By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
Ian Hall was the individual low medalist and Napa Valley College was the team champion at a Big 8 Conference North Division men's golf tournament at Elkhorn Golf Club in Stockton on Wednesday, March 25.
Hall was the only player in the field in red numbers, posting a 1-under-par 70.
Napa Valley had five players with scores in the 70's on the way to a 5-over-par 289 team-score.
It was a season-low team score for Napa Valley, the first-place team in the North Division.
Will Hutton fired a 1-over-par 72, Lawrence Collins had a 2-over 73, Peyton Alexander carded a 3-over 74, and Dominic Taverrite had a 6-over 77 for Napa Valley.
Charlie Larson (81) also played for the Storm.
"Ian Hall was playing fabulous," said Storm coach Bob Freschi. "His iron game was on-point. It seemed liked every shot on the green that I saw he was putting it like 8 to 12 feet away."
Napa Valley was using a recent break from tournament play to stay competitive with matches as a team, said Freschi.
"I'm like, 'Hey, this is the fire and the relaxed intensity I want in a match. You guys are really competing against one another. I want you to get that feeling of competition. Shot by shot, being competitive and making a better shot than your opponents,' " said Freschi.
"We really focus on that. And it just carried over to (Wednesday). They were just dialed in. We had a great game plan."
Elkhorn was set up at 6,486 yards.
Taking second place, with a 298-team score, was Sierra College-Rocklin.
Finishing in third place, with a 306-team score, was San Joaquin Delta College-Stockton.
Taking fourth place, with a 319-team score, was Modesto Junior College.
Iron play has been a point of focus for the Storm over the last two weeks, said Freschi.
"This was a course where they did hit a lot of wedges, 9, 8 irons into a green, and they were successful (Wednesday)," said Freschi.
Napa Valley's next Big 8 Conference tournament is on Monday, March 30, at The Ridge Golf Course, in Auburn.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.