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Tehachapi’s fourth South Sequoia League golf outing of the season proved to be another close contest, with the sixth golfer deciding the fate of the coveted team point standings.

The Warriors lost the sixth-man tiebreaker to Taft earlier in the season by one point, but would not be denied the second time around in an overall 420 team match victory.

Mountain Golf was forced into a tiebreaker decision when both Tehachapi and Bakersfield Christian tallied a 420 team score from their top five players. The Warriors and Eagles were then forced to account for their sixth golfer, with Tehachapi’s Leigh Stone besting Bakersfield Christian’s sixth-man by five strokes.

Sixth-man Leigh Stone brought in a 94 card and Jacob Booth reeling in the overall tournament winning score with a 3-over 75 to record the tournament win.

“It was just a really good round,” said Booth. “I started out a little rough but the driver was just really working for me and the shots just came together. We came through and it was a big win for us.”

In addition to the on-play results, the Warriors were faced with a handicap from the get-go when talented golfer Grant Rosander was a scratch for the tournament (and the season) after lacerating his left middle finger in a school woodshop accident two weeks prior.

Not having Rosander in the lineup, and depending on the score of the sixth man, created some competitive intrigue back at the Valley Rose clubhouse, fortunately all working out in Tehachapi’s favor.

The victory vaulted the Warriors out of a first place tie in the South Sequoia League standings with Bakersfield Christian and Taft, to the league lead by themselves.
“Having Leigh come in with that 94 was the difference, we were all waiting for (the group) to come in and see what they had and fortunately he had a great score to help us win overall,” added Booth.

Other Tehachapi scores included Jared Steinbach with an 82, Brandon Matchett with an 87, Jordan Carr with an 86, and Bryan Burris with a 90.

Tehachapi will be in action this Thursday at Riverlakes Ranch in Bakersfield in another SSL mini-tournament. Tee off is set for 1 p.m.