CIF Boys Golf: Sunny Hills Shines Brightest

Team scores: Sunny Hills 379, Santa Barbara 383, Clovis West 388, Palma 393, Cardinal Newman 394, Rocklin 398.

Individuals: 70 – Jeff Kang (Sunny Hills); 72 – Peter Fernandez (Stockdale); 73 – Nick Shafer (Rocklin), Andrew Perez (Santa Barbara); 74 – Alex Kim (Sunny Hills), Sam Smith (Turlock), Johnny MacArthur (Hart), Rak Cho (Brea Olinda), Austin Roberts (Waldorf-Sacrament); 75 – Matt Ogden (Palma), Ryan Corbett (Monte Vista), Jay Myers (Branham).

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BOYS TEAM STATE CHAMPIONS

2008 Sunny Hills

2007 Edison

2006 De La Salle

2005 St. Augustine

2004 Torrey Pines

MaxPreps.com

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Members of Sunny Hills (Fullerton) golf team glumly shared scorecards, shrugged, laughed a little bit and asked about leaving Santa Maria Country Club early.

“This will never hold up,” sophomore Jeff Kang said. “It’s pretty disappointing to end such a great year like this. We should just go home.”

That was at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Two hours later, the Lancers, buoyed by medalist Kang who shot a 2-under-par 70, were holding up the championship trophy and posing for pictures in celebration of their school's first CIF State Title in sport.

Sunny Hills did its version of fast break golf, racing past the field early and holding on for victory.

With one of their worst team scores of the season, the Lancer (379 strokes) avoided gusty early afternoon winds and escaped with the CIF State Championship crown over arch-rival and runner-up Santa Barbara (383).

Most of the Dons teed off the short (6,505) but narrow course two hours later than Sunny Hills and eventually it cost them dearly as the gusting winds sent shots and confidence wayward.

Then again, Santa Barbara, about an hour’s drive south, was the only team with course knowledge.

Santa Maria Country Club officials didn’t allow teams to play a practice round, leaving players gasping for answers, especially on the backside which featured holes with numerous blind shots and required lay-ups.

“Sure that gave us a slight edge I suppose,” Santa Barbara coach James Beard. “But we didn’t get any favors playing so late. It all evened out and the best team today won. Sunny Hills is a very talented squad.”

Indeed they are.

And gender diverse.

Sunny Hills became the first coed team to ever play in the five-year-old state boys tournament.

The Lancers featured not only freshman Kristen Park (80), the nation's No. 2  girls player in the country according to the American Junior Golf Association, but senior Inah Park (83), a former Nevada State champion.

At 14, Kristen Park was the fourth youngest winner of the U.S. Junior Girls Amateur Championship last summer.

Add in Alex Kim (74), Kevin Lim (77) and Mike Imp (78) and the Lancers had just enough to knock off Santa Barbara, followed by Clovis West (388), Palma-Salinas (393), Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa (394) and Rocklin (398).

The high scores were in direct contrast to Thursday's Southern California Regional in Murrieta, where Sunny Hills finished just 1-over par as a team while tying for second, six shots back of Santa Barbara.

On Tuesday, in California’s final sporting event of the 2007-08 season, Sunny Hills was 19-over and Santa Barbara plus-23.

“What a difference a tournament and course makes,” Sunny Hills coach Tim Davaney said. “We’ve had a great rivalry with Santa Barbara. We’ve been playing ping pong back and forth. Today was our day to grab the brass ring.”

Santa Barbara, also seeking its first state title in any sport, was led by its only senior Andrew Perez who tied for third at 73. Last week, Perez tied for medalist honors at 5-under.

Other Santa Barbara players included junior Mason Field (76), and sophomores John Bauer (77), Shane Lebow (77) and Ray Gerow (80).

"We lose our leader but our future is bright," Field said. "Hopefully we'll get back here next year and finish business."

The Dons were done in by the challenging 16^th hole, a 171-yard par 3 that featured an easy out-of-bounds area, especially with the wind. The Dons were a combined plus-7 on that hole alone.

“That definitely hurt,” Bedard said. “The hole played pretty brutal later in the day.”

Just ask Field, who had a triple bogey on No. 16 and followed with a double bogey. He bore down and birdied the final hole, draining an eight-foot putt with a tricky left to right turn.

“I’m really proud of our team because there was no quit,” Bedard said. “That was a great sign of strength by Mason.”

Said Field: “I had to block out (16 and 17) and just get back to playing well. I knew my team was counting on me. I’m just sorry we came up a little short.”

Other than 16 and 17, Field finished 1-under par.

“I played great for 16 holes today,” he said. “But those two holes just killed me.”

The Dons had no control over Kang, who was brilliant, making birdies at No. 10, 11, 13 and 18. “I scrambled all day and then made a lot of putts,” he said. “I didn’t make any long birdie putts but put the ball in position to make it.

“Funny, putting has been a real struggle lately for me. I made a slight adjustment in my set up and it came up big today.”

Kang said it helped the Lancers that the course was short considering Park and Park are not long hitters compared to the boys.

“It can be intimidating for sure,” said Inah Park, a transfer from Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) whose sister Inbee Park plays on the LPGA tour. “Sometimes these guys hit it 100 yards past us. At the same time this feels very special. We’re proud to be on and to have contributed to this team and to be the first girls to be state champions.”

Davaney, a former football coach on campus who has been coaching golf since 1983, said the Lancers have a history of coed play. Earlier this decade the team featured Irene Chow, now a member of the LPGA.

Last year, Si Hwan Kim, playing as an individual for Sunny Hills, tied for third in the CIF boys tournament with a 74.

The Lancers don't have a girls program, thus females are allowed to play with the boys.

Besides the major contributions on the links, the girls have also added greatly to camaraderie.

“This is a good cohesive group, so I’m not really surprised they’ve accomplished what they have,” Devaney said. “They’ve all led us at one time or another.”

Kang was the only player to finish under par though Stockdale sophomore Peter Fernandez shot an even-par 72.

“It was all chipping and putting,” said Fernandez, who birdied No. 5, 16 and 17. “I wasn’t real good off the tee and had to scramble. Overall I’m very happy with second.”

If not for a 50-foot birdie on No. 5, Fernandez would have tied with Rocklin’s Nick Schafer and Perez for the No. 2 spot.

“That was a bomb,” Fernandez said of his 50-footer. “When you make one like that you figure it’s your day. I came here to win but came up a little short. Hopefully I’ll have another shot.”

Rounding out the top 10 were Kim, Sam Smith (Turlock), Johnny MacArthur (Palma), Rak Cho (Brea Olinda) and Austin Roberts (Waldorf-Sacramento), all with 74s, and Matt Ogden (Palma), Ryan Corbertt (Monte Vista-Danville) and Jay Myers (Branham), with 75s.

Kang said along with an AJGA victory in Mexico last winter, winning the state team and individual crown on the same day was the highlight of his young career.

"To be honest, I wasn't even thinking about winning the state (individual) title," Kang said. "I was just trying to play well because we were struggling as a team."

Turns out, they struggled better than anyone else.

E-mail Mitch Stephens@maxpreps.com.