Gilroy squeaked past arch rival San Benito by one stroke;
Salinas sweeps match
Hollister – It’s the devil of the front nine of Ridgemark’s Diablo Course.
The four other Gilroy High scorers were a combined 5-over on the 561-yard, par-5 seventh hole in the boys’ golf triangular between Gilroy, San Benito and Salinas Wednesday.
But Gilroy senior Jami Binowski birdied the tough hole – which sets golfers up for a blind second shot to the green – thanks to a nice chip from the fringe of the green.
It only saved one stroke, but when all was said and done, that’s what the Mustangs needed to make an all-important second-place finish.
Salinas (192) won the meet. But Gilroy (205) edged out San Benito (206) by one stroke for second place, a result which puts the Mustangs in third place in the Tri-County Athletic League standings, one point ahead of the ‘Balers.
If the season were to end today, Gilroy would qualify for the Central Coast Section meet. The top two teams in league advance to CCS. But because second-place Salinas has been banned from spring playoffs by the CCS, the third-place team TCAL team will advance. Palma is in first place.
“(Today’s win) is really important because Hollister has a lot of easy league matches (coming up) and we have a lot of Palma matches left,” said Binowski. He and teammate Stephen Freeth shot 2-over 39’s to lead Gilroy.
Salinas’ Jason Simonetti was the medalist with a 2-under 35. Chad Wilson (42), Dylan Habing (42) and Estevan Gonzalez (43) posted the rest of Gilroy’s counted scores.
In the coming week, Gilroy will face Palma twice and Salinas once in triangular meets. The Mustangs host both teams at Eagle Ridge Tuesday at 3:30pm.
According to Gilroy head coach Kari Williams, the Mustangs will have to beat at least one of the teams that day to stay ahead of San Benito. The ‘Balers are heavily favored to beat Live Oak and North Salinas in a separate triangular also on Tuesday.
“It will be tough to beat either one of them,” said Williams, whose team has beat Palma and Salinas each once this season.
Freeth said the team will have to continue its recent ways in order to come out on top.
“Just playing consistent. We started off pretty bad – well, not bad, but we weren’t playing consistent golf,” the senior said. “Now, we’re playing more consistently.”
Binowski said Freeth has been Gilroy’s most consistent golfer, but that others can also step up.
“Besides Stephen, our lineup has been shaken up a lot,” Binowski said. “I like it that our three, four, five and six guys are all pretty close. That shows that we’re a pretty solid team all around.”
Hollister Free Lance sports editor Scott Campbell contributed to this article.
