It was a wild day at the CIF State High School Boys Championship at San Gabriel CC. The individual champion completed the CIF/SCGA sweep of regional and state titles, while the eventual team champion managed to surrender an 11-shot lead on the back-nine, only to recapture on the final hole of the day.
Tyler Guo of Crean Lutheran High School, who fired a 7-under 65 last week at the CIF/SCGA Boys Regional Golf Championship to take medalist honors, continued his hot streak with a 3-under 68 under the overcast skies at San Gabriel CC en route to victory.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I could repeat last week’s performance,” said Guo. “It’s hard to win consecutively so I was just trying to play my best and accept the results.”
The junior may not have had his A+ game like the week prior, but Guo showed veteran moxy amidst a poor ball-striking round.
“Putting saved my life out there today,” said Guo. “I wasn’t hitting the ball as well as I usually do. In fact, I think it’s a miracle that I shot under par.”
Guo came out of the gates flaming hot. He birdied three of his first eight holes before stumbling on the tough par-3 ninth. After righting the ship with two pars to begin the back-nine, his flat stick came alive again to the tune of birdies on No. 12 and 13. Guo coasted until the 18th fairway when disaster almost struck.
“I had a perfect drive and was really excited walking to my ball,” reflected Guo. “I knew I had six yards behind the flag and I wanted to tuck it back there but instead, I hit it way too far and at that point I thought I may have really messed up.”
With Guo over the back of the green, short-sided with few options, he tried a 15-yard flop shot off a side-hill lie. The results weren’t pretty.
“I was between shots,” said Guo. “I decided to go with the big, high flop shot and I chunked it. As soon as that happened I thought to myself, ‘I just choked.’”
With his heart racing a thousand miles per hour, Guo collected himself and played a low, running chip to about 15 feet past the hole, still giving himself a chance to win the State Championship.
“When I saw the putt, I knew it was going in,” said Guo. “I’d been practicing that type of line for a long time on the putting green so I knew if I just hit it with enough speed and on a straight line, it was going in.”
That youthful confidence paid off in a big way as Guo dramatically drained the bogey putt to post 3-under and capture medalist honors by one shot.
“I didn’t know I was leading and needed to make that putt,” chuckled Guo. “I was really surprised and relieved after I made it.”
Max Ting (Menlo) and Caden Fioroni (Torrey Pines) tied for second place with 2-under 69. Derrick Liu (Palm Desert), Jackson Rivera (Torrey Pines), Andi Xu (Torrey Pines), Charlie Reiter (Palm Desert), Tyler Schafer (Long Beach Wilson) and Alex Pak (San Clemente) all finished with even-par 71 to finish tied for fourth place.
With his individual title, Guo becomes the first player since Jack Chung in 2013 to win both the CIF/SCGA So Cal Regional and CIF State Championship. He also earns an exemption into this year’s California Amateur Championship, which will be held later this month at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad.
Before Guo and the final grouping of the day strolled down the 18th fairway, the dust was just beginning to settle from the finish to the team championship.
After Torrey Pines HS led by as many as 11 strokes on the back-nine, the boys from Palm Desert HS turned up the heat. As the Torrey Pines lead dwindled to just two strokes within a stretch of three holes, the momentum had fully shifted and Palm Desert eyed an opening.
“We knew the Palm Desert team was an excellent squad,” said Torrey Pines HS coach Chris Drake. “We just tried to come in here and match them hole-for-hole.”
While the strategy was working early, Torrey Pines HS’ wheels were wobbling down the stretch. As the once insurmountable lead continued to shrink, the Palm Desert Aztecs finally found themselves leading by two strokes with their star, Charlie Reiter, on the tee at No. 18.
Reiter hooked his drive into the tree line down the left side of the fairway, leaving himself a tough second shot with an obstructed view. After punching out near the green, Reiter left a chip short and it trickled back into the bunker. Four shots later and Reiter had triple-bogeyed the final hole.
“It was a pretty rough way to us to win a championship,” said Drake. “I feel for Charlie and all those Palm Desert kids. We didn’t want it to end like that.”
Torrey Pines was victorious, by one shot. Their 3-over 358 total was just good enough to capture their second title since 2016 when they dethroned the Westlake HS dynasty.
“It’s different this time around because these kids are young,” said Drake. “Four of our six guys that played today were newbies to the State Championship. I think we arrived early. It’s an exciting future for us.”