Out of the 11 Foothill League golfers representing the Santa Clarita Valley in the boys’ golf California Interscholastic Federation southern regional, Valencia’s Lucas Buendia is the lone golfer to make the cut at the Skylinks golf course in Long Beach Monday after an even-par 72 round, advancing to the individual finals.
Buendia, who advanced after a 12th place finish, was the lone Foothill League golfer to advance as only the top 20 in the southern regional standings make the cut to advance to the individual finals.
“Lucas has been solid and steady for us all year,” Valencia boys’ golf coach Robert Waters said. “His mental game is so strong for a freshman. He never gets too high or low throughout the round. It was awesome to see him make it through to the section finals.”
The Valencia High School freshman entered the southern regional on Monday with lots of momentum after winning the PGA Junior Tour’s Toyota Cup at the Temecula Creek golf course in April.
Waters said that Buendia has been playing his best golf as of the past few months and has impressed those in the golfing community with not just his low scores but also his maturity as a freshman.
“His back nine was the difference maker for him,” Waters said on Buendia’s regional performance. “He had a clean card with three birdies on a challenging stretch of holes. He is very mature for his age and has the experience to handle the stressful environment these tournaments present.”
At the end of the Foothill League season, Buendia finished the year in third in the individual standings, 17 strokes behind first place.
Vikings’ freshman Namo Thoontakhob finished ahead of Buendia in league play, but only four strokes separated both golfers after six rounds of play.
Thoontakhob ended the southern regional in 23rd place in the standings after carding a 73 (+1).
As for the rest of the Foothill League golfers who cracked the top 50 in the southern regional, Saugus’ Tyler Melzian finished the day in 30th with a score of 74 (+2). Tyler Sonnenberg, who ended the season as the Foothill League champion, tied for 35th in the southern regional with a score of 75 (+3)
Castaic’s Noan Solomon, who ended the season in sixth in the individual Foothill League standings, rounds out Foothill League golfers who placed in the top 50 in the southern regional as the senior Coyotes golfer placed tied for 35th.
With Buendia making the cut with an even-par 72 in the southern regional, the Vikings will have the lone representative in the individual finals at the River Ridge golf course in Ventura on Thursday, May 21.
With time to prepare, Waters and Buendia plan on making one more trip out to the River Ridge course for a practice round.
“The good news is we are very familiar with the course and know the types of challenges we’ll get when out there,” Waters said. “We’re all very excited to watchLucas represent us all in the next round.”
