Santa Barbara’s Jack Perry and Laguna Blanca’s Niall Platt picked up right where they had left off on Wednesday, resuming their rounds on Thursday at the CIF Southern California Golf Championships from the exact point they were when chased from the course a day earlier by an intense thunder and lightning storm.
While neither was able to advance to the state-wide tournament, both put together solid rounds for their respective schools. Perry, representing the Channel League champion Dons, carded a 1-over 73 at the SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta.
The score needed to advance to the State Championships was an incredibly low 68 — and that was just to enter a playoff.
Platt, a junior recently committed to play on scholarship for Notre Dame, posted a 75. The Owls’ most successful golfer in school history had a solid round except for a tough triple-bogey Wednesday before the weather halted play.
“There were a lot of strikes very close to the course, if not on the course,” Santa Barbara coach James Bedard said about Wednesday, which included hail, rain, thunder and lightning.
Perry was at two-over but had a nine-footer for eagle just as the hail began. His ball marker sat there on the green all night before he came back the next day, lipping out the eagle and nabbing a birdie.
“He had almost 24 hours to think about that putt, and I think it took a little wind out of his sails when it didn’t go in,” said Bedard.
Platt was 2-under through the first six holes Thursday, climbing back to just 1-over on the round, but lost a couple of strokes down the stretch.
“He played a great round except for one hole. He’s the first Laguna golfer to ever make it this far and I’m sure he’ll be back next year,” said Athletic Director Mike Biermann, who was part of the Laguna contingent which stayed in Murrieta on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
The delay threw a curveball at Perry because of a scheduled biology final on Thursday. Perry and Bedard returned to Santa Barbara on Wednesday night but immediately decided to return to Murrieta once Perry got permission to take the final on Friday. Leaving at 4 a.m., the junior returned to the Inland Empire in time to complete the round.
“In the end, we’re really glad we came back,” said Bedard, not wanting Perry to finish off his great season with a big “what if” by not getting a shot at the state tournament.
