By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
AMERICAN CANYON – At the end of a very long day, head coach Bob Freschi and players on the Napa Valley College men's golf team made their way out of the clubhouse at Chardonnay Golf Club & Vineyards and stood for photos, not far from the 18th green.
They were all together in the 6 p.m. hour on Wednesday – proudly showing off the Big 8 Conference's 2023-24 North Division championship plaque. A team photo – taken much earlier in the season, when the Storm was just starting out its spring season – will be added to the trophy.
"Very rewarding," said Freschi, who is in his eighth year with the Storm. "The work we put in, it starts in the fall, in August. What we say back then, it's a marathon, not a sprint. And just trust in what we're doing. The good old cliché: trust the process.
"We had 12 men in the fall, and then we get it to eight, come spring, getting ready for our season. And then those top eight, we just compete with one another. That's one of the reasons I feel like we're such a successful team, is our in-house competition. Every time we play, we're exchanging scorecards and we're keeping score. We're documenting everything. We have an elaborate stat program and course management program. We input data and it shows – everything back to the individual player.
"What we do, it's hard work. It's the grind. And for them to reap the benefits of it, just so very proud of our guys."
It was a proud moment, indeed, with Freschi standing, shoulder to shoulder with one of the top teams in school history – a team that features Markus Nanpei, named as the Big 8 North Division Most Valuable Player; Matthew Commander and Nick DeBellis, named Big 8 North Division All-Conference; Jaxen Perryman, Brayden Dixon, Anthony Guiomar and Tyler Momono. The Storm, unfortunately, lost Lawrence Pepito to a season-ending ACL injury.
It was a momentous day for NVC golf, as the Storm, playing in the Big 8 Conference North Division's 12th and final tournament on its home course, soared to a first-place finish, shooting a 379-team score.
It was Commander shooting a season-low 3-under-par 69 and earning individual low medalist honors.
It was Nanpei shooting a 2-over-par 74.
"A lot of ups and downs, but it's nice to come out on top, for sure," Nanpei said of being the North Division's top player.
It was DeBellis with a 4-over-par 76 and Perryman with a 7-over-par 79.
Also, for the Storm, it was Dixon with an 81 and Guiomar with an 85.
"We have depth, and that's what I was looking for the last couple years," said Freschi. "I'm really proud of where we're at, where we've been, and now to the present moment. It's just incredible and so fun for these guys to be conference champions.
"You just trust it and trust what you're teaching and coaching and continuing to have a good time doing it, to enjoy coming out here and being on time and grinding on your game and getting better, and that's to enjoy every day and don't dwell on the past. Don't look in the future. Just take care of the here and now. For them to be able to win a conference championship is so amazing. I'm just so proud of the guys."
It was the Storm's seventh Big 8 Conference North Division tournament title.
Napa Valley clinched the Big 8 Conference North Division title at Monday's tournament, played at Elkhorn Golf Club in Stockton. In a points-based scoring system, NVC finished the North Division season with 80 points.
"There's a lot of ups and downs in the season. It's a long season. There are tough conditions with winter and spring in the Napa Valley. It's difficult," Freschi pointed out. "We talk about being in the present moment, every day when we come to practice. They just kept enjoying their time together and our practice time, and that goes a long way with our team camaraderie and the way we handle our business and play for one another and play to win.
"Our goal was to win the Big 8 Conference, and we did it here. And now, what's down the road, is to compete for a NorCal championship. We've got to earn it and that's not going to be easy. We've got to earn that spot in in the state championship."
Wednesday was a huge turnaround, a major improvement, for NVC from the way it scored at Elkhorn. It was a 31-shot differential after a fourth-place finish and a 410-team score at Elkhorn.
"After Elkhorn, we just talked about we're coming back home, we have our last conference match at Chardonnay," said Freschi.
The teams played from the Sovereign tees – a par-72, 6,948-yard layout. Temperatures were in the low-60s and it was breezy.
"We were playing from the back tees. We knew that with our game, that we're going to play better with longer yardage than what we've been playing the last couple of weeks," said Freschi. "Elkhorn didn't suit our game well. It's tight with narrow fairways and a shorter course. We like hitting the driver and hitting it as far as we can. As you can tell today – longer yardage, bigger course. We played great golf."
Sierra College-Rocklin was second at 394.
San Joaquin Delta College-Stockton was third at 398.
Modesto Junior College was fourth at 427.
It was the first time for Commander to get in red numbers.
"For Matthew Commander to shoot a 69, just really, really happy for the young man. It was a little windy and gusty as well. And it was playing firm. Just an incredible round he had and just so glad he put it together at the last conference match at Chardonnay. It's awesome," said Freschi.
Also, named to the All-Conference team:
* Sierra: Jacob Dredge, Nick Barton, Nathan Pappas, Kyler Ostrom.
* San Joaquin Delta: Mason Davis, Seth Fuhrman, Ty Salvador.
* Modesto: Erik Hott.
Commander had the round of the day – a round that featured an eagle and three birdies.
He holed out a 9-iron from 160 yards for an eagle on the par-4, 418-yard 13th hole.
"I knew it was downwind. So, I knew I could kind of club down and just swing hard, that the green was going to kick it left and it ended up working out pretty well," he said.
Commander said his thought process was to go out and enjoy the day.
"I wasn't really worried about my score or anything. I was just kind of trying to enjoy myself," he said.
He made the turn at 2-under-par 34 after birdies on Nos. 1 and 7.
He hit a wedge from 105 yards and made the birdie from 10 feet on the par-4, 399-yard first hole.
He hit a 5-iron on his approach to 15 feet and made the birdie putt on the par-5, 582-yard seventh hole. He wrapped up his round by hitting driver, 8-iron and two-putting for birdie from 25 feet on the par-5, 473-yard 18th hole.
He had key par-saving putts from 20 feet on No. 6 and from eight feet on No. 9.
"That kind of just kept my momentum going," he said.
"The course was playing firm and fast, which was really good for my game, because I like to hit kind of a lower ball. So, I felt like I could kind of take the wind out of play on some holes, where I could just hit it a little lower and then it would run out a lot, which was nice to see the ball roll. It was windy and it was kind of hard to judge, but I kind of just tried to trust myself and swing hard at it.
"To break 70 at any course you have to have all three aspects of the game – off the tee, approach and then your finesse game around the greens. So, I kind of felt like, to put up a number like that, I had all three today, which was really, really fun to have."
Nanpei got off to a rocky start, as he was 5-over through eight holes.
"I was just trying to get into a rhythm," he said. "I was just trying to let it come to me instead of trying to force anything, and it worked out pretty well. I was just trying to keep it steady instead of trying to force anything. I definitely would like to play better, but it wasn't bad."
Nanpei made an eagle and had three birdies during his round.
He eagled the par-5, 522-yard 10th hole. He hit driver, 6-iron and chipped in from 10 yards away.
"That was definitely the highlight of today. I was trying to really put it in there close, just trying to secure the birdie, but it ended up falling, so that was really nice to see, especially after coming off the front nine," said Nanpei, who was 4-over on the front side.
He birdied the par-5, 561-yard ninth hole, chipping to three feet and making the putt.
He birdied the par-5, 569-yard 15th hole, chipping to tap-in distance and making the putt from two feet.
He also birded No. 18, hitting a flop shot to four feet and making the putt.
Nanpei has had two outstanding seasons for NVC. Last year, as a freshman, he won the individual title at the California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regional Championship. He will transfer to Weber State and join the Wildcats golf program in the fall of 2024 as a junior. He signed a national letter-of-intent with Weber State.
"Congratulations, Markus Nanpei. Conference MVP. What a special talent. I'm so proud of him. He did it. We talked about it, and he did it. It's one thing to talk about, but to go ahead and do it and be the No. 1 guy in our conference. Applaud Markus. Great job," said Freschi.
NVC plays in a Big 8 Conference neutral event on Monday, April 29 at Copper River Country Club in Fresno. All eight teams from the Big 8 Conference, including Reedley College, Fresno City College, San Jose City College and Taft College from the South Division, will play in the event.
The California Community College Athletic Association-Northern California Regional Championships are May 5 and 6 at Yolo Fliers Club in Woodland. It's an eight-team event, with the top four teams advancing to the CCCAA State Championships in May at Sandpiper Golf Club, in Goleta.
* 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.