The following article is from The Union Tribune, “Cathedral Catholic sophomore wins CIF San Diego Section boys golf title.”
By Don Norcross | May 20, 2026

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His coach, teammates and rivals all say the same thing about Yunze Wang, a sophomore golfer at Cathedral Catholic High School.

“He’s confident,” said Dons coach Joe Filippone.

“Honestly,” said teammate Andrew Dupuy, “he’s a little cocky, but in golf that can be a good thing.”

Added La Costa Canyon coach Casey Sovacool: “He came off the course one day and said, ‘I should quit golf.’ (I asked) What’d you shoot? He said, ’68.’”

You can say one more thing about the 6-foot-2 Wang.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he’s the best boys high school golfer in San Diego.

On a postcard, sunny late spring day at Torrey Pines South, Wang shot a 1-under 71 to win the CIF San Diego Section individual tournament by three strokes.

Combined with a first-round 4-under 67 at Steele Canyon Golf Club on Monday, Wang finished at 5-under 138. Three shots back were last year’s champion, Torrey Pines’ Evan Liu, and JT Cochrane of Bishop’s.

Cochrane was the only other golfer to break par Wednesday, shooting the day’s low round at 2-under 70.

Wang was born and raised in China. Asked why his family moved to the United States when he was 12, Wang said: “For me to golf.”

Filippone said the best thing about Wang’s game is his consistency in all phases of the game.

Apparently, he’s mentally tough, too. Starting the day with two bogeys didn’t faze him.

“I wasn’t that worried,” he said. “I have been practicing hard. I still felt I had a chance.”

Wang began the morning tied with Liu at 4-under. Liu, though, was not at his physical best. He strained his neck while loosening up Monday morning and contemplated not playing.

“I couldn’t make a backswing on Monday,” he said.

So how’d he shoot 67?

“Somehow,” he said, “I just lived on the edge.”

By Wednesday, Liu also was feeling sick.

Said Wang, who played in the same foursome with Liu: “I knew Evan’s not feeling perfect.”

There were a couple of key stretches for Wang. There was an eagle on the par-5 No. 6, when he pumped a 3 hybrid to 13 feet and sank the putt. On the par-5 No. 13, Wang three-putted for bogey.

Rather than get down on himself, he birdied 14 and 15, both par fours. Coupled with Liu’s bogey on 15, Wang’s lead was three. A Liu birdie on 17 cut the margin to two strokes.

“He’s an aggressive player,” Dupuy said of Wang. “He never lays up.”

Rather than lay up on the famed par-five No. 18, fronted by a pond, Wang pulled out his 3 hybrid, knocking it to 45 feet on the back right. His lag putt stopped two feet short, which he buried for a birdie.

Wang joins former Cathedral Catholic/University of San Diego High School alums Phil Mickelson (1988), Josh Dupont (2005), Tyler Weworski (2007) and Trevor Cox (2023) as section champions.

His win was a popular one among Cathedral teammates.

“He’s a good guy,” Dupuy said. “He’s trying to help me with my golf game. I’ll take all the coaching I can get.”

Torrey Pines (Division 1), Cathedral Catholic (Division 2) and Bishop’s (Division 3) won the team titles. The win was Torrey’s 11th straight section title. Cathedral (39-over par) and Classical Academy 52-over) placed first and second overall and will advance to next week SoCal Regional Championship.

The top 12 individuals not on Cathedral and Classical Academy also advance to the SoCal Regional.

Those 12 are: Liu, Cochrane, Conner Szczechowicz (High Tech Chula Vista), Milton Kromydas (La Costa Canyon), Ryan Zhao (Westview), Dale Swartwood (Clairemont), Brandon Tong (La Jolla Country Day), Kaden Chang (Carlsbad), Charlie Qiu (LJCD), Jackson Seibal (LCC), Connor Mundy (Eastlake) and Ryan Spilman (Sage Creek).