Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: Crystal’s Victoria Cui

Cui was 1 stroke back of the leader, Santa Margarita’s Donina Zhou, while in a four-way tie in second place with Palos Verdes’ Rina Kawasaki, and Stevenson teammates Ashley Gettleman and Lucinda Wu. Yet, there was Cui, cool as could be, addressing the ball at 16 and about to make history.

“I had just told my assistant she could go birdie, birdie and win the thing,” Crystal coach Andy Ho said. “And, lo and behold, she went birdie, birdie, birdie to win the thing.”

That she did. Cui has been named Daily Journal Athlete of the Week after rallying back to claim the individual state championship crown at Poppy Hills Golf Course, closing out her day with three straight birdies to finish with a 4-under 67. Kawasaki and Zhou each finished 1 stroke back to tie as runners-up. Gettleman and Wu each finished 2-under 69 to tie for fourth.

“I actually did not know that my last putt on 18 was for birdie,” Cui said to the Northern California Golf Association, “and I did not know on 16 or 17 either. Honestly, I believe that is what really allowed me to perform to my level.”

Cui raked in the accolades this season. While Crystal settled for third place in the West Bay Athletic League girls’ golf standings, Cui and senior teammate Claire Zhong shared WBAL Co-Players of the Year honors. From there, the sophomore claimed the Central Coast Section championship Nov. 4 at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey. She then reached the podium at the CIF Northern California regional championships with a third-place finish Nov. 10 at Berkeley Country Club in El Cerrito.

Ranked 25th in the nation on the American Junior Golf Association circuit, Cui is accustomed to facing pressure situations. She is even back to the competitive grind this week, as Monday she wrapped up Day 2 at the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions in San Antonio.

It doesn’t matter the stage, Ho said. His star sophomore is unflappable, never getting too high or too low.

“Great players sometimes just find another gear, and she found another gear,” Ho said.

Cui was unflappable in being paired at the CIF Girls Golf Championship with the nation’s No. 2 ranked player on the AJGA circuit and Stanford commit, Chowchilla junior Asterisk Talley.

While Talley bogeyed on the par-four 16th hole, Cui used her second stroke from the fairway to knock it onto the green, and birdied with a fairly long putt. On 17, Talley held par after Cui sunk a short birdie putt on the par-three. By the 18th hole, Cui was in her own world.

“On my approach, I was wondering if I needed to get a birdie on this hole to get a medal or something,” Cui said. “But, other than that, I don’t think I really thought of it. I just kind of lined up to my putt and gave it a good stroke.”

It was a long stroke at that. While the par-five 18 is the third longest hole of the course at 479 yards, Cui put it on the green in 3, but put it 20 feet from the cup with an uphill lie.

Ho, who wasn’t at the course but was watching remotely, was as confident as anyone the putt was makeable, especially considering the way Cui was performing all day.

“The putting was immaculate,” Ho said. “I think she really had the speed down that day at Poppy.”

Cui connected with the putt a bit harder than intended.

“It hit the pin in, it went straight in, and that was that,” Ho said.

Not that you could tell for Cui’s stoic reaction, but it was the championship shot. Of course, she didn’t know either.

“She was pretty stoic,” Ho said. “She actually didn’t know that she won.”

While she is still a year from the start of her recruiting clock, which begins at the start of her junior year, Cui currently has a brother shining on the collegiate circuit. Her older brother, Eden, a 2025 Crystal graduate, is a freshman at Stanford, and recently tied for sixth place with a 5-under 67 at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, Oct. 24-26, in the Cardinal’s last match of the calendar year.

“She’s going to get a lot of calls, for sure, by a lot of schools,” Ho said. “She’ll get looks by a lot of teams in the country.”

There is also a third Cui sibling on the way, as eighth-grader Beverley is slated to attend Crystal next year.

“I don’t know what the Cuis are feeding their kids, but they’re all phenomenal golfers,” Ho said.