Concord De La Salle captures eighth Northern California Regional boys golf crown, but Josh Kim edged in playoff by College Prep’s Will Chang to decide individual title

Josh Kim has won both individual and team titles during his Concord De La Salle High career at the CIF/Northern California Golf Association regional boys golf final.

Kim, a UCLA-bound senior, had an opportunity to achieve both Tuesday in his final appearance at the Northern California Regional Championships, before junior Will Chang of College Prep was the last golfer standing at Berkeley Country Club in El Cerrito.

With De La Salle having already secured its eighth regional team crown after edging Stevenson by a 366-368 margin, Kim and Chang squared off in a sudden-death playoff, as both competitors shot 4-under 68 on the 6,472-yard layout to share medalist honors.

Chang prevailed in the playoff, preventing Kim from securing back-to-back regional titles after he also shot 68 to capture last year’s championship.

College Prep junior Will Chang shot 4-under 68 and won in a playoff at the CIF Northern California Regional final | Photo courtesy of College Prep

Kim’s performance was instrumental in De La Salle securing a third regional crown in the past four years after Stevenson triumphed with a 371-375 victory against the Spartans last season.

Palo Alto took third Tuesday at 370, advancing to the CIF State Championships for the first time in program history, joining De La Salle and Stevenson in earning berths to compete June 3 at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.

St. Ignatius finished fourth at 375 and Dougherty Valley placed fifth at 379.

De La Salle secured second place at last year’s state final by shooting 367, trailing champion Torrey Pines by a six-stroke margin, with Stevenson finishing fourth at 375.

The Spartans won state titles ahead of Torrey Pines in 2022 and 2023, giving De La Salle three championships overall, including 2006.

Stevenson captured its lone state crown in 2013.

Kim shot under par for the fourth year in a row at the regional final, including tying for eighth as a freshman and achieving a third-place tie during his sophomore season, before producing a pair of top-two performances.

Kim overcame a double bogey on the par-4 fourth hole with an eagle on the par-5 16th, in addition to producing four birdies.

Chang recorded six birdies during regulation, including four in a row on holes No. 5-8.

Julien Cho of Carmel shot 70 to tie for third, joining Chang among the nine individual golfers to advance to the state final on non-qualifying teams.

Ben Friedman from Tamalpais carded 71, Kyler Heath of Carmichael Jesuit, Anthony Stouder from San Mateo Serra, Brayden Campbell of Oroville and Ben Thomson from St. Ignatius all shot 72, with Nakul Shrivastava of Dougherty Valley, Hayden Thill from Tamalpais and Jayden Jew of St. Ignatius producing 73s to also secure individual berths at the state championship.

Luke Dariotis of Carmichael Jesuit also shot 73, but didn’t advance to the state final.

Concord De La Salle held off Stevenson by a 366-368 margin to win the CIF Northern California Regional title at Berkeley Country Club | Photo courtesy of Concord De La Salle

De La Salle, which also won its fifth consecutive CIF-North Coast Section Division 1 championship, supported Kim by Noah Eisen, Tavin McKinley and Drue Sanchez all carding 74s, in addition to Will Hardy posting a 76 and Barron Beinke firing a 78.

Luke Brandler shot 70 to lead Stevenson, with Steven Lai achieving a 73, Zachary Hawkins adding a 74, Calvin Etcheverry posting a 75, Marc Gabriel Sasetia producing a 76 and Johshveer Chadha carding a 77.