FLC golf team qualifies for state championship tournament…by the narrowest of margins!

Heading into Monday's CCCAA NorCal Regional Championship, the FLC golf team had every reason to be confident.  They had recently won the Big 8 Conference championship, they tied for first overall in the five Major tournaments, had two of the top three in scoring average in region, and were hosting the regional tournament on their home course at Rancho Murieta.  But after the morning round of 18 holes, the Falcons found themselves in unfamiliar territory - fifth place with a team score of 391.  Knowing that only the top four teams qualify for the state championships, coach Barry Zarecky tried to rally his team for the afternoon round.  With fourth place Monterey sitting four strokes ahead of the Falcons and third place Chabot just eight strokes ahead, the deficit was not insurmountable.   

The afternoon round did not go much better for the Falcons.  Fortunately, other teams were struggling as well and the Falcons were closing the gap on fourth place.  Eventually it, came down to the final group on the final hole, with FLC's Mason Troike needing a par to tie Chabot for fourth in the team standings.  His second shot on 18 was just short of the green , leaving a nerve-wracking up-and-down for par.  With a nervous crowd watching, he chipped to within five feet to set up the must-have putt.  Knowing what was on the line, he confidently rammed the ball into the cup as his teammates burst into cheers.  The tie-breaking procedure compares the scores of the sixth player (the thrown-out score) from each of the tied teams.  FLC's Chris McKnight had shot an 83, while Chabot's sixth player shot 86.  The Falcons earned the final spot to the state championship by virtue of a tie-breaker, as both teams had identical 36-hole scores of 783.

Reedley            373   380     753     

Santa Rosa       380   388     768      

Monterey          387   385     772       

Folsom Lake   391   392     783           

Chabot             383   400     783            

Modesto           395   395     790           

Fresno City      402   400     802

Sierra              420   421     842

FLC Individuals    AM   PM    Total 

Matt Shirley        78     76        154

Eric Olsem           80     75        155

Mason Troike       75     82        157

Nick Fowler         80     75        159

Chris McKnight   78     83        161

Connor Scott      87     80        167

The Falcons will now focus on finding the game that left them on Monday, hopefully in time for next Monday's State Championship at Desert Island Golf Club in Palm Springs.  This will be another 36-hole, one-day format against the top eight teams in the state.