Heath caps year at state

It would have taken the round of his life for Heath to have caught state champion Jaden Soong of St. Francis-La Cañada, who posted a blistering round of 9-under, posting a final score of 62.

“Once [Heath] realized the guys were so far ahead, he tried to push it a little bit,” said Serra head coach Mike Langridge, saying that the players teed off from a combination of the black and the blue tee boxes. He said the course played at 6,558 yards.

Langridge said Heath was in the second-to-last group to tee off and, by that time, Soong was already well under par.

“Before we teed off … [Heath] mentioned to me he knew who [Soong] was. Apparently he’s the top freshman in the country,” Langridge. “I think he was around 7-under when we looked up and I thought, ‘Oh, boy.’

“I can’t imagine being the guy to shoot 7-under and finish second.”

Which is what happened to Evan Liu of Torrey Pines, who finished in second place, two strokes back. The top 11 finishers all had rounds under par.

But even as Heath pushed, Langridge said it simply wasn’t his day. He parred the first two holes before dropping a stroke with a bogey at the par-4 third. That was the first of three bogeys over a five-hole stretch that saw him fall to 3-over after seven holes.

“He started off good. He like a six footer for birdie on the first hole and it rolled right over the hole,” Langridge said. “Happened on the second hole, too, and then the writing was on the wall.”

Langridge said Heath wasn’t playing poorly. He wasn’t missing fairways and greens,” Langridge said. He was just tad off his game.

“It was a 15-foot putt instead of a 10 footer. Just a lot of little things (not going right),” Langridge said. “I think he played his game. Sometimes you have those days where things are just a hair off.”

Heath stabilized a little bit after that tough stretch, coming up with back-to-back pars to close his front 9 at 3-over. He got a stroke back with a birdie on the 514-yard, par-5 10th and was looking to go back-to-back birdies with a great tee shot on the 132-yard, par-3 11th.

“He almost holed 11 (off the tee) and had a short one for birdie and again, it rolled over the hole,” Langridge said. “He just shook his head. It just wasn’t his day.”

Heath settled for par at the 11th which was the first of four straight pars. A trio of bogeys on holes Nos. 15, 16 and 17 finished him off.

Despite a frustrating finish to his sophomore year, the state tournament was simply icing on the cake for Heath. He captured the West Catholic Athletic League individual championship, carding a 3-under 68 at Los Altos Golf & Country Club. He followed that with a second-place finish at the Central Coast Section championship, where his 3-under 68 at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey was two shots off the round of winner Jayden Jew of St. Ignatius.

But that qualified Heath for the CIF Northern California at Berkeley Country Club in El Cerrito, where Heath finished in a tie for seventh after an even round of 72 that qualified him for the state tournament.

The 2024 WCAL Golfer of the Year as a freshman, Langridge believed Heath had the game to make it to this level.

“It’s just a gauntlet to get to that state level. … I felt pretty confident he was that caliber of player. … He’s just getting better every time,” Langridge said. “He’s a grinder. He loves the game.”