Flames fall short of moving on at Division I

The Lodi High girls golf team, fresh off of a Tri-City Athletic League championship, fell short of moving on at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division Tournament on Monday.

The Flames shot a 465 as a team at Timber Creek Golf Course in Roseville. The tournament sends its top six teams to the SacJoaquin Masters Tournament, and the sixth team was Pleasant Grove with a 442.

“We’re a group of almost all freshmen, and we have to use this as a learning tool to gain experience for the years to come,” said Lodi co-coach Jim Staal. “I don’t think they were necessarily overwhelmed by the moment, but it takes some getting used to. They’re all going to benefit from it.”

Amelia Garibaldi led the Flames with a 75 to move on to the Masters tournament as an individual, as did Tokay’s Aleesa Ohata with her 83.

“First and foremost, we’re very proud of Amelia, obviously,” Staal said. “She shot 75 as a freshman and moves on to Masters, so we’re very proud of her. That’s a great accomplishment. As far as a team as a whole, I don’t think we really played that bad.”

Desiree Vasquez, fighting a lingering back injury, carded a 92 for Lodi, as did Reese Koenig. Delaney Vasquez added a 98, Kerrie Nickel a 108 and Megan Ky had a 125.

“The teams that made it to Masters are all Sacramento teams, and one of the leagues played their tournament there, it’s one of the teams’ home course,” Staal said. “So that was an advantage. It’s a tricky course that requires a lot of course management. That was a bit of a factor, but I was really pleased.”

Garibaldi could turn the tables as far as course familiarity next week — the Masters tournament is on Monday at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton, which the Lodi squad plays roughly once a week.

“She’ll get a chance to play there this week, and I think she has a solid chance to move on,” Staal said.

Granite Bay was the Division I champion with a 377, followed by Oak Ridge at 407, Rocklin at 416, St. Francis at 438, Whitney at 441 and Pleasant Grove at 442.

Tokay had three golfers qualify from the TCAL tournament. In addition to Ohata’s 83, Elisa Cabrera shot an 84 and Hannah Hauschildt shot an 88.

Of the nine golfers moving on as individuals, seven of them are from the TCAL — Skyler May and Halley Widner from St. Mary’s, Elyse Argarin and Lauren Garcia from Lincoln, Garibaldi from Lodi, Ohata from Tokay and Kelsey Bas from Tracy.

The low medalist was Granite Bay’s Anike Varma, and with the top six golfers earning medals, the sixth — Haley Wong of Oak

Ridge — shot a 75 to tie Lodi’s Garibaldi. Wong won out on a scorecard tiebreaker.

With a starting six consisting of five freshmen, the Flames are set up to have a strong team for a while, especially after winning the TCAL with such a young group.

“I texted the kids after the tournament, and reminded them we went 17-2 overall, won the league title, made divisionals — that’s a year that I did not see coming when we first got started,” Staal said. “Part of that is the whole group of freshmen and Desiree, they’re so committed. This group really takes it seriously, their parents are awesome, and I know they’re going to work really hard in the offseason, and we should have some good things coming.”