Akabane tops Scavo to win California Women's Am

Ty Akabane will soon appear on the Pac-12 women’s golf circuit. The Danville, Calif., resident, has committed to play at UCLA beginning in the fall of 2019. She also gave an indicator into what that might look like by defeating Kathleen Scavo, an Oregon player, in the final match of the California Women’s Amateur Championship.

Akabane, 17, took down Scavo, 3 and 2, on Saturday at Quail Lodge Resort in Carmel, Calif.

“It’s such an honor to win this championship. There’s so many who have won this and went on to be successful,” said Akabane, who joined legends Patty Sheehan, Amy Alcott and Juli Inkster as winners of the event. “It’s an incredible feeling.”

It was a big week for Akabane, who started out by earning the No. 1 seed on the match-play bracket. No other player got within seven shots of her during stroke play. Once the format switched, she twice logged a comeback victory, most notably in the quarterfinals against 2016 champion Sabrina Iqbal.

“Those times that I trailed, I just tried to stay in the present,” said Akabane, who had her dad, Chris, on the bag as caddie. “At the end of the day you can’t control what others are doing. You can only control what you’re doing.”

Akabane is headed to the U.S. Women’s Amateur later this summer, but called this win a huge milestone in her season.

Quotes and information from the NCGA used in this report