Prep Boys Golf: Titans’ Schulze, Broncos’ Jin advance to SoCal Regional
Mason Schulze did not play in the San Diego Section boys golf championships last season. The Poway High junior had to have surgery a few weeks before the event to fix a torn meniscus. It kept him from golfing for some three months.
So when this year’s section championships rolled around, Schulze made sure not to take it for granted. He didn’t. And now he will have a chance to play in his first SoCal Regional tournament.
Schulze turned in a steady performance at the two-day San Diego Section championships, shooting a 3-over-par 75 in the first round and then finishing strong with a 72 Thursday at Admiral Baker Golf Course.
His combined score of 147 made him one of the top 12 individuals (not on an advancing team), which means he qualified to play in the SoCal Regional Championship, which is slated for May 28 at Brookside Golf Course.
“It felt good to have a chance to come out here and play,” said Schulze, whose only bad hole of the tournament was a triple bogey on No. 11 on Day 1. “I missed a few close putts, but other than that I thought I played really well.”
The cutoff score to advance to the regional was 148. Four players with that score had to play in a playoff for one spot.
Carlsbad won the team title (729) and Torrey Pines took second (733). Both teams advance to the regional. Rancho Bernardo, who placed second in the state and at the section tournament last season, finished in fifth place overall.
The Broncos struggled from the opening day, shooting a 374. Things did not get better on Thursday, as they shot 379 to finish with a two-round total of 753. Still, Zihao Jin advanced to the SoCal Regional as an individual after firing a 146.
“We are pretty disappointed with the way we played,” said Jin, who helped the Broncos beat Torrey Pines twice in the regular season en route to the Palomar League title. “We did great during league, but we did not play our best at CIF. We tried our best. Hopefully we come back and do better next year.”
Jin will make his second straight appearance at the SoCal Regional. His goal is to reach the state tournament.
“I don’t remember the course at Brookside that well, but I don’t worry about that,” he said. “I just worry about my game. I will try the best I can and hopefully it gets me to state.”
Rounding out the scores for the Broncos were Tai Negishi (149), Bryan Dreis (150), Jonathan Mulvany (155) and Derek Chi (160). Drew Oslance finished with a 152 and Nathan Gilbert shot a 155 to lead Poway.