At halfway point in golf season, and with Salinas out, Balers
and Mustangs duke it out
When the final putt on the Tri County Athletic League golf
season falls to the bottom of the cup at the league finals on May 1
at Quail Lodge Golf Course, only the top two teams from the league
will earn trips to the Central Coast Section tournament.
At halfway point in golf season, and with Salinas out, Balers and Mustangs duke it out
When the final putt on the Tri County Athletic League golf season falls to the bottom of the cup at the league finals on May 1 at Quail Lodge Golf Course, only the top two teams from the league will earn trips to the Central Coast Section tournament.
As it stands now at the halfway point of the season those teams would be Palma and Salinas.
While that wouldn’t normally be good news for the local high school teams, the fact that Salinas High was suspended from competing in the post season in all sports by the section’s front office for a year instantly vaults Gilroy High and San Benito into a neck-and-neck horse race to the finish for the final team playoff spot.
As it stands now, the Mustangs and Balers are in a virtual tie for third place in league, which means that whoever edges out the other team down the stretch will go to CCS, since Salinas’ scores don’t count for anything other than pride at this point.
“We’re a pretty good solid young team with good senior leadership,” said Baler first-year coach Andy Garra. “Hopefully, we can make a strong push at the end to make CCS as a team.”
In addition to the two team spots the top two individuals players from the league that are on teams other than those selected to go to the section tournament will also earn trips to the section event.
The Balers and Gilroy are evenly matched from throughout the lineup. As of Tuesday the Balers held a slim 2-1 edge in matches against Gilroy High this season.
San Benito has been effective on the course thanks to the solid play of Baler senior Chris Shackleton, who has been averaging in the high 30s in all of the 9-hole matches that he has played this season.
“He’s the total package,” said Garra. “He’s tremendously long off the tee, accurate with the irons and his short game is amazing.”
Playing behind Shackleton this season is Diego Navarro. Although only a freshman, Navarro has Division I talent, according to his coach.
“Shackleton has played in more matches and is a little more composed, but Diego is very, very consistent and capable of turning in rounds of one or two under every time he goes out there.”
In a home match last week, Navarro shot a 1-under 36 on Ridgemark’s Diablo Course to earn medallist honors.
“He’s long off the tee and has a good short game,” Garra said. “By the time he’s a senior he’s going to be a hot commodity.”
Playing in the No. 3 slot for the Balers is senior Derek Stone, who has been one of the most consistent players on the team.
“He’s not the longest guy off the tee, but he has a good solid round every time and is always in the low 40s,” Garra said.
Playing in Stone’s group is freshman golfer Gene Park, who also gets around the course in the low 40s. Park’s coach is most impressed with his demeanor on the course.
“He plays with a routine that you’d see from a Tour guy on television,” Garra said. “He seems a lot older than he is. He’s just very professional on the course and goes through a set routine with every shot.”
Senior Ryan Wood has shot in the mid 40s most times playing in the No. 5 spot for the Balers.
The final spot for the Balers changes most weeks as it does at Gilroy High as the coaches try to give incentive to all of the golfers that vie for a spot on the roster each week in practice.
In the last few weeks, Gilroy High has shown that its golf team is starting to peak at the right time. Just last week in Hollister the Mustangs posted an impressive team total of 201 – their lowest of the year in a win over Hollister.
That week Gilroy’s Jordan Miller fired an even-par 37 at Ridgemark’s Gabilan Course to lead the Mustangs to victory from the No. 5 spot. Prior to that event, Miller, who has a great deal of junior golf experience, hadn’t played a match all season. This week he will surely battle it out with his teammate Stephen Freeth for the team’s No. 1 spot.
Freeth has been the most consistent player this year on Gilroy’s roster, averaging in the low 40s every time he tees it up.
“He’s a quiet golfer but he gets it done,” said Gilroy coach Kari Williams. “He’s had trouble with his putting but the other day he shot a 43 at Eagle Ridge (Gilroy’s home course) despite getting a nine on a hole.”
Senior Ryan Clark has played in both the No. 2 and No. 3 slot this year for the Mustangs. In last week’s win over Hollister Clark carded a solid 40 at Ridgemark.
“This is his second year of varsity and he played two years of JV,” said Williams. “He’s just getting a lot more confident and consistent now.”
Gilroy’s No. 3 golfer Chad Wilson is also capable of putting up low 40s numbers. What also shows Gilroy’s depth in the lineup is the fact that sophomore Estevan Gonzales shot a 38 in a match a week ago after coming off a 45 prior to that.
“Any one of them can shot 38 or 39 in that area,” said Williams. “I’d just like to see them all do it on the same day.”
Hopefully for the Mustangs that day will come at the league finals.
“We want to make CCS and we’re going to have to out battle Hollister every time to do that,” said Williams on Tuesday. “We seem to be getting better every match that we play.”
So far Gilroy High has beat Hollister on their turf while the Balers have beat Gilroy High at Eagle Ridge.
“I guess you could say there’s no home field advantage between these two schools,” Williams said.
Since Sobrato High does not have a golf team, the only other local squad that’s competing in the TCAL is Live Oak. Currently the Acorns sit in fifth place in league, just ahead of North Salinas.
Although no one is expecting the Acorns to qualify for CCS as a team, they could send one or two individuals to the section championship.
“We’re not great, but we’re definitely better than last year,” said Live Oak coach Tony Goble. “In the five matches that we’ve played so far we’ve had three second-place finishes. Last year, we had two seconds the whole year.”
This year the Acorns’ roster is made up of one senior, three freshmen and a pair of sophomores. A month ago he was playing basketball, now Brandon Greene is the Acorns No. 3 golfer.
“He doesn’t really care what position he golf’s as long as he does well,” said Goble. “In his last match he shot a 39. He’s definitely one of our most consistent players.”
A lot of that consistency comes from the fact that his family has a membership at the Jack Nicklaus designed Coyote Creek Golf Course, which is an excellent test of golf and a good one to learn all types of shots on.
The Acorns home course is Gilroy Golf Course, which is a much easier layout.
The team’s No. 1 golfer, freshman David Cannon, also broke 40 in his last match, and the team’s No. 2 player Kevin Mom is consistently averaging 40 for nine holes.
“Kevin and David are both long hitters,” Goble said. “They are more year-round type golfers that play and practice a lot.”
The team’s No. 4 player is freshman Kevin Kjellsen. Goble likes his solid short game and his ability to hit wedges and lob shots close to the pin.
Sophomore Tim Dronek typically fills up the No. 5 spot for the Acorns while the final spot is decided amongst a handful of other players at practice.
“Our goal is to get better as a group and get one, or maybe, who knows, two into CCS,” Goble said. “The long-term goal is to get better each year.”
Next year the Acorns will leave the TCAL for the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Goble is already licking his chops.
“The TCAL and the West Catholic League are the best golf leagues in the area,” he said. “Our team scores have been averaging about 225. In the BVAL the scores are in the 240-250 range and the medallist is usually around 41. We should be right in the middle of it up there.”
When the final putt on the Tri County Athletic League golf season falls to the bottom of the cup at the league finals on May 1 at Quail Lodge Golf Course, only the top two teams from the league will earn trips to the Central Coast Section tournament.
As it stands now at the halfway point of the season those teams would be Palma and Salinas.
