For the 20th time in the last 22 seasons, the Turlock High School golf program is champion of its conference.

The Bulldogs capped off an undefeated 2026 campaign with a team victory at the Central California Athletic League Championship on Monday from Chowchilla’s Pheasant Run Golf Club.

Leading the charge and helping Turlock post a 395 — five strokes clear of runner-up Gregori and 34 of third-place Pitman — was the sophomore duo of Carter Van Gaalen and Ezekiel Roque, who posted the two lowest individual scores of the day at the tough 7329-yard, par-72 course.

Van Gaalen paced the field with a round of 74, while Roque was two strokes behind. The Pride’s Davis Cornell posted a 77 to finish a close fourth.

The 1-2 finish made Van Gaalen and Roque, friends who golf with each other on nearly a daily basis, the first Bulldogs to accomplish the feat at the annual league tournament since current Oklahoma University sophomore Clark Van Gaalen (Carter’s older brother) and San Jose State freshman Christian Maggard did so in 2022.

“Very rarely does any team have that happen, so it’s pretty cool,” said Turlock head coach Jason Boswell.

“We love this team,” added Van Gaalen. “Everybody here is great. Every season, we build off the success of the last one. We definitely take a lot pride in the history.”

Van Gaalen got off to a hot start with a birdie on the second hole. With bogeys on four and five, he battled back to par with another birdie putt on eight. The back nine posed more challenges, though, forcing four more bogeys. The individual title was ultimately clinched on his final two holes, a two-shot birdie on the par-3 17th and another on the par-5 18th.

“Everything was working for me,” Van Gaalen said. “I was hitting irons, hitting drivers well, putting well, everything just felt really good.

“My main thing is that I never check the leaderboards while playing,” Van Gaalen added. “But winning and seeing Zeke right there with me was great.”

Roque was in the same group teeing off at one, and quickly found himself in a hole with a bogey at two and a double-bogey on the fifth. A birdie on seventh was key, but relief was short-lived as he settled for three straight bogeys through the turn, plus another on 14. Birdies on 16 and 17 and a par save on 18 proved enough to claim runner-up position.

After initially having a tough time finding a feel for his irons, Roque felt that it was his biggest strength on Monday.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time practicing and seeing different shots, making better decisions club-wise with the yardage on the course,” Roque said. “My irons were 100% working. My driving accuracy probably saved me the most, and my putting was alright. I can’t complain.”

Also contributing to Turlock’s final team score were juniors Easton Kahler (8th-80) and Donaven Zendejas (10th-81), as well as senior Logan Bream (13th-84), who was a member of the last three CCAL championship seasons.

As for Cornell, the day resulted in his first top-five CCAL finish of his prep career. A staple of the Pitman program for the past four years and a three-time individual qualifier to the divisional tournament, he said his score of 77 was the result of a long summer of consistent practice.

“The results I’ve had this season have been the best I’ve had so far,” he said of his season, which featured a career-low 71 against Modesto earlier this year. “I grinded, and it’s paying off.”

As part of the first grouping alongside Van Gaalen and Roque, the early stages of the tournament proved particularly difficult, shooting bogeys on two and five, and a double-bogey on the par-4 third. From there, he minimized the damage with four straight pars and birdie to start the back nine. He ended his round with three straight pars.

Following Cornell on the Pitman leaderboard was freshman Alexander Wieseman (13th-84). Senior Stephen Schmidt and freshman Brody Newton chipped in by tying for 17th with matching rounds of 88. Freshman Aiden Jeans rounded out the scoring with a 92 for a 19th-place position.

Both programs will return to Pheasant Run on Tuesday for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II Tournament.

“We want to go to Masters,” said Roque.

“It’s definitely the goal for me,” Cornell added.

For Van Gaalen, to take a full van to Masters would mean everything.

“Winning CCAL, we have some motivation going in now,” he said. “It's like a ball rolling down the hill. Once it's rolling, it’s not going to stop. Hopefully we keep that momentum up on Tuesday.”