Vu crusies to victory in CIF Southern Regional

LONG BEACH – She showed her shiny gold medal to all of the girls who stopped by to offer their congratulations outside the clubhouse here at Recreation Park Golf Course. Through it all, Lila Vu hardly managed even a hint of a smile. Her well wishers seemed more excited than the Fountain Valley freshman.

“I’m kind of OK,” Vu said. “I wanted to come out here and do well.”

And it would have been hard for her to do any better. She finished the CIF-SS Southern Region Individual championship three shots clear of second place after birding five holes to post a 4-under-par 70.

Vu, though, was hardly satisfied with this triumph. She thinks she left herself with far too many long birdie putts because she had a hard time judging the distances to some of the elevated greens. And she’s thinking about the bigger tournaments that are yet to come such as the CIF Championship and the WSCGA state qualifying tournament.

“She is very even keel and matter of fact. She just goes out there and goes about her business,” Fountain Valley coach Carter Keyser said. “I am excited, though. Four year of her … wow that’s going to be nice. This is the hope of our future right here.”

It has been a while since the Barons have had a Southern Section champion. Candie Kung was the last Barons girls golfer to do it, winning the tournament in 1998. Vu was among the 45 players who advanced from the regional to the CIF championship which will be played on Monday at Talega Golf Club in San Clemente. The cut was 83.

“I really wanted to make it to the last stage,” Vu said. “I don’t want to let myself get happy until it is done. Then I can be happy.”

Keyser said he wasn’t at all surprised to see his player come out here on Monday and post a 70. She medaled in all but one of the 15 matches that she played this past season for Fountain Valley, and she posted a 2-under-par 36 on the front nine at Rec Park during a match against Los Alamitos, Long Beach Poly and Long Beach Wilson this fall.

“She is very competitive. When we lost, she felt responsible,” Keyser said. “We were 12-4 this year, and that was really because of her.”

Beckman senior Kaitlin Park and Los Alamitos junior Esther Lee both carded a 1-under-par 73, but Park was awarded second place because she finished with a 3-under-par 33, which was one shot better than Lee’s performance over those holes. Lee came in third.

Park, however, knows she could have done much better, maybe even good enough to knock Vu out of first. She took a quadruple bogey on the par-4 eighth hole, moving her from 1-under to 3-over. Park picked the wrong time to try out a shot that she hasn’t practiced all that much, and she ended up skulling her ball out of the bunker.
“After that I was stunned, and I rushed myself too much. And I was chunking my chips,” Park said. “But I didn’t get mad, and I forgot about it really quick. I moved on and started making birdies.”

She almost had an ace on the 122-yard, par-3 No. 16 with her tee shot rolling to with 2 feet of the pin. Park tapped in for a birdie.

“My shot kind of picked up on the back nine, and I started getting more accurate,” Park said.

Lee said she had a hard time adjusting the greens which were surprisingly fast considering the course was quite damp after being blanketed in an early-morning fog, and she was at 1-over-par when she stepped onto the tee of the 489-yard, par-5 No. 14. She eagled the second hole on the course, though, putting her at 1-under-par.

“Definitely my chipping and my putting could have been better. That is what really threw me off,” said Lee, who finished second in the CIF State Championship tournament last season. “Early on (in the postseason). I am just worried about moving on. Come Murrieta (the WSCGA So Cal Championships). I will really try to go low.”

RESULTS

At Recreation Park Golf Course, Long Beach, par 74

The 45 players who made the cut and have advanced to the CIF-SS Championship on Monday at Talega Golf Club in San Clemente

1. Lilia Vu, Fountain Valley, 70; 2. Kaitlin Park, Beckman, 73*; 3. Esther Lee, Los Alamitos, 73; 4t. Stephanie Lau, Valley Christian/Cerritos, 73; 4t. Raychelle Santos, La Quinta/La Quinta, 73; 6. Euna Park, Northwood, 74; 7. Jennifer Yu, Edison, 75; 8t. Kimmy Hill, Palm Desert, 76; 8t. Danielle Lee, La Mirada, 76; 8t. Amy Lee, Irvine, 76; 8t. Monika Poomcharoen, Great Oak, 76; 8t. Joo Seo, Aliso Niguel, 76; 8t. Cha Cha Willhoite, Palm Desert, 76

14t. Kristel Estoque, Long Beach Poly, 77; 14t. Avery French, Dana Hills, 77; 16t. Carolane Gariepy, Vista Murrieta, 78; 16t. Tracey Kim, Northwood, 78; 16t. Trexie Petchel, Vista Murrieta, 78; 16t. Mackenzie Raim, Palm Desert, 78

20t. Baylee Barckley, Temescal Canyon, 79; 20t. Elizabeth Soewondo, Dana Hills, 79; 22t. Alicia Arzaga, Long Beach Wilson, 80; 22t. Arinda Bhanaraska, Claremont, 80; 22t. Jamie Gracie, Long Beach Poly, 22t. Christabelle Kim, Cypress, 80; 22t. Allison Lillie, Troy, 80; 22t. Caroline Ordian, Palm Desert, 80; 22t. Genie Short, Woodbridge, 80; Haley Wian, Marina, 80; 22t. Theodora Yoch, Tesoro, 80; 22t. Allie Zech, 80; 22t. Maddy Ziering-Smith, Laguna Hills, 80

33t. Dayna Doidge, Riverside Poly, 81; 33t. Jamie Harada, Mater Dei, 81; 33t. Riley Leming, Vista Murrieta, 81; 33t. Grace Park, University, 81; 33t. Amy Straitt, Riverside Poly, 81; 33rt Nicole Yson, Santa Margarita, 81; 39t. Jakeishya Le, Mater Dei, 82; 39t. Danna Plourde, Great Oak, 82; 41t. Nea Bennett, Kennedy, 83; 41t. Victoria Cha, Troy; 83; 41t. Maddy Fedoruk, Riverside Poly, 83; Elaine Tse, University, 83; 41t. Kayla Vizcarra, Troy, 83  

*-decided on card-off