The 20-year-old junior made history, capturing the title at the inaugural NCGA Women's Amateur Championship after defeating Antonia Malate, 3 and 2, in Friday's fog-shrouded finals at Spyglass Hill.
The No.3 seed, Ochoa had to get past No.1 seed Antonia Malate. A fifth-year senior at San Jose State had entered the week coming off a recent runner-up finish at the California Women's Amateur.
For Ochoa, the difference came early, as she'd build a 3-up lead through the first nine holes thanks in part to a birdie on the par-4 4th. From there, Malate was never able to get closer than 2-up. On the par-3 15th, Ochoa gave herself some extra wiggle room by making birdie.
"I feel that for the week, par was a good score and I did a good of that," Ochoa said. "Getting the chance to play Spyglass Hill was amazing. It's a really, really good challenge."
Malate, who had her friend Josh on the bag as a caddie, played prep golf at nearby Stevenson School. While she knew the course, in the final a balky putter let her down.Congrats to Cristina Ochoa, winner of the inaugural NCGA Women’s Amateur . She’d defeat Antonia Malate, 3 and 2 pic.twitter.com/UxtRaqWaoQ
— NCGA (@ncga1901) August 19, 2022
"I just couldn't make any putts, and a lot of my approach shots spun off the greens," said Malate, who has future aspirations of turning pro. "Getting to play Spyglass was such a treat."
While Malate went with a lucky caddie, so too did Ochoa. Her caddie was Bears teammate Kristine Tran. On Thursday, Ochoa defeated Tran 4 and 3 in the semifinals.
"It was amazing having Kristine on the bag," Ochoa said. "She has a similar game to mine and she knows the course. We had fun and she helped me relax."
Ochoa's win gave the Cal women a sweep in the 2022 majors---Kaylyn Noh won the NCGA Women's Stroke Play, Annika Borrelli won the California Women's Am and Ochoa won the Women's Amateur.