Despite a change in format for Rio Hondo League matchups, the La Cañada High boys’ golf team has not skipped a beat, winning their first five competitions of the season.
The new league format pits all six teams against one another on the same matchday. Team scores are accumulated at the end of the match to decide the winner.
In their opening league match, the Spartans handily defeated San Marino, Temple City, South Pasadena, Monrovia and Gabrielino by 20 strokes.
Logan Kim led the Spartans, card a 2-under-par 33 on the nine-hole course. Nolan Kuszyk followed with 35, and Jayden Jun (37), Ian Ricci (38) and Cameron Hart (39) rounded out the scoring for the Spartans.
La Cañada followed that up with a nonleague victory against St. Francis and Crespi, winning the meet by 20 strokes at the Brookside Golf Course.
Kim and Jun led the team, scoring 2-under par 34. Hart and Nathan Chi each finished with 38 and Kuszyk capped the meet with 39.
The Spartans also participated in the annual Glendora High School Invitational held at Glendora Country Club. The format featured three-person teams with every score accounted for. Kuszyk, Kim and Jun teamed up for La Cañada and finished first among a pool of 40 teams. The collective scored 223, with Kuszyk and Kim each carding 1-under 71 each and tying for second place in the individual category of 120 players. There were schools from all over the region, including Nevada and northern California.
La Cañada won the second Rio Hondo League competition of the season with a combined score of 179 at Alhambra Golf Course. Kuszyk led the team shooting a 3-under 33 in the nine-hole event. Ian Chu and Greg Anten each recorded a 1-under 35, and Hart and Jun finished with 38.
In the latest league match also held at the Alhambra Golf Course, the Spartans won the third matchup by 21 strokes.
Kim led the charge with a 6-under 30, and Kuszyk carded a 3-under 33. Jun shot a 2-under 34, and Hart (36) and Chu (38) rounded out the scoring.
Up next for La Cañada is an invitational in Palm Springs at Taquitz Creek Golf Course where the Spartans will face off against the nation’s top teams over spring break.
First published in the March 21 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
