Serra freshman’s historic season comes to end

Heath, however, missed the cut for the Central Coast Section Boys’ Golf Championships finals, teeing off Tuesday at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey. The freshman shot a 6-over 77 in the Regional 1 qualifier last Tuesday. He missed the cut by 1 stroke, with Serra teammates Collin Firestone and Vladislav Stadnyk advancing to the finals after each shooting a 76.

“I didn’t play well,” Heath said. “I had one bad hole and missed the individual by a stroke.”

Heath’s one bad hole was a nightmare. The Hillsborough native was four holes from advancing when he stepped to the tee on the 15th hole. His initial shot hooked out of bounds. His second landed in a hazard. After two drops, he found himself in the green side bunker. He finished the par-5 hole with a quadruple bogey.

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise standout season, highlighted by a 2-under 34 against Bellarmine at Silver Creek Valley Country Club in the penultimate week of the regular season. Heath said most his matches were at or over par, but his medalist round against Bellarmine put him in range of the Outstanding Golfer of the Year award, even at the top of the WCAL season leaderboard with Bellarmine’s Sebi Aliaga with a 0.2 scoring differential.

The award came down to the two frontrunners playing at different courses on the final day of the regular season, and on one of the season’s windiest days at that. Heath was at Green Hills Country Club, where Serra was playing Valley Christian with winds whipping up to 30 mph. The freshman shot a 40. Aliaga, at Presidio Golf Course in San Francisco, shot a 41.

“We both didn’t play well in the last matches,” Heath said. “... I backed my way in.

“I had a couple good matches,” Heath said. “Overall, I didn’t play amazing but I’m still glad I was able to with the player of the year award. I don’t feel like I played incredibly well. But it was enough.”

While Heath turns his sights to the amateur circuit, the field of CCS finals qualifiers will feature an array of county golfers, highlighted by Crystal junior Edan Cui. Heath raved about the abilities of Cui, a Stanford commit, who he grew up playing with “a bit,” he said.

“The work ethic,” Heath said. “He works insanely hard. That’s probably what gets him there.”

Playing in the Regional 2 group at last Tuesday’s CCS qualifiers, Cui shot a 2-under 69 to lead Crystal to made the CCS finals cut as a team, meaning Crystal’s Arden Xu (76); Henry Chen (76); Philip Hu (80); Ethan Lee (83); and Griffin Chiu (83) will all be playing Tuesday in Monterey.

Also qualifying from San Mateo County in the Regional 2 group were: Menlo’s Eric Yun (71) and Sacred Heart Prep’s Logan Mills (76). Qualifying from San Mateo County in the Regional 1 group were: Nueva’s James Lee (71); Aragon’s Lequan Wang (71); Hillsdale’s Alejandro Formosa (74); Hillsdale’s Gus Ganesh (76); and Serra’s Firestone and Standnyk. Burlingame also qualified as a team in the Regional 1 group, led by Cole Weyer (75), with Zach Newman (78); Nate Teitelbaum (80); Haifeng Lai (80); Ethan Cyb (81); and Clayton Lau (92) also qualifying to play in Tuesday’s finals.