After 18 holes and three additional sudden-death playoff holes
simply weren’t enough, Will Cross’ prep career came to a sudden end
when his ball lipped out on Tuesday. His 10-footer on the fourth
hole
”
tickled the right edge
”
of the cup, but simply didn’t drop.
CARMEL VALLEY
Will Cross has been in a playoff before. That much wasn’t foreign to the San Benito senior.
But Tuesday’s sudden-death round was a bit different, he said.
After all, it was the Central Coast Section Championships, and while the fourth and final qualifying spot toward next week’s Northern California State Championship in Chico lay on the line for the four-year varsity player, so did extending his senior season one more week and another 18 holes.
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Playoffs are playoffs, but the stakes were noticeably higher on Tuesday in Carmel Valley.
“You work hard for CCS and you work hard to go on to NorCals and everything,” Cross said following his playoff round against Terra Nova’s Dan Robertson on Tuesday at the Rancho Canada Golf Club, site of the CCS Championships.
“But it just didn’t work out,” he added.
“Sudden” appears to be the operative word when it comes to playoffs.
After 18 holes and three additional sudden-death playoff holes simply weren’t enough, Cross’ prep career came to a sudden end when his ball lipped out on Tuesday. His 10-footer on the fourth hole “tickled the right edge” of the cup, but simply didn’t drop.
“That’s golf,” Cross later added.
Out of 64 golfers, only Cross and Terra Nova’s Robertson managed to finish with matching 2-over 73s on Tuesday, and instead of a tiebreaker that might have involved a back-nine score, the two seniors trekked back out to No. 1 to decide it on the course.
It eventually took four pressure-packed holes to decide who would earn the fourth and final qualifying spot to NorCals, with each golfer making strong approach shots to put pressure on the other, each golfer making a save to force another hole.
But Robertson was first to go 1-up, which, after 23 holes of golf, was all he needed.
“That’s the first playoff I’ve seen,” San Benito head coach Chris Branon said. “I think it was a very fair match. Both played very well and both had to make some saves. Good experience for both.”
Cross’ drive on the first playoff hole put the pressure on Robertson to match the effort, though. The San Benito senior went right down the fairway, roughly 285 yards on the 417-yard par-4, while Robertson sliced it off to the right, and was forced to play it safe on his second shot.
“I was pretty nervous. Coming up to the first tee and I sliced it,” said Robertson, who added that this was the first playoff of his career. “But I did the best I could. I got out of trouble and just put it on the green and tried to two-putt.”
Which is exactly what he ended up doing.
Meanwhile, the shot Cross wish he had back immediately followed his impressive drive off the tee.
With roughly 150 yards to the pin and a straight line to the green, the San Benito senior’s approach shot was short and to the right, instead landing in a greenside bunker.
“He had a good punch-out shot, but I just chunked the second shot,” Cross said.
He later added, “The second shot on No. 1 was pretty crappy. That was pretty sad.”
Afterward, Cross reflected on No. 1, thinking that might have been his best chance. Although the next two playoff holes were played more evenly, Robertson began to turn the tide with a pair of chip shots that nearly ended the playoff earlier than expected.
His chip on No. 2 from the left-side rough rolled within inches of the hole, while his chip on No. 3 from the back-side rough positioned the Terra Nova senior with a tap-in from inside six inches.
“The more and more we went on … the closer and closer he was getting,” Cross said. “You got the sense that he was gonna make one eventually.”
It was the par-4 fourth hole where Robertson managed to go 1-up on Cross and earn the NorCal bid, however. Both golfers’ approach shots landed on the green, but Robertson’s was within 10 feet, while Cross’ sat 40 feet to the left of the pin.
After Robertson two-putted, Cross placed his first putt to within 10 feet of the hole, but rimmed out his second shot in order to extend the playoff.
“It’s kind of what you do. You kind of have to thrive over these kind of things,” Cross said afterward. “But, yeah … This is golf.”
Cross finished tied for seventh overall on Tuesday, although without a NorCal asterisk next to his name.
“To some degree, Will might have felt a little rushed or played rushed, and that had to do with some of the shots the other player played were out of trouble,” Branon said. “From experience, what Will gained out of this is to take his time.
“And there is pressure, every single time.”
Robertson advances to NorCals along with individual golfers Andrew Buchanan (71) and Patrick Grimes (71) of Menlo, as well as Jonathan Garrick (72) of St. Francis.
Stevenson, who last week during the CCS Regional Championships shot 6-under par as a team, easily won the team title on Tuesday with a 3-over 358 — 22 strokes better than runner-up Palma (380) — while St. Ignatius (381) also cracked the top three to earn a NorCal bid as well.
As for Cross, his 73 (37-36) on Tuesday included a tough stretch on the first three holes, each of which ended with bogey.
“All day my ball striking was letting me down … and I’m not a good putter to start off with,” said Cross, prior to his playoff with Robertson. “I was forcing myself to play up and down, when that’s one of my weaknesses.”
The news wasn’t any better for teammates Ryan Han and Nathan Winn. Each had qualified to the CCS Championships as well, but weren’t able to improve upon last week’s score at the Regional Championships, which was also held at the Rancho Canada Golf Club.
Han carded a 78 to finish 23rd overall, while Winn rounded out with a 79 (44-35) to place 28th.
“It was the same exact thing,” Winn said when comparing his two rounds at Rancho Canada. Similar to last week, the San Benito senior started slow on the front nine, but rebounded strong on the back nine.
“If this were a back-nine tournament, I probably would have done well,” Winn quipped. “My game just isn’t up to the caliber of what is needed to go to NorCals. Plain and simple, I didn’t get it done.”
The strong finish by Winn still left a silver lining for the four-year varsity player, even if it didn’t mean a trip to state.
“On the front nine it was disappointing, knowing that I lost the tournament on the front nine,” Winn said. “But I still had something to prove to myself, and I proved to myself that I can do it.
“I just didn’t get it done today.”
