2 Mustangs Advance to CIF Golf Finals

Mira Costa sent four golfers to the CIF Northern Individual Regional on Monday at River Ridge Golf Club in Oxnard. Two of them, David Kim and Ryann Ree, will continue on to the Southern Section Individual Championship in Lompoc next week.

Kim shot an even par 72 and Ree was 1-over at 73 on the Vineyard Course at River Ridge.

The Mustangs' Kyle Nakazaki shot 3-over par 75 and missed the cut by one stroke. William Chryar was 5-over par at 77.

Kim made two birdies and two bogeys in his round on a cold, overcast day in Oxnard. The greens were fast and the pin placements were challenging. Only nine of the 109 golfers in the regional shot under par.

"I played solid throughout the day, just hit greens," Kim said.

He made back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th holes and was 2-under par at that point in his round. He began on the 8th in the shotgun start.

The 11th hole is a long 501-yard, par 5. Kim said he hit a chip shot to about a foot away from the pin and tapped in for birdie. He followed his birdie on the 11th hole with another birdie on the 12th hole, a 182-yard, par 3. He said he hit a 7 iron straight at the pin, about 15 feet short of the hole.

It was one of the few chances he had for birdies.

"I could've got more," Kim said. "I had 30 footers all day." He had bogeys on the 18th and second holes. He said the 14th hole gave him some trouble. His drive went left into the rough and he had a "terrible lie" for his second shot. He chunked a 4 iron out of the rough, but left it right of the fairway.

"I went over a tree to about four feet," Kim said. "Saved par. It just landed and stopped."

Ree's round was a little more eventful than Kim's, with three birdies and four bogeys. His round started with two birdies, but he gave the shots back and was even after five holes. He birdied his sixth hole to go 1-under, but bogeyed two of his last four holes to end 1-over par.

Getting off to a good start helped Ree concentrate on keeping his score low.

"It gets me started," Ree said. "Keeps me more focused. I thought I was going to shoot under par, but I couldn't make any putts."

Nakazaki didn't have a single birdie and three bogeys. He only three-putted one green and missed a four-foot putt on the 12th hole for par.

"It was a lot of two-putting for par," Nakazaki said. "That was just it. I only hit five fairways."

He made bogeys on the second, 12th and 14th holes.

"I didn't hit the ball that well," Nakazaki said. "I couldn't score today."

J.J. Holen of West Ranch won the Northern Individual Regional with a 5-under par, 67. He made four birdies in a row at one point and had seven birdies in his round. Jon Poole of St. Bonaventure was second at 3-under par, 69. Chris Doyle of Westlake finished in third after winning a playoff against three other golfers.

The four--Doyle, Rory Doll of Nipomo, Austin Kaiser of Atascadero and Brett Silvernail of Buena--were tied at 2-under 70. Doyle won on the second playoff hole.

The top 90 golfers advance to the CIF Southern Section Individual Championship at La Purisima Golf Course on Monday.