After a chilly day among 124 high school competitors and a surprise playoff to bring it to an end, Tyler Guo earned top honor medalist once again by digging deep for the 2019 CIF/SCGA SoCal Boys title at Brookside GC in Pasadena.
“I came here trying to win and do my best,” Guo said. “In the past, my goal was just to qualify, and I’ve stopped thinking that way. That helped a lot.”
It was thought to be in the bag for the defending champion with a 4-under 68, until Chanachon Chokprajakchat’s putter ignited to secure four birdies on the back to tie with the leader. The calm and collected Guo was put in a playoff against fresh-faced Chokprajakchat, Anaheim Discover Christian Magi freshman.
Guo, the USC-commit, took his experience from last year which allowed him to prepare for the quirks of Brookside. Runner-ups Chokprajakchat, Ryan Hong (Los Osos) and Haram Shin (Marshall) were not too far behind, keeping the pressure on Guo.It was Chokprajakchat that caught up and pushed Guo to a playoff.
“I got a mental coach this year through USC and he helped me understand that I can only control what I can control,” Guo said. “If I have a bad shot, I think it happens for a reason and I recover quicker and just focus on the next shot.”
As Regionals ended, playoffs began soon after, starting on No. 10. With a vanilla start, the battle began on No. 11 when the pair both hit errant drives. With two shots hit back into play, it was up to the short game to determine a champion. They both chipped it to nearly identical putts, and Guo stepped up first. He knocked it in with confidence, emitting a burst of emotion which wasn’t seen all day.
“I never thought in my life I would be here,” Guo said. “Five years ago I was in China so I can’t imagine what the future holds, but all I can think about is my time at USC and just continue to do the best I can.”
Chokoprajakchat felt the pressure after Guo’s make, and lipped-out for a runner-up position. He will still have the honor of going to State, though, alongside his team who placed second overall.
The La Costa Canyon Mavericks earned top honors and will move on to State with their combined performance of 7-over which was more than what they needed to beat the pack, well-deserving of the Regional Title.
Next up is CIF Boys State Championship at Poppy Hills GC on May 29 where the top medalists compete for the California title.
QUALIFYING TEAMS
La Costa Canyon Mavericks
Kento Yamawaki
Luke Potter
Josh Rooker
Landon Elliot
Jonas Appel
Anaheim Discovery Christian Magi
Chanachon Chokprajakchat
Surapat Chokprajakchat
Taehoon Song
Myungho Lee
Samuel Choi
Torrey Pines Falcons
Caden Fioroni
Alex Conley
Jackson Rivera
Ryan Mendez
Isaac Rodea
QUALIFYING INDIVIDUALS
Tyler Guo
Ryan Hong
Haram Shin
Chris Waldrup
William Mouw
Austin Liu
Griffin Feldman
Ian Maspat
Connor O’Brien
