Senior finishes in tie for 19th place two days after winning county title

By Pete Borello, Town Crier Staff Writer

courtesy of Debbie Bramlett St. Francis High’s Joseph Bramlett shot a 3-over-par 75 at the state championships.

It seems every golfer has had one of those days. A round when drives intended to go left veer right and putts miss the hole as if there were an invisible lid on it.

Unfortunately for Joseph Bramlett, he had such a day at the California Interscholastic Federation State High School Boys Golf Championships.

“It was just a rough day and I was not hitting it well,” the St. Francis High senior said. “I hit it poorly.”

Bramlett shot a 3-over-par 75 to finish in a seven-way tie for 19th place. Forty-eight golfers competed in the tournament, held June 6 at Santa Maria Country Club.

“It’s hard with only 18 holes,” said Bramlett, who shot 72 on the course two years ago to finish sixth in the state. “One bad stretch and you really have to work hard to get back.”

That bad stretch came on the front nine, where Bramlett’s bogeys outnumbered his birdies. He bogeyed four straight holes and “they weren’t the toughest holes on the course,” Bramlett said.

Five-over par to start the back nine, the Northern California champ changed his focus from winning the tournament to finishing strong.

“My goal was to get under par for the day,” he said. “Just try to birdie every hole and see what happened.”

Bramlett didn’t achieve his goal, but he did pick up three birdies.

“I had a comeback and was giving it a run,” said Bramlett, who birdied holes 11, 12 and 15. “But then I hit an awful tee shot in the right bunker.”

After recovering from that drive on the 16th, Bramlett missed a 6-foot putt. That left him 3-over par with two holes to play.

“I think I was a little mentally fatigued from the weekend,” said Bramlett, who won the 80th annual Santa Clara County Golf Championship two days before. “It didn’t play a huge role, but a couple of times I felt a little brain-dead.”

Bramlett shot an 11-under par 199 to win the county tournament for the third time in five years. The three-day event was held at San Jose Country Club, which the Saratoga resident considers one of his home courses.

“That’s probably one I’m not going to forget,” he said of shooting his best-ever score at the county tournament. “It was a lot of fun.”

Bramlett said he didn’t shoot well the first day, posting a 69, and was “just happy to be under par.” He shot a 66 the second day, then fired a 64 in the final round that included birdies on seven of the last eight holes.

“I got into one of those zones where everything went in,” said Bramlett, who pulled away after leading by one stroke entering the back nine. “There was a lot of luck involved and the putts went in.”

With the high school season behind him, Bramlett will now turn his attention to junior and amateur events this summer. He travels to Orlando this weekend for the Bill Dickey Invitational Junior Golf Championship, then returns home for the California State Amateur on Tuesday at Poppy Hills.

In September, Bramlett heads to Stanford University on a golf scholarship.