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Sports

Mira Costa Golfers Win CIF Divisional Title

Kyle Nakazaki posts low round with a 2-under par 70 and Michael D'Angelo is 1-under, leading the Mustangs to a big 10-shot victory

The Mira Costa High golf team has some hardware to add to the school's trophy case, after running away from the field with a 10-shot victory on Monday in the CIF Central Divisional championships held at Lakewood Country Club.

The Mustangs' Kyle Nakazaki had the low individual score in the tournament, posting a 2-under 70 and beating golfers from 17 schools. Nakazaki, who won the Bay League individual championship last Thursday in a playoff, came on strong with a 3-under 33 on the back nine. 

"The front nine started off kind of slow," Nakazaki said. "I really was not driving the ball well all day, but I started making some putts on the back."

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Nakazaki had used a closing round 32 on the back nine to get into a playoff in the Bay League tournament. The senior made another run after birdying the ninth to make the turn in 37. He made par on the 10th hole, picked up a birdie on the 11th and continued his clutch putting by sinking a 45-footer for birdie on 12. He would eagle the 490-yard par-5 14th hole after reaching the green in two.

"We knew if we were going to win a championship, Kyle [Nakazaki] was going to have to go low for us," Coach Bob Timberlake said. 

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Nakazaki was joined in red numbers by teammate Michael D'Angelo who posted a one-under 71 for the Mustangs. 

"I was hitting the driver great today, I hit almost every fairway," D'Angelo said.  "I had a good day overall, and I was happy with my putting, I made some long ones."

D'Angelo drained a 50-footer on the second hole, and added birdies on No. 4, No. 7 and No. 9 seven for a 2-under 34 on the front side. The sophomore would close with a 37 for his round of 71.

"D'Angelo's round was really key, he played great, we definitely have the talent to play with anyone it's just a matter of us not beating ourselves and we did what we needed to today," Timberlake said.

The Mustangs posted a team score of 369 with Ryann Ree shooting a 73, brother Lawrence Ree carding a 76 and Bay League player of the year David Kim posting a 79. 

"We're still young and streaky at times, but we have great depth and can find good scores from any of the spots on our team," Timberlake said. 

The Mustangs depth is impressive, as senior William Chryar's two-day 145-finished fourth last week in the CIF individual divisional round. Monday his 85 was not needed as Mira Costa won by a comfortable ten shots.

Along with Mira Costa, Los Alamitos High (379) and South Torrance (385) earned trips to the CIF Team Regional on Thursday at Red Hawk Golf Course in Temecula.

"It's been a fun year for the team. We have a lot of good players and we try to push each other," Lawrence Ree said. "It's been good experience for me as a freshman going forward."

Timberlake was encouraged with the Ree brothers performance.

"They both had rocky starts to the day, but we felt like somewhere in the 360's was going to be necessary and they closed well enough for us to get to that mark," he said.

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