Senior Jacob Roldan fired a career-best 8-under-par 64 to lead the Stockdale boys golf team to a school-record team total and a second-place finish in the CIF Central Section Boys Golf Championship Monday at Arroyo Grande’s Cypress Ridge Golf Course.
The Mustangs finished at 2 under par with a 358 total that also set a school record, according to Stockdale first-year coach Dheer Patel. Clovis North went 356, 4 under par, to win the section team title.
But Roldan was the spark. His previous 18-hole best was a 66 at Sundale Country Club in a summer tournament. On Monday, he had seven birdies and eagled the 288-yard, par-4 16th hole. He actually three-putted and bogeyed the par-5, 400-yard seventh, his first hole of the shotgun-format round.
“The 64 felt unreal,” Roldan said. “Everything was falling into place throughout the round. My game as a whole was pretty strong. The ball was always finding the fairway, approach shots were getting within 10 feet, and all of my putts were dropping.”
The bogey may have been a blessing in disguise, Patel said.
“Bogeys are funny in golf because sometimes when they come early they can sort of ease you into the round,” Patel said. “Jacob got the bogey and just went off, playing lights out the rest of the way. Our kids talk about hitting flow state. Jacob was definitely in flow state.”
Patel said Roldan’s big round was the realization of a big performance he felt confident would happen.
“This is something that’s been coming for a long time for Jacob,” Patel said. “He’s been talking all season, saying ‘It’s going to click; it’s going to click’ and it did. It was so fun to see this for him because he’s put in the work all year.”
Roldan was just as happy that his performance was supported by a solid showing by the entire team. Camilo Del Rosario, a sophomore, shot a 1-under 71, Manik Anand had a 72, Carrick Hentges shot 75 and Jake Fanucchi had a 76. Even the team’s sixth man, Andrew Starr, shot 79.
Clovis North and Stockdale will advance as a full team to the May 29 CIF Southern California Regionals Tournament at Los Serranos Golf Club in Chino Hills.
Furthermore, 12 individual golfers not on a qualifying team also advanced to the regional. Three are locals, Garces’ Carson Sorci, who shot a 69, and two Liberty golfers, Stanley Cohen, 72, and Ty Weaver, 73.
“Shooting a career-low 64 for the individual championship, school and personal records and to help the team advance is a feeling I will never forget,” Roldan said. “Qualifying as a team wouldn’t have been possible without my teammates and shooting the team’s school record.”
Patel said Roldan’s eagle was news he spread to all players during the tournament when he drove a golf cart to check in with them.
“When he eagled 16, I took that information around to each of our guys and it lit a fire under all of them,” Patel said. “Our team got to 5 under par at one point and we were leading the tournament until the wind was blowing and things got a little crazy.”
Other locals playing in the section tournament who did not advance were the Liberty (fourth, 372), Garces (eighth, 399) and Centennial (10th, 420) teams and non-team individuals, Jake Steele (88) and Jadon Valpredo (75) with Bakersfield Christian, Ridgeview’s Ethan Gonzales (82) and Shafter’s Zale Mantas (85).
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