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Santa Margarita’s reigning state champion girls golf team continued to roll Thursday behind its top-rated player.
Stanford commit Leigh Chien shot a 5-under-par 67 to claim the CIF-SS individual championship at Tukwet Canyon Golf Club in Beaumont and help the Eagles advance to the CIF-SCGA SoCal Regional.
Santa Margarita dominated another field by shooting a 5-under 365 to qualify first by a staggering 35 shots.
Peninsula, Walnut and Northwood each carded 400 to claim the remaining three spots in the regional, scheduled for Nov. 9 at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills. That’s the final step for qualifying for state.
Santa Margarita started the week by capturing its first CIF-SS Division 1 title by 17 strokes.
On Thursday, Chien outdistanced runner-up Jasmine Koo of Cerritos by two strokes for the section’s individual title. She recorded seven birdies and scored an eagle on the par-5 16th hole.
The course at the Morongo Golf Club played difficult. Only two other players broke par: Kandice Chuang of Buckley (71) and Lauren Lee of Mater Dei (71).
