Ramona High golfers avenge first loss of season

By Bill Tamburrino

The Ramona Bulldog golf team won two out of three matches to improve to 15-2 on the season.

The Dawgs beat Canyon Crest Academy and Valley Center and suffered their Valley League loss to Del Norte High School. The Dawgs are now 5-1 in league matches.

In a non-league match, Ramona beat Canyon Crest at San Vicente Resort 201-204, avenging its first loss of the season.

“Canyon Crest didn’t want to make this win easy for us as shown by how close the final score was,” said coach Michael Gainey. “Our team was very happy to get one back after losing to Canyon Crest early in the season.”

Thomas Andrews and Justin Graf shared the medalist honors. Both shot a two-over 38 on the par 36 front nine. Michael Smith and Ryan Graf each shot 41. Kazar Matoian carded a 43 and Jacob Buckley shot 44.

Del Norte used some gamesmanship to beat Ramona 209-211 at Rancho Bernardo Inn. The Nighthawks decided to play the back nine instead of the front nine and the ploy paid off.

“Going into this match, we knew it was going to be a battle,” said Gainey. “Del Norte is one of the top teams in our league and you could feel the tension on the tee as both sides wanted this win. The odds were against us from the beginning as we had to tee off on the back nine. Most of our players had never played this nine before. In the end we lost by two shots and it didn’t sit well with our players. They are definitely fired up to play Del Norte again when we face them at home for our final match of the season.”

Matoian earned the medalist honors as he carded a 39. Justin Graf shot a 40. Andrews turned in a 42 and Jason Morton carded a 43. Buckley and Cameron Marshall each shot 47.

Ramona bounced back at San Vicente Golf Course to beat Valley Center 213-221. Ryan Graf carded a 39. Cody Anderson-Parks and Marshall each shot 41. Morton fired a 45. Dane Harvey carded a 47 and Andrew Kaminsky shot 48.