Warm weather, moderate winds and a tournament that went down to the wire with a two-man playoff for all the marbles.
The 61st annual Santa Barbara City Golf Championship truly had it all.
After all the dust settled, and all putts were sunk, it was Ethan Ashbrook of Saint Mary’s College that left with the victory.
Ashbook defeated Tongun Lako Losarah of Pomona’s Mountain Meadows Men’s Club on the second playoff hole to claim the title on Monday at the Santa Barbara Golf Club.
Lako Losarah shot a final-round 3-under par 67 to storm back from eight shots down to pull even with Ashbrook, who held on to the top spot despite shooting a 5-over 75. They tied at 1-under 209 after 54 holes.
“I was just getting it in play,” said Ashbrook, a Righetti High alum, of his rocky final round. “I was just going around trying to get the ball on the green and make some putts.”
Ashbrook called the tournament “a great experience. To be able to compete against all these people, it’s really special.”
Santa Barbara’s Brett Patton, who was one shot behind Ashbrook going into the final round, struggled on Monday and shot a 77. He finished tied for third with Maverick Pavletich of Bakersfield and former champion Jack Perry of Santa Barbara at 2-over 212.
There was a four-way tied for sixth place between former champion Brian Helton, Bobby Schaeffer, Luke Adam and San Marcos High sophomore standout Leo Metzger at 5-over 215.
In the handicap flights, Jack Macleod-Roemer (223) won the Palmer Flight by one shot over Yogi Tea and Aaron Goodin.
Tom Seidl captured the Hogan Flight with a 218; Santa Barbara’s Brian Milner shot a 208 to win the Nicklaus Flight and Santa Barbara’s Gail Harling won the Patty Berg Flight with a 232.
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
T1 Ethan Ashbrook EClub East Bay -1 65-69-75—209 (Ashbrook won in a two-hole playoff)
T1 Tongun Lako Losarah Mountain Meadows Men’s Club -1 70-72-67—209
T3 Maverick Pavletich Bakersfield Country Club +2 69-73-70—212
T3 Brett Patton Santa Barbara Mens Golf Club +2 70-65-77—212
T3 Jack Perry +2 73-68-71—212
T6 Brian Helton EClub Monterey Bay +5 73-74-68—215
T6 Bobby Schaeffer Soule Park Golf Club +5 70-74-71—215
T6 Leo Metzger SCGA Junior Club +5 73-70-72—215
T6 Luke Adam +5 71-72-72—215
T10 Drew Miller Camarillo Springs Mens GC +6 69-73-74—216
T10 Grady Smith Santa Barbara Mens Golf Club +6 71-69-76—216
12 Thayer White Sandpiper Golf Club +8 72-73-73—218
T13 Jordan Scott La Cumbre Country Club +10 74-72-74—220
T13 Shams Jahangir-Arshad SCGA Junior Club +10 73-72-75—220
T15 James Tyler Brookside Mens Golf Club +11 70-78-73—221
T15 Alec Constantinides Santa Barbara Mens Golf Club +11 71-72-78—221
17 Ryan Todey Santa Barbara Mens Golf Club +12 71-77-74—222
18 Michael Montgomery Sandpiper Golf Club +14 74-73-77—224
T19 Preston Gomersall Santa Barbara Mens Golf Club +15 78-70-77—225
T19 Dave Aarons Mesa Country Club +15 75-71-79—225
21 Doug Hyland Glen Annie Mens Club +16 69-77-80—226
T22 Jordan Snook YOC East Bay Clubhouse +17 74-74-79—227
T22 Ben Tumbel Santa Barbara Mens Golf Club +17-72-74-81—227
24 Louis Caron Glen Annie Mens Club +19 74-74-81—229