Rodrigues leads Yuba golfers

Hawaii is a long way from Marysville and the people who inhabit the Pacific Island have most likely never heard of Yuba Community College.Kealoha Rodrigues left his scenic island home of Maui after his senior year of high school and made the long trip to the small community of Yuba County to attend college. Rodrigues first started playing off when he was sophomore in high school. He worked at a golf course while attending school and everyday after work would play a round to improve his game.”My friends go into it and then I started playing a little,” said Rodrigues who has shot a season-low 72 this year. “I would play everyday after work and I started getting really good.”A scout from the Hawaii Sports Network news and recruiting service picked up on Rodrigues’ abilities and told him of a school in California that would be good for him. The Hawaii Sports Network provides a scouting service to help Hawaiian athletes get into a college or university. “Some guy told me about this school in California and told me it would be a good place for me,” said Rodrigues. “It is a lot different here than in Maui.”In fact there are numerous athletes at Yuba College, primarily in the football program, that have transferred to Yuba from Hawaii.One noticeable difference for Rodrigues living in California than in Maui is the surroundings and amount of practice time he has. “In Maui I got to practice everyday because of where I worked,” said Rodrigues. “Here we have two matches a week so there is not much practice time.”The Yuba golf team has enjoyed having Rodrigues around since the departure of Yuba City High product Derrek Long. Sophomore Adam Musfelt from Yuba City is usually lurking atop the leader board for the 49ers. Musfelt and Rodrigues are almost always battling for Yuba’s top score. Musfelt has been playing golf since his freshman year in high school. His parents had a membership to a golf course and he go interested in the game. “My putting and short game is probably my strong point,” said Musfelt who has shot a season-low score of 75, so far. Sophomores Josh Martysnki and Skipp Cook from Yuba City, freshman Casey Courtright out of Wheatland and Jeff Williams round out the 49ers’ roster. Yuba has struggled in Bay Valley Conference play due in most part to the amount of players on the team. In dual match play the top five scores from each team are used to figure out the total number of team strokes. Some schools in the BVC have anywhere from 20 to 40 players on a team and take the top five score of those players. “It’s tough to get a win since we only have six guys on the team,” said assistant coach Diana Brookman. The last BVC Tournament will be played on May 1 at the Hidden Valley Golf Course in Clear Lake. Rodrigues and Musfelt will most likely qualify for the NorCal Tournament played at the Correl de Terra Golf Course in Salinas on May 7. The top eight athletes and top two teams from the BVC will most on to the NorCal Tournament.