Johansen’s Pena, Gregori’s Ebster star at Sac-Joaquin Section Masters golf; Central Catholic advances

Chris Ebster’s biorhythms must have meshed perfectly with the The Reserve at Spanos Park.

How else do you explain the hole-in-one he scored during a practice round Saturday ... at the 327-yard par-4 first? Or his stroke of drama Monday to finish the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Golf Tournament?

Ebster, a sophomore at Gregori High School, rattled in a right-to-left breaking 20-footer for a birdie 3 on the first playoff hole to collect the fourth and final individual qualifying spot for the Northern California Championships on May 18. He punched his right fist in the air as he eliminated three others, all of whom shot even-par 72.

Family, friends and even a few of his former Central Catholic teammates congratulated Ebster. His 8-footer for birdie on his 18th hole – the par-4 10th – set the stage for the second straight clutch swing of his flat stick.

“I told myself, ‘I’m making this putt,’” said Ebster, who transferred to Gregori after he helped Central Catholic’s march to the CIF State Championship tournament last year. “I knew this was the putt for the win.”

There weren’t too many frowns at day’s end. Central Catholic, for the second straight year, extended its season with a third place at Masters. And Johansen junior Daniel Pena, the Masters medalist with a 66 a year ago, exhaled after his nerve-jangling 1-under-par 71 resulted in a tie for second.

Pena avoided the playoff logjam by nursing home a nasty 8-footer for birdie at the 18th.

“That was a must,” he admitted. “That had to go in.”

Pena, 3 under par and on schedule after 11 holes, struggled as the wind rose to about 25 mph. Back-to-back bogeys led to a 6-iron second shot into the hazard at the par-5 16th. He plunged to level par and correctly figured out he needed a finishing birdie.

“The wind messed with my distance control,” Pena said. “After the wind picked up, it was really hard hitting the ball close.”

Pena tied for second among individual players with Brian Sterri of Whitney. Both trailed the 68 by Lodi’s steady Brad Reeves, who negotiated The Reserve without a bogey.

Central Catholic, anchored by a better-than-good 2-under 70 by freshman Tyler Ward, totaled a 379 for third place, three swings ahead of fourth-place Rio Americano. Granite Bay (368) posed with the blue banner for first place, seven strokes clear of runner-up Jesuit.

Matthew Robinson and Michael Kelley, important contributors to Central Catholic’s success a year ago, assisted Ward with 73s.

“We live to play another day,” Raiders coach Dave Quintal said. “Last year was the first time we ever got beyond Masters. We were just hoping. This year, we had expectations.”

Losing Ebster complicated Central Catholic’s season, but to the rescue came Ward, who turned 15 on Easter Sunday.

His beyond-his-tender-years composure came in handy after he staggered through his first six holes in 2 over. He bounced back with two birdies, then ended his day with an exclamation point – a 20-foot putt from the fringe for an eagle 3 at the 11th, his final hole in the shotgun start.

“I just started hitting it better,” Ward said.

Other individual Masters qualifiers ended their seasons after a good fight. Ripon’s Nick Sharp barely missed the playoff after his 73, and Lane Cadell of Escalon and Hilmar’s Landon Azevedo recorded 76.

Gregori, the Modesto Metro Conference champion, placed ninth.

Meanwhile, Pena, Ebster and the Raiders prepare for the NorCals on Monday at Salinas’ Corral de Tierra. They can only hope to equal the Masters karma enjoyed by Ebster. When you prepare for the tournament by knocking a 327-yard driver into the cup, what can go wrong?

“The group ahead told him, ‘We’ve got good news and bad news,’” said Dana Ebster, Chris’ mother. “The bad news is you hit into us. The good news is it’s in the hole!’”

Ebster topped it two days later.

This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 9:07 PM with the headline "Johansen’s Pena, Gregori’s Ebster star at Sac-Joaquin Section Masters golf; Central Catholic advances."