TEMECULA – “Who says you can’t go home?” goes the song lyric from Bon Jovi.
Recently a trio of Southwestern League girls’ golf alums in Kaila Higgins (Cal State San Marcos) and Mackenzie Carpenter (MSU Denver) along with Point Loma’s Alli Kim (Point Loma) returned to their old high school stomping grounds for the Cal State San Marcos Shootout. The tournament was contested March 27 and 28 at a Temecula Creek Inn course set to play at 6,081 yards and a par of 72.
Kim is a 2016 graduate of Vista Murrieta High School where she played four years of golf for coach Ryan Heise and was the first Bronco women’s golfer to ever reach the state championship. She was named the 2016 VMHS Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year and earned all-league honors all four years. Prior to PLNU, Kim played one season at UNLV.
At the Cal State San Marcos Shootout Kim earned tournament medalist honors for the 10th time as a Sea Lion with scores of 72-74=146 (+2). She defeated CSUSM’s Breanne Horn by one shot.
“I wasn’t playing great this week, but I know this course pretty well and that played to my advantage,” Kim said in a Point Loma interview. “I stayed calm over those last couple of holes knowing that it wasn’t over just because I was behind heading into 17.”
Her streak of wins ended at the WT Desert Invitational in Tucson, April 3 and 4 with a runner up finish.
Meanwhile, Higgins, a 2020 graduate from Great Oak High School, who transferred to CSUSM after spending her freshman year at Chapman, had rounds of 86-74=160 (+16) and recorded a T29 finish competing as an individual.
Carpenter, who also attended Great Oak, graduating in 2021, recorded a top 20 finish with rounds of 81-76=157 (+15) to round out the trio.
On the team side, Simon Fraser University (Canada) won with a score of 610, defeating Point Loma by a pair of shots and Cal State San Marcos by five shots.
CCAA tournament competition for Cal State San Marcos commences on Monday, April 17, at Riverside’s Victoria Club where the Cougars look to defend their team title of a year ago. Morgan Sjoerdsma (CSULA) is the conference’s individual champion.
PacWest tournament play will take place over the same three days next week at Wigwam Golf Club in Litchfield Park, Arizona.
Derryl Trujillo can be reached at socaltrekkie@gmail.com. Article contributions made by Valley News Sports Editor JP Raineri.
