Fay Jia is no stranger to the top of the leaderboard.
Jia, a sophomore at Vista Murrieta, continued her impressive season by shooting a bogey-free round of 67 (5 under par) to claim the title at the CIF Southern Section’s Central Region qualifying tournament Monday at Bear Valley Country Club in Victorville.
She is the first girls golfer from Vista Murrieta to win a title at a regional qualifier since Lauren Sammon pulled off the feat in 2021.
Jia recently won the Southwestern League’s individual championship for a second consecutive year. She also brought home the individual title at Ayala High School’s Gary Christman Classic earlier this season.
Monday, Jia opened her round on the fourth hole at Bear Valley and recorded birdies at Nos. 6 and 8 to get off to a strong start. Jia would register three straight birdies on Nos. 12-14 to bring her score to 5-under par. That was good enough for Jia to hold off a strong challenge from Walnut junior Vivi Yen, who finished second with a round of 69 (-3).
Jia was 1 of 15 Inland golfers at the Central Region qualifier to move on to next week’s CIF Southern Section individual championship at Temecula Creek Golf Club (Thursday, Nov. 6).
Rancho Cucamonga’s Emily Zhang tied for third place (70), while Alexis Lee of Los Osos and Maleah Clark of Beaumont were among the golfers tied for fifth (73).
Seven area golfers shot a 74 and tied for eighth place: Ayala’s duo of Madison Soong and Jessica Yue, Western Christian’s Adelyn Choi, Temescal Canyon’s Breanna Noble, Murrieta Valley’s Maddie Sammon, and the Diamond Bar duo of Juliet Oh and Carol Yan.
Also advancing to the section final were Dayun Jang of Aquinas (75), Iris Soong of Ayala (75), Erin Miyagishima of Los Osos (76), and Sherry Dai of Diamond Bar (76).
The Southern Region qualifying tournament took place Tuesday in Chino Hills on Los Serranos Country Club’s South Course.
Two more Inland golfers punched their ticket to next week’s section final: Centennial’s Victoria Richiani, who shot a 3-under 71 to tie for fifth, and Santiago’s Finley Nihei (even-par 74).
