Ricci’s drive to state championship comes up just short
PASADENA — A successful season of quite a few firsts ended with some heartbreak for La Cañada High junior golfer Andrew Ricci.
The reigning All-Area Boys’ Golfer of the Year forced a playoff at Thursday afternoon’s CIF/SCGA SoCal Boys’ Championships at Brookside Golf Club’s C.W. Koiner Course.
Ricci, one of seven players looking to qualify for the final two spots to the CIF State Championships at San Gabriel Country Club, fell short on the day’s first playoff hole and was eliminated.
Ricci finished in a 12-player tie for 10th place with a one-over-par 73 on the 6,852-yard course.
“I came out pretty strong in the first four holes and was two-under par and just kind of let it slip,” Ricci said. “I didn’t surrender any high numbers and I came back in a good tournament with a couple of birdies to give myself a chance. In the playoff, it just didn’t work.”
To advance to the season-ending CIF State Championships, a golfer had to be on a top-three team or one of the first nine finishers not on one of those squads.
Since Ricci was competing individually, he needed a top-nine spot and finished tied with six other players for the final two spots.
So, Ricci competed against Marshall’s Haram Shin, Carlsbad’s Thomas Stephenson, Woodbridge’s Owen Manchester, Sage Creek’s Dylan Menante, King’s Johnny Walker and Village Christian’s Wen Xie.
The seven golfers headed to a playoff on the par-four, 408-yard 10th hole.
Despite connecting on the shortest drive of all participants, Ricci recovered to be in a position to sink a 25-foot birdie to continue his playoff push. Unfortunately for Ricci, he was long and wide by a few feet, which eliminated him as three players converted birdies.
Eventually, Shin and Stephenson secured the final two spots to state.
“Having to birdie that hole is pretty hard, so I guess I’ll work for it next year,” Ricci said.
Ricci finished with five bogeys and four birdies after his shotgun start on the 17th hole.
After birdies on the 18th and second holes put Ricci at two-under-par, the junior tallied four bogeys over the next seven holes to slip to two-over.
A bogey on the 12th hole dropped Ricci to three-over and into a tie for 38th place before he rallied with back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th holes to climb back into contention at one-over.
Ricci followed with pars on his final two holes and then nervously waited to hear his fate.
“Andrew played a great season, he led the team and has been the best player all season,” La Cañada assistant coach Hasan Doxie said. “He improved as the season went on and he has a bright future. I’m already excited about next year.”
Ricci wasn’t the only one nervous Thursday as head coach Derrick Williams left midway through the action as his wife went into labor. Williams texted his support of Ricci from the hospital.
“I could not be more proud of Andrew,” Williams texted. “He has led our team all year and absolutely played his butt off the last three weeks. He’s gone from winning our [league] championship, to shooting 72 in the CIF first round, 71 at the team CIF, 70 in the 2nd round and a tie for 10th in this field. It’s been a great ride and I know he will be back next year.”
Ricci was his school’s first SoCal Championship qualifier since Collin Morikawa in 2015 and captured the league’s first individual title since 2015, as well. The Spartans also won their 14th straight league crown.
Crean Lutheran’s Tyler Guo won the SoCal Championship with a seven-under-par 65, while Torrey Pines and Palm Desert tied for the team championship at nine-over par.
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