Zoe Campos and Ray Xiong (SCGA photo)
A pair of top juniors walked away with SCGA Junior titles on Sunday at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon in Beaumont, Calif. Despite strong winds, Ray Xiong and Zoe Campus took home the hardware.
Xiong, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., had back-to-back rounds of 1-under 71 to finish 36 holes as the only player under par. He was three ahead of San Diego’s Darien Zhao, the runner-up.
“I’m feeling really excited,” Xiong said. “It was a tough day, but I think I got through it pretty good.”
Xiong, in describing the strength of the win in the final round, said his hat blew off his head at least 20 times.
“The wind was basically blowing my putts off,” Xiong said. “I couldn’t make anything, but I still got through the round pretty good and my long game was really good so that’s how I shot under par.”
With the win, Xiong earns an exemption into the 2020 California Amateur Championship and the 121st SCGA Amateur Championship.
As for Campos, the title is one more at the end of a season in which the UCLA commit has made her presence known at the top level of women’s junior and amateur golf. She was fifth at the Augusta National Women's Amateur and finished runner-up at the SCGA Women's Amateur earlier this summer.
After finishing 36 holes tied at 3 under with Irvine’s Ashleigh Park, the pair went to a playoff and Campos won on the first hole.
Campos, who hails from Valencia, Calif., said she was relieved to host the trophy at the end of the day even though she didn’t feel she had played her best.
“I actually finally hit a good tee shot on that [playoff] hole,” Campos said. “Getting the win was really nice.”
Quotes and information from the SCGA used in this report
ABOUT THE
SCGA Junior Amateur
The Southern California Junior Amateur Golf
Championship is co-
hosted by the SCGA and the SCPGA. Started in
2015, this
championship was created to determine the best
junior golfers in
Southern California. The boys championship is open
to Southern
California male amateur golfers with an established
USGA
Handicap Index of 5.4 or below who are 18 years of
age or
younger. The girls championship is open to Southern
California
female amateur golfers with an established USGA
Handicap Index
of 9.4 or below who are 18 years of age or younger.
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