Valencia golf catches fire in postseason  

Eliana Saga celebrates after finishing as a runner-up in the CIF Northern Regional Tournament. Photo courtesy of Valencia golf.
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Valencia girls’ golf hasn’t missed a beat since starting postseason play. 

Vikings sophomore Eliana Saga added more hardware to her breakout girls’ golf season and took home runner-up honors after shooting 5-under, with 65 strokes, at the CIF Northern Regional tournament at the Los Robles Greens Golf Course last week. 

Less than a week later, Saga and the team followed up the performance after finishing third in the CIF Division 2 Team Playoffs. 

Saga again led the team, shooting 3-under with 69 strokes while fellow sophomore Kara An bounced back with a 70-stroke (-2) performance at the River Ridge Golf Club in Ventura. 

Saga was calm, cool and collected throughout her Foothill League girls’ golf MVP campaign and coach Robert Waters saw nothing change last week. 

“Honestly, Eliana is cool as a cucumber,” Waters said via email. “She may be feeling some pressure on the inside, but you would never know. She is always cheerful and smiling while out there. There is a clear, determined look of focus when it’s time to play, though.” 

An was back to her normal self after shooting an uncharacteristic 8-over at the Northern Regional tourney. 

“I think Kara’s round at Robles was an eye opener for her,” Waters said. “She was pressing too hard to make birdies and that mindset doesn’t always work in one’s favor. It clearly reset her mentally. Later that week, I witnessed her shoot 65 (-7) in our practice round at River Ridge and followed it up with a 70 (-2) in windy conditions this past Monday.” 

Saga finished with just one bogey and six birdies, including three straight on the quick greens of Los Robles.  

“Definitely not surprising at all,” Waters said. “She’s an elit-level player and has put in the work over the years to be able to accomplish so much in this game. Incredibly talented, but also very mature and smart on the course.” 

For Valencia, it was all about retaining positivity no matter what situation unfolded. 

“Biggest priority for us was to stay positive and commit to every shot,” Waters added. 

West Ranch also had solid outings at regionals. Naomi Kim finished 5-over, Chloe Busnawi hit 6-over with Kate Yi (+7) just behind. 

At team playoffs on Monday, Lauren Silva shot 10-over while Leanne Park (+14) and Kiara Jang (+16) rounded out the bronze-medal finish. 

For the 2024 season, Saga is the last local golfer standing and will head into the Southern California Golf Association Individual Qualifiers on Thursday at Temecula Creek Golf Course. 

“At this stage of the season, it is about moving on to the next round,” Waters said. “Eliana will need to play steady golf and if she can get some putts to fall, she has a great chance of advancing on to the SoCal Championships.” 

Waters will return the entire starting lineup next year and with the team’s season coming to a close, he can’t help but smirk thinking about the next few seasons. 

“It was a solid year and knowing that we return nearly everyone for next season makes the future look bright.” 

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