over the UK, and
her favorite in
Maui due to the
beautiful condi-
tions and views.
The same week
Bacardi finished
her career as
a Falcon at the
FHSAA State
Championships,
she signed her NCAA commitment to continue her career at
the University of Virginia where she will major in Business.
As one chapter closes on the Varsity Girls Golf team,
another is just beginning. Danielle Hernandez has loved
playing golf since the moment her parents enrolled her in a
golf camp at the age of five. In 2023, Hernandez enrolled at
Palmer Trinity as an eighth grader and immediately earned
her spot on the Varsity Girls Golf team. Similar to Bacardi,
Hernandez's training regimen includes multiple hours every
day and competing in tournaments around the nation.
On the Varsity Girls Golf team,
Hernandez has looked up to Bacardi as
a role model and mentor. "It was really
fun to be on the same team as Remi.
She's so sweet and funny and I think I
really learned from how she plays. She
stays really calm and does not let a bad
shot affect her at all – which is what
I think I learned the most," Hernandez
says of her teammate.
While Hernandez may look up to
Bacardi, Hernandez has already begun
adding to her own list of accolades. In
2024, Hernandez beat Bacardi by one
stroke to earn the Palm League title,
her first major tournament win for Palmer Trinity. The same
week came another first: a hole-in-one. Hernandez initially
thought she hit her seven-iron too strong on Granada's 7
th
hole, a 132-yard par three. "I actually thought the ball went
over the green. I was so surprised and excited to see my
ball in the hole," Hernandez recalls.
Hernandez finished the year right alongside Bacardi one
last time after earning an at-large bid to compete at the
FHSAA State Championships. Hernandez shot a 75 on
both days, finishing 31
st
overall to complete her ninth-
grade season.
With Bacardi set to move on to her next adventure,
Hernandez will have big shoes to fill, but is excited about
the opportunity. Holstein is confident Hernandez has what
it takes. "If there is one person who will rise to the occasion,
it is Dani. She is driven, loves the game of golf, and has a
clear vision of what she wants," Holstein describes. In just a
few years since their first season, the Varsity Girls Golf team
continues to improve and succeed, and clearly, the future is
just as bright.
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