Serra blows by St. Francis

On Thursday, host Serra shot its highest score of the season - and it still won by 10 strokes, 196-206 over St. Francis at Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae. The first-place Padres (12-0-1 overall, 11-0-1 WCAL) are proving to be quite a juggernaut, as evidenced by their runaway victories. Credit this win to Serra's depth and the quality of its less heralded players.

With Jordan Cox and Brett Bocci shooting a combined 6-over-par with a 38 and 40, respectively, the Padres' No. 2-6 golfers took control. Dennis Carson matched Cox with a 2-over-par 38, while Bryan Moquin and Kaivon Talai matched Bocci with a pair of 40s. Mike Minto was also strong and finished with a 42. St. Francis' Joseph Bramlett was the medalist with a 35. The Lancers (6-3-1 WCAL) were without the services of co-No. 1 Chris Jensen, who along with Cox and Bramlett are recognized as three of the top 10 prep golfers in the Bay Area.

With wide fairways and rough that's about as short as carpet, Green Hills can be ripe for the taking, especially on holes six through eight. But a stiff wind all but swept any chances for a player to go low. There were only three birdies from the lead group, and none of them came from Cox or Bocci. Cox missed two putts within four feet, and Bocci struggled with his short game. Both missed 6-foot birdie putts at No. 6, and Cox uncharacteristically shanked a 2-foot par putt on No. 8.

However, the duo showed tenacity at times as Bocci made a tough downhill 7-foot putt to save par on five and Cox overcoming a wayward tee shot on three to save par. Cox also unleashed a booming 332 yard drive on the par-4 352 yard fifth hole, getting to within the front of the green. Serra coach Joe Hession said his team's "struggles" was just what the doctor ordered.

"We've been playing so well really for the whole year that sometimes you can get overconfident," Hession said. "This result is kind of nice. It kind of puts your feet back on the ground and makes you realize we're capable of shooting a high score. The fact that we won without playing our best speaks to the high level of play from everyone on our team. You look at Jordan and he shot two over. He's human - I guess."

Cox won the individual title at the DLS Invitational with a sparkling 6-under-par 65. Bocci tied for second with a 61. It was an 18-hole event played at Diablo Country Club, and Serra scored a 366, a 183 average over nine holes. The Padres then took out Mitty 192-199, and won the showdown against previous league leader Bellarmine 178-183. With two league matches left before the postseason, the Padres are on a mission to go down as the greatest golf team in school history.

"We were talking about that the other day," Hession said. "I'm starting to think this team might be it, but the 2000 and '01 teams won CCS, so we still have a lot to do."

One thing is for certain: Serra's season scoring average up to this point is the lowest in school history, and there's not a big dropoff from a once in a generation type talent in Cox and players such as Carson, Minto, Moquin and Talai. That speaks volumes about the wealth of talent on this year's team. It's a hard-working squad, too. Five minutes after finishing his round, Bocci, the lone senior on this star-studded group, was working on his chipping and putting.

"It was a frustrating day," Bocci said. "With the ways the green were punched and sanded, you never got a true roll on your putts. The wind played a major factor in that a lot of times I was aiming completely off-target and the ball still didn't go where I wanted it to go. It was just a rough day, but that's golf. I'll be practicing the next couple of days to fix some of my problems."