By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
AMERICAN CANYON – It was cloudy and cold, with temperatures in the low 50s.
There was a light rain early in the day.
There was standing water in spots at Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards, Napa Valley College's home course.
There wasn't much bounce or roll on the fairways, which were wet and soft from the rainy weather in the area.
Yes, conditions for the fourth tournament of the Big 8 Conference season on Monday were very difficult.
"Tough conditions. The course was tough. Balls weren't flying," Storm men's golf coach Bob Freschi said. "But again, we talk about that. We know going into the season, hey, it's going to be wet. It's Northern California golf. What we try to do is embrace it and, no matter what you do, how much practice you put in, the day of, you've got to be able to compete and execute the shot. That's the bottom line."
Napa Valley, the host team, did not back down from all the challenges that came with the day and the course.
With four players, led by individual low medalist Markus Nanpei, shooting scores in the 70s, Napa Valley turned in a first-place finish, posting a 389-team score and winning by a 14-shot margin.
Nanpei got off to a rocky start, with three straight bogeys, but turned it around, firing a 2-over-par 74.
Jaxen Perryman was next, carding a 5-over-par 77 in the No. 6 spot in the Storm's lineup.
Nick DeBellis had a 6-over-par 78 and Brayden Dixon had a 7-over-par 79.
Lawrence Pepito and Matthew Commander each had 81s.
Freschi called it the best day of the season so far for NVC.
"Great team effort. It was good to see. Great, great effort by the Storm," said Freschi.
"We talked about, that we know it's not going to be easy. We talked about just the ability to sort of put up a respectable number on that course and go for par. Par is a great score and celebrate them."
It's a very good start to the 2024 season for Napa Valley.
The Storm finished second in the in the Big 8 Conference's first tournament, Feb. 12, at Woodbridge Golf and Country Club in San Joaquin County.
The Storm won the conference's second tournament of the season, on Feb. 26, at Oakdale Golf and Country Club, in Stanislaus County.
Last week, the Storm finished in second place in the conference's third tournament, played on the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa, on Feb. 28.
"I'm really proud of the guys of responding to what we talked about last week after Silverado, and then going into this week and the opportunity we have in front of us to take control of this conference and to play well and win every match," said Freschi.
"Again, we're a talented group of young men. It takes time to learn our system and make the change and what is necessary to put up a respectable number. We knew if we could break 390 that it would be tough for anybody to come in and beat us. And that's what we did. And so, good job for the guys to break 390 and put up a really good score and some really good numbers from our team."
Sierra College-Rocklin was second, at 403. Taking third was San Joaquin Delta College-Stockton, at 419. Placing fourth was Modesto Junior College, at 425.
Sierra was led by Kyler Ostrom with a 77, Jacob Dredge with a 78, and Nick Barton with a 79.
San Joaquin Delta was led Mason Davis with a 77.
Modesto Junior College was led by Erik Hott with a 79.
"It was great to see us do what was asked from last week after Silverado," said Freschi. "This group of young men, they don't like finishing in second. So, they did what they had to do to get the 'W,' bottom line, and led by Markus, a great round.
"I thought we all played well. Lawrence played really solid. Nick played really good golf. It was great to see Brayden come in with a 79 and contribute to our team. Brayden's a very talented player. He's worked on his game, and he's been playing really well here at Chardonnay.
"Matthew was solid. Jaxen coming in at 77, he's consistent out here. He played really well, especially the last few holes of the front nine and the back nine."
The Big 8 Conference has two divisions this year.
In the North, it's Napa Valley, Sierra-Rocklin, San Joaquin Delta-Stockton and Modesto. In the South, it's Reedley, Fresno City, San Jose City and Taft.
The Big 8 Conference has 12 tournaments.
Nanpei turned his game around after bogeys on Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Nanpei, who won the individual title at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regional Championship and was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team, birdied the par-5, 517-yard fourth hole and the par-5, 510-yard 10th hole.
He had a tap-in birdie after chipping to six inches on the fourth hole.
He hit a pitch shot to three feet and made the putt on the 10th hole.
Nanpei also had par-saving putts from 20 feet on No. 7 and from 15 feet on No. 8.
"Obviously, I'm really upset from bogeys on the the first three (holes)," said Nanpei. "I'm just trying to stay in it because I know there's a lot of really gettable holes out there. I've just got to keep a level head and just kind of take it shot by shot and focus that way. And so just instead of focusing on like what I did on the past three, it's kind of like starting over pretty much."
Nanpei said he had not been able to get out and practice due to the weather. Nonetheless, he carries high expectations into the tournament.
"There's a lot to look forward to coming in. It's going be fun and exciting to watch. We'll be good," said Nanpei.
Dixon, who is from Carlsbad, birdied the par-5, 527-yard ninth hole and the par-5, 462-yard 18th hole.
He hit a wedge from 40 yards to two feet on the ninth hole, leading to a birdie.
He hit a wedge to five feet and made the putt for birdie on No. 18.
Dixon saved par with a putt from 10 feet on the par-4, 421-yard par-4 17th hole.
"You almost had to club up sometimes because of how wet the conditions were," said Dixon. "It was pretty challenging. It was rough. I had to fight, but I'm happy with how I did.
"I felt like we all prepared, knowing it was our home course. I definitely feel like we came out here wanting to win, knowing it's our home course."
Perryman overcame a triple-bogey 6 on the par-3, 149-yard fifth hole, as his tee shot with a 9-iron went into the hazard and he three-putted.
"It definitely kind of got in my head, but I was able to kind of just calm down after that and just kind of get over it and put my head down and try and make as many birdies as possible," said Perryman, who is from Tahoe City.
He went on a birdie run.
He birdied the par-5, 567-yard seventh hole, par-5, 527-yard ninth hole, par-5, 510-yard 10th hole, par-4, 389-yard 11th hole, and par-4, 390-yard 13th hole.
"Stepping out on the first tee it was kind of windy, it was kind of rainy. The course looked pretty difficult today," said Perryman. "I was able to have the approach shots be actually really solid today. I was able to stick them close on a lot of holes and made some solid putts and get away with a 77.
"With my approach shots, I was hitting them pretty straight, the distance I wanted and was just able to stick them close today, to give myself like four or five footers for birdie and was able to make those putts.
"I've been just grinding away and finally it's kind of starting to come around. My irons were really solid today. I'm super happy about that and the driver was staying in play for the most part. The putting has been pretty solid. Being able to use my score in these tournaments, it just gives me a little boost to keep getting better."
Perryman graduated from North Tahoe High School in 2023. He is a mid-semester transfer from Cuesta College-San Luis Obispo.
Perryman had an outstanding senior season of golf last year for North Tahoe.
He won the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Class 2A West League Championship, shooting 6-over-par 78 for individual medalist honors and also leading North Tahoe to its fifth regional title in a row. It was played at The Lakes Golf Course at Genoa Lakes Golf Club, in Genoa, Nev.
Perryman went on to also win the 2023 Class 2A State Boys Golf Championship, shooting 72-74 – 146 at Red Hawk Golf and Resort, in Sparks, Nev. North Tahoe won the team title.
"He played really good high school golf," said Freschi. "He has talent. He's a really good player. He competes and he has a good time, He's buying into our program and our system and enjoys playing golf.
"He's a great addition to our team."
NVC's season continues on Wednesday, March 6, as the Storm and Modesto Junior College play a practice round at Turlock Golf and Country Club at 12:30 p.m.
* 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.