Southern Section

Tuesday, Nov. 25

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
At PGA of Southern California Champions Course, Par 72

The girls’ golf team from Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula entered the state championships looking to make a statement. It turned out to be more of an exclamation.

A day after dusting the field by 30 strokes in the Southern California regional, Peninsula nearly duplicated the feat. The Panthers shot 396 Tuesday at the PGA of Southern California Champions Course in Calimesa and won the first girls’ state title by 29 strokes over Goleta Dos Pueblos.

The dominant victories by Peninsula on the two grandest stages of high school golf were especially sweet because the Panthers had lost to Dos Pueblos by one stroke on Nov. 13 in the Southern Section championships.

“I think we wanted to prove something not only to the other schools, but to ourselves,” Peninsula Coach Bob Wilton said. “We were kind of shocked by the whole thing at [the section championships]. We vowed to make these two days a send-off for our seniors.”

Peninsula had proven plenty during an undefeated regular season. The Panthers shot 188 in a nine-hole match and 374-believed to be a section record-in an 18-hole tournament. They shot a playoff-record 377 to win the Central Divisional, but shot 402 and lost by a stroke at the section finals.

Senior Annika Windon led Peninsula with a four-over-par 76 on Tuesday. Junior Shannon Yocum shot 77 and her sister, sophomore Stephanie, shot 79, giving Peninsula three of the 14 sub-80 scores.

Amie Cochran of West Torrance shot 72, then made a par on the first playoff hole to win the individual title. Cochran, a senior who has signed with UCLA, also repeated her victory from a day earlier.

“It’s nice to go out with a bang,” Cochran said. “I hadn’t won anything until now, so this is nice redemption.”

Cochran won the Southern California regional Monday by five shots and threatened to run away with the state title as well.

She made three consecutive birdies on holes nine through 11 to get to three under and then hit the shot of the tournament - a driver to within 20 feet on the 310-yard, par-four 13th. Things soon went awry with her putter, however.She three-putted that green for par then three-putted from 10 feet for bogey on the next. She also had a bogey on No. 16-a par 5-and missed a short par putt on 18.

Three bogies in the final five holes put her in a playoff against Joanne Lee, a freshman from Belmont Carlmont.

Cochran two-putted from 50 feet for par. Lee hit into a fairway bunker and missed an eight-foot par putt. that would have extended the playoff.

“I wanted to stay steady, but I fell apart a little there, Cochran said. “But it’s OK, I wasn’t too worried.”
--Peter Yoon

INDIVIDUALS

72-Amie Cochran, West Torrance; Joanne Lee, Belmont Carlmont. 74-Casey Gee, Sacramento St. Francis. 75-Tina Eng, Keppel. 76-Jennifer Shipley, Clovis; Julianne Uhrik, Modesto; Annika Windon, Peninsula; Songyi Yi, Rancho Bernardo.

77-Shannon Yocum, Peninsula; Emily Mason, Redlands East Valley; Hannah Summerhays, Fair Oaks Del Campo. 79-Stephanie Yocum, Peninsula; Marina Martinez, Modesto Beyer; Rosalie Tolentino, San Francisco St. Ignatius.

80-Sydney Roughton, Davis. 81-Melanie DeLeon, Saugus; Victoria Alimonda, Dos Pueblos; Jane Lee, Peninsula. 82-Elaine Harris, San Francisco St. Ignatius. 83-Colette Lowe, Peninsula; Dorothy Lee, Keppel; 84-Sara Lester, Walnut Creek Northgate; 84-Christina Hirano, Lafayette Acalanes.

85-Sara Ovadia, Dos Pueblos; Nicole Dishman, Dos Pueblos; Sumika Sim, Dos Pueblos. 86-Mariko Makabe, Peninsula. 87-Jennifer Bermingham, Long Beach Millikan.

TEAMS

396-PENINSULA (Annika Windon 76, Shannon Yocum 77, Stephanie Yocum 79, Jane Lee 81, Colette Lowe 83, Mariko Makabe 86). 425-DOS PUEBLOS (Victoria Alimonda 81, Sumika Sim 85, Sara Ovadia 85, Nicole Dishman 85, Amber Clifford 89, Sarah Fox 97). 435-KEPPEL (Tina Eng 75, Dorothy Lee 83, Cristina Liu 90, Mindy Kimura 92, Kylie Kimura 95, Wendy Lee 97).

454-SAN FRANCISCO ST. IGNATIUS. 457-MODESTO BEYER. 484-LAFAYETTE ACALANES.

Monday, Nov. 24

CIF-WSCGA Finals
At PGA of Southern California Legends Course, Calimesa (par 72)

Amie Cochran had plenty of questions in her head Monday as she arrived at the PGA of Southern California Legends Course in Calimesa for what could have been her final tournament as a high school player.

She left with an emphatic answer.

Cochran, a senior at West Torrance, shot a four-under-par 68 for a five-stroke victory in the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern California Women’s Golf Assn. championship.

The victory erased the doubts that haunted her after finishing second in the Southern Section tournament three consecutive years and proved correct her decision to skip a major national junior tournament in Florida.

Cochran tied Candie Kung of Fountain Valley for the largest margin of victory in the history of the tournament, but that only begins to convey how impressive her round was on a cold, blustery day and on a course with fast, severely sloped greens.

Nobody else in the 110-player field shot par or better. Only 16 players broke 80 and 31 of them failed to break 100, yet Cochran had four birdies and an eagle to go along with two bogeys. She hit 16 greens in regulation and did not have a three-putt. Songyi Yi of Rancho Bernardo, runner-up last year, was second.

“It was smooth sailing,” said Cochran, who acknowledged wondering if a high school victory was ever going to come. “All I did was hit greens and make putts. To me, it didn’t seem that difficult.”

Last year, Cochran missed the section title by a stroke and the CIF-SCWGA title by two strokes. The year before, she was two strokes from the section title and in 2000 missed out by a stroke. Several top players opted to accept invitations to the Florida tournament, but Cochran, who has signed with UCLA, decided to try for the high school trophy that had eluded her.

“It was one of the better decisions I have ever made,” Cochran said. “I haven’t had a very good senior year, so this kind of helps.”

Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula was nearly as dominant in the team competition. The Panthers shot 410 and won by 30 strokes over section champion Goleta Dos Pueblos. It is the second consecutive CIF-SCWGA team title for the Panthers.

Jane Lee led the way with a 76, Annika Windon had an 80, Shannon Yocum had an 81, Colette Lowe had an 84 and Stephanie Yocum had an 89.

Peninsula, Dos Pueblos and third-place Alhambra Keppel will represent Southern California today in the first state championships for girls. The top six individuals also advance. Tee times run from 8-10:15 a.m.
--Peter Yoon

TEAMS

410-PENINSULA (Jane Lee 76, Annika Windon 80, Shannon Yocum 81, Colette Lowe 84, Stephanie Yocum 89, Mariko Makabe 91); 440-DOS PUEBLOS (Sara Ovadia 84, Victoria Alimonda 86, Sumiko Sim 88, Nicole Dishman 89, Sarah Fox 93, Amber Clifford 94); 443-KEPPEL (Tina Eng 78, Kylie Kimura 87, Dorothy Lee 88, Mindy Kimura 94, Wendy Lee 96, Cristina Liu 97).

465-SAN CLEMENTE (Ryann O’Toole 79, Elsie Walker 86, Tedi Potter 95, Marissa Patterson 99, Arielle Bowers 106, Brittany Fischer 110); 481-POWAY (Sarah Thead 85, Lindsey McAtee 87, Lea Schexntdre 102, Allison Wittig 102, Rachel Wagoner 105, Chaneng Joe WD); 483-TORREY PINES (Amanda Caulder 82, Lauren Neal 93, Tiffany Wu 94, Kristin Cuthbertson 104, Cassie Swayze 110).

489-CLOVIS (Jennifer Shipley 74, Jamie Harlan 79, Katie Lauria 106, Aimee Jackson 106, Lindsey Ware 124, Rebecca Valero 137); 496-CLOVIS BUCHANAN (Laura Luthke 80, Andrea Lovering 95, Lauren Aoki 100, Amerie Norman 108, Crista Vantassel 113, Kelly Macdougall 157); 540-GRANADA HILLS (Alyson Golditch 85, Lucy Davies 94, Kate Anderson 114, Christina Salazar 117, Mallory Gonzalez 130); 650-NORTH HOLLYWOOD (Lalita Boonnoppornkul 87, Julie Kim 122, Sachiko Lee 140, Angela Wu 147, Samantha Reyes 156, Julie Lindeen 154).

INDIVIDUALS

68-Amie Cochran, West Torrance.
73-Songyi Yi, Rancho Bernardo.
74-Jennifer Shipley, Clovis.
75-Melanie DeLeon, Saugus; Jennifer Bermingham, Long Beach Millikan.
76-Jennifer Yoo, Cerritos; Jane Lee, Peninsula; Emily Mason, Redlands East Valley
77-Maiya Tanaka, Mira Mesa.
78-Allison Wing, Northwood; Jane Chin, Marina; Jee Park, Bonita Vista; Tina Eng, Keppel.
79-Nicole Smith, Riverside King; Jamie Harlan, Clovis; Ryann O’Toole, San Clemente.
80-Annika Windon, Peninsula; Laura Luthke, Buchanan; Henna Cho, Gahr; Kim Lorenzana, Long Beach Wilson; Megan Mcleod, Fallbrook; Krystina Gillenwater, Paloma Valley.
81-Faith DeGuzman, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame; Shannon Yocum, Peninsula.
82-Jocelyn Hsiao, Mount Carmel; Eryn Williams, Mt. Whitney; Amanda Caulder, Torrey Pines.
83-Danielle O’Neil, Quartz Hill; Lisa Park, La Costa Canyon; Kim Silber, Bonita Vista; Sommer Scholl, Riverside King.
84-Colette Lowe, Peninsula; Sara Ovadia, Dos Pueblos.
85-Taylor Siebert, Selma; Katrina Sutton, Camarillo; Sarah Thead, Poway; Madison Butler, Santa Margarita; Julie Heath, Lompoc; Alyson Golditch, Granada Hills; Kim Johnson, Westview; Jackie Kazarian, Dana Hills.
86-Victoria Alimonda, Dos Pueblos; Emily Balmert, Valhalla; Elsie Walker, San Clemente; Gem Torres, Camarillo.
87-Lalita Boonnoppornkul, North Hollywood; Hannah Shin, Villa Park; Lindsey Mcatee, Poway; Kylie Kimura, Keppel.
88-Sumiko Sim, Dos Pueblos; Jessica Yam, Rancho Bernardo; Emily Longcrier, Bakersfield Centennial; Dorothy Lee, Keppel.
89-Stephanie Yocum, Peninsula; Nicole Dishman, Dos Pueblos.
90-Whitney Wade, Bullard.
91-Courtney Bienn, Sierra; Mariko Makabe, Peninsula.
92-Jennifer Campbell, Brea Olinda; Ashley Childers, Murrieta Valley.
93-Sarah Fox, Dos Pueblos; Paula Kerdpinyo, Marshall; Maurissa Medina, Clovis East; Lauren Neal, Torrey Pines.
94-Amber Clifford, Dos Pueblos; Lucy Davies, Granada Hills; Mindy Kimura, Keppel; Tiffany Wu, Torrey Pines; Kristine Nakanishi, Birmingham.
95-Dacia Dyer, Kings Christian; Andrea Lovering, Buchanan; Tedi Potter, San Clemente
96-Wendy Lee, Keppel.
97-Cristina Liu, Keppel; Gloria Park, Chatsworth.
99-Trisha Ariyasu, Venice; Whitney Drumright, Granite Hills; Marissa Patterson, San Clemente
100-Megan Brown, Madera; Lauren Aoki, Clovis Buchanan.
101-Whitney Yano, Kingsburg.
102-Lea Schexenydre, Poway; Alison Wittig, Poway.
104-Kristin Cuthbertson, Torrey Pines.
105-Rachel Wagoner, Poway; Mary Oliver, Monroe.
106-Arielle Bowers, San Clemente; Aimee Jackson, Clovis; Katie Lauria, Clovis.
108-Amerie Norman, Buchanan.
110-Brittany Fischer, San Clemente; Cassie Swayze, Torrey Pines.
113-Crista Vantassel, Buchanan; Alice Lee, Chatsworth.
114-Kate Anderson, Granada Hills.
116-Lauren Ino, LACES.
117-Christina Salazar, Granada Hills.
122-Julie Kim, North Hollywood.
125-Stephanie Foster, Palisades.
124-Lindsey Ware, Clovis.
130-Mallory Gonzalez, Granada Hills.
137-Christine Nguyen, Venice; Rebecca Valero, Clovis.
140-Sachiko Lee, North Hollywood.
147-Angela Wu, North Hollywood.
154-Julie Lindeen, North Hollywood.
156-Samantha Reyes, North Hollywood.
157-Kelly MacDougall Buchanan.
DQ-Tori Leon, Franklin.
NS-Jamie Gold, Granada Hills.
WD-Chaneng Joe, Poway.

Note: The top three teams and top six individuals advance to the state finals today at The PGA of Southern California Champions Course, Calimesa.