Crespi senior Grant Leary shot a 4-under-par 68 at River Ridge Golf Club in Oxnard and came within two holes of defending his title Thursday at the CIF-SS Individual finals.
Leary led the way for area golfers as six advanced to the CIF-SCGA SoCal Championship. Crespi had three individuals finish inside the top-28 cutoff to advance, with senior Ayden Loke and freshman Vince Arciaga joining Leary.
“Anytime Grant steps on the tee he expects to be there at the end,” Crespi boys golf head coach Nick Deleo said. “He’s gotten to a point with his golf where it’s very second nature for him. … The expectation for Grant is he’s gonna compete and try to be there at the end and try to make it into the top five.”
Leary came into Thursday’s final looking for his second consecutive Southern Section individual title after winning the Northern Regional with a 6-under 64 last week.
Leary’s day started strong with two straight birdies on River Ridge’s fourth and fifth holes. He was at or near the top of the leaderboard for most of the afternoon. An eagle on his eighth hole of the round put the senior atop the leaderboard at 5 under, and he improved to 6 under on his 10th hole.
The San Jose State commit sat in a tie for the lead with Mater Dei’s Gianni Floriani with two holes to play before recording two straight bogeys to raise his score to 4 under and he finished in a tie for fifth.
Loke’s had a steady round that included an eagle on his 14th hole of the day, the 380-yard par 4. The eagle dropped his score to 2 under. He finished in a tie for 13th after four straight pars to close his round.
Arciaga had a flair for the dramatic. He headed to his 18th hole of the day sitting at 1 over — one stroke outside of the top-28 cutoff. Facing the fourth-longest hole on the course, the freshman carded a birdie on the 489-yard, par-5 sixth hole to finish at even par, just low enough to get him inside the individual cutoff.
“Vince is the next in line for Crespi golf as far as the young guys coming through and stepping up,” Deleo said. “He’s been steady all year long. Great addition to the team this year and we’re very excited that he decided to come to Crespi.”
Chaminade senior Noah Scavo’s round started out shaky with a double bogey on his first hole of the day, but that was his only hole of bogey or worse. Three birdies and 14 pars helped him finish in a tie for 22nd at 1 under.
Crean Lutheran senior Nathan Sok and Crescenta Valley freshman Nathan Lee both moved on with even-par 72s.
Sok’s solid start to the round – sitting at 2 under through nine holes – was enough to help him overcome a shaky final nine in which he recorded two bogeys in a five-hole span.
The story was similar for Lee after he began his day at 3 under through nine. A pair of bogeys sandwiched between a birdie raised his score to 2 under through 12 holes, and a double bogey on his 15th hole put the freshman at even par with three holes remaining. Lee regained his touch with three pars in a row to close out his round.
All six will play in the CIF-SCGA Championship at Los Serranos Golf Club’s South Course in Chino Hills on Thursday, May 28.