Falcon golfers punch ticket to state championship

The Folsom Lake College men's golf team - the 2019 Big 8 Conference north division champions - continued their outstanding season with a third-place finish in Monday's NorCal Regional Championship at Yolo Fliers Golf Club in Woodland, thereby punching their ticket to next week's CCCAA State Championship Tournament.  The 36-hole, one day regional tournament is a marathon, and the Falcons began it with less-than-stellar performances.  After 18 holes, the Falcons were in fourth place with a team score of 398 with Fresno City and Monterey Peninsula lurking just two strokes behind and hoping to grab the fourth and final spot for the state tournament.  The Falcons trailed third-place Sierra -  a team they'd beaten 13 times in 2019 - by six strokes (392) after the morning round.  For FLC coach Barry Zarecky, it must have seemed like déjà vu;  the Falcons won the 2018 Big 8 title (and 10 consecutive tournaments), only to miss qualifying for the state tournament by six strokes….to Sierra.  But this Falcon team stepped up their play in the afternoon round,  and with all six Falcons scoring in the 70's, the team recorded a score of 385.  Meanwhile, most of the other teams struggled in the afternoon – especially Sierra – and only a couple actually improved their score in the afternoon.  Sierra came in with a 414 and fell to sixth overall, while Fresno finished fourth by virtue of their 396 afternoon round.  Team champion Reedley was the only team to shoot better than the Falcons in the afternoon, recording a 381.

Individually, sophomore Max Menconi was his usual steady self, shooting 76 in the morning and 74 in the afternoon.  Brandon Kelly, also a sophomore, was even more consistent with 77's in both rounds.  Interestingly, every Falcon golfer had a better round in the afternoon than their morning score.  The afternoon round was just the second time this season that Coach Zarecky had all six golfers score in the 70's, and it paid off for the Falcons!

        Team Scores                              AM /  PM        Total                             FLC Individuals             AM / PM                   Total

1.  Reedley                             376  / 381       757                                Max Menconi               76 / 74                     150
2. San Jose City                     379 /  391       770                                Brandon Kelly               77 / 77                     154
3. Folsom Lake                     398  / 385       783                               Drew Greco                   81 / 78                      159
4. Fresno City                        400  /  396      796                               Krishton Trimp              81 / 78                      159
5. Monterey Peninsula        400 / 404        804                               Ethan Serrano                83 / 78                      161
6. Sierra                                  392 /  414       806                               Kaden Ward                   84 / 79                      163
7. Napa Valley                       413 / 406        819                    
8. Modesto                            414 / 407        821
9. Santa Rosa                        422 / 432        854

The CCCAA State Championship tournament will follow the same 36-hole/one day format and will take place on Monday, May 13 at Silverado Country Club in Napa.  The morning round will begin at 8:00 am and the afternoon round will commence at 1:30 pm.