For the first time in Poly’s history, the girls golf team will be represented at the CIF State Regional tournament.
With no roaring crowd and no grandiose applause, junior Annabelle Chan and sophomore Cici Liu, under the guidance of coach Dale Rasmussen, have been quietly making headlines.
Chan has been consistently tearing up the green this season with her historic playoff run. At the Prep League finals on Tuesday, Oct. 17, she made five birdies and finished with an even-par 72. She finished T-1, earning her Co-Most Valuable Player of the Prep League and advancing her to the CIF Northern Regional Individual.
Describing her approach to the playoffs, Chan said, “CIF is a one day qualifying tournament. This meant that I only had one chance to play the best 18 holes I can. Typically, all other golf tournaments are two to four days. Also, these tournaments are qualifying events, so, even though it may be nice to win, I focused on earning a qualifying spot.”
Chan shot 71 and finished T-11 out of 116 players, advancing her to the CIF-SS Individual Championship at Morongo Golf Course on Nov. 2. Chan had already played the Morongo Golf Course numerous times coming into the tournament, including at the Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) Junior Girls’ Amateur Championship on Oct. 14 and 15, where she finished T-14 out of the 90 best players in Southern California. Chan’s prior experience on the course proved helpful, as on Nov. 2, she overcame challenging wind conditions to qualify for the CIF SoCal Regional Championship.
“The course has a difficult setup, so I knew the qualifying score would not be as low as Los Robles. My focus was to minimize my mistakes,” Chan explained. After her top 28 finish out of 120 girls, Chan advanced to the CIF SoCal Regional Championship at the Los Serranos golf course in Chino Hills on Nov. 9. This was the first time Poly had been represented at such a high-level tournament. Chan finished T-31 out of 120 golfers, shooting a 76.
Liu also found exceptional success this season. She finished T-3 with a score of 76 in the Prep League final and also qualified for the CIF-SS Northern Regional Individual Championship.
The dynamic duo’s success can be attributed to their dedication to improving the small details of their game and to their support from Rasmussen. Chan said, “Even though Poly did not have a girls’ team, Coach Dale provided me with lots of support and guidance throughout the playoffs. My improvement from last year along with the finish in the SCGA Junior Girls’ Amateur Championship provided me with the confidence going into the playoffs.”
The future is bright for this tiny team packed with talent.
