Nine area golfers advance to Pacific League individual final
Two final steps needed to be taken for area golfers to advance to the postseason out of Pacific League play, with the first taking place Tuesday at the league team final at Griffith Park’s Wilson Golf Course.
There turned out to be plenty of positive signs, beginning with Crescenta Valley and Burbank finishing tied for second behind Arcadia and Burroughs placing fourth. Each squad will participate in the CIF Southern Section Divisional on May 15.
Nine area players will move on to the league individual final at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday at Whittier Narrows Golf Course in the San Gabriel Valley.
Crescenta Valley’s Trey Ballard, Peter Kim, Jacob Junio and Andrew Hong, Glendale’s Elis Alaan, Burroughs’ Louis D’Aquila and Jake Panikowski and Burbank’s Louis Calzado and Cole Pendarvis will compete in the 18-hole event. The top eight will advance to the CIF Individual Tournament at 8:30 a.m. Monday at River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard.
Ken Kong of Arcadia leads the field with a 68.5 average, followed by Edward Wu of Arcadia (72.5), Ricky Cen of Arcadia (73.65), Peter Ju of Arcadia (74), D’Aquila (75.35) and Justin Chen of Arcadia (76.85). Alaan is tied for seventh with Josh Kwon of Arcadia at 77, followed by Ballard (77.15), Calzado (78.85), Kim (79.35), Junio (80.85), Panikowski (82.75), Tommy Torncello of Pasadena (83), Pendarvis (84.5) and Hong (84.65).
Alaan fired a three-over-par 75 on Tuesday.
“I played this course about a month ago and I felt comfortable coming back,” Alaan said. “The conditions were pretty nice, even though the greens had just been punched.
“I feel calm and focused with my game right now. I’ve been working on my short game. I need to have enough distance with my shots and then cover the rest with the short game.”
Arcadia received a 68 from Kong to take first at 366. Crescenta Valley finished second at 413, Burroughs placed third (417) and Burbank took fourth (427).
Kim had a 77 for Crescenta Valley, which got a 78 from Ballard, 83 from Hong, 87 from Junio and an 88 from Harry Cho.
“I could have done a little bit better with my putting,” Kim said. “I had some shots that lipped the holes. I feel pretty good about going into the final round and I’ll try to put it all together and try to advance [to CIF].”
D’Aquila registered a 76 for the Indians, who got an 82 from Panikowski, 85 from William Guglielmo, 86 from Dylan Roy and an 88 from Rob Ceja.
“I thought my driver worked pretty good,” said D’Aquila, who tied for first with Ballard in the previous league match April 25 at De Bell Golf Club. “I feel like I’m hitting my stride right now and I’ll look to do even better Wednesday. I’m confident with my swing now.”
Burbank got a 79 from Calzado, 85s from Pendarvis and Benjamin Kim, 88 from Niko Coccio and 90 from Hayden Chase.
“I hit my clubs fairly well today,” Calzado said. “I think I’ve been playing well the last two matches and I’ll look to make up some more ground.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
