The individual league stroke leader strengthened her ranking.

The team in second place narrowed its deficit.

Lompoc High/s Justine Heath had the best stroke total in the league before Thursday 7 by three strokes over her identical twin Julia. Justine was the medalist at a Los Padres League Tournament at Cypress Ridge in Oceano, shooting a 39 to Julia/s 40.

The players played the front nine, which is a par 36. Going into the tournament, Justine and Julia Heath were averaging 38 and 39 respectively.

Meanwhile, Santa Ynez earned six points in the league standings by shooting 264. League leader Lompoc shot a team 266, good for five points. St. Joseph came in at 286, Morro Bay shot a 296, Nipomo came in at 309 and Santa Maria scored a 318. No Cabrillo golfer competed.

&#8220We finally beat Lompoc,C Anthea Marette and Erin Gnekow said after they both shot a 49 to lead Santa Ynez. &#8220We/re really happy.C

Lompoc had won the first three league tournaments. The Braves hold a two-point lead over the Pirates in the league standings going into the LPL Finals. St. Joseph solidified its hold on third place.

The league finals begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at Rancho Maria Golf Course. St. Joseph will host.

Maranda Gaspar led the Knights with a 43, the third-lowest score of the day, but she wasn/t happy.

&#8220My putting was rough,C she said. &#8220The greens were really fast. Other than that, the course was nice.C

Justine Heath said, &#8220I didn/t start out too good, but after that I did okay so I had a okay score.C

Julia Heath wasn/t pleased with her score. &#8220I usually shoot 37, 36 at this course,C she said. &#8220My putting wasn/t good today, and I didn/t have good club selection.C

Gaspar has the third-lowest stroke average in the league. She was at 43.3 before Thursday. Teammate Marlee Mier was at 48.0. Mier shot a 45, the fourth-lowest score of the day.

Jessica Rudnick led Santa Maria with a 53. Emily Walsh was Morro Bay/s leader with a 54, and Breeanna Bryant was Nipomo/s low scorer with a 58.

Santa Ynez co-coach Wendy Phillips said she was &#8220really pleased with the team/s performance 7 especially beating Lompoc by two. It was a strong little turnaround.

&#8220We shot a really good team score for us on this course.C Jane Lindberg is Santa Ynez/s other co-coach.

Santa Maria coach Bob Campagne was happy his team was able to register a score. This was the first tournament of the season that all his five golfers competed in. A team must have five players to score.

&#8220It was nice to have all five of them here,C Campagne said.

Players and coaches said the Cypress Ridge course is a wolf in sheep/s clothing.

The picturesque course looks benign enough. But, &#8220It/s really hard,C said Marette. &#8220The hills are really tough.C With the course layout, &#8220You really have to walk a long way,C she and Gnekow said.

Justine Heath said, &#8220If you go past the greens, there are a lot of hazards back there.C

&#8220This was a beautiful day, and on a good weather day this is a great course to play,C said Campagne. &#8220But, even though the rankings are very different, this course plays like La Purisima.C

La Purisima, in Lompoc, is regarded around the league as one of the LPL/s toughest.

Sports writer Kenny Cress can be reached at 739-2237 or e-mail at kcress@santamariatimes.com

October 21, 2005