The Moore League Girls’ Golf Individual Tournament took place this week and ended with a nail-biter finish. After three days of competition, Wilson freshman Zi Lin was crowned the champion, narrowly edging out Millikan senior Janelle Pulido by two strokes. Millikan junior Jasmine Lim and Poly senior Gabrielle Gales rounded out the top four, while Wilson freshman Liv Hopkins finished fifth.
“It’s exciting to have a champion again,” Wilson Head Coach Paul Henry said. “A lot of great golf was played.”
Twenty-nine golfers across the Moore League competed in the Individual Tournament, with the field narrowed down to the top 16 after the opening round at Recreation Park on Tuesday. Millikan entered the tournament following its third consecutive Moore League team title earlier this month, adding to the Rams’ success this season.
Lim led the competition with a score of 40, followed closely by Gales and Lin, who each shot a 41.
For the second round on Wednesday, the golfers moved to Skylinks, where Lin took the lead with a total score of 79. Lim followed closely behind with an 80, while Pulido and Gales remained in contention with scores of 83.
Heading into the final day of competition at El Dorado, the leaderboard remained tight as the golfers battled for the individual championship.
“Today was a very exciting and dramatic day. It was a lot of fun,” Henry said. “We’ve had multiple lead changes this tournament. Three different girls had the lead at some point.”
The competition went down to the wire, with Millikan’s Pulido and Lim tied for the lead after the front nine, each shooting a 40. Lin and Gales remained within striking distance with scores of 42 and 46, respectively.
“In the ninth, I was struggling a little bit, but my coach helped me a lot and just told me to slow down,” Lin said. “I feel like when I start slowing down and feeling every swing, it just gets better and better.”
Lin ultimately claimed the individual title with a total score of 159, finishing two strokes ahead of Pulido, who shot a 161. Lim finished third with a 165, followed by Gales with a 174 and Hopkins with a 182 to complete the top five.
The top eight golfers in the tournament earned Moore League medals, with Wilson senior Sophia Canfield finishing sixth, followed by freshmen Olivia Tenenbaum and Liliana Bayer-Pasquino in seventh and eighth.
“For the five ninth graders, this was their first time playing in this tournament, so every day was just like, ‘Okay, what are we doing now? What’s the next step?’” Henry said.
Despite five of the Bruins’ seven players being freshmen, Wilson placed four golfers in the top eight of the tournament.
“We have so many ninth graders. Five out of our seven players are ninth graders,” Henry said. “This was going to be our year of learning and making mistakes. We’re actually ahead of where I thought we were going to be. The girls grew very, very quickly.”
Henry emphasized the importance of using the experience to prepare the young golfers for the seasons ahead.
“Looking a year or two down the line, where do we want to be, and how do we use this opportunity to get us there?” Henry said.
The top five finishers — Lin, Pulido, Lim, Gales and Hopkins — will advance to the CIF Individual Regional competition next Tuesday, where they will represent the Moore League.
