Goldberg Qualifies for Regionals

Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
In golf, every stroke counts. So when the Palisades High boys golf team showed up at Griffith Park for last Wednesday’s final round of the City championships needing to make up 16 shots on first-place El Camino Real, the Dolphins were confident they could do it. Head Coach James Paleno reminded his team that Palisades once came from 18 strokes back on the second day to win the tournament. This time, the Dolphins sat in third place at 397, only six back of second place and a berth in the Southern California Regionals, which will be held next Thursday at the SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta. “Our goal was to catch [second place] Cleveland and knock them out,” sophomore Bo Jacobson said. “If we overtook El Camino Real, great. We just wanted to make the Regionals.” Palisades fell short of its goal by two strokes, finishing with a two-day total of 803, two behind Cleveland. El Camino Real shot a final round 396 to win its first team title ever. “We made it close, we just didn’t shoot up to our potential today,” Paleno said. “I was hoping we could shoot under 400 today and we shot 406 so we didn’t quite make it.” Palisades, which has won a City-best 13 team titles and two Regional championships since 1971, staved off fourth-place Granada Hills by three shots. Although the Dolphins will not advance as a team, sophomore Sean Goldberg qualified for Regionals as an individual while Jacobson and senior Ashton Roberts could join him as an alternates. In the first round last Monday on Harding Gold Course, Goldberg shot two-over par on the front nine and three-over on the back for a 77, eight strokes behind frontrunner Daniel Park of LACES. Staying cool and collected, Goldberg shot 38 on the front and 38 Wednesday on the back on the longer and narrower Wilson Golf Course for a solid 76 and a two-day total of 153’tied for eighth overall. He was the sixth individual to qualify. “Coach told us to just take it one shot at a time and have a good round,” Goldberg said of his strategy going into Wednesday’s final round. “I was able to stay out of any sand traps until the last two holes. I knew the [team] competition was going to be close.” Roberts rolled in a clutch par putt at 18 to finish with a 79 and a two-day total of 158, tied with Venice sophomore Justin Nakagiri. Tied for 12th, the two went to a playoff to determine the final spot for Regionals. With coaches and teammates cheering them on from the tee box, both parred the first hole and hit the fairway on their drives at No. 2. Roberts, however, missed his par putt and Nakagiri made his. “The playoff was pretty exciting,” said Roberts, who had won the 6A League championship with a 73 at Hansen Dam a week before. “We were both feeling the pressure. I just couldn’t get that par putt to drop.” Roberts shot two rounds of 79 and will be the first alternate’meaning he will take the place of one of the first 12 qualifiers if they are unable to play the Regional tournament. Jacobson was the second alternate after carding a final round 79 for a total of 160. Rounding out Palisades’ squad were senior Jason Weintraub, who shot 162, sophomore Chris Lee (171) and junior Zach Sklar (173). The top five scores each round are counted towards the team total.