For the second straight year, St. Francis junior Jonathan Garrick will be the only Santa Clara County high school golfer to tee it up at the state tournament.
This time, he is going with a regional title under his belt.
Garrick was sharp off the tee and on the greens Monday at Chico’s Butte Creek Country Club, winning the NorCal title with a 4-under-par 68. The reigning Mercury News Golfer of the year was a third-place regional finisher a year ago.
Garrick carded just one bogey en route to the title, which he won by two strokes. He shot a 33 on the back nine, with birdies on the 10th, 12th, 14th and 16th holes.
“He was launching the ball, he was hitting it with control, and I don’t think he made a bad swing,” St. Francis coach Dave Ferriera told the Palo Alto Daily News. “This was the most intelligent round I’ve seen him play in three years.”
Garrick hit 12 greens in regulation and had just 27 putts.
“He made some good saves that kept his round going,” Ferriera said. “He didn’t make mental errors and just kept the ball in play.
“I don’t know what he does for an encore next year.”
First, Garrick will get another crack at the state tournament, held June 8 at Poppy Hills Golf Club in Pebble Beach. He shot an 81 last season at the Santa Maria Country Club.
Santini said he also has offers from Boise State, Oregon State, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, UC Davis, San Jose State and Army, with most of the schools looking at him as an outside linebacker.
Listed at 6-foot-2, 206 pounds, Santini was a force on both sides of the ball last season. He was the Mount Hamilton Division Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-Mercury News selection.
Santini had 102 tackles, three forced fumbles and two interceptions as a junior, and he also rushed for 900 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Santini hopes to make official visits this summer and reach a decision by the time his senior season starts this fall. At the moment, Boise State is the front-runner.
“I really liked it there when I went for their spring game,” Santini said. “A lot of their linebackers are upperclassmen, so by the time I would get there I could play early.”
Palo Alto has won 15 of its past 17 games, including a 9-2 semifinal victory over Homestead. Tyler Davis pitched seven strong innings against Valley Christian on Saturday, leading Mitty to a 3-2 quarterfinals victory.
In the other Division I semifinal, No. 5 San Benito (21-8) takes on No. 8 Salinas (19-9-1) at 4 p.m.
Two Mount Hamilton Division rivals are still alive in Division II and will vie for championship spots Thursday at Municipal Stadium.
Second-seeded Willow Glen (23-6) faces No. 3 Monterey (25-4) at 4 p.m., followed by top-seeded Pioneer (23-5) and No. 4 Los Altos (21-11) at 7 p.m.
In their first year as a varsity program, the Cougars finished second in the Monterey Bay League, becoming the first team from Christopher to qualify for the postseason.
For more on high school sports, see Alex Pavlovic’s After School blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/highschools. Contact him at 408-920-5899.
