Yealimi Noh of Concord captured the California Junior Girls’ State Championship for the second time in four years with a 5-and-4 victory over Madelyn Gamble of Pleasant Hill on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club in Pleasant Hill.
The 16-year-old Noh, who left Carondelet High in Concord and now is home-schooled, played the 14 holes of the final in 7-under-par.
“It feels good to win here again,” said Noh, who is preparing for the upcoming U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, a match-play event, at nearby Poppy Hills Golf Course. “I got more and more comfortable on the Shore Course as the week went on. I always enjoy coming here.
“I wanted to get in some practice playing match play. This is a good momentum builder heading into the U.S. Girls’ Junior.”
Noh, who recently turned down a scholarship to UCLA and plans to turn pro in the fall of 2019, claimed the California Junior Girls title in 2014 on the Dunes Course at Monterey Peninsula.
Last year, she won the American Junior Golf Association Girls Championship, the Joanne Winter Arizona Silver Belle Championship and finished second in the Junior PGA Championship, in addition to helping the U.S. win the Junior PGA Championship.
Gamble, 15, a sophomore at Carondelet who was the stroke-play medalist in the tournament with Noh finishing second, played well throughout before being outclassed in the final.
“She made everything,” Gamble said.
In the semifinals, Gamble defeated Katelyn Romero of San Jose, 2 and 1, while Noh downed Elizabeth Li of Monte Sereno, 6 and 5.
Nicole Vivier of San Jose won the Helen Lengfeld Flight by defeating Sophie Siminoff of Los Altos Hills, 3 and 2.
For complete results, visit https://www.amateurgolf.com/images/uploads/00044864.pdf.
