Vaqueros on way to state
A year ago, the Glendale Community College women’s golf team didn’t have enough players to field a full lineup. A year later, it’s a distant memory.
With a full compliment of players on board this season, the Vaqueros looked to qualify for the California Community College Athletic Assn. Women’s Golf Championship. They will now get that chance.
Glendale college got an even-par 72 from freshman Pattraporn Silawanna and carded a two-round team score of 606 to win the Southern California Regionals on Tuesday afternoon at Twin Oaks Golf Course in San Marcos.
The Vaqueros will join Palomar College, who they beat by three strokes, and the top-two finishers from the Northern California Regionals at the state championship. The state tournament will be held Monday and Tuesday at Kings Country Club in Hanford.
It will mark the first time that the Vaqueros, who won the Western State Conference championship, will appear at state.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Glendale Coach Greg Osbourne, whose team shot a 309 on Monday and trailed Palomar by three strokes entering Tuesday’s round. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet.
“Coming into the final round, we said we have to improve our scores by four or five strokes to have a chance and they did exactly that. They came in trying to win this.”
Irvine Valley, which won the state championship last season, finished third with a two-round total of 639, followed by College of the Canyons (645), Mount San Jacinto College (675) and Saddleback Community College (743).
Silawanna finished with a two-round score of 142 and earned medalist honors for the second day in a row. By an impressive eight-stroke margin, Silawanna beat Tina Yang of Mt. San Jacinto and Palomar’s Meghan Hardin and Sayde Busby of Palomar, all of whom finished with a two-round score of 150.
“It’s great to win individually and as a team,” Silawanna said. “We had some good scores.”
The top 12 individuals from the Southern California and Northern California regionals will also participate in the state tournament. Hannah Lee and Thanawan Sriratchaya of Glendale will also take part in the individual portion of the event.
Lee carded a 72 on Tuesday to finish tied for fifth at 150. Sriratchaya registered a 75 on Tuesday and finished with a two-round total of 153 to take seventh.
Vicanda Ma of Glendale shot a 78 and finished 14th with a 160.
Osbourne, who was named the conference’s coach of the year, said the Vaqueros avoided mistakes Tuesday.
“They didn’t make any and they were able to always keep their shots on the fairways,” Osbourne said. “They didn’t make every putt, but they came close.
“Their short games were working. With those scores and the ability to win Southern California is just unbelievable. Now, we will try to win state. If we do that, it would be incredible.”
