Crystal’s Cui wins CCS girls' golf title

Cui led a strong showing from San Mateo County as six golfers from five schools posted top-25 results in a field of 118.

Cui was in the third group out Tuesday morning, starting on the 10th hole. She was a bit up and down her opening nine holes, picking up a birdie on the par-4 11th, but giving it back with a bogey-6 on the par-5 13th.

She stabilized after that, alternating pars and birdies — she finished with three birdies on the back-9 — to make the turn at 2-under.

She had pars at holes Nos. 1 through 4 before closing with a flourish, birdieing three of her final five holes.

Cui and Gettleman were the only two golfer to shoot under par, with two others finishing with level-par 71s. Mills freshman Irene Hur had one of those even-par rounds, settling for a tie for third place.

Playing in the first group of the morning, Hur started at the 10th hole. She got off to a wild start with a birdie at No. 11 sandwiched between bogeys at 10 and 12. She found a rhythm from there. She had four straight pars before closing out the back-9 with birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 to make the turn at 1-under.

She was back at even after a bogey on No. 2 and dropped another shot with a bogey at No. 6, but she finished birdie-birdie-par to finish in a tie for third with Valley Christian’s Ziqing Wang.

Kayla Corcoran, a sophomore out of Hillsdale, gave the county a third top-10 finish as she was one of four players to tie for eighth place after rounds of 2-over 73. Corcoran was pretty consistent on the day. She bogeyed her opening hole, No. 10, and bogeyed No. 17 to make the turn at 2-over. She then recorded eight straight pars before ending her second CCS appearance with a bogey on No. 9.

Cui’s teammate, Claire Zhong, just missed on a top-10 finish, one of five golfers to finish in a tie for 12th with 3-over 74s. Sacred Heart Prep’s Ariane Hartandi, a freshman, and Carlmont’s Tessa Lee, a sophomore and the Peninsula Athletic League champion, were two of 10 players to shoot 7-over 78s to finish in a tie for 25th.

West Bay Athletic League champion, Nueva junior Annabel Yen, finished in a tie for 57th after a round of 87. Her teammate, Arisa Angspatt, a freshman, finished in a tie for 38th following a round of 9-over 80.

Despite Cui’s and Zhong’s showings, the Crystal team failed to advance to the Northern California regional tournament. Aragon had the highest team finish among San Mateo County teams, finishing eighth with a team score of 436. Senior Hannah Lin led the way for the Dons, firing an 8-over 79 to finish in a tie for 35th. Kate Chong shot a 85 to finish in a tie for 54th. She was two strokes better than junior twins Autumn and Ariel Ogawa, who both tied for 57th with scores of 87. Vicky Ferrero rounded out the scoring for the Dons, breaking 100 with a round of 98.

PAL regular-season team champion, Mills, finished 11th in the team standings with a score of 441. In addition to Hur’s 71, senior Angelina Chen carded an 81 to finish 45th; Kayli Tsang, another senior, finished with a 90, good for 66th place; sophomore Christina Chen came with a 92 (72nd), while Katie Chun rounded out the scoring with a 109.

Crystal ended up with a 13th-place finish in the team standings. Joining Cui and Zhong were Adele Tsang with a 97 (85th), Casey Louie and Mihka Bansal both came with rounds of 105.

Stevenson took home the team title with a score of 374, snapping Valley Christian’s run of four straight championships. The Warriors finished second with a score of 289 and Monta Vista was third with a 402.