SANTA ANA – Issei Tanabe could feel the pressure as he stood over his downhill, 5-foot putt on the ninth green on Thursday at Santa Ana Country Club.
Mater Dei’s match with Servite was close, and the Monarchs freshman knew that he had had to hole this putt and finish 2-under par to have any chance to beat the Trinity League rival Friars. It was more than just a gimme, having enough left-to-right break to make it a challenge, so both teams surrounded the green to see if Tanabe picked the correct line.
When the ball rolled into the cup, Tanabe pumped his first and tipped his cap to his celebrating teammates.
A day after losing any chance to win the league championship, Mater Dei edged the Friars, 188-189, in the season finale.
On Wednesday, Mater Dei lost to JSerra by one stroke at Willowick Golf Course as the Lions posted a 3-under-par 172, a school-record. Mater Dei finished with a 2-under 173.
“I had to focus on the putt, not the crowd, not anything else … just focus on where to hit it and where to set up,” Tanabe said. “I did it, and it went in.”
Tanabe also drained a 25-footer on the 371-yard, par-4 No. 7 for a birdie as he finished with a 2-under-par 34 to earn medalist honors. Marcus De La Rosa added a 1-under-par 35 for the Monarchs (13-3, 8-2) while his teammate, Jacob Biss added an even-par 36.
“I have to hand it to our guys. We came out here and we didn’t just lay down and die and say, ‘We can’t win the league, so we just give up,’” Mater Dei coach Ollie Martin said. “We came out. We competed, and we had a lot of pride. We want to show how good we are too.”
Tanabe blamed himself for the loss to JSerra, which help clinch the Trinity League championship for the Friars. He missed a 5-foot putt on Nos. 8 and 9 at Willowick, to finish with a 3-under-par 32. Jonny Unterman medaled in that match, shooting a 4-under-par 31 for the Lions, the lowest nine-hole score posted by a JSerra player in school history.
“Everyone makes mistakes, and I learned from them,” Tanabe said. “I wasn’t going to let that happen again (on Thursday). I didn’t.”
