SANTA ROSA — The Middletown Mustangs battled to the end before falling 358-362 to the St. Helena Saints in the Coastal Mountain Conference South regular-season finale Tuesday afternoon at the Valley of the Moon Golf Club in Santa Rosa.
Middletown needed to win the match to forge a tie atop the South standings, which would have forced a four-on-four sudden-death tiebreaker to decide which team would automatically advance to Monday’s North Coast Section playoffs on the same par-72 Valley of the Moon course (formerly Oakmont West).
Instead, the Saints claimed the outright South championship, finishing with a 37-3 record to Middletown’s 35-5. Technology of Rohnert Park was a distant third at 24-16.
St. Helena ended up winning five of the eight South matches this season, many of them closely contested. The margin of difference Tuesday averaged out to a shot per golfer among the low four scorers on the Middletown and St. Helena squads.
Miles Dunham led St. Helena with 86, but right behind him were Middletown’s Cooper Johnson at 87 and Luke Hoogendoorn at 88. Technology’s Sebastian Maurice was the medalist with the day’s low round of 82.
St. Helena will be joined at the sections by the low five at-large South scorers based on their 36-hole totals from last week’s match at Windsor and Tuesday’s round at Valley of the Moon. They are Technology’s Maurice (173) and Middletown’s Johnson (174), Hoogendoorn (185), Dom Williams (191) and Jaden Reese (192).
During the sectionals next Monday at Valley of the Moon, the low 18 scorers move on to the Tournament of Champions the following week at Lone Tree Golf Club in Antioch.
Kelseyville head coach John Berry completed his 40th season and while his Knights were not a factor in the South race this year, Berry said his players — Lander Hockett, Lizzy Malaspina, Michael Wise and Nate Sherman — made it a very enjoyable 40th year of high school coaching.
While strong north winds rolled through the North Coast on Monday, there was only a slight breeze for the golfers to contend with Tuesday.
During Tuesday’s round a home bordering the seventh hole lost a window because of an errant shot. Berry said the conference will pay for the damage.
Reese fired a 93 and teammate Williams a 94 for Middletown during the match. For Kelseyville, Nate Sherman led the way with 113, Lizzy Malaspina had 116 and Lander Hockett 125. Technology finished third in team scoring behind St. Helena and Middletown with 397 while the Credo, Kelseyville and Victory Christian teams were incomplete (fewer than four golfers).
The CMC South will release its All-Conference first and second teams later this week.
