Irvine Going to Section Final for First Time

The Irvine High golf team stood at the scorers’ table, waiting for someone to deliver the punch line.

The Vaqueros figured it was a joke. Or maybe the scoreboard was wrong.

But there was no punch line and no scoring mistakes.

The Vaqueros shot 375 in the Southern Section South Coast regional tournament Monday at El Prado Golf Course in Chino to finish third and qualify for the Southern Section finals for the first time.

Perennial powers Santa Margarita (366) and Servite (372) also qualified for the section finals Thursday at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc, but the talk of the tournament Monday was Irvine.

“Shocked and amazed,” said Vaquero senior Jon Zarricina, summing up the mood of the team.

Irvine squeaked into the regional after finishing tied for third in the Sea View League and then defeating Newport Harbor and Woodbridge in a playoff for the final regional berth.

The Vaqueros bounced in and out of The Times Orange County top 10 poll and shot inconsistent scores down the stretch.

But Mike Lavery and J.J. Johnston shot one-over-par 73 and Andrew Kim and Jon Friedman had 74s, proving the Vaqueros can play with anyone--whether they believe it or not.

“I’m surprised,” said Lavery, a senior who has signed with UC Irvine. “We have a team that could shoot really high or really low. I guess we picked the right day to shoot low.”

Coach Terry Henigan isn’t going to ask questions.

“We were a third-place team so we wouldn’t expect to do well in this,” he said. “But we have a pretty tough league and we beat some good teams this year. I guess you could say we are surprised, but very happy.”

Santa Margarita, in contrast, was not a surprise. It is the sixth consecutive regional tournament victory for the Eagles, the top-ranked team in the county for most of the season.

“We kind of figured we’d make it through, but you can never assume,” said Eagle freshman Taylor Wood, who shot 71 and was the tournament medalist.

Steve Conway and Ryan Dwight each shot 73 for the Eagles.

With Servite No. 1 player Nico Bollini struggling to a 77, the Friars rallied with a 73 by Ryan Heidorn and 74s by Ryan Cole, Justin Ragognetti and Ryan Carter.