Ayden Rosales of Xavier Prep, the only desert golfer to qualify for the CIF-Southern Section individual finals, fired a 5-over 77 in that event Thursday to end his season.
Rosales, a junior, finished tied for 77th in the 130-player field at River Ridge Golf Club in Oxnard. The tournament served not only as the championship of the Southern Section but as an individual and team qualifier for the Southern California Golf Association high school championship next week.
Only the top 24 players in the field who are not on the four teams that advances earned SCGA berths as individuals. That cut off can at even-par 72. Medalist for the individual event tied at 66, while Santa Margarita, Los Alamitos, Crespi and Sunny Hills advanced to the team competition. Santa Margarita and Los Alamitos tied at 1-over 361 in the six-play, five-count format.
Rosales, who advanced to the final with a seventh-place finish in a preliminary event in Victorville, started his day on the 13th hole of the Vineyard Course and quickly jumped to 2-under par with birdies on two of his first three holes. Rosales was still 1-over par through 14 holes with a chance to make a run at an SCGA berth. But Rosales made bogey on each of his last four holes to drop out of contention.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Xavier’s Ayden Rosales ends season with 77 in CIF individual finals
Reporting by Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
