Jake Ledbetter grabs lead in Glendale City Golf Championship
GLENDALE — For someone who has played golf for about two years, Jake Ledbetter caught the attention of the field Wednesday during the qualifying round of the third annual Glendale City Golf Championship.
Looking to spend part of the summer competing in city golf tournaments, the Thousand Oaks resident discovered the Glendale event and signed up.
Ledbetter turned in a fine outing, as he carded a four-under-par 56 at Scholl Canyon Golf Course to grab a one-stroke lead in the tournament’s championship flight.
“I was just looking around for different city golf championships,” said Ledbetter, who finished with seven birdies and eight pars to garner a one-stroke lead over Anibal KimYang. “It seemed like a good tournament to play in.
“I struggled on the first hole, but then got locked in the rest of the way. I had to make some good putts and I stroked the ball well on the back-nine. I played a practice round here last week and it helped. The greens were pretty quick and smooth today.”
Also, eight participants from the Verdugo, Brand and Deukmejian flights moved on to the final round. Cailey Gino won the women’s division flight round with a 61.
Ledbetter and KimYang were among a group of 16 from the flight to reach the tournament’s championship round, which will start at 10:45 a.m. Monday at the par-71 Oakmont Country Club.
Joining the duo in the final round will be Vince De Pinto, Johnny Brandt, Randy Stevenson, Frank Carrillo and Ferdie Barbosa with 59s, Brandon Shin, Cody Renfro (Crescenta Valley High), Jordan Lee and Ryan Miranda with 60s and Nick Dallas, Connor Nelson, June De Leon, Reggie Casasola and Jon Lee with 61s.
KimYang, making his inaugural appearance in the event, said his long game aided him throughout most of his round.
“I was struggling with my short game,” KimYang said. “My irons worked well on some of the holes and it was more about having good distance control on my shots.”
Clifton Tucker and Alan Chien each had net scores of 59 to share the lead in the Verdugo flight by three strokes over Vincent Bedros, Samuel Cortez, James Hansen and Jerry Piro. Also advancing to Monday’s round in the flight are Charlie Deaver and Richard Dishongh, who finished with a 64 and 65, respectively.
Carlos Herrera and Richard Trejo both had a net score of 56 to take a two-stroke advantage over David Leist and Robert Burns in the Brand flight. Also reaching the title round in the flight are Sulpicio De Guzman (61), Rick Dinger (62), Tom Woods (64) and Michael Cordova (65).
Bob Merette finished with a net score of 56 to own a four-stroke lead over Jerry Butt and Patrick Gelwicks in the Deukmejian flight. They will be joined by Jeremy Thompson (61), Chris Logan and Bruce Frink (62s) and Keith Shill and Victor Monteleone (63s).
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Follow Charles Rich on Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich .
