Valencia’s Eliana Saga earns spot in girls golf state championship

CHINO HILLS — Four area golfers participated in the 2025 CIF State Girls Golf SoCal Regional at Los Serranos Golf Club on Thursday, and two were able to qualify for the state championship that is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.

Valencia’s Eliana Saga’s strong day saw her punch a ticket to the championship with a 5-under 69, and Buckley’s Kandice Chuang joined her after posting a 4-under 70.

Valencia’s Kara An and Notre Dame Sherman Oaks’ Lily Morua came up short after each shot a 7-over 81, putting a cap on strong seasons for the two.

Saga started her round strong with four birdies on the front nine and was sitting in a qualification spot at 3-under par as she made the turn. From there, she held steady with back-to-back pars on the par-3 10th hole and par-4 11th before she faced adversity on the 12th.

She recorded just her second bogey of the day on that hole and fell back to 2-under and out of the top nine spots on the leaderboard for championship qualification. The USC-committed junior responded to that trouble with one of her most clutch shots of the afternoon, recording an eagle on the par-5 13th hole to put herself at 4-under and again in a qualifying spot.

After carding a birdie and a double bogey on the 14th and 15th holes, respectively, Saga’s state championship hopes were still in her hands. With her scorecard at 4-under, a cushion of just one stroke between her and qualification, and six competitors trailing her at 3-under, a birdie would see her clinch a state berth.

Saga came up big again and finished off 18 with a birdie to end her day tied for fourth to advance to the state’s highest level of competition, and she will be one of 54 total golfers in the contest between both individual and team qualifiers.

The day was less dramatic for Chuang, a junior who began her round on the 3rd hole, and a strong final nine holes proved vital for her to advance on Thursday.

Chuang sat at 1-under through her opening nine before she surged ahead with three birdies in her next seven to improve her score to 4-under with three holes to play.

From there, she ended her day with two straight pars to finish in a tie for seventh place to advance to the championship.

Morua and An had uneven outings on Thursday as they finished in a tie for 78th place after their rounds.

A stretch where Morua recorded a score of 6-over after five consecutive holes saw her on the outside looking in, although the senior did record two birdies on the day, coming on the par-4 9th and par-4 12th.

An carded three birdies on the afternoon, but a 5-over front nine made the prospect of a comeback difficult for the Clemson commit and it proved to be a hole too deep to climb out of.

But for Saga and Chuang, they will now see themselves tested on California’s biggest stage on Wednesday.