With that last stroke, the ball finally coming to a rest after a meandering journey that had it sailing from fairways in Palm Springs to Rancho Murrieta, greens in Diamond Valley to Palos Verdes, the men’s golf team ended its season dropping Rio Hondo a notch as their final shot of the season made its way to the bottom of the cup.
Playing exceptionally well, the men’s golf team bumped Rio Hondo out of fourth place at the Conference Final in Hemet.
In addition to their success as a team, individual players Marc Kawasoe and Andrew Pulaski will move on to the State Regional Tournament as they prepare to face off against and propel themselves on to individual accolades.
The Conference Final matches, played last Sunday and Monday at Sobova Course, were the final two games played by the team as a whole for the season.
“When we went into the rounds on Sunday, we were trailing Rio Hondo by only one game for fourth place,” coach Terry Titus said.
“On both days our players played really great, it was probably the best two rounds of golf that they’ve had in the whole season as a team,” Titus said.
After placing sixth place in Palm Springs on April 20, the team was in fifth place overall. However, with spectacular playing during the Conference Final, the team was able to move itself up a notch.
Andrew Pulaski was the low individual scorer of the Conference Final with an aggregate score of five under par.
Sunday, Pulaski shot three under par with a score of 70, and two under par with a score of 71 Monday.
Following Pulaski’s Sunday scores were Marc Kawasoe and Sylvester Sion, both with scores of 75, Kalen Moore with 79, and Ben Arraya with 80.
Monday’s scores were Andrew Pulaski with 71, Ben Arraya with 72, Sylvester Sion with 76, Kalen Moore with 76, and Marc Kawasoe with 78, making for a team score of 373.
“Andrew Pulaski really pulled it together for us this weekend,” Kawasoe said.
Both Kawasoe and Pulaski have qualified to attend the state regional tournament May 2 at the SCGA members’ club in Rancho Murrieta.
“I’m really excited about the tournament,” Kawasoe said.
“It’s my first time so I don’t know what to expect. I jut hope I can play well and qualify for state,” Kawasoe said.
In California, there are two regional tournaments, one for Northern California and one for Southern California.
In the regional tournament, they have a certain number of teams and a certain number of individuals that qualify to go to the state finals.
“I think they’ll both do well,” said Titus, of Kawasoe and Pulaski in the tournament.
Pulaski said he thinks the regional tournament on Monday should be a lot of fun.
“You know golf is a funny game, you have highs and lows and his (Pulaski) game is just on right now,” Titus said.
“He’s got every chance of doing well on Monday at the SCGA members’ club.”
