Duong, Romero take top seeds at California Women's Am

Only two women finished stroke-play qualifying at the California Women’s Amateur in red numbers at Quail Lodge G&CC in Carmel, Calif. Quynn Duong and Kaleiya Romero, both of San Jose, Calif., will take the Nos. 1 and 2 spots into match play starting Thursday.

Duong, who plays at Gonzaga University, followed up an opening round 68 with a 73 to come in at 1-under 141. Romero, who’s still in high school but has already committed to Pepperdine University, shot a second round 71 to also come in at 141 as the two shared medalist honors.

At the men’s California Amateur, being the No.1 seed has been a curse. The last medalist-champion remains Geoff Gonzalez in 2009. At the CWAC, the No.1 seed has been blessed. Two of the last three years, the No.1 seed went on to win the title (last year Ty Akabane, 2016 Sabrina Iqbal).

Other notable players to make match play include mid-amateur Marissa Mar, who formerly played for Stanford, in the No. 14 seed. Amari Avery, who appeared in the 2013 documentary, “The Short Game,” advanced as the No. 11 seed.

Julianne Alvarez, who just finished her eligibility at the University of Washington, snuck in with the No. 31 seed.

Information from the NCGA used in this report