Ripon High’s boys golf team was one stroke away from continuing onto the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament.
Ripon Christian, meanwhile, had two players come up a stroke short from possibly advancing as individuals, and the Knights as a whole were not too far off from going on.
Both teams had their seasons end in heart-wrenching fashion Monday.
At Greenhorn Creek Golf Resort in Angels Camp, Dixon outpointed Ripon 447-448 for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship. It is the second straight year that the Indians, who have captured the last two Trans-Valley League titles, were the runners-up at the divisional tournament.
“If we can just figure out a way to have one of our best efforts at this tournament we can have us a section banner,” Ripon coach Chris Musseman said. “The course was kind of tough, but it’s not like we haven’t seen it before. If we shot anywhere near our scores from our practice rounds we walk away with it.”
Ripon carded its worst 18-hole score of the season Monday but still had a chance to win — even without injured senior Jason Williamson (ankle). It was also a chance for Ripon to shine without its former ace Andrew Bonner, who transferred to Central Catholic following his sophomore year.
“Whether we had Jason or not it was ours to take, and we did not play very well,” Musseman said. “It’s a tough way to end the season. With Bonner leaving everyone thought we were left for dead, but the kids fought back to get to this point. It would have been really rewarding for them to win this.”
Adding salt to the wound, the Indians’ throw-out score, registered by Jack Brierly, would have won them the championship had it come down to a tiebreaker.
Zach Capel and Nick Sharp each scored an 83 to lead Ripon, with Cole Bagdasarian (91), Nick Mendonca (95) and Kyle Head (96) rounding out the score.
“Three scores in the 90s at a divisional tournament usually is not going to win it, but we were the only team to not have a single card with a triple-digit score,” Musseman said. “We had the tiebreaker, so every kid felt like they left the deciding stroke out there.”
Joining Dixon at the SJS Masters Tournament next week at The Reserve at Spanos Park are individual medalist Alex Milward (76) of Bret Harte, Landon Azevedo (77) of Hilmar and Chris Mayfield (79) of Escalon.
In the Division VI tourney at Lodi’s Lockeford Springs Golf Course, it came down to Southern League rivals Turlock Christian and Ripon Christian.
Turlock Christian won both head-to-head dual matches by single digits and also narrowly edged the Knights in the league tournament. Monday was no different, with Ripon Christian’s 426 coming up six strokes off the lead.
Freshmen Kyle Colyn and Andrew Manes both came in with an 81 — one stroke shy of a playoff for a berth to Masters. Danny Vos (82), Christian Manes (84) and Brandon Dotinga (98) also contributed to the team’s score.
“The future is definitely bright with all six of our top players returning,” RC coach Kevin Schenk said. “We will have a year to remember this feeling, and when we get back at it in February we will be able to use this as motivation and hopefully learn from it.”
