CCS girls’ golf has never been better

The first team tournament did not begin until 1998, with Monta Vista Christian-Watsonville winning the first team title by three shots over Stevenson, 278 to 281. Los Gatos’ Marcia Wallace won the individual crown with a round of 76.

And since the inception of CCS girls’ golf, the game has gotten exponentially better and the talent may not be greater than it is right now. Anyone coming into the game in the next year or two may have a hard time cracking the upper echelon of CCS golf.

Victoria Cui became Crystal’s first-ever CCS golf champion after firing a 4-under 67 at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey Tuesday morning. That qualifiers her for the Northern California regional tournament Monday at Berkeley Country Club in El Cerrito.

Cui also becomes the second sophomore in a row to win the CCS championship, following in the footsteps of St. Ignatius’ Stevie Umali, who finished in a tie for fifth Tuesday as a junior.

But the top-10 finishers, including ties, and the top-25 were filled with a bunch of young guns. There were, technically, 11 players in the top-10 finishes, as there was a two-way tie for third, a three-way tie for fifth and three-way tie for eighth.

Of those 11 players, there was only one senior — Stevenson’s Ashley Gettleman, who finished second, two shots back with a 2-under 69. There were only two juniors, as well.

The other eight were all underclassmen. Five sophomores finished in the top 10, including Hillsdale’s Kayla Corcoran, who shot a 2-over 73 and tied for eighth place. There were also three freshmen — including Mills’ Irene Hur, who finished in a tie for third after an even-par round of 71.

Those types of numbers were consistent through the top 25 (which was 34 player because of ties). Of those 34 players, only seven were seniors, five juniors, 13 sophomores and nine freshmen.

From a section that has produced a couple of LPGA pros — Oak Grove’s Christina Kim, who won back-to-back CCS titles in 1999 and 2000, and Mina Harigae, who starred at Stevenson and won the 2006 CCS crown — the future is looking bright.

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Some more interesting tidbits from the CCS girls’ golf championship.

• Cui’s win updates some county history when it comes to winning the CCS crown. She becomes the first player from a San Mateo County school to win the golf title since Carlmont’s Joanne Lee did it three straight years in 2003 (a round of 73), 2004 (71) and 2005 (71).

Lee would go on to win the 2005 state championship, as well.

• Cui’s round of 67 tied for third-best score of all time. She joins Harigae’s 67 in 2006 and Palo Alto’s Michelle Xie, who also carded a 67 in winning the 2014 title.

The lowest winning score in CCS history came in 2009, when Presentation’s Mariko Tumangan brought the Rancho Cañada Golf Club’s East course to its knees with a round of 9-under 62.

• The 67 was the 13th time since 1993 that the CCS champion has won with a score below par.

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While CCS championships will be played on the field beginning Saturday with flag football and volleyball finals, academic “championships” in each sport have also been honored with the release of the CCS Keith Matthews Fall Scholastic Championship Teams in each of the eight fall sports sanctioned by the section.

Teams from seven San Mateo County schools — Burlingame, Crystal, Hillsdale, Menlo School, Sacred Heart Prep, Westmoor and Woodside — all finished in the top-5 grade points averages of all the schools in CCS in a given sport.

Boys’ cross country

1st — Hillsdale, 3.936

3rd — Crystal, 3.857

Football

3rd — Menlo School, 3.567

4th — Sacred Heart Prep, 3.527

Boys’ water polo

2nd — Sacred Heart Prep, 3.820

5th — Hillsdale, 3.739

Girls’ cross country

5th — Woodside, 3.833

Girls’ golf

2nd — Crystal, 3.857

3rd — Burlingame, 3.841

Girls’ tennis

3rd — Crystal, 3.908

Volleyball

1st — Crystal, 3.874

5th — Westmoor, 3.750

Girls’ water polo

2nd — Menlo School, 3.812

4th — Woodside, 3.778

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.