Area golfers miss state finals cut after regional round
Eleven local players failed to advance from the Southern California Regional tournament, ending their seasons without a berth in next week's state competition.
By Harper Foster ·
Eleven golfers from the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley missed the cut for the CIF State Southern Section golf finals on Thursday. None of the local players secured a spot among the top nine individuals not on the top three teams. The regional round took place at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills. The state finals will be held next week at San Gabriel Country Club.
Ayala High School competed on its home course for the second time in three team postseason rounds. The Bulldogs shot a team score of 402, which was 32 strokes over par. That total placed them 22 shots behind third-place Crean Lutheran. Crean Lutheran earned the final team qualification slot with a score of 380. Ayala recorded only seven birdies as a team. The squad also posted 28 bogeys, 14 double bogeys, and one triple bogey.
Sophomore Jessica Yue led the Ayala effort with a one-over-par 75. She finished tied for 33rd place in the individual standings. This result concluded the most successful season in the program's history. The team won an undefeated Palomares League championship and defeated Mater Dei by 21 shots at the Gary Christman Fall Classic. Five of the starting six players, including league champion Iris Soong, plan to return for the next season.
In the individual competition, King senior Emilyn Czaplicki started strong with three birdies in her first six holes. She shared the lead at one point but struggled late in the round. Czaplicki carded three bogeys in a four-hole stretch. Rancho Christian sophomore Lillian Phee was two under par after the first nine holes. Consecutive bogeys dropped her to even par before she birdied the 129-yard 10th hole to return to one under.
Czaplicki, Phee, and Beaumont's Maleah Clark all finished tied for 21st place with scores of 74. They missed a playoff for the ninth-place spot by one shot. Phee bogeyed the final hole to fall into the tie, while Clark closed with a birdie. One under par was the highest score needed to advance in the four years that Los Serranos has hosted this regional event.
Murrieta Valley senior Maddie Sammon finished her high school career with a one-over-par 75. She tied for 33rd place alongside Orion International Academy's Alice Zhao. Zhao became the first golfer from her school to reach the regional finals. Temple City's Candace Ung started at two under par but matched Czaplicki's late round struggles with three bogeys in four holes. Ung shot a two-over-par 76 to finish tied for 41st.
La Serna junior Hailey Lopez shot a three-over-par 77 to finish tied for 52nd. Lopez had previously rallied with six birdies and one bogey over her final 13 holes to qualify for the regional round. She could not repeat that performance on Thursday. Santa Margarita won the regional team title with an eight-under-par 362, finishing four shots ahead of Orange Lutheran. Rose Callewart of Redondo Union won the individual championship with a four-under-par 70.
