Dougherty wins the regional title

After 18 holes over nearly two days, which included a four-hour delay caused by a lightning storm, Kevin Dougherty provided the thunder.

Dougherty, a senior from Vista Murrieta High, sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Thursday afternoon to win the Southern California regional championship at the SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta.

“That defines his career right there,” Broncos Coach Brandon Clanton said. “He came through when he had to.”

Dougherty and Michael Weaver of Clovis West were tied atop the leaderboard after each shot six-under-par 66, and their first three shots on the No. 18 playoff hole were nearly identical. Then Dougherty drained his putt.

“That’s the longest putt I’ve made in a while,” said Dougherty, who made five birdies and one eagle on the day after play was suspended after five holes when a lightning storm pelted the course with rain and pebble-sized hail.

Rancho Bernardo’s Sejun Yoon and Bakersfield Stockdale’s Pete Fernandez finished one shot back at 67.

Carlsbad La Costa Canyon shot a five-player score of five-over 365 to win the team title by three shots over Westlake Village Westlake and Temecula Great Oak. Westlake won a tiebreaker over Great Oak to finish second by virtue of its score over the final six holes.

The top three teams and top six individuals advanced to the state championships Wednesday at Poppy Hills Golf Club in Pebble Beach. The final individual qualifiers were Villa Park’s Alex Bungert and Riverside Poly’s Bryan Bergna, who emerged from a four-player playoff after each shooting 68.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment was Anaheim Servite, which logged a team score of 373 after winning 29 of 30 previous events this season. Junior Patrick Cantlay shot a 72, breaking his streak of four consecutive rounds in the 60s.

Dougherty was at one-under par when play was suspended Wednesday. Though he hit 13 greens in regulation and needed only 26 putts on greens that had softened considerably because of the rain, Dougherty could have had a better round Thursday.

“He was there for birdie after birdie and some of his putts just weren’t falling,” Clanton said.

Except, of course, for the one that mattered most.

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