Santa Margarita’s Wood Wins Regional

Taylor Wood of Santa Margarita shot three-under-par 69 and was medalist in the Southern Section Southern Individual Regional tournament Monday at Green River’s Orange Course.

Wood, a junior, hit 17 greens in regulation and had four birdies to lead a group of 24 that qualified for the section finals Monday at Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs.

Andy Anderson of Huntington Beach was a stroke behind Wood. Defending section champion Nico Bollini of Servite shot 72 and finished in a third-place tie with Steve Bullock of Santa Margarita and Daniel Im of La Mirada.

Seven players finished on the cut line at 76 and had to play off for the final five spots. Matt Amen of Orange Lutheran, Ryan Carter of Servite, Robert Chaplain of San Clemente, Matt Isaacson of Tustin and Zachary Jones of Orangewood Academy all made pars to advance.

Lower scores were expected, but players blamed the poor condition of the greens for their inability to make birdies.

“They could have been in a little better condition,” Wood said. “I was hitting it real close all day but I missed a bunch of four-footers.”

Wood was considering skipping the section final next week to play in a U.S. Open qualifier but said winning the tournament changed his mind. He also joked about another agenda he has in mind: dethroning the current champion. “I want to take down Nico,” he said.

Bollini, who was three under at the turn before the bumpy greens got the better of him, said he was up to the challenge.

“That’s fine with me,” he said. “But I want to win [the CIF-SCGA tournament] more.”

Servite’s Ryan Cole, who shot 74 and tied for ninth, made the most of his opportunity to play Monday. Cole did not qualify for the tournament during league finals but got in as an alternate when Andrew Price of Santa Margarita pulled out to go on a recruiting trip.