Briana Chacon of Whittier captured the Girls Division of the Southern California Golf Association’s Junior Amateur Championship for the second time in three years, and Ryan Smith of Carlsbad won the Boys Division in a playoff at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon https://tukwetcanyon.com/content/courses in Beaumont.
Chacon (pictured left), a senior at La Serna High, posted a score of 71-67—138, 6-under-par, while Amari Avery of Riverside shot 73-68—141 to tie for second with Leigh Chien of Irvine, who finished at 72-69—141, and Hailey Borey of Lake Forest was fourth at 76-68—144.
“Today I felt really calm out there and I hit a lot of greens, which was a big plus,” said Chacon, who earned a spot in the SCGA Women’s Amateur Championship. “I got a few putts to drop in and that’s what really separated me from the field.”
Charissa Shang of Calabasas carded a score 74-71—145 to tie for fifth with Jennifer Chai of Irvine, who wound up at 75-70—145, while Ke Yang of Irvine shot 73-73—146 to tie for seventh with Nodoka Honda of Irvine, who came in at 74-72—146.
Angelo Heo of Murrieta totaled 78-69—147 to tie for ninth with Briana Navarrosa of San Diego, who finished at 74-73—147.
In the Boys Division, Smith made a par on the first playoff hole to turn back Sebastian Vallejo of Long Beach.
“It was an up and down kind of day,” said Smith, who tied for second in the tournament last year. “I’m sure my mom was running miles around the house at home watching (the live scoring on the Internet).
“After coming close last year, it feels good to come back, shoot a few under par scores and get the job done.”
Smith (pictured right), who earned spots in the 2019 SCGA Amateur Championship and the 2019 California Amateur Championship, recorded a score of 69-72—141, 3-under-par, while Vallejo finished at 74-67—141, and Eric Doyle of San Diego shot 72-70—142 to tie for third with Ryan Hartanto of San Diego, who wound up at 70-72—142.
Evan Chien of Irvine posted a score of 71-73—144 to tie for fifth with Jim Nakao of Burbank, who totaled 74-70—144, Andrew Hoekstra of Long Beach, who finished at 69-75—144, and Krando Nishiba of San Diego, who came in at 75-69—144.
Brooks Li of Irvine shot 71-74—145 to tie for ninth with Tyler Guo of Irvine, who wound up at 74-71—145, and Joshua Hu of Yorba Linda, who also finished at 74-71—145.
For complete results, visit https://scga-2018southerncaliforniajunioramateur.golfgenius.com/pages/1279165
