After a full season of golf and city section championships across the Southland, it all came down to the SoCal Girls Championship to see who would make it to the biggest stage in high school golf. 124 golfers teed off at 8 a.m., but only nine individuals and three teams qualified to play Poppy Hills GC next week.
At Brookside GC in Pasadena, El Camino HS sophomore Jasmine Leovao stormed from behind to take the title over Coronado’s Crista Izuzquiza in a one-hole playoff. Finishing the day at 2-under, Leovao hit her stride with four birdies on the back nine to pass a stacked top of the field.
“My dad and my coaches have helped me a lot with my mental game and them supporting me really helped me,” Leovao said.
Angelica Kusnowo of Diamond Bar HS had a hot round early on. She held a three-stroke lead after knocking in five birdies within 13 holes. Emma Tang of Chino Hills HS fired three birdies in a row on the back nine and after Kusnowo’s double bogey on No.1, all bets were off and the two were tied at 2-under.
A major shuffle of leaders began in the afternoon, with Leovao of El Camino HS shooting up to the top of the leaderboard after overcoming a double bogey on No. 9, joining Kusnowo and Tang at 2-under. It came down to the last few holes where Kusnowo and Tang dropped to 1-under, and Izuzquiza joined Leovao atop the leaderboard. Upon reaching the scoring tent, the two learned there was a playoff in their future.
Teeing off on the tenth hole to start the playoff, Leovao nearly drove the green on her drive, and after hitting her chip really heavy was left with a long birdie putt. Neither Leovao nor Izuzquiza made their birdie putts, but after Leovao sunk her par putt and Izuzquiza did not, the championship was sealed.
“I was actually extremely nervous,” Leovao said about the playoff. “I”m glad that I pulled through and made a really clutch putt to win. I’m really happy.”
On the team side, Diamond Bar H.S. held a confident 5-stroke lead all morning. It wasn’t until the back nine when defending regional champs Mater Dei H.S. (Chula Vista) climbed up the leaderboard. It wasn't long though, until Troy H.S. claimed the lead and won by four strokes. They join Mater Dei H.S. and Diamond Bar H.S. at the state championship at Poppy Hills GC.
QUALIFYING TEAMS
Troy
Sherilyn Villanueva
Kamile Dimayuga
Gabriella Kano
Amy Kim
Hannah Ulibarri
Isabel Sy
Mater Dei (Chula Vista)
Mariana Garcia Rosette
Estibaly Garcia
Monteserrat Ramirez
Daniela Burgos
Ivanna Montemayor
Jessica Moreno Reyes
Diamond Bar
Angelica Kusnowo
Irene Park
Alicia Kuo
Emma Han
Esther Lee
Iris Liu
Jasmine Leovao
Crista Izuzquiza
Angela Heo
Kelly Xu
Emma Tang
Caroline Canales
Jennifer Cai
Tiffany Le
Tititia Loudtragulngam
