Although Walker didn't shoot her best round ever those three days in Florida with scores of 85, 88 and 86, she did realize how much she enjoys the game and that she wants to share her knowledge by becoming a head coach.
"I love the game so much that I want to teach others about it," Walker said. "It seems like a great job. You get to recruit, you get to travel, you get to teach and you still get to play. I actually told Alan Sue, my former golf coach at Cal State East Bay, that I wanted his job when he retires."
Sue's assistant coach, Mario Castellanos, said that Walker would make a great coach someday.
"One of the great attributes she has is that she is an all-around athlete," Castellanos said. "She played basketball in high school as well as golf, so she was able to see what it's like to play a team sport and an individual sport. She has a great feel for the game and she's an excellent role model."
Christina Walker has come a long way since she first began to play golf when she was in the 8th grade. Christina's father, Charles, said Christina became more involved with golf after she transferred from Bethel High to St. Patrick-St. Vincent after her freshmen year of high school.
"She was on the varsity basketball squad her freshmen year at Bethel, which was great, but the only problem was she started getting into too much trouble hanging around seniors too much," Charles Walker said. "I told her I didn't want her hanging around those 12th graders, and that she was going to come live with me and go to St. Pat's. I also told her that in order for her to play basketball at St. Pat's, she would also have to play golf."
Derek Walker, Christina's brother and the head boys basketball coach at St. Pat's, said Christina did not like playing golf when she first began playing the sport.
"At first, getting her out on the course was like pulling teeth," Derek Walker said, with a laugh. "Once she started playing more with her friends and getting better at the sport she seemed to enjoy it more."
It didn't take long for Christina to play well in the sport. Only two years after she first began playing casually in the summer between eighth and ninth grade, Christina was an All-Bay Shore Athletic League selection for the Bruins. After a brief stint playing golf in Hampton, Va., Christina decided to come back to California and attend Cal State University East Bay, where she became a force playing with the golf team.
"She has grown so much as a golfer," Castellanos said. "When she first started playing at Cal State East Bay she was shooting scores around 100. By the time she finished she was shooting in the low 70s, or high 80s. That's one of the things that's really admirable about her. Her improving scores say a lot about her desire and the way she practices, which is very smart."
Christina's low scores enabled her to make the trip to the 25th Annual PGA Minority Collegiate Championship. At first, Christina didn't realize the significance of her invitation.
"At first when I was filling out the paperwork for the tournament, I thought it was just an event that everybody could go to," Christina Walker said. "It wasn't until a week or two later and a month before the tournament that I realized that it was invitation only."
When Christina Walker got to Florida, she said it was like nothing she had ever experienced.
"I had never been to Florida, and it was very hot and humid," Christina Walker said. "I liked the course because it was not that narrow, so I had a lot of space to mess up in case that happened. The facilities were unbelievable as well. I wish I had represented myself better with my scores, but I felt very honored to play there."
Christina said she learned a lot more off the links while she was in Port St. Lucie as well.
"I learned a lot about African American History over the years in golf," Christina Walker said. "I didn't know very much about it and now I know there are a lot of people just like me out there. More than anything though, the trip showed me that there are a lot of opportunities for me to work in golf."