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Bowie High School's Gabriella Sinkovic walked off the final green of the Maryland State Golf Championships and double checked her scorecard with the official scorer. She spent some time chatting with friends and taking photos.

She grabbed her bag and hopped in a golf cart to ride back to the clubhouse at Potomac Ridge Golf Course in Waldorf. Her exhausting day was finally over, and so was her high school golf career.

It's a career that garnered admiration from the Prince George's County golfing community and will go down as one of the best in Bowie history.

The senior shot an 87 on Oct. 21 and finished in a tie for sixth place with a 168. She played well on the back nine as she shot a 3-over par. But the front nine cost her any chance of competing for the state championship.

Sinkovic entered the day three shots off the lead for the girls' state title. She bogeyed the first two holes before she birdied the third. Her day took a turn for the worse on the two par 5 holes on the front nine, where she shot a 9-over par. That included a 12 on the No. 16 par 5.

"It was tough out there and the two par-5s killed me, and I don't know where they came from," she said. "So without them I could have done pretty well, but even with them I still had a good day and finished in the top 10. I wish I could have done better, but those two holes were just killer."

She followed that disastrous hole with a par on the next hole. Charles H. Flowers coach Lavelle Green said Sinkovic's ability to forget about the bad holes and move on is one of her best qualities. Green said he remembered the days when Sinkovic first started her golf career at Bowie and she was shooting in the 100s. But she kept working and became one of the better golfers in the state.

"She is the type of players most coaches dream about," he said. "She has the desire, dedication and determination to play golf. I would love to have 10 of her to come to my school and play with my kids. I think the sky is the limit for her."

Sinkovic finished her senior season with a regional championship and a second-place finish in the county championship. She finished third at the third annual Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Girls Golf Challenge on Oct. 3. She finished with the second-lowest nine-hole average in the county this fall (37.42).

Bowie coach Paul Dorsey said those accolades are due in large part to Sinkovic's work ethic.

"She has a tremendous work ethic in golf, school and everything else she does," he said. "That's thanks to her parents and everyone that has helped her along. I told her that this was a little bump in the road and one hole doesn't define your career. Just treat it for what it is, which is a learning experience."

Sinkovic plans on taking some time off before she gets back on the golf course. She will play in tournaments in the spring and summer before heading off to college. She is not sure where she will continue her education, but hopes to keep playing golf at the next level.

"I still plan on playing a lot and going to the gym," she said. "I will play a lot in the summer and get ready for college. Hopefully I can play golf in college and make it my career."

E-mail Joshua Hudson at

jhudson@gazette.net.