Golf legend Bobby Jones famously said, “I never learned anything from a match that I won.”

East Union standout Will Brink did plenty of winning in 2012, but it was the moments of frustration and heartbreak toward the end of the season that have him motivated to be better than ever for his upcoming senior year.

The Manteca Bulletin’s two-time All-Area Golfer of the Year settled for second place in the Valley Oak League and Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV tournaments by the narrowest of margins and ultimately failed to qualify for a second appearance in the Northern California Golf Association/California Interscholastic Federation High School Championships.

“I was kind of lucky to be able to go to NorCals as a sophomore and I was hoping to go back,” Brink said. “I played my best golf during the regular season; unfortunately, I didn’t play real well in the postseason and had one of my worst rounds at (SJS) Masters.

“It was a good learning experience and I’ll give it another shot next year.”

Brink was low medalist in the Pitman and McNair invitationals and was so dominant in dual matches that he could have finished worse than second in the conference finale and still earned the Most Valuable Player distinction in the competitive VOL. His stroke average of 36.43 was two strokes lower than second-place Ryan Jones’.

But it was Jones and his Mustangs of Oakdale High who prevailed in the league tournament. Oakdale clinched the VOL title at Diablo Grande’s Ranch Course, and Jones captured medalist honors with a 3-over 75. Brink also carded a 75 but lost on the tiebreaking “card-off” by shooting a higher score on the back nine.

The Lancers’ league rivals would again get the better of them in the SJS Division IV Tournament a week later at the Diablo Grande Ranch Course. Oakdale secured its third consecutive divisional crown, while Sonora’s Barrett McLaughlin edged Brink, who finished with an even 72, for the individual title by a stroke.

“That’s golf,” Brink said. “I thought I played well enough to have a chance both times and I did. It also shows how good the league is. We have some very talented players in our league.”

The talent was out in full force for the SJS Masters event, which featured eventual state team champion Granite Bay and individual state titlist Austin Smotherman of Del Oro. Smotherman turned heads with a 7-under 65 while winning Masters at The Reserve at Spanos Park.

Brink, meanwhile, played solid golf overall and finished five over, but double bogeys on two par-3 holes put him out of the running for one of four qualifying berths for NorCals. It turned out that he needed a 70 just to have a shot.

“The conditions were so perfect that I knew it was going to take a really low score to make it,” Brink said. “The NorCal qualifiers had to shoot 2-under, so that’s saying something.

“I let my frustration get the best of me. That used to never be a problem but this year it was. I felt like my swing was there, but I chose the wrong clubs for certain holes and that’s what led to my frustration.

“I think just more experience with that course and in big tournaments will help me overcome all of that.”

There is no offseason for Brink, which is the case for most top-caliber amateur golfers around his age. He is currently competing in the Junior Golf Association of Northern California circuit and plans to continue fine tuning his game through the fall and winter sports seasons.

He aims to defend his league MVP title, win the divisional tournament and return to NorCals. There’s a bigger prize at stake for Brink, however, as he hopes to earn a scholarship to play in college.

“That’s my biggest goal right now,” he said. “This summer is huge for me, so I’m just going to continue to work hard on my game and gain some more experience.”