Brothers Win a Golf Title for Madison : Freshman Chris Riley Shoots a Two-Under 70; Senior Kevin Fires a 73

As the Madison High School golf team turned the corner after the first nine holes Monday, it was apparent the Warhawks were going to be living the life of Riley.

Chris Riley, a freshman, shot a two-under par 70 for the low round of the day and his brother Kevin, a senior, fired a one-over 73 to lead Madison to its first San Diego Section golf title since it won championships in 1972-73. Madison finished the 18-hole tournament at the Rancho Bernardo Inn and Country Club with a 380. Poway was a surprising second, eight strokes back, and Mt. Carmel was third at 390.

Madison and Poway will advance to the Southern California high school golf championships June 11 in Bakersfield. The section individual tournament starts today, when 104 golfers tee off at Singing Hills Country Club beginning at 11:30 a.m. The top 28 finishers plus ties will advance to the second round of the 36-hole individual tournament that starts at 7 a.m. Wednesday at Singing Hills.

“I was coming up 18 and (Chris) was walking down 10,” Kevin said. “He asked me how I was doing and I pointed my finger that I was one-up. I asked him how he was doing. When he put two fingers down I said, ‘All right.’ I knew we were going to win when he did that.”

Chris had a two-under 34 after nine holes and after getting a bogey on 10, he birdied 14 to keep pace. Kevin had a 37 on the front nine and a 36 on the back to finish with 17 pars and a bogey.

Some extra practice paid off for Chris, who spent eight hours Sunday working on his putting.

“I was putting pretty badly,” he said, “but I turned it around today. When I birdied two out of the first three holes, I knew it was going to be a pretty good day.”

Brian Cates shot a 78, John Rubino a 79 and Mike Jun added an 80 for Madison.

“What (Chris) does is bring the level of the team up,” Madison Coach Fred Brown said. “Being a freshman on a senior team--they don’t want to get beat by him.”

Susan Pankau shot a 74 to lead Poway, which entered the tournament as an at-large team after finishing third in the Palomar League tournament.

Torrey Pines, which finished fourth, was the early favorite but was hurt when No. 2 golfer Tim Hart suffered neck spasms and could not play. Carlsbad, the two-time defending champion, finished fifth.