Kennel shines but Panthers fall short of advancing to state tourney

The long journey is over. 

After more than three months, the Porterville golf team can finally put away their clubs.

The Panthers finished sixth as a team in the CIF Southern California Championships in Temecula, Thursday, falling three spots short of advancement.

“We played well and it’s disappointing that we’re not going on,” Porterville coach Lynn Enos said by phone. “But we’ll be back next year.”

Senior Kris Kennel ended his career with a team-best 70 (2-under par) to tie for 16th (144 golfers) and lead the Panthers. 

Junior Nate Jessup started the day at 2-under (a hailstorm postponed the Wednesday tournament after five holes for the first time in its history) but wasn’t able to sustain it, finishing 1-over (73). He did improve on the 79 he shot as a freshman in 2007.

Mikey McGinn also walked off the final green with a 73 on his scorecard.

Barrett Schortman carded a 79, DJ Stone an 82 and Quinn Procter rounded out the field with a 93.

Clovis West’s Michael Weaver shot a tourney-best 66. Porterville finished ahead of Clovis West (seventh) which beat them by three strokes at the Valley meet — out of nine teams that qualified.

The Panthers concluded the season with their third straight EYL and area titles and return four golfers (Kennel and Schortman graduate) for next season.