CARMEL
– Erick Justesen shot a 70 in the Central Coast Section finals
Wednesday at Rancho Canada to advance to the NorCal tourney at May
19 at Mira Vista in El Cerito.
CARMEL – Erick Justesen shot a 70 in the Central Coast Section finals Wednesday at Rancho Canada to advance to the NorCal tourney at May 19 at Mira Vista in El Cerito.
Justesen knew his senior year at Live Oak would not be complete without achieving his goal of advancing to NorCals for the first time ever. After finishing tied for third in the CCS finals with a one-under par, Live Oak’s lone representative in CCS is moving on.
“I played really solid,” Justesen said. “I just had a couple of bad holes. A couple of penalty strokes killed me. Otherwise I was hitting the ball great.”
Justesen tried to play the course safe going with irons off the tee most of the time.
“I picked up a double after being at two-under which set me back to even,” Justesen said. “I kind of go flustrated after that. I wasn’t hitting my birdie putts. But on 17 I got up and down from a bunker 20 yards away. I picked up a birdie to put me back at one-under.”
After seeing the Rancho Canada course in the CCS Regionals, Justesen knew he could do better.
“I wanted to go out and see how much better I could do,” Justesen said. “I played it a lot smarter.”
No golfers are allowed to practice on the NorCal course. Justesen said he plans to go walk it the night before or the morning of the tournament.
“I am just happy to be there,” Justesen said. “I was beyond happy with the season. There is nothing I can complain about. I did what I had to.”
Justesen said he plans to just play hard and not worry about the result.
“I never go into any tournament thinking I can’t compete,” Justesen said. “But I am going to play my game and not worry about anyone else. If people beat me there is nothing I can do about that.”
