Burbank boys’ golf takes fifth in Burbank Schools’ Invitational
Taking a break from competing in the Pacific League, the Burbank High, Crescenta Valley and Burroughs boys’ golf teams participated Wednesday in one of the longest running high school tournaments in Southern California.
With junior Jason Snow leading the way, the Bulldogs received quite a confidence boost heading into the the second half of the season.
Competing in the 53rd rendition of the Burbank Schools’ Invitational, Snow registered a six-over-par 77 to help host Burbank finish fifth with a 341 in the 18-team event.
“It’s my home course, so that’s an advantage,” said Snow, who helped the Bulldogs qualify for the CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional last season. “I just wanted to come out here and give it my best shot.
“I had to find a way to get around the holes. I chipped well and was able to get up and down when I needed to. We have a team that’s improving and we want to keep it going.”
Santa Monica captured the 18-hole event with a 312, followed by Arcadia (327) and South Torrance (331). Redondo placed fourth at 339, edging Burbank by two strokes. Burbank placed eighth last year.
Crescenta Valley carded a 344 for seventh and Burroughs, the other host, was 15th with a 378.
The tournament was broken down into three flights.
In the A flight competition, Kris Stiles of Alemany and Humphry Shen of South Torrance tied at 72 through 18 holes. Stiles won in a card-off after he parred the 17th hole and Shen bogeyed.
Redondo’s Oasys Okubo took the B flight with an 86 and Jack Scott of Loyola captured the C flight with a 95.
Burbank also received an 81 from Amy Tran, who starred on the school’s golf team, an 89 from Niko Coccio and 94 from Benjamin Kim.
Crescenta Valley had a quality performance after finishing 12th last year.
The Falcons, who placed third in league last season, got a 79 from Peter Kim. Crescenta Valley also received 87s from Ethan Gabon and Dylan Asprer and a 91 from Matthew Yang on the wet course following a storm Tuesday.
“The greens were pretty good and my putter worked well,” Kim said. “I hit only seven shots on to the greens, so I have to work some more on my approach shots.
“I like this kind of competition because you get to see some of the other players from different teams outside of our league. It helps you become even more focused.”
Burroughs, which took second in league last season, got a 90 from Jake Panikowski, 93 from Dylan Roy, 97 from Myles Sherry and 98 from Robert Ceja.
“The greens were a little slow at times,” Panikowski said. “It’s good to play people outside your league because you get a better idea of where you stand and what you need to work on.
“It’s a great atmosphere to be able to compete in the tournament.”
The field consisted of 72 players.
