State Tournament

Sponsored by California Golf Assn.
At Santa Maria CC--Par 72

Talk about tradition.

It took 23 years, but Torrey Pines managed to defend its state tournament title by shooting 367 Tuesday in winds up to 30 mph at Santa Maria Country Club.

The Eagles, who won their second consecutive CIF-SCGA title on Thursday, were also state champions in 1981 -- before any of their current players were born -- when they won at Pebble Beach the last time a state tournament was held.

“I told them all before we came here, we were the defending state champs and we’ve got to bring it back,” Coach Matt McCullough said. “It’s a great golf tradition at Pines and we’re just lucky enough to be a part of it.”

Runner-up Concord De La Salle finished three strokes back at 370, followed by Mountain View St. Francis at 371.

Junior Eddie Olson from Aptos high shot a four-under-par 68 to win the individual championship. The self-taught CIF-NCGA champion used a seven-iron for a hole in one on the 181-yard par-three 16th -- the fourth ace of his career -- to complement his four birdies. He had two bogeys.

Olson was not even aware there was a state tournament until two weeks ago.

“My coach [Jamie Townsend] didn’t tell me there was a state tournament until the back nine at the CIF-NCGA [on May 24],” Olson said as he waited while his name was engraved alongside the other five on the championship trophy. “He didn’t want me to know about it until he was sure I was going to qualify for it.”

Spencer Thurn, a sophomore at Torrey Pines, shot 70 to finish second. Roberto Galletti and Ryan Thomas from De La Salle and Max Schechter from Torrey Pines tied for third at 71.

Cerritos Gahr ended its postseason run with a 377 score and a fourth-place finish. Senior Garrett Sapp was the low man for the Gladiators at 72.

“It’s not bad to be the fourth-best team in the state,” Sapp said. “But I’m disappointed. My team’s disappointed. We accomplished everything we set out to do ¼ until this point.”

The other team from the Southern Section, Santa Barbara San Marcos, finished fifth at 384. The Royals were led by sophomore Brian Willis’ 74.

Rickie Fowler, who won the CIF-SCGA title Thursday with a tournament-record 62 at the SCGA Members Club, shot a 76.

The Murrieta Valley freshman was four over after the front nine with double bogeys on the first and fourth holes.

Freshman Sihwan Kim from La Mirada and Mission Viejo junior Cameron Tringale each shot 73 to tie for 10th.
--Rafer Weigel

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

367--Torrey Pines (Spencer Thurn, 70; Max Schechter, 71; Blake Trimble, 74; Justin Silverstein, 75; Jamie Lovemark, 75). 370--Concord de La Salle (Ryan Thomas, 71; Roberto Galletti, 71; Jake Yount, 74; Kyle Prolo, 76; Clay Rogers, 78). 371--Mountain View St. Francis. 377--Gahr. 384--Santa Barbara San Marcos. 385--San Jose Bellarmine.

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP

68--Eddie Olson, Aptos. 70--Spencer Thurn, Torrey Pines. 71--Roberto Galletti, De La Salle; Ryan Thomas, De La Salle; Max Schechter, Torrey Pines. 72--Garrett Sapp, Gahr; Joseph Bramlett, MV St. Francis, Matt Shaw, Clovis. 73--Sihwan Kim, La Mirada; Cameron Tringale, Mission Viejo; Mike Jensen, MV St. Francis; Chris Jensen, MV St. Francis. 74--Blake Trimble, Torrey Pines; Jake Yount, De La Salle, Brian Willis, SB San Marcos; Daniel Lim, De La Salle). 75--Chris Gregoire, SB San Marcos; Eric Mina, Bellarmine; Sam Kim, Gahr; Justin Silverstein, Torrey Pines. 76--Kevin Lozares, MV St. Francis; Tommy Lee, Gahr; Kyle Prolo, De La Salle, Rickie Fowler, Murrieta Valley; Leon Choi, Gahr.

77--J.D. DeRegt, Bellarmine; C.J. Vuytowecz, Valley Center; Travis Esway, Granite Bay; Brett Giurlani, St. Francis; Jamie Lovemark, Torrey Pines. 78--Brett Mormann, San Marcos; Evan Janke, San Marcos; Clay Rogers, De La Salle; John Moon, Gahr. 79--Peter Romanowsky, Bellarmine; Josh Kettler, SB San Marcos; Cameron De Vries, SB San Marcos; Kevin Bognot, Monroe; Kenny Kim, Gahr. 80--Peter Singh, Bellarmine, Alberto Lata, MV St. Francis. 82--Luke Barnum, Chico, Patrick Duncan, Torrey Pines. 83--Ryan Hallisey, Granite Bay; Nick Brassill, Bellarmine. 84--Richard Sloan, Chico Pleasant Valley). 85--Matt Coccimiglio, De La Salle.