November 13, 2015
CIF State Girls’ Golf Championship Brings Powerhouses to Poppy Hills
There’ll be some prep powerhouses in the mix when the 2015 CIF State High School Girls’ Championship gets underway Tuesday at par-71 Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.
On the individual front, one player to definitely keep an eye on will be Mira Costa senior Andrea Lee. Lee, who helped Mira Costa win the CIF/WSCGA Southern California title, will arrive as the No.24 ranked female amateur in the world.
Headed to Stanford in the fall of 2016, Lee is the No.1 ranked junior girl according to Golfweek. Other Lee highlights include finishing the 2014 U.S. junior season as the No.1 ranked player in the American Junior Golf Association. On the AJGA circuit, she captured the Rolex Tournament of Champions and the Yani Tseng Invitational. The latter victory earned her an exemption into the LPGA’s 2015 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
At this year’s inaugural SCGA Women’s Championship, Lee was the only player to shoot under par each of the three rounds (68-69-69), winning by three over USC freshman Robyn Ree.
As for NorCal individuals, there’ll be Pioneer High sophomore Sabrina Iqbal and St. Ignatius senior Samantha Gong.
Sabrina Iqbal won State last year as a freshman.
Iqbal, the two-time defending Girls’ Player of the Year on the Junior Tour of Northern California, won last year’s State crown by shooting a 71 at Red Hill CC in Rancho Cucamonga. Gong, who’s headed to the University of San Francisco in 2016, finished eighth at last year’s State finals.
Other NorCal players to watch include Jessica Luo of Lynbrook and Bibilani Liu of St. Francis of Mountain View. Luo won this year’s California Women’s Amateur Championship, while Liu posted a 2-over 74 at NorCals to help St. Francis capture its third straight team title.
The three SoCal teams will be champion Mira Costa, runner-up Walnut and third place Torrey Pines. Torrey Pines has won a record five CIF State Girls’ titles, including four in a row from 2010-2013. NorCal will be represented by St. Francis, Carondelet of Concord and Daugherty Valley of San Ramon.
–Jerry Stewart
