Ty Akabane of Danville captured the 52nd California Women’s Amateur Championship with a 3-and-2 victory over Kathleen Scavo of Benicia at Quail Lodge and Golf Club in Carmel.
Akabane, a 17-year-old senior at San Ramon Valley High, joined a list of winners that includes Patty Sheehan, Amy Alcott, Juli Inkster, Angel Yin and Mina Harigae. She also was the stroke-play medalist by seven strokes, earning the No. 1 seed for match play.
“It’s such an honor to win this championship,” said Akabane, who last week committed to UCLA. “There’s so many who have won this and went on to be successful. It’s an incredible feeling.
“Those times that I trailed, I just tried to stay in the present. At the end of the day you can’t control what others are doing. You can only control what you’re doing. … This is a huge stepping stone for me, and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Scavo, a senior at Oregon, was even after 10 holes in the finale, but Akabane pulled away with birdies on the 11th, 12th and 14th holes.
Akabane finished things off by halving the next two holes.
“I just could not get my putter going; I couldn’t make anything,” said Scavo, a two-time California Junior Girls’ Amateur champion. “I’m still very pleased overall with my week. Ty is deserving in winning. She played great all week.”
In the semifinals, Akabane got past Maria Davis of Vallejo, 4 and 3, while Scavo downed Natasha Oon of Malaysia.
For complete results, https://www.ghintpp.com/ncga/TPPOnlineScoring/Default.aspx?id=2505
