First published in the May 19 print issue of the Pasadena Outlook.
La Cañada High School is, once again, in the golf headlines, but it doesn’t have to do with alumnus and standout pro golfer Collin Morikawa.
This time, it’s his alma mater’s boys’ golf program that made history as the Spartans capped a historic season by capturing the CIF Southern Section Division III championship — the first in school history — at Los Serranos South Course in Chino on Monday.
“The CIF championship was exactly what the boys had set their sights on this season,” head coach Ernie Lee told the Outlook Valley Sun, “and to watch them set goals, work hard and achieve them makes me the proudest of them.”
The Spartans recorded a score of 386 and tied Cypress for the lead, but La Cañada claimed the victory with the sixth-man tiebreaker. Each team has six competitors on the course and the top five scores are compiled to determine the team score. The sixth score is used in case of a tie, and La Cañada’s Nick Tomlinson edged Kaiden Desai, 84-87. Logan Kim led LCHS by carding a 74 and Ian Ricci was second on the squad with a 75. Nolan Kuszyk and Andrew Shaklan each recorded 78 strokes and Cameron Hart finished with 81.
The young squad, composed mostly of sophomores, set lofty goals early in the season after winning a competitive Calabasas Invitational that included Division I and Division II programs, and the team went on to win every regular season match and compile a perfect 14-0 record.
“It all started with the team winning the Calabasas Invitational at the beginning of the season,” Lee said. “This event had Division I and II teams playing in it and really showed the boys that they could compete against the higher divisional teams.”
The golf season isn’t over just yet for the Spartans, who moved on to compete in the SCGA Qualifying Tournament at River Ridge Country Club in Oxnard this Thursday afternoon. La Cañada was one of only three teams outside of Division I to qualify for the event, which determines which teams advance to the Southern State Regional championship.
Kuszyk will be competing for himself in Thursday’s competition and looking to advance to the individual state regional tournament. The Spartans recently finished among the top 20 in the CIF-SS Boys’ Golf Individuals North Regional held at Los Robles Greens in Thousand Oaks, tying for 10th with a score of 69.
