CdM girls’ golf battles back to earn split with rival Newport Harbor
Multiple high school girls’ golf matches were going on at once at Costa Mesa Country Club on Wednesday, and while nothing may have been as loud as the sound of passing carts, there was plenty of noise being made late in the Battle of the Bay.
Corona del Mar came from behind to rally past Newport Harbor, 221-227, on the front nine of the Mesa Linda course, earning a split with its crosstown rival in the Sunset League series.
It was as much an exercise in damage control as anything else that allowed for the comeback. Freshman Sophie Martin saw her ball drop into the hole after striking the flagstick on Nos. 7 and 8.
The first came from just off the green, a chip of about 40 feet from the apron. After playing a tee shot over the water hazard and past the green on the next hole, Martin again rattled in a shot from the rough.
“Really shocked,” Martin said of what she was feeling when the shots went in from off the green. “I’m actually really, really awful at putting, and I was like in shock.”
Corona del Mar (5-6, 3-6 in the Sunset League) finished with a flourish, winding up with five of the top eight scores to par in the nine-hole match.
Senior captain Bailey Kuo topped the Sea Kings’ lineup in carding a score of 39, which was four over par on the course. Junior Zixuan Li (42), freshman Adriana Bezrukov (45), Martin (45) and sophomore Anika Shorey (50) also factored into the scoring.
Senior Ilana Gaber also finished among the top 10 in individual scoring, sinking a 12-foot putt on No. 9 to close at 53.
“I think it felt really good because this is a school we were very close to,” Gaber said of beating Newport Harbor, which won the previous meeting 223-226 on Sept. 10. “It was really important to focus on putts and keep track of other people’s scores, as well.”
Corona del Mar coach Bryan Middleton said the Sea Kings were down by about a dozen strokes before mounting the comeback.
“Just play all the way through,” Middleton said. “If you have a bad shot, shake it off and move on to the next one. You never know what can happen at the end of the match.”
Kuo was exemplary in that regard, bouncing back from a double bogey on No. 4 to play her final five holes at one under par, the birdie coming on the par-three No. 8.
Newport Harbor senior Malia Cottriel finished as the medalist with a three-under-par 32. She put an opening-hole bogey behind her by stringing together four consecutive birdies on Nos. 5 to 8, two each of the par-three and par-five variety.
“I think that what’s my goal this year, playing high school golf, is to be the first person in school history to be MVP of the league four years in a row,” said Cottriel, who has claimed that title in the Wave League the past three before the return of the Sunset League this year.
Cottriel added that she had nearly a decade of experience on the course, as she previously took lessons from John Ortega, the director of instruction at the club.
Junior Hazel Cottriel ended the round at even, an afternoon that included three birdies. The sisters have both committed to the University of Memphis women’s golf program.
“That’s a perfect ending for them, for them to play golf together,” Newport Harbor coach Scott Tarnow said. “Malia will leave and be there for a year, and Hazel will then join and have someone to show her around and show her the ropes. Then she’s going to get years of hanging out with her sister, and they do everything together, so couldn’t have written a better script for them.
“Both of them are playing amazing. Malia, her last 81 holes on Mesa Linda, she’s now 32 under par, which is ridiculous.”
Juniors Colleen Raad (49) and Lucy Kirk (52), as well as senior Madison Shinder (59) rounded out the scoring group for Newport Harbor (3-6 overall and in league). Sophomore Siena Salvucci finished at 61.
Additional girls’ golf results:
Estancia 251, Western 339: Senior Landry Harder carded a four-over-par 39 to lead the Eagles over the Pioneers on Monday in a Coast League match on the Mesa Linda course at Costa Mesa Country Club.
Estancia improved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in league.
Valencia 213, Costa Mesa 291: Kaavya Kotamraju shot a two-over-par 37 as the medalist for the Tigers on Monday in an Empire League match on the front nine of the Mesa Linda course at Costa Mesa Country Club on Monday.
Costa Mesa won by forfeit against Calvary Chapel on Wednesday, taking the Mustangs’ record to 2-5 overall and 2-4 in league.
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