HERCULES — Doug Quinones of Middletown High School came within a stroke of qualifying for the NorCal Golf Championships but lost in a four-way playoff that closed out the North Coast Section Tournament of Champions on Monday at Franklin Canyon Golf Club in Hercules.
It was the second year in a row Quinones lost in a four-way playoff at the TOC while trying to land the final at-large berth into the NorCal Championships, which take place next Monday at Richmond Country Club in Richmond.
Of the 20 teams entered in the TOC, only three move on to the NorCals. There are also at-large berths for four golfers who are not members of the first-, second- or third-place teams.
Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) won the team title with 376 strokes on the par-72 Franklin Canyon layout. San Ramon edged out two other teams for second place, shooting 387, and Monte Vista (Danville) and Marin Catholic (Kentfield) tied for third with 389. Monte Vista won the sixth-man tiebreaker (85-86).
The individual champion was Charlie Welch of Cardinal Newman with a 3-under-par 69. John Haase of Berkeley High School was the runner-up with 71 and secured the first available at-large berth into the NorCals. Justin Gabbert of Foothill (Pleasanton) finished with 72 and clinched the second at-large berth, and Alex Calia of San Ramon had 73.
Four golfers, all of whom were not members of the top three teams, tied with 74, of which Quinones was one. The others were Walter Cameshiro of Castro Valley, Danny Cacho of Justin-Siena (Napa) and Steve Johnson of Marin Catholic.
The playoff hole was No. 9, a 540-yard par-5 that Kelseyville coach John Berry described as “a make-or-break kind of hole, with water down the right side.”
Quinones and Cacho each parred the hole and Cameshiro tapped in a short birdie putt to secure the third available at-large berth into the NorCals. Johnson then drained a 15-foot birdie putt to wrap up the final at-large berth.
Quinones, a senior, was among a handful of Coastal Mountain Conference South golfers participating in the TOC. Ty Cazet of Rincon Valley Christian finished with a 76 and Kelseyville golfers Jonathan Bridges and Nick Schaefer finished with 77 and 78, respectively. St. Vincent of Petaluma, the CMC South champion, placed 19th in the TOC team standings.
