RIVERSIDE — Murrieta Valley’s Maddie Sammon had quality starts in USGA and SCGA qualifiers this summer, only to fade late in the round.
Monday, undeterred by a shortened warm-up due to a late arrival at Victoria Club, she overcame a pair of mid-round bogeys to shoot a 3-under-par round of 70 and win her second straight Poly Invitational title.
It’s the third career high school win for Sammon, a Southern California State Regional finalist last year and the 2023 Southwestern League champion.
Meanwhile, in the team race, Great Oak shot a 422 (+57) to defeat Glendora by 49 shots and Centennial by 55.
“I made some silly mistakes out there but still was able to put together a pretty solid round,” Sammon said. “One of the hardest things to do in tournament play is to keep a low round going, and I was really pleased that I was able to do that after playing three straight days in this heat (finishing tied for 7th in a SCPGA Junior Tour Toyota Tour Cup event at Temecula Creek Inn over the weekend).
“‘m really excited to get off to this kind of a start but my big goal this year is to get through that final qualifier and earn a state finals berth at Poppy Hills.”
Sammon started at No. 12 — a 362-yard par-4 — in the tournament’s shotgun start and immediately gave herself a short birdie putt to a middle pin that she missed. She birdied one of the four par 5s on Victoria Club’s back nine, two-putting for birdie from 35 feet at No. 14 to get to 1-under par.
After a string of four straight pars, Sammon turned to the front and nearly jarred a wedge shot for eagle at No. 1, the first of back-to-back birdies on her front nine which got her to 3-under par. A pair of bogeys at Nos. 4 and 5 briefly gave Centennial’s Victoria Richani and Fresno State commit Joanna Bushnell-Crist of La Quinta a shot as they were both trailing Sammon by two shots with opportunities to further cut into that deficit.
However, Sammon kicked it back into gear with birdies at Nos. 6 and 8 to get back to 3-under par. A missed birdie putt at her finishing hole was inconsequential to the outcome.
Great Oak junior Skylar Earle was playing in the group in front of Sammon and grabbed the early lead with birdies on two of her first three holes (both par 5s) after starting at No. 13. After a bogey on No. 16, she stuck a wedge shot to three feet at No. 1 and got back to 2 under par with the lead. However, she played the next four holes with one double bogey and a trio of bogeys to fall out of contention for the individual win
A birdie at No. 6 allowed Earle to post a 4-over-par 76, good enough for a fourth-place finish. Wolfpack sophomore Cami Rodea also finished in the top five with a round of 79.
“For opening day with a really young team I’m really happy with what we did today, ” Great Oak coach Rachel Reif said. “There’s a competitiveness about this group that will be really enjoyable to watch in both matches and practice as we begin to figure out lineups with league play starting in a couple of weeks.”
Eight Inland golfers finished in the top 10 including Elsinore’s Zaylee Wheelock (82, seventh), Great Oak’s Abby McLarney, a freshman making her debut (83, eighth), Centennial’s Denae Ruskuls (84, tied for ninth) and Temescal Canyon’s Addisyn Myers (84, tied for ninth).
