Daily Journal Boys’ Golfer of the Year: Serra’s Kyler Heath

Kyler Heath made a statement as a freshman during the 2024 high school golf season, earning West Catholic Athletic League player of the year honors.

But that turned out to be the highlight of Heath’s postseason as he failed to advance to the Central Coast Section championship round.

So, what were his goals for the 2025 season?

“I wanted to do better than last year,” said Heath, who recently wrapped his sophomore year. “I want to keep getting better every year.”

So, what did Heath do for an encore? Not only did he repeat as WCAL golfer of the year, he won the WCAL championship at Los Altos Golf & Country Club. He then followed that with top-10 finishes at both CCS and the Nor Cal championships before closing out the high school season in a tie for 37th at the CIF State Golf Championships.

And now Heath adds one more accolade: San Mateo Daily Journal Boys’ Golfer of the Year.

“Last year, I didn’t get past the first round of CCS. This year I got all the way to State. That was the goal,” Heath said.

Already an accomplished golfer with a plus handicap, meaning he shoots under par more often than not, Heath has put all his athletic focus on golf. He started playing the game at the age of 3, played his first round around the age of 5 and played his first tournament when he was 7. He used to play basketball, but gave that up for golf.

When a player gets to Heath’s level, improvements can be incremental, with the mental game moving to the forefront.

“It’s hard to improve at this level,” Serra head golf coach Mike Langridge said. “It’s really hard to take strokes off when you’re shooting below par most of the time. It’s not so much improving strokes, but improving consistency. In golf, the amount of time a person puts in determines how much better they’re going to get. [Heath] grinds all the time. He doesn’t have another sport he plays. He went right from state champion to a big (juniors) tournament the following week.”

And while the definition of “sophomore” is literally “wise fool,” Heath certainly didn’t play or think that way.

“Golf is a mental game,” Heath said. “Mentally, I don’t think I’m too bad. Physically, you can always work on everything. At this level, it is about limiting your mistakes. You can’t make too many big mistakes and just have to forget bad shots.”

Even Langridge said Heath’s maturity level is that of someone who is older.

“His maturity level for his age is really good,” Langridge said. “He doesn’t lose his mind when things don’t go his way.”

After posting the highest differential in the WCAL heading into the postseason, Heath was the top ranked golfer going into the WCAL championship. He was pushed, making his putt on the 18th hole to beat Riordan’s Alden Thai by a stoke: Heath carded a 6-under 66, Thai posted a 5-under 67 to give Heath his first WCAL championship.

“Los Altos is a true test of golf. They have a lot of variations on the holes. … It’s located in the hills, so there is a lot of undulation. It’s a top-flight golf course,” Langridge said of LAGCC, where Heath was playing his first-ever round.

“He said, ‘I love this course,’ which is what anyone would say after shooting 6 under,” Langridge said.

That sent Heath into the CCS tournament for the second year in a row. This time, he qualified for the championship round after finishing second in the afternoon regional round with a score of 2-over 73. He came back a week later and finished in a tie for second after a round of 68, two behind CCS champion Jayden Jew of St. Ignatius.

“I think there is a comfort level. It was his third time playing that (Laguna Seca Golf Ranch) course. He got a good feel for it,” Langridge said.

That runner-up finish qualified Heath for the Northern California Regional Championship at Berkeley Country Club in El Cerrito. At this point, there are no second chances. The Nor Cal tournament is just one round to qualify for the state tournament.

Heath passed the test with flying colors, shooting a round of even-par 72, a loop that saw him finish with five birdies and a tie for seventh, which qualified him for the state tournament at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.

“The conditions were tough that day (at Berkeley CC),” Langridge said. “But he got a good draw of guys and they all shot around the same. Three of four (players in Heath’s group) qualified. They were all kind of pushing each other. It helps when the other guys are playing well.”

Like CCS in 2024, this was the first time Heath had ever played one of the top courses in the state when he got to the state tournament. And by his own standards, he didn’t play very well, finishing tied for 37th after a round of 5-over 76.

But that final number was a bit misleading. He was at 2-over going into the final five holes and bogeyed three of them. But Heath was just being aggressive and letting it rip, since he had no shot at catching eventual state champion Jaden Soong, a freshman from St. Francis-La Cañada, who at 15 years old became the youngest to win the state championship after posting a mind-boggling 9-under 62.

“I wasn’t paying attention to the leaderboard until about four holes left and I figured, ‘Well, I may well just go for it,’” Heath said. “It was a little demoralizing to be 10 shots behind, but you want to see how low you can go.”

Said Langridge: “He looked at the scoreboard to see where he was and he saw all these guys in red numbers (under par). He started hunting birdies and it backfired.

“I told him after with the kid (Soong) shooting 9-under, it doesn’t really matter (that he bogeyed three of his last five holes).”

Heath will spend the rest of the summer playing tournaments around the country and, now that he has established a new benchmark for his Serra career, it will be interesting to see what the next two seasons bring for him.

“[Heath] has a nice, quiet confidence about him,” Landridge said. “He knows if he plays the way he does, he’s going to qualify (for postseason tournaments).”