Santa Barbara City College alum Vicente Rodriguez erased a two-stroke deficit down the stretch to capture the 2026 Santa Barbara City Golf Championship on Monday at Santa Barbara Golf Club.
Rodriguez, who just ended his junior season at Alabama A&M, finished the weekend at 10-under-par after three days and 54 holes of competition to be crowned champion.
“It means so much. I played junior college golf here for two years, and I played a lot of golf on this course, and I just knew that I always had an opportunity to do it,” Rodriguez said.
“It’s great playing with such great players, and it just feels good to know that I’m the champion today.”
It wasn’t an easy road to the title for the El Dorado Hills native, who came into the day tied atop the leaderboard with San Marcos High School alum and Cal Poly junior Leo Metzger at eight-under-par.
Metzger took the lead early in the day after the back nine, but Rodriguez kept it close. After trailing by two strokes heading into hole 16, Rodriguez caught fire in the final three holes and birdied hole 18 to secure the victory.
“Coming down the stretch, I’m two shots back, and I just knew that I had to commit to every shot. There was nothing to lose. I just got to put my full effort, and I just trust it, and that’s what I did,” Rodriguez said.
“I’m glad my parents and family (were here), and my little brother was on the bag. It couldn’t have been a better place to be.”
Metzger, who won the tournament in 2022 and 2023, ended the weekend with a second-place finish, carding a three-day score of nine-under-par.
Meanwhile, defending champion Hudson Vedder and Santa Barbara local Chris Gregoire rounded out the top three with a tie for third place at eight-under-par.
Net Flights
In the Men’s Hogan Flight, Dominic Manfredi erased a two-stroke deficit at the beginning of the day with an even-par round on Monday to secure first place.
Nick Morello captured the Men’s Nicklaus Flight title with a comeback victory of his own, shooting one-under-par on Monday to come all the way back from three strokes behind.
Quinn Kyle was consistent throughout the weekend and emerged victorious in the Men’s Palmer Flight, carding a three-over-par in the final round on Monday.
In the Women’s Patty Berg Flight, Chizuko Boberg capped off a strong weekend performance by shooting five-over-par on Monday to claim the title.
