At Quail Lodge Resort in Carmel Valley, Calif., the task at hand was to make match play in the California Women’s Amateur. Only 32 women in the 79-player field will advance. You can just about count on the fact that Quynn Duong will be one of them.
Duong, a San Jose, Calif., native who plays college golf for Gonzaga, opened with a 3-under 68 to take the first-round lead. The former standout at Valley Christian High in San Jose, was flawless on the back nine, carding a bogey free, 3-under 33 thanks to three birdies.
Three players–Katherine Sung, Marissa Mar and Kaleiya Romero–all finished the day tied for second with scores of 70. A high school senior, Sung had three birdies and a double-bogey on the 10th. Mar, who formerly played at Stanford, had two birdies and a bogey while Romero, who is verbally committed to Pepperdine for 2021, had four birdies and three bogeys. Romero started strong at the start, posting a 31 on the front-nine.
Amari Avery of Riverside, who was featured in the 2013 documentary, “The Short Game,” from the 2012 U.S. Kids Golf World Championships in Pinehurst, N.C., is T-5 with Simar Singh at 71. Singh won the 2015 California Junior Girls’ State crown.
Information from the NCGA used in this report
Duong on the hunt for top seed at California Women's Amateur
The field will be whittled down to 32 players on Wednesday, and you can just about count on Quynn Duong being one of them.