STOCKTON — Finding the fairways with good distance wasn’t the problem for East Union golf standout Will Brink during the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament Monday.

Breaking even on two of the shortest holes at The Reserve at Spanos Park was.

Two double bogeys on the par-3 fourth and 15th holes took Brink out of contention for a berth to the NCGA/CIF NorCal Regional Championship, as he finished five over for a 77.

“That kind of derailed a good round,” Brink said. “I wasn’t shooting a great round at the beginning, but that completely derailed it.”

Scoring par on both holes wouldn’t have been enough anyway with the qualifying line drawn at 70. Ryan Jones of Oakdale, Aaron Beverly of Armijo and Corey Pereira of Pondorosa each carded a 70, while McClatchy’s Julian Woodfork paced the four individual advancers with a 67.

Last year, Brink fired a 2-over 74 and prevailed in a four-man playoff to reach the NorCal tournament. He shot the same score at Butte Creek Country Club in Chico a week later.

The top three teams — Granite Bay (363), Christian Brothers (367), Del Oro (372) — also move on. Del Oro’s Austin Smotherman was the overall medalist with an impressive 65. Granite Bay, meanwhile, shot the second-lowest score in section championship history.

With many players arriving to the club house with low scores, the sometimes-gusty conditions and slick greens could not be blamed.

“Conditions were perfect today,” Brink said the Valley Oak League’s Most Valuable Player.

He got off to a nice start with a birdie on the 372-yard 10th hole. After failing to take advantage of the par-5 11th, he bogeyed the 12th and later dropped to 2-over with his first double bogey on the 166-yard 15th hole. Brink made the turn at 2-over 38.

A brutal three-hole stretch from the third to fifth holes took him out of the hunt. He sandwiched his double bogey on the 161-yard fourth hole with bogeys on par 4s. Brink recorded his third and final birdie on the par-5 sixth and finished with three consecutive pars.

“I felt like I was hitting the ball better than I scored,” Brink said. “I had a hard time finding the right distances and hitting it pin high. Here, if you want to shoot a good score you pretty much have to hit greens and I didn’t do that. (Missed) a few putts here and there, but I just didn’t hit greens.”

Having qualified for NorCals as a sophomore makes the 2012 all the more disappointing for the talented lefty. He plans on competing in more junior golf tournaments over the summer to stay sharp, and his coach believes that is what it will take for Brink to return to Chico.

“In my opinion he played a sub-par round,” East Union coach Dennis Wells said. “It wasn’t just about execution, he went with the wrong clubs and turned it into a 77. (He needs) more experience and more tournaments, that’s what it comes down to. Potential-wise and talent-wise, he’s up there with anybody here.”