TWIN LAKES — Next year, when the 29th annual Ladies County Open rolls around, there is a decent chance that Rocco Pallin won’t win a Championship Flight title for a record fourth consecutive year.

And the player most likely responsible for ending that streak?

Rocco Pallin.

“I have to be in New Hampshire at school for the summer taking classes, so I don’t know if I’ll be home. I might and I might not,” said Pallin, who recently completed her freshman year at Ivy League member Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., where she also runs track for the Big Green.

From a competitive standpoint, the other Championship Flight players probably wouldn’t mind if Pallin swaps her golf clubs for textbooks next July — not after what she’s done in the last three Ladies County Opens.

Pallin shot a final-round 77 (40-37) — 5-over — for the third year in a row on Sunday at Twin Lakes Country Club to finish with a 36-hole total of 155. That gave her a 10-shot victory over three-time champion Karen Sarbacker, who shot an 80 (42-38) Sunday. Sue Rawlins placed third in the 16-player division at 171 (86-85).

Pallin is now 3-for-3 in her only Ladies County Open appearances and matched fellow Tremper graduate Jill Sivley as the only players to three-peat in Championship Flight in tournament history. Sivley’s three straight titles came from 1999 through 2001, capping a run of four in five years.

Coincidentally, Sivley’s last triumph also occurred when the final round was play at Twin Lakes.

Pallin and Sivley have never met, although, “I’ve heard a lot of things from (longtime Tremper girls golf coach Nancy) Phipps,” said Pallin, who rallied from a five-shot deficit with seven holes remaining to win her first Open in 2007 at Maplecrest Country Club.

“It’s nice. There are times I wish I’d played better, but it’s been fun,” Pallin continued. “I think maybe the first one was the most exciting. I had never played (it) before, so I didn’t have any idea what to expect. And then playing against (former Bradford standout) Gianna (Tenuta) and how we were competitive in high school some times, that was nice to come back like that.

“Since then, I’ve gotten better overall but I don’t think I’ve really played any better the last two years than I did the first year.”

Pallin’s winning scores suggest otherwise. With a 162 total, Pallin defeated Tenuta by three in ’07 and beat Sarbacker by six with a 156 total last year.

Pallin’s 155 is the fourth-lowest winning total ever, trailing only Carly Werwie’s record 153 in 2003, Sivley’s 154 in 2001 and Jennifer Young’s 154 in 2002.

Entering Sunday with a seven-shot cushion over Sarbacker and Kris Allison, Pallin basically had title No. 3 clinched before the final foursome reached the back nine. Pallin parred the first five holes and, despite slicing a drive out of bounds and making a double-bogey on the par-4 seventh, still led Rawlins by eight and Sarbacker by nine at the turn.

Pallin bogeyed Nos. 10-12 but played the final six holes in 1-under. She hit a sand wedge to 5 feet and a pitching wedge to 6 feet to set up birdies on Nos. 13 and 16, both par-4s.

Sarbacker, who became the tournament’s oldest Championship Flight winner at 53 in 2006, also birdied No. 16 but by then it was much too late.

Yet Sarbacker conceded that she likely would have had to play the round of her life to have an opportunity to beat Pallin.

“I’m not disappointed to lose to a player like her,” Sarbacker said. “She hits the ball 70 yards further than I and is just consistent. Even today, her 77, I think she’s probably disappointed with that. I think she can score easily much lower than that. It’s just a pleasure to watch her play and hit the ball like that.

“She’s impressive. She’s talented enough to win many more than three in a row.”

Unless, of course, Pallin decides to choose a summer in the classroom instead of a weekend in the fairway.

Other Flights

In A-Flight, Keisha Stickler rallied from a two-shot deficit at the start of Sunday for a three-shot victory over first-round leader Sandra Wood. Stickler fired a 92 (45-47) to finish at 186, while Wood fired a 97 (48-49) for a 189.

In B-Flight, Cora Zarnsdorff and Mary Nowakowski each finished regulation with 199 totals. Instead of a playoff, though, Zarnsdorff was declared the winner because she made a 6 to Nowakowski’s 7 on the No. 1 handicap hole, the par-5 fourth. Zarnsdorff, who began Sunday two shots behind co-leaders Nowakowski and Cathy Pierce, fired a 97 (49-48), while Nowakowski shot a 99 (50-49).

In C-Flight, Laurie Dust held off Tina Chatman for the win. Chatman fired the lowest round, a 96 (47-49), in the 13-player division on Sunday. But Dust, who began the day one shot behind leader Cindy Lichter, shot a 97 (46-51) to finish at 208, three ahead of Chatman.