Xavier Prep celebrates first CIF golf title; Palm Desert takes 4th

It is one of the strange aspects of CIF-Southern Section postseason golf.

Xavier Prep earned the school’s first ever CIF-SS title Monday, winning the Division 3 regional for the historic victory. Palm Desert High School finished fourth Monday in a different and strongest of the seventh regionals for team play.

But while Palm Desert is guaranteed a berth in the CIF’s SCGA team qualifying tournament Thursday in Temecula, the next step toward reaching the CIF state tournament, Xavier Prep has to sit and wait to learn if the Saints earned a berth.

“I would hope so,” Xavier Prep head coach Dave Menke said of possibly being one of 14 teams to advance to the CIF team qualifier Thursday. “Look at who we compete against (Palm Desert in the Desert Empire League) all year. And condition-wise we haven’t been able to shoot our best scores because we’ve played in some tough conditions with the wind.”

The CIF-SS packs Division 1 with the top 20-ranked teams in the section, allowing the top 10 of those teams to advance to the next level. No team in any other division is guaranteed a berth in the CIF team qualifiers, even if a school wins another division. All 14 teams playing at Temecula Creek Inn on Thursday could be from Division 1.

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One of those teams will definitely be Palm Desert, ranked at or near the top of the Southern Section rankings all year. Monday at El Dorado Park Golf Course in Long Beach, the Aztecs fired a team score of 10-over 370. La Serna managed to match par-360 for the day for the win to earn a one-shot victory over Santa Margarita, with Loyola of Los Angeles third at 368.

“We struggled,” said Palm Desert head coach Chuck Mazet. “On the front nine, we were three times on the green in two on a par-5 and three-putted. It was one of those days where we just couldn’t get putts to sink. Our putting didn’t work, and then we had a horrible half-hour where Landon (Breisch) had a triple, Austin (Woods) had a double and we had like three other bogeys in that stretch. We were doing good, and then all of a sudden it fell apart.”

Junior Luke Ringkamp, who led Palm Desert with a 1-under 71 with three birdies and two bogeys, said the day in Long Beach was difficult.

“It was absolutely grueling,” Ringkamp said. “Seriously, I felt like I shot 6-under out there, but the putts, those greens are really interesting. They were so bumpy and it was like bizarre.”

While fourth was a disappointment for the Aztecs, they at least are assured of moving on in postseason.

“We just did not have our best stuff. Apparently there were a lot of three-putts in the group,” Ringkamp said. “Guys just could not convert out there today. It was not our best stuff. But we’ve got this.”

Ringkamp’s 71 was followed by a strong 72 by Max Margolis, a 72 by Caden Breisch, and 75 by Luke Breisch, a 78 by Austin Woods and an 80 by Cash Tompoles.

While the Aztecs plan for Thursday and the CIF-SCGA team qualifier as well as the CIF individual championship, Xavier Prep has to wait for a call from the CIF-SS to see if they are in or out at Temecula.

At Green River Golf Club in Corona, Xavier Prep fired a team score of 24-over 384 to win the Division 3 CIF-SS title by two shots over Newport Harbor, three shots over Aliso Niguel and four shots over Newbury Park. The victory earns the Saints a plaque for a CIF-SS title for the first time in school history.

“That was surprising, because we didn’t really play very well today,” said Menke. “And the conditions were tough. There was a lot of wind and it is a new golf course, nobody has played it, nobody has seen it. I think the scores reflected that.”

Xavier Prep was led by sophomore Ayden Rosales with a 74, followed by senior Trent Hamilton at 75, sophomore Leo Lanza at 76, senior Benton Sullivan at 79, freshman Charlie Menke at 80 and senior Cory Nava at 84.

Last year the Saints were one of 24 teams ranked in Division 1, only to find out that just the top 20 teams in the division played in divisional play, leaving the Saints out of postseason competition.

“A couple of our seniors mentioned today that they would much rather be in Division 2 or 3 than in Division 1 and not get to play,” Menke said.

At Meadowlark Golf Club in Huntington Beach, Desert Valley League champion Yucca Valley played in Division 6. The Trojans finished sixth in the division at 421, 10 shots behind regional winner Alta Loma.

Ben Carlton, the DVL individual champion, led Yucca Valley with a 77, followed by Chris Tyerman at 84, Blake Morrison at 86, Adrian Tamayo and Marcus Cox each with 87 and Gavin Whitfield at 89.