Girls win CIF, reach state tourney
GIRLS GOLF The Lady Brahmas have advanced to the semifinals for state after another undefeated season.
November 10, 2016
Riding off a 14-0 league season and winning its third straight Palomares League title and the CIF-SS title, the girls golf team is now in the state semi-finals.
(In the semi-final match, the Brahmas finished fourth, ending their season. Crystal Wang, by finishing third in the competition, advanced to the state tournament as an individual.)
In the regular season, the Lady Brahmas faced the addition of three new teams in their league, Wilson, Chino Hills and St. Lucy while also dealing with the injury of last year’s League MVP sophomore Kailie Vongsaga, who missed three tournaments and almost half the season.
“The league was outstanding this year. The league was tougher and it took a toll on us physically and mentally, but we won it with the younger players,” head coach Tony McCabe said.
Three of the team’s top six golfers were underclassmen, freshmen Angelica Kusnowo and Esther Lee and Vongsaga. However, it took more than the top six for the Brahmas to earn their third Palomares League title.
According to McCabe, depth helped the girls overcome the injuries and long season. While other schools had only seven players to rely on, McCabe had 18 golfers he could trust to help guide the team to victory.
“We played our best golf against the best teams on the road but that was no accident. We prepared for that,” McCabe said.
Over the course of the season, the team also played in four tournaments and won three for individuals and two for team. The two team wins came at the Ayala Tournament and the Rainbow Sandal Tournament.
For the individuals, junior Crystal Wang won the Knabe Cup, Lee took the Ayala Tournament and Vongsaga won the Palomares League Finals Individuals.
Vongsaga, playing with a wrist injury all year long, has been an integral part of the girls’ team, winning her second straight league finals and repeated as the Palomares MVP, a feat only surpassed by DBHS graduate and current UCLA golfer Bethany Wu, who won the award for four straight years.
“League MVP has been my number one goal. Bethany was my idol and I looked up to her as a sister. When I heard about her league MVPs, I wanted that too,” Vongsaga said.
Vongsaga was selected to First Team All League along with Lee, Wang, and Kusnowo. Senior Jane Park made Second Team All League while junior Jasmine Zhang was an All League honorable mention.
The team’s first postseason match, the CIF-SS Central Division, was on Oct. 31 where the Lady Brahmas won with a score of 367, winning by 37 strokes.
In the next round, the girls claimed the CIF-SS title after shooting 388.
Today, the girls are playing at the state semifinals in San Bernardino. If the Lady Brahmas make the cut, they will be playing for State Finals on Nov. 15.
