Rina Kawasaki, a freshman from Palos Verdes High School, displayed the composure and confidence of a seasoned veteran, rising to the occasion with a clutch performance when it mattered most at San Gabriel CC.
In a two-hole playoff, against the CIF State Girls HS defending champion, Kawasaki rolled in a 15-foot, slightly downhill birdie putt on the 18th green to end it and become California’s newest state champion.
“I had a really similar putt the first time and I made that too so I was just like, ‘do the same thing, aim at the same place,’” said Kawasaki. “It feels great. I worked really hard these few months and I’m really happy to see that all of my work has paid off.”
Kawasaki’s round featured 11 pars, five birdies, and two bogeys, highlighted by her steady play on the front nine (34) and precise ball-striking on the back nine (35). Her ability to navigate the challenging par 5s and clutch birdies on the 2nd and 13th holes positioned her for a strong finish.
Starting her round on the tenth hole, Zoe Jiamanukoonkit, representing Torrey Pines, opened with an even-par 36 on the back nine. After a bogey on the 10th, the 2023 state champion found her rhythm with pars and eventually carded a birdie on the 13th to stay in contention.
Kawasaki, with birdies on holes two and eight, held a two-stroke advantage as each of them approached their final nine holes.
“I hit a lot of good drives, far and straight,” Kawasaki said. “I was struggling with my irons a bit, but I was happy to see that they were going straight today.”
Jiamanukoonkit caught fire as soon as she made the turn, converting three consecutive birdies on holes two, three and four to immediately take reign at the top of the leaderboard. Kawasaki joined her with her third birdie of the day on the 13th.
Jiamanukoonkit stayed steady under pressure, parring her final holes to finish at three-under 69 in regulation and eventually force the playoff. Kawasaki, meanwhile, took a more dramatic path to her three-under finish. After the birdie on 13, she stumbled with back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15, momentarily slipping out of contention. But the freshman showed incredible resilience, bouncing back with clutch birdies on the 16th (par-4) and 17th (par-5) to keep her championship hopes alive.
Each of them parred the first playoff hole. Kawasaki’s tee shot on the second playoff hole (No. 18) landed straight down the middle. Jiamanukoonkit went left into the rough and was forced to thread her second shot around a tree on to a green guarded by bunkers on the left side.
Her second shot landed in those bunkers, and despite a great shot out, Kawasaki planted her second shot onto the far left side of the green, setting up her 15-foot game winner.
“I was in disbelief. I was like, ‘oh my gosh, it actually went in. I actually won,’” Kawasaki said. “Over the season I think I learned a lot of things that I normally wouldn’t have just playing by myself. I’m really happy to see that my game has gotten better. It’s evolved and overall it’s in a really good spot.”
Torrey Pines HS won its first state championship since 2013, highlighted by strong individual performances from Jiamanukoonkit (69) and 2023 SoCal Junior Amateur champion Kate Hu (70), who individually finished second and third place, respectively.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said longtime Falcons Head Coach, Chris Drake. “There’s so many talented golfers in California, especially here in Southern California. It’s an accomplishment to make it this far, to even be here and play against all these other girls and programs.”
The Falcons played spoiler to Santa Margarita’s charge at a third consecutive state title after coming within one stroke of dethroning the perennial powerhouse at last year’s state competition.
“It’s really what we wanted to do since they beat us last year by one stroke – we tied on the sixth player – so we were excited to get another opportunity and the girls saved their best for last,” said Drake.
And it may only be the beginning for Drake and his team, who graduate just one senior and possess several underclassmen ready to leave their mark next season.
“They get along very well,” Drake said. “It’s a really positive and supportive group. As a teacher of some of them, they’re in the van doing homework and talking about school. They’re a happy bunch and it’s really nice being around that.”