A mere four strokes was the difference between moving on to the celebrated regional state finals and putting away the irons and woods until next spring.

While trying their best to drive, chip and putt their way to victory at the Southern California Golf Association members’ club in Murrieta last Monday, Marc Kawasoe and Andrew Pulaski were not able to qualify as one of the final six players to advance to the state finals in Fresno.

“Marc just missed it by a couple of shots,” coach Terry Titus said.

The first of two rounds were played in the morning while the second was later in the afternoon.

Kawasoe had a better overall finish than Pulaski, with a total score of 151 for the day. He shot a 76 going three over par in the morning and a 75 in the afternoon.

Pulaski started the morning well, shooting one over par for a score of 73, but the afternoon wasn’t as promising.

“He just had some trouble in the afternoon,” Titus said. “He shot 84 for the afternoon, and came in at 157,” he said.

The score that would have allowed either EC golfer to qualify for the state finals individuals was 148. Neither of the two scored low enough to qualify, and six players from other schools will move on to compete.

“This is the end of our golf season for this year,” Titus said. “I’m sure they played as well as they could.”

Four teams qualified for the state finals. The first place team with a score of 741 was Palomar, in second place with a score of 746 was Saddleback. Mt. SAC finished in third with 753 and Long Beach was the final team to qualify with a score of 755.

All four teams and the six qualifying individual players will compete next week in Fresno at the River Bend golf course.

As to why both Kawasoe and Pulaski didn’t move on, Titus suggest it could have been a lack of focus.

“Golf’s one of those games where small lapses in concentration can create higher scores,” Titus said.