For the fifth time since 2013, the San Diego County League 1 All-Stars qualified to compete in the 13-and-under PGA Jr. league championship.
SDCL 1 All-Stars will join nearly a dozen other teams from across the country in the championship tournament, which will be held Oct. 10-13 at Fields Ranch West in Frisco, Texas. Event coverage will be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks.
To qualify, SDCL 1 All-Stars took a first-place finish in July at the So Cal PGA Section Qualifier in Alhambra, followed by a Section Championship at Arrowood Golf Club on Aug.5 in Oceanside.
The regional championship was held Sept. 13-15 at Skyline Country Club, Tucson, Arizona.
Three players, Ian Cardwell, 13, Jack Robin, 12, and Dylan Shui, 13, attend Oak Crest Middle School in Encinitas. The other five players on the roster are Audrey Bowden and Lydia Chang of Rancho Bernardo, Madisyn Paras of Chula Vista, Sophia Shi of San Marcos and Emma Wang of Carmel Valley.
The team practices at the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course.
“I am extremely proud of this team,” head coach and PGA director of instruction at Encinitas Ranch, John Mason, told The Coast News before practice last Thursday night. “This is a scrappy team, and it took a while to find the right pairings. They really get along well together and we are trending in the right direction.”
The first day of regionals was an 18-hole, aggregate stroke play competition, with the top three scores of the four pairings going to the team’s total.
Madisyn Paras and Dylan Shui shot six-under on the front nine, with Jack Robin and Emma Wang leading the back nine at five-under.
Lydia Chang and Audrey Bowden scored an eagle on a par 5.
SDCL 1 All-Stars took first in stroke play, scoring a total of -26.
On the morning of day two, the All-Stars moved into nine-hole match play as the top seed.
After dispatching Santa Teresa Team 2, 7.5-1.5, SDCL 1 All-Stars advanced to the championship match with Santa Teresa Team 1 out of San Jose.
“Emma Wang and Jack Robin shot seven-under,” Mason said. “That’s the best score we’ve shot all year.”
The temperature broke 100 degrees, and the crackle of lightning above resulted in a delay. At day’s end, SDCL 1 All-Stars defeated the team from Northern California 5-3.
“We beat the best team that we lost to last year,” Ian Cardwell said. “They were the team to beat. Everyone was working as a team. There was no arguing.”
In 2015 and 2018, Mason and assistant coach Jackie DeWald Mason led SDCL 1 All-Stars to national championship wins.
“My national championship teams before were more experienced,” Mason said. “They have really stepped it up. They have worked hard on their short game, putting and shots into the green. That has made a big difference.”
With 72,000 players nationwide vying for a spot in the championship tournament and only 96 getting there, John Mason knows how tough the competition will be.
Perennial contender Thanksgiving Point All-Stars out of Lehi, Utah, expect to be strong favorites. Active PGA Tour pro Tony Finau is an assistant coach with the team and his son Jraice is their anchor with a reputation for having Happy Gilmore-esque driving distance.
“When we get to nationals that’s a different story,” Mason said. “They make the finals every year and their [as big as adults]. At 11-years old, they hit the ball over 300 yards. They can outdrive us by 100 yards but you have to putt. That’s what I keep telling them. There are different ways to make a birdie. You can drive the green or hit short and chip it up close it’s the same score.”
“I feel confident in our team that we can all do really well,” Cardwell added. “We just had a really good [regional] tournament.”
