The day started out cloudy, both the skies and the play of Scripps Ranch’s Alexander Schauffele. The senior said his warm-up session wasn’t up to par. He wasn’t hitting balls well on the range. Then he started fiddling with his swing.
The tinkering didn’t translate. Schauffele had three bogeys on his first six holes. He was sitting at 3-over after seven. He looked at his coach, Mikel Moran, and told him this was not how he pictured it. Moran reassured the San Diego Section champion that there was still a lot of golf left.
“I was trying to tweak everything. I was trying to be too perfect,” Schauffele said. “That was stupid of me.”
Then the sun started to come out on the Poppy Hills course at Pebble Beach. The day started to warm up just about the time Schauffele did en route to shooting a 3-under 69 to win the high school boys golf State Championship in a three-hole playoff Wednesday with Pleasanton Foothill’s Nicolo Galletti.
Schauffele recorded an eagle on No. 8, followed by five birdies on the back nine, including No. 18, where Schauffele lipped out an eagle putt from 18 feet that would have put him in the clubhouse atop the leaderboard. He tapped it in for birdie to tie Galletti for first.
“He went about his business. He did it and it was amazing to watch,” Moran said.
Torrey Pines’ Jay Hwang shot a 2-under 70, which was good enough for third place overall and helped the Falcons secure their first state boys title since 2004, just six months after the Torrey Pines girls accomplished the same thing.
“This team was so good, so it’s not a surprise, but it’s not easy to do,” Hwang said.
Torrey Pines finished with 366, beating Pebble Beach RL Stevenson (375) by nine strokes. Foothill was third at 381.
Beyond Hwang, Torrey Pines got 73s from Danny Ochoa and Ryan Burgess, and a 74 by Michael Kim.
“It was a huge victory for the kids,” Torrey Pines coach Chris Drake said. “They played incredible golf today. Top to bottom, the kids played lights out.”
On No. 8 — a par-4 dogleg right — Schauffele hit his sand wedge from 118 yards with a downwind hook. The ball landed 2 feet from the hole and spun back in for an eagle.
“It was my senior year and I didn’t want to drive eight hours home with a sour taste in my mouth, so I stayed patient and turned it around,” Schauffele said. “It feels great. I worked really hard to get to this point. This is what I wanted to win.”
Schauffele and Galletti made birdie putts on the first playoff hole, then parred the second. On the final hole, Galletti missed a par putt from 5 feet. Schauffele then two-putted for par and the championship.
La Jolla freshman Ben Doyle, the Southern California Regional winner, shot a 2-over 74 to tie for 12th place.
The Scripps Ranch and Torrey Pines coaches savored the two championships by their players.
“It’s a testament to San Diego golf,” Drake said.
