Gilroy
– The chase is on in the Tri-County Athletic League. It’s a
chase for second place behind powerful Palma. The depth of the
Chieftains was on display Wednesday during a TCAL tournament at
Gilroy Golf Course.
Gilroy – The chase is on in the Tri-County Athletic League.
It’s a chase for second place behind powerful Palma. The depth of the Chieftains was on display Wednesday during a TCAL tournament at Gilroy Golf Course.
With No. 1 golfer Greg Classen knocking three balls out of bounds and shooting 43, four other Palma golfers were under 40. The Chieftains posted a 190 team total that was easily the best on a mild, breezy day.
Gilroy was second at 212 with San Benito at 225 and Salinas at 233. Those three teams figure to fight it out for second and a spot in the Central Coast Section tournament.
“They’re definitely the team to beat,” Gilroy coach Eric Kuwada said of Palma. “They’re really benefiting from the Salinas junior program which is a great feeder program.”
The Chieftains’ Cory Donnelly was in the first group that finished and he posted the low score of the day, a sizzling 1-over-par 36. Teammates Sean Etow and Matt Ogden were one stroke back.
The Mustangs got solid golf from senior Jordan Miller, who fired a 3-over-par 38. Sophomore Jonathon Higgins was a pleasant surprise at 41.
“I was very pleased with how well he shot,” Kuwada said.
Kelly Cox, who shot 84 during the Monterey Invitational, shot 43. Estevan Gonzalez (44) and Dan Dockendorf (46) were the other Gilroy scorers.
“We played pretty well,” Kuwada said. “The scores have been coming down quite a bit since we started. We have different guys who can be No. 1 on any given day.”
Kuwada, who returned as coach after a one-year hiatus, welcomed 16 candidates, which gave him enough to be able to split his golfers between the varsity and junior varsity teams. Gonzalez and Miller are holdovers from the 2005 team that Kuwada coached.
Each played reasonably well at the 18-hole Monterey Invitational with Gonzalez shooting 85 and Miller 87. With Dan Dockendorf shooting 91 and Tyler Park 96, the Mustangs posted a 443 team total.
“They’re young but they work hard,” Kuwada said. “If we can shave 3, 4 strokes per player, we can be down around 200 which is good for any team.”
