Finals set for women’s amateur championship

Vo and Garibaldi will tee off for the championship at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

Vo, a standout at Harker School in San Jose and a 2021 graduate, put together the most impressive quarterfinal win. With the three others being decided by one hole, Vo was in command against San Ramon’s Lily Peng, a rising high school sophomore, winning 4-and-2. Vo won seven holes, notching four birdies. Peng, the No. 26 seed who is the 42nd-ranked amateur in the nation by American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), won three holes.

Vo won the third hole to go 1-up before reeling off wins at holes Nos. 5, 6 and 7. Peng got on the board with a win at the eighth hole and then cut her deficit to 2-down with a birdie on the 12th, but Vo won three of the next four holes to take the match.

Garibaldi went the distance with fourth-seeded Leigh Chien, a four-time junior All-American and recent high school graduate from Irvine, in her quarterfinal match, winning 1-up. The two traded wins on the front nine, as Garibaldi twice took 1-up leads after wins at No. 4 and No. 8. But Chien countered with wins at No. 5 and No. 9 to be even at the turn.

The back-and-forth continued early on the back nine. The two were square after Garibaldi took the 11th hole and Chein the 12th, but the Fresno State product took the lead for good with a pars at 13 and 15 for a 2-up lead. Chien got one back with a win at 17, both they both parred the last, with Garibaldi advancing to the semifinals.

In the other two quarterfinal matches, top-seeded Jasmine Leovao of Oceanside was eliminated by Rocklin’s Kaylyn Noh, the No. 8 seed and a rising senior at Cal. In the final quarterfinal match, No. 27 Tiffany Le of Covina, knocked out Emily Song, the No. 14 seed from Irvine.

In the semifinals, both Vo and Garibaldi ended their matches before the 18th hole. Vo took down Le, 4-and-2, while Garibaldi bettered Noh, 3-and-2.

For the second round in a row, Vo won a bunch of holes, jumping out of the gate with wins on the first three holes. She was 4-up after a par on the seventh hole, but Le got back in the match with wins at Nos. 8 and 9 to be 2-down at the turn.

Le cut it to 1-down after a birdie on the par-5 11th, but Vo got the hole right back with a birdie on the par-3 12th to go back 2-up. She added wins on holes 15 and 16 to hold a four-hole lead with just two left to play.

Garibaldi found herself trailing 1-down at the turn as Noh had birdies on Nos. 3 and 9, but Garibaldi birdied the 10th to get back to even and then won three of four holes — Nos. 13, 14 and 16 — to lead 3-up with just two holes to play.