Heartbreak: Palm Desert boys' golf season ends by a single shot in CIF-SS qualifier
A strong back-nine comeback by the Palm Desert High School boys' golf team fell a single shot short Thursday, putting an end to the Aztecs season.
Palm Desert finished fifth in the CIF-Southern Section team qualifier for the CIF-SCGA event next week. Only the top four teams from the 14-team CIF-SS qualifier advanced Thursday. Palm Desert tied for fifth with La Serna at 3-over 363 at River Ridge Golf Club in Oxnard. Tesoro of Las Flores and Santa Margarita tied for third at 362.
“Every one of these kids can be very, very proud,” Palm Desert head coach Curt Breitfuss said. “Every one of them fought back. Sometimes you come up one shot short. It’s a competitive group. You spot the field eight shots out of the gate, that’s hard to recover from.”
More: Palm Desert boys' golf advances in CIF postseason
Oaks Christian won the qualifier with a team score of 9-under 351, with Loyola of Las Angeles second at 356. Those teams along with Tesoro and Santa Margarita advance to the CIF-SCGA event Wednesday at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills. That event will determine three qualifiers from Southern California for the state title.
The young Aztecs were led by sophomore Caden Breisch with a 2-under 70, while freshmen Luke Ringkamp and Cash Tompoles each shot 72. Junior Ivan Tran shot 73, while sophomores Landon Breisch and Max Margolis each shot 76 in the six-play, five-score format.
Caden Breisch was one of four Aztecs also playing in the CIF-SS individual tournament Thursday, and his 70 qualifies him for the CIF-SCGA event where he will be looking for an individual title and perhaps a berth in the state tournament May 31. The cutoff for advancing individually was even-par 72, but neither Ringkamp or Tompoles had qualified individually two weeks ago.
Breitfuss said the team was hurt by a few late bogeys, but added that his team’s rally featured strong play that shouldn’t be overshadowed by a late missed putt or errant shot.
Improved from regional play
“Today was a much better day than Cross Creek (in Temecula, the CIF-SS Division 1 regional where Palm Desert finished seventh),” Breitfuss said. “Our preparations, how we approached the day, but obviously sometimes in golf you come out hot or you come out cold. But it shows a lot when you come out cold and you are up against a strong field like this and you fight your way back to where you are in the game until the very last putt."
The Aztecs stumbled in the opening holes Thursday, with the six players teeing off from the 13th to 16th holes in the shotgun start. Ringkamp made a quadruple bogey on his first hole, but played 4-under the rest of the day for his 72.
At one point the Aztecs were 8-over and well out of contention for an SCGA berth. But Palm Desert began to rally on its final nine holes as other teams like Tesoro, La Serna, Anaheim Discovery and Santa Margarita began to tumble backward. Tesoro was leading the tournament after nine holes at 8-under, but lost 10 shots on its final nine holes.
But the Palm Desert comeback needed one more shot. The players all saw holes where they could have done better. For Tran, it was a three-putt from 35 feet on his last hole, a par-5, one of a few last-hole bogeys for Palm Desert. But Tran had birdied three previous par-5s in his round.
“I’m personally disappointed in myself, but I feel like other than that hole, I definitely fought back pretty good,” Tran said.
For Tompoles, the round wasn’t about fighting back as much as just not making shots.
“I don’t know if I was ever more than 1 over, but I know I missed some putts I could have made,” Tompoles said. “We all got off to a rough start, but we came back, so that was good to see.”
While the Aztecs had aspirations of the CIF-SCGA berth and perhaps even the state tournament, Tran and Tompoles both had some positive feelings after Thursday’s disappointment.
“You can’t always go out there and have a perfect day,” Tran said. “I think overall the team did their best, and I think that’s all that matters.”
“We are lucky because we know that even though it is over for the year, we still have this team that we know still has two years together,” Tompoles said. “So obviously while we are disappointed we didn’t qualify, we know we are going to have another shot next year.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert boys' golf falls one shot short of advancing in CIF postseason
