The Valley Oak League golf season was dominated by one girl who stayed unbeaten through every league match and finished superbly at the league tournament with medalist honors and MVP status.
That girl is only a freshman in high school, and that girl is Oakdale’s Mabel Wong.
The underclassman sensation beat every league foe by four or more strokes throughout 12 nine-hole matches, and capped her season with the top score at Monday’s VOL Championships at the Brookside Country Club in Stockton.
Wong shot a spectacular 74 across 18 difficult holes, and was a big part of Oakdale’s 502 team score, which allowed them to finish second overall and landed Oakdale tied with Sonora for second place in the league standings.
Wong and the rest of Oakdale’s girls golf team will take on the Division IV Championships at Lockeford Springs on Oct. 24.
“(It was) a great team effort to beat Sonora by 11 strokes and tie for second place in league and advance as a team to divisionals,” Oakdale coach Lee McGhee said on Monday evening.
Wong was followed by a 105-stroke score from Dylanie Donahue and a 107 by Nikki Stastny. Michelle DesRochers shot a 108 while Jenna Heaton carded the same score and Rebecca Cone turned in a 113.
The quality scores from across Oakdale’s lineup played a huge role in Oakdale’s runner-up finish in the VOL standings, and Wong’’ impressive medalist run was the icing on the cake.
She delivered one of the most dominant seasons of prep golf in league history, with three more years left to expand her league repertoire. And her freshman season is far from over.
“She has done a great job in leading the team with her play on the course and she has a great work ethic and very high expectations for herself,” coach McGhee said. “It’s nice to see someone that wants to work that hard and doing her best each time, like all the girls.”
Oakdale faltered from the top two positions in the league standings after losses to Sonora and eventual VOL champion, East Union, to close VOL play. Oakdale dropped a 268-245 match to visiting East Union on Oct. 12 in the nine-hole finale. Wong shot a 40-stroke medalist round in the loss while Stastny (55), Donahue (56), DesRochers (58), Heaton (59) and Valerie Zemlyanskaya (71) chipped in scores.
A 44-stroke performance by Lancer sophomore Jordan Vinson represented the closest a golfer had come to Wong’s medalist score all season.