RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Ysabel Tran sat patiently at a table way in the back of the Red Hill Country Club banquet room, studying the leader board, to see if he her 1-over-par 75 would be good enough to finish inside the top six. Those are the places that earn a medal at the CIF State girls golf Championship.
But when the final score went up, the Troy senior got up from her chair, gave Warriors coach Jerry Cowgill a hug and headed for home. She had tied for eighth, and there isn’t award for that.
Sabrina Iqbal from Pioneer of San Jose, won with a 3-under-par 71. Diamond Bar placed first in the team competition, shooting a 381, which put the Brahmas 20 strokes ahead of Torrey Pines.
Fountain Valley senior Lilia Vu, who was making her third state championship appearance, tied for 14th with a 76.
Sure, the results were a bit disappointing for Tran, but in the end, she said she still accomplished her goal on Tuesday which was to just have fun.
“This is state, and that is all I wanted to do since I made it this far,” Tran said. “But I am happy with being 1 over because I played strongly on the back nine.
Tran played her last nine holes at 2-under par, and came within inches of adding another birdie with her putt on the 169-yard, par 3 15th.
Mastering the greens at Red Hill proved to be quite challenge on Tuesday, but not just because of the slope. The pin sheets the players were given before the round, Tran said, were wrong.
Still, she didn’t have one three-putt on Tuesday, largely becasue of some advice that Cowgill gave her before she teed off. He told her everything breaks away from the nearby San Bernardino Mountains.
“I was lucky enough to get some very good information from him,” said Tran, who posted a 72.4 scoring average through her five postseason tournaments. “And that really helped when I considered it with the speed and everything (on the greens).”
Tran’s round began to turn around on the eighth hole when she chipped in from the back of the green for a birdie to go to 2-over par. Tran wasn’t trying to hole it. All she said she wanted to do was get it close to get an easy look at par.
“But the ball just kept on going and going. I looked away and then looked back, and it was still going,” said Tran, who recently signed a letter of intent with Cal State Northridge. “And when I saw it get close, I said, ‘Just go in already.’ That was a huge relief.”
Vu also chipped in for an birdie on the eighth to go to even par. Her birdie might have been more difficult that Tran’s because her second shot was on the fringe, nestled up against some long grass. Vu pulled out her putter first before deciding to go with a wedge.
That was the only highlight for Vu on a rather frustrating day. After winning the WSCGA So Cal Championships on Tuesday in San Bernardino, Vu said she was looking forward to getting back on the fast Red Hill greens. But on Tuesday she couldn’t seem to dial in the speed or read the break and had four three putts.
“Everything could have been better,” Vu said. “I didn’t do as good as I wanted to, but I am not like sad. It’s OK.”
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CIF State Championship
at Red Hill Country Club, Rancho Cucamonga, par 74
Team Results
1. Diamond Bar 381, 2. Torrey Pines 401, 3. Rancho Bernardo 405, 4. St. Francis 412, 5. Dougherty Valley 421, 6. Monte Vista 423
Individual Results
1. Sabrina Iqbal (Pioneer) 71, 2. Kathleen Scavo (Justin-Sienna) 72, 3t. Brooke Riley (East Union) 73, 3t. Bethany Wu (Diamond Bar) 73, 5t. Brigitte Dunne (Oaks Christian) 74, 5t. Kaitleen Shee (Diamond Bar) 74, 5t. Crystal Wang (Diamond Bar) 74, 8t. Samantha Gong (St. Ignatius) 75, 8t. Ali Morallos (Long Beach Wilson) 75, 8t. Nina Novilla (Torrance) 75, 8t. Calista Reyes (Rancho Bernardo) 75, 8t. Ysabel Tran (Troy) 75, Anna Zho
