University's Gulugian wins CIF South Regional

HEMET - The longest putt was the only one to go in during the sudden-death playoff at Landmark Golf Club on Monday, and when the 20-foot downhill right-to-left breaker dropped to the bottom of the cup, Ani Gulugian had a birdie on the par-5 No. 10 and her second consecutive victory in the CIF-SS Individual girls golf Southern Regional. 

"It was a little nerve-racking," the University High senior said. "But I just trusted it, and it went in. To be honest, I don't feel like my putting is as good as it normally is, but I tend to bring it out when I am under a lot of pressure." 

Gulugian finished tied with Cerritos' Beverly Vatananugulkit after they carded a pair of 4-under 67s. On the playoff hole, Gulugian left her second shot 30 yards short of the green in the rough while Vatananugulkit was in the fairway about 5 yards closer. 

Vatananugulkit's low-flying approach bounced on the front of the green and rolled past the pin until it was sitting just inside Gulugian's ball. Vatananugulkit's putt appeared to have the correct speed, but it wasn't on the right line, and she had to settle for a par and second place. 

Gulugian still wasn't completely happy with her round.

"I made some stupid mistakes, and I should have birdied a lot more holes than I did. And then I had a three-put bogey," Gulugian said, holding her hands slightly apart, "from about that far away." 

The top 45 finishers in the 109-player field earned a spot in the CIF Southern Section Individual Championship, which will be held Nov. 9 at Talega. 

Among the qualifiers was Los Alamitos freshman Esther Lee. She was tied with Temecula's Veronica Valerio for third after shooting a 2-under 69. But she birdied the 319 par-4 11th, the second sudden-death hole the duo played, to earn third-place outright.

"I am happy with my score today. I had a lot of close shots and I could have made some more putts," said Lee, who was the medalist in all 18 matches the Griffins played this season. "I could have played better ... Well, it's a good score, so I am not disappointed, but there is some room for improvement."

The other county players who finished under par on Monday —: Lauren Draganza (Newport Harbor), Victoria Nguyen (Mater Dei) and Kaitlin Park (Beckman) — all finished with a 1-under 70.

RESULTS (45 Players that made the cut and advanced to the CIF SS Finals)

1. Ani Gulugian (University), 67, 2. Beverly Vatananugulkit (Cerritos), 67; 3. Esther Lee (Los Alamitos), 69; 4. Veronica Valerio (Temecula), 69; 5t. Kaitlin Park (Beckman), 70; 5t. Victoria Nguyen (Mater Dei), 70; 5t. Lauren Draganza (Newport Harbor), 70; 8t. Monica Umpant (Cerritos), 72; 8t. Kristina Nhim (Cypress) 72; 10t. Tina Kwon (Beckman), 73; 10t. Nadine Rivera (Cypress), 73; 10t. Han Wu (Cerritos), 73; 10t. Annie Downey (Mission Viejo), 73; 10t. Kimmy Hill (Palm Desert), 73; 10t. Tisha Abrea (Vista Murrietta), 73; 10t. Anna DePalma (San Clemente), 73

17. Kayla Cordeiro (Cerritos), 74; 18t. Tracey Kim (Northwood), 75; 18t. Charlene Dahlstrom (Trabuco Hills), 75; 18t. Savannah Vilaubi (Warren), 75; 21t. Sally Kim (Cypress), 76; 21t. Rachel Kim (Northwood), 76; Allie Zech (Palm Desert) 76; 21t. Kelsey Hummer (Santa Margarita), 76; 21t. Melissa Wattana (University), 76; 26t. Ashley Husbands (Foothill), 77; 26t. Brooke Melvin (Great Oak), 77; 26t. Ashley Greer (Marina), 77; 26t. Amy Alston (Santa Margarita), 77; 26t. Riley Leming (Vista Murrieta), 77; 31t. Grace Komoroczy (Laguna Beach), 78; 31t. Ashley Peters (Estancia), 78; 31t. Amy Straitt (Riverside Poly), 78; 34t. Amy Lee (Irvine), 79; 34t. Natascha Wiebe (La Quinta), 79; 34t. Lauren Mata (Palm Desert), 79; 34t. Carolina Garza (San Clemente), 79; 39t. Andrea Slane (Great Oak), 80; 39t. Halle Young (Marina), 80; 39t. Brittany Branker (Mission Viejo), 80; 39t. Carolane Gariepy (Vista Murrieta), 80; 39t. Darlene Yao (Warren), 80; 44t. Autumn Thomas (Trabuco Hills), 81; 44t. Ivy Baek (University), 81