Entering the final day of the Central Coast Section golf championship at Rancho Canada in Carmel on Tuesday, San Benito’s Ryan Han drew a picture in his mind of what he wanted to do.
The goal was simply to improve on his first-round 72 and advance to the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal Championship at Butte Creek Golf Course in Chico. But after two double bogeys, Han was left one stroke short.
Han, who was named the Tri-County Athletic League’s Most Valuable Player for his season, finished with a score of 1-over-par 72, barely missing the cut of 71. Han finished tied for seventh place.
It was the second year in a row Han was eliminated after the final day of CCS.
Despite the disappointment — and the strong score — his season-ending day wasn’t a surprise for the San Benito sophomore.
“I’m happy to be here,” Han said. “I really hope I can get past this. I think I can play better the next round and get to the final stage.”
That will have to wait another year, though.
Han carded four birdies on the day, but was hampered by two double bogeys and a single bogey on the fourth hole.
He started the day shooting well, scoring a par 35 on his first nine holes. He fired birdies on the 13th and 17th holes.
“At first, my driving was pretty well actually,” Han said. “My putting all day was a little shaky. I wasn’t fully confident on my stroke or anything.”
On the front, Han started to have trouble controlling his driver. Han hit into a sand trap on sixth hole and a tree on the second hole to hinder his score.
He was forced to just “hang in there,” he said.
“I was 3-over with six to play,” Han said. “I’m happy I made two birdies to come in. I was really fighting for it coming in.”
Han was partnered with Leigh’s Dave Ahmadian, who carded a 67 and finished in third place, and Sam Jackson of Harbor, who fired an 80.
Menlo-Atherton High School’s Andrew Buchanan won the CCS championship shooting a 7-under 64. RL Stevenson won the team competition, beating Archbishop Mitty by nine shots.
Han did improve on this final score of 78 from the year before, though. And last year’s struggles helped him Tuesday, he said.
“Last year, I really struggled here,” Han said. “Last year did help me because I know where not to miss. The more rounds playing here, the better.”
After playing a practice round of 18 holes the day before, Baler head coach Reggie Synegal thought it may have been too much, he said.
“Two rounds in two days is a lot of golf,” Synegal said. “Maybe it was too much.”
Work ethic carries Han
But Synegal isn’t going to complain about the Balers’ No. 1 golfer’s work ethic. That’s something — as the season went on — that started to influence the rest of the team in a positive way.
“He is a really good role model for the rest of the team,” Synegal said. “Aaron (Smith) is right there with Ryan every day. If you go out to San Juan Oaks on Sunday, you’ll see Ryan out there.”
He continued, “That says it all.”
As one of three sophomore golfers — with Smith and John German the others — Han and the Balers have a bright future in the next few years.
“All of them want to get better,” Synegal said. “To get better, they need to work for it. And they will.”
Han will have two more chances to reach his goal of the state championship, but this summer he’ll focus on slowly improving his game. It’s something he has done every year since he started playing golf competitively at the age of seven.
“If you ask how long I’ve had a golf club in my hands, it’s been since one years old,” he said. “When I was seven and a half, my dad asked me if I wanted to play around or be serious about it. Starting then, I’ve been serious about golf and practicing really hard.”
And the entire time his father, Sung Han, has been by his side.
“He started because a couple of his friends said that if his son played golf too, he could go out with his son and his wife wouldn’t be on his case about it,” Han said.
And Sung Han always follows his son while on the green. During the 18 holes Tuesday, the older Han watched from a distance.
“It’s nice to have my parents out there,” Han said. “I know I have their full support. They are here a lot and they know my game pretty well. It’s really nice to have them out there with me.”
And his parents will continue to follow Han over the summer in a series of Junior Professional Golf Association and Northern California Golf Association tournaments.
“High school isn’t the only tournaments that I’m playing,” Han said. “I’m also working toward playing well in the other tournaments as well. College coaches are looking at all those tournaments and also high school. And I’m trying to get maybe … a scholarship would be nice.”
But most important, the more tournaments he plays, the better he’ll get.
“I’m working on my putting right now to make it a little more solid,” he said. “And I’m working on the rest of my game to steadily improve.”
