Girls’ Golf Preview: Crescenta Valley High, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy golf teams begin new chapters
With proper course management and having made deep postseason runs, Jocelyn Chia set the standard the past four seasons for the Crescenta Valley High girls’ golf team en route to being named the All-Area Girls’ Golfer of the Year each season.
With Chia now at Boston College, Crescenta Valley will look to senior Audrey Chung to take over as the No. 1 on the team and help pave the way for the Falcons to contend for the Pacific League championship. It’s a prospect that left Crescenta Valley Coach Lee Pope excited leading up to the first match of the season.
“Audrey has been in Jocelyn’s shadow for the last three years, but that’s OK because she’s been able to learn a lot from her,” said Pope, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Golf Coach of the Year. “Audrey will step into the No. 1 spot in the lineup and will definitely do well because she’s a great golfer.
“She’s been big at hitting the ball off the tee and she’s got a fine short game. She knows how to manage her game well overall and how to keep a round going if she’s had a couple of bad holes. You can count on her being able to shoot right around par.”
Chung, a reigning All-Area pick, helped the Falcons place second in league and take 10th at the CIF Southern Section Eastern Team Divisional at River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard last season.
Crescenta Valley will also have junior Andrea Han back in the mix. Han finished fifth in the league individual final and made her inaugural appearance in the CIF Southern Section Northern Individual en route to securing All-Area accolades.
“She will be a solid No. 2 and will push Audrey,” Pope said. “She improved a lot over the summer playing in some tournaments.”
Chung and Han will be joined by juniors Gina Chung and Laura Perez and sophomores Gloria Namkung and Emily Redecker.
Pope said the Falcons have the potential to vie for the league championship, which they shared with Arcadia in 2012.
“We are looking good and everybody will push each other throughout the lineup,” Pope said. “It will come down to how our Nos. 5-6 players compete.
“It’s a program that’s on the upswing. We know Arcadia and San Marino will be tough in league. We have to continue to be very optimistic.”
At Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, the Tologs will turn to first-year coach Ric Moore to improve the program. Moore, who succeeds Bill Sanchez, has been the head professional at Chevy Chase Country Club in Glendale for about a year.
Moore, who was hired by Flintridge Sacred Heart in July, joins the Tologs already familiar with the Mission League after serving as an assistant at Harvard-Westlake last season.
“I do know a lot about the Mission League and there’s always going to be good players,” Moore said. “I’m very excited to be a part of the program.
“It’s about getting to know your players. I’m gathering information, evaluating them and offering support.”
Some of the players expected to compete for the Tologs are senior Denver Mackey, junior Ally Wilson and sophomore Gabi Lopez.
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Follow Charles Rich on Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich .
