more consistent and she executed her shots,” said Dan Telles. “I am real proud of her. She started bogey-bogey and then she started to play the wind. She came back and fought through it and she made some real good shots. The course was a little tougher on the second day because of the wind and the greens were faster. With that, everyone’s scores went up and she had the lowest score of the top group. She played fantastic.”

With the play of Loberg, Drgastin, Heinly and Josephine Fraser, the Summit girls’ won the team crown with a combined 646, 61 strokes ahead of Pendleton (707).

Crater (712), Bend (786), Wilsonville (789), Crescent Valley (816), Lebanon (885) and Sandy (937) rounded out the order of finish.

In her freshman year, Iliana Telles had a 176, placing her eighth overall at Emerald Valley Country Club in Creswell.

Last season at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, she posted a birdie and six pars on the final nine holes for a 76 and a two-day total of 155 to finish in a fourth-place tie.

While there have been marked improvements in her all-around game, the competition figures to be just as challenging next season, as six of the top-10 players and 14 of the top-20 will be back next season.

“I have so much confidence in myself next year,” Iliana said. “I just know I can’t get too excited and mess up. I do need to keep working and take no days off. I am very honored to be one of the girls on top. I just know that it won’t be easy next year. I have to keep my scores low and my confidence high.”