Photos by Rob Varela / Star staff Rio Mesa's Jordan Cuthbert hits a drive during Monday's tournament. Cuthbert, with a 71, was one of seven area players to qualify for the CIF-SS Individual Finals.

From the moment he unleashed his first drive to the time he walked off the course with his iPod pumping Tupac into his right ear, Andrew Garcia was feeling nothing but good vibes.

The Rio Mesa High sophomore never doubted there would be red ink by his name on the leader board at the CIF-Southern Section Boys' Golf Individual Northern Regional on Monday at Sterling Hills Golf Course in Camarillo.

Garcia shot a 4-under-par 67 to place second and set the tone for a strong Pacific View League showing.

"I have been playing good up until here, so I knew I was due for a really low round," Garcia said. "I went into this tournament pretty prepared to go low and I feel like I conquered that and was pretty relaxed."

The top 30 golfers in the 83-man field qualified for the CIF-SS Individual Finals on May 19 at Mission Lakes Country Club.

Garcia was one of seven area players earning a spot. The Pacific View qualified three of its four golfers while the Marmonte is sending four of its six.

Royal's Kyle Holden tied for fourth place with a 69 to earn his first trip to the Finals. Actually, Holden shot well enough to qualify last year, but was disqualified for signing his scorecard wrong.

After a more careful inspection Monday, the senior slid his card into the box with confidence.

"I checked it a lot of times just to make sure," Holden said with a smile. "I was definitely positive this time, and it feels a lot better."

Displaying a bit of their course familiarity from having played it during the league rotation, the Pacific View qualifiers each shot at least par.

But Oxnard sophomore Jon Calupe says there was a bigger factor at play during his round of 70.

"What really helped me was how I hit the ball," Calupe said. "Every course could be easy if you are hitting the ball straight, and that was the case for me today. I guess the course knowledge was a bonus."

Calupe also had the added motivation of keeping an Oxnard tradition alive.

"The past couple of years at least one player from our school went to the next round," Calupe said. "It is a pretty good feeling to be able to say that I am going because I wanted to represent my school better."

Rio Mesa junior Jordan Cuthbert qualified for the Finals last year, but will have the company of his teammate Garcia to bunk with in the hotel room this year.

"We kind of pull for each other and go out there and do work and get it done," said Cuthbert, who carded an even-par 71. "We kind of feed off each other, too. When I play well, he plays well and vice versa."

The Marmonte League nearly had another qualifier joining Holden, Calabasas' Cameron Tennant (70), Royal's Danny Katz (73) and Westlake's Brandon Hagy (74). But Westlake's Marshall Colby finished fourth in a four-man playoff for the final two spots.

Colby's round of 75 and bogey on the playoff hole was a complete reversal of last week, when he shot a 69 on the same course during a junior qualifying event and advanced in a playoff.

"I got off to a bad start and never got it back," Colby said. "I could just never get anything going. This is the worst I could have done."

Garcia's 67 was his career-best at Sterling Hills, and his fist pump on the walk to report his score allowed his mother to finally breathe easy.

The belated Mother's Day gift seemed even more appropriate given that Tupac's "Dear Mama" was the song playing on Garcia's iPod just before receiving his medal.

"When I am on the course, it's business and I do business," Garcia said. "But after we are done, I am in relaxed mode and can have fun and laugh. That is when the party starts."

— Results, C6