Jay Leng texted his Torrey Pines High School boys golf coach with some bad news Monday night, May 20. The senior’s temperature was 101.4 degrees. His likelihood of playing in the CIF SoCal Boys Golf Championship on Wednesday, May 22, was iffy at best.
To cover himself, Falcons head coach Chris Drake brought an alternate to the tournament.
Turns out, the alternate wasn’t needed. Despite coughing and playing sick, Leng lugged his bag around and shot a 6-under-par 68 on May 22 at Los Serranos Golf Course in Chino Hills, placed third individually and led the Falcons to the team title.
Torrey finished at 17-under to win by six strokes over Westlake Village Oaks Christian. Classical Academy placed third at 7-under. The top three teams advance to the State Championship on May 29 at San Gabriel Golf Club.
Drake likened Leng’s performance to the late Ken Caminiti’s famous 1996 Snickers game with the Padres. In 1996, in Monterrey, Mexico, a weakened Caminiti needed two IVs and a Snickers bar to play, then cracked two home runs in an 8-0 win over the New York Mets.
“This literally felt like a Ken Caminiti moment,” said Drake.
Leng’s elixir wasn’t a Snickers bar.
“Just Gatorade and water,” Leng said. He said he felt “pretty bad” May 20.
“I couldn’t walk that well,” he said.
“He pulled himself out with a 101-degree fever and dragged his golf bag around,” Drake said. “It’s a testament to who this kid is.”
On the par-74 course that features six par-5s, Leng scored seven birdies and just one bogey. He played the par fives in 4-under.
The team format feature six golfers per team with the low five scores counting.
Freshman Evan Liu, who placed second at the CIF San Diego Section championships, shot a 5-under 69. Torrey’s other three scoring golfers were: Ethan Elleraas (71), Roman Damnkoehler (72) and Colin Li (73).
Classical Academy’s low scorer was Ethan Schramm (71). Logan Park of Diamond Bar was the low medalist, shooting 10-under 64.
In addition to the top three teams, the nine lowest individual golfers also qualified for the State Championship. Qualifying from the San Diego Section were Michael Riebe of Cathedral Catholic and Daniel Ho of Helix (tied for third, 68) and Reed Arnaldo of La Costa Canyon (tied for sixth, 69).
As for Leng, he said the key to playing well given that he was sick was not trying to do too much.
“I just didn’t think too much,” said. “I didn’t want to let my teammates down and not play. It felt nice to shoot a good score.”
Norcross is a freelance writer for The San Diego Union-Tribune.
