PETALUMA — Middletown High School’s successful 2023 golf season ended Monday during the North Coast Section Division II Championships at the par-72 Rooster Run Golf Club in Petaluma.
The low 18 individuals advance to the Division 1 Championships next Monday at Foxtail North Golf Course in Rohnert Park and Middletown’s all-underclassmen squad didn’t have a player qualify.
“If you shot 76 or lower you made the cut,” Kelseyville assistant head coach John Berry said. “Five players tied at 77 and there were three spots left. It was decided after a one-hole tiebreaker. One made birdie, there were two pars and two bogeys.”
The medalist was Ryan Herbst of Branson School of Ross with a 3-under-par 69. Four players tied with 71 — Keanu Phillips of Deer Valley, Theodore Anderson of Marin Catholic, Austin Wang of Atherton and Matt Lin of Head-Royce.
Cooper Johnson, the Coastal Mountain Conference South individual champion, fired a round of 84 to lead the Mustangs, who claimed the South title this season with a 24-0 record. Bodhi Moore was next with 86, Dom Williams had 88 and Blake Costlow 95. Johnson, a junior, had one birdie.
St. Helena, the CMC South runner-up and an at-large qualifier into the sectional playoffs, was led by Micah Meraz-Ha’s 84.
Brayton Shellman of CMC North champion Fort Bragg led the Timberwolves with a 92.
Despite rain that fell before the 8 a.m. shotgun start, Berry said the weather wasn’t a factor.
“It cleared up a little and it was sunny although a bit windy,” Berry said. “The temperature was in the mid-60s.”
The top three teams received awards and the competition was tight. Branson School of Ross and Head-Royce of Oakland both shot 309 (lowest four rounds out of five) and Branson won the fifth-man tiebreaker 85-94. Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa and Marin Catholic of Kentfield also tied at 312, with Cardinal Newman winning the fifth-man tiebreaker to claim third place in the 15-team field.
Middletown finished 11th with 353, St. Helena was 13th with 373, and Fort Bragg was 15th with 474.
Besides Johnson’s 74 for Middletown, Bodhi Moore had 86, Dom Williams 88 and Blake Costlow 95.
“Middletown is about one year off,” Berry said of the Mustangs’ bid to advance one or more golfers to the second round of the sectionals and perhaps beyond. “It was an invaluable experience for them. I’m sure they wanted to play better today, but it was good experience. If they do the right things this summer and in the offseason I could see them making it next year.”
