TEMECULA — Like clockwork, area high school girls golf fans can count on Vista Murrieta and Great Oak squaring off in October with Southwestern League title implications.
Just over two weeks ago, Great Oak shot a season-low 194 and defeated a Vista Murrieta side playing without Southwestern League tournament defending champion Fay Jia by 14 strokes.
Thursday afternoon, the rivals reunited at Temecula Creek Inn’s Creek Course. And Jia proved pivotal in the outcome, shooting a bogey-free, 6-under-par round of 30 to pace Vista Murrieta in a 191-198 win. Her round tied Venecia Zaia for lowest score in relation to par in program history.
Jia played 45 holes in 8-under par this week after shooting a 71 (-1) to win Monday’s Gary Christman Classic hosted by Ayala, along with rounds of 34 (-2) and 37 (+1) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The win creates a tie for first place in Southwestern League play at 5-1. If a tie exists after regular-season play concludes then day one of the league’s individual qualifying tournament serves as the tiebreaker to determine who earns CIF Southern Section team divisional automatic qualification status. In golf, only the league champion earns an automatic bid.
“We didn’t have the greatest of starts today but our group found a way to pull it together and get even in this league race,” Broncos coach Ryan Heise said. “When you watch someone like Fay you see just how much work she puts into her craft and it paid off in a big way today.”
Alisa Li and Skylar Earle of Great Oak (6-1 overall) were each 1-under par early but came home with rounds of 36 and 37, respectively. Earle started her day by making a 12-foot downhill birdie putt at No. 1. Li nearly had the area’s second hole-in-one in three days (Beaumont’s Hayden Delaney had the other) at the 115-yard par-3 second hole, leaving herself a tap-in birdie.
Li also made a 40-foot bomb at No. 5 for birdie and two-putted from 40 feet at No. 8 after reaching the par-5 green in two for her last under-par hole of the day.
Jia made birdies in bunches, starting with three in a row from Nos. 2 through 4 and finishing with three in her last four holes. That included a two-putt birdie at No.8 after hitting a fairway metal to 10 feet and getting up and down from just right of the green at No. 9. Iri Chen made two double-bogeys in five holes en route to a 42. Vista Murrieta (9-3 overall) led by a shot with one group in.
“I got a new short game coach and my putting is ten times better than this time last year,” Jia said. “It’s been really exciting to see our team step up after losing a key piece to transfer and keep up the high standard of golf that this program has been known for.”
The Broncos also took group No. 2 by a shot behind the play of Kennedy King (44) and Samantha Rodriguez (38). Great Oak’s Kimi Carpenter shot a 41, while Abby McLarney added a 42 as the Wolfpack trailed 154-156. Rodriguez’s lone birdie was at the 414-yard, par-5 eighth hole, where she got up and down from the left greenside bunker.
Laliny Saithong birdied No. 3 as part of a round of 37 that finished a Bronco win. Camila Rodea and Hayden Phaphon brought home matching 42s for Great Oak.
“At the end of the day we played some really good golf and when you see a team frustrated with a 198 you know you’ve got a competitive group,” Wolfpack coach Rachel Reif said. “It’s just fun to watch such a high level of golf when we play Vista Murrieta and I believe both sides are better for it.”
Both sides return to league play on Tuesday with Vista Murrieta playing Murrieta Mesa and Great Oak playing Chaparral.
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