Wind, rain and the narrow fairways at the Links at Spanish Bay
certainly didn’t add up to an easy round for Hollister’s Will
Cross
— nor did they provide a storybook memory for the San Benito
High junior.
But simply having the chance to compete in the Junior Golf
Association of Northern California’s Tournament of Champions
provided an obvious silver lining for Cross. It was the first time
he had qualified to the exclusive invitational, which included
roughly 50 competitors from the JGANC who had won a premier
tournament event during the calendar schedule.
HOLLISTER
Wind, rain and the narrow fairways at The Links at Spanish Bay certainly didn’t add up to an easy round for Hollister’s Will Cross — nor did they provide a storybook memory for the San Benito High junior.
But simply having the chance to compete in the Junior Golf Association of Northern California’s Tournament of Champions provided an obvious silver lining for Cross. It was the first time he had qualified to the exclusive invitational, which included roughly 50 competitors from the JGANC who had won a premier tournament event during the calendar schedule.
“I’m proud of myself,” said Cross, who qualified to the TOC after winning the Fourth Annual Bill Dougherty Memorial Junior Golf Tournament in July.
Carding an 11-over on the front nine en route to an 11-over 83 on the day — he was even on the back nine — Cross believes he finished within the top 10 in the 16- to 17-year-old age group at the TOC, but feels he could have performed far better.
“I worked myself up to this point, so yeah, it wasn’t too good,” he said.
“I didn’t really play to my expectations.”
The Pebble Beach event, which was held Dec. 26, experienced light rain and wind early on in the round, while the course’s narrow fairways and tight rough were unforgiving.
Cross’ first hole, meanwhile, in which he shot a nine on a par five, unfortunately set him back from the start.
“It was pretty difficult,” he said. “I thought I was gonna do well to begin with, but making a nine, it’s tough to come back from that. Starting at 4-over after one hole, that’s difficult.”
Cross recalls playing nine holes at Spanish Bay when he was a freshman, but couldn’t remember the course much after that. On Tuesday, though, he said what makes the links course so difficult to play is its tight layout, where there is approximately five to seven yards to work with if the fairway is missed.
“I kind of evened out things (on the back nine),” Cross said. “It was windy, raining. It was tough to start out in those conditions, but I really should not have had any excuses. We all played the same course.”
Jonathan de los Reyes won the event when he carded a 3-under 69.
The TOC marked the end of the 2009 JGANC season for Cross. Although he felt he did not meet expectations at the year-end invitational, his resume for the season is difficult to overlook.
The San Benito junior, who will compete for the Baler boys golf team in the spring, took either first or second place in 13 of 15 JGANC events this season, while his 4-under 68 at the Yolo Fliers Golf and Country Club in Woodland provided him with a ticket to the TOC.
Said Cross in July, “I’ve been playing really good during the offseason.”
