HIGH SCHOOL GOLF PREVIEW : Voorhees, Westlake Top the Shooting Stars

Heidi Voorhees has seen this type of behavior for the past three years.

Voorhees, a senior on the Notre Dame High golf team, yanks a driver out of her bag, steps up to the men’s tees--all Southern Section players must hit from the same tee area--and whistles a drive down the middle of the fairway in the 220-yard range.

Her opponent, almost always a male, typically does one of two things. He either suppresses a smirk, confident of his own abilities, or turns a sickly green, realizing he is overmatched.

In the next stage, the young lad pulls the head cover off his driver and envelops the club with a vise-like grip, determined to send the ball on a white-knuckle ride.

Gary Thran, the Harvard coach, has witnessed this attempt to assert male domination many times. Imagine what it was like last season when Notre Dame had two girls in the starting six.

“The girls will stand up there, and while they won’t hit it that far, they’ll hit it down the middle,” Thran said. “Then one of the guys gets up and wants to show how far he can hit it, and pumps one into the next fairway.”

Thran, whose team competes against Notre Dame in the San Fernando Valley League, devised a system to circumvent potential problems.

“I put the freshmen and sophomores in with the girls,” Thran said. “They’re too young to know about girls yet.”

Old, young and in between, Voorhees has seen it all. Sometimes, the strange behavior starts before she steps up to the first tee.

“A lot of times, they think I’m not there to play,” said Voorhees, a winner of dozens of girls’ junior events over the past few years. “Sometimes, they think I’m there with my boyfriend to watch him play.”

Most of the time, Voorhees makes ‘em pay. “Lots of them can hit it by me pretty far,” she said. “But I have an advantage with my short game and my accuracy. My short game is pretty good.”

Earlier this week, Voorhees, a Notre Dame co-captain, orally committed to play next season at USC on a full athletic scholarship. In dual matches last season, she often was paired in the same foursome with Notre Dame senior Brendan O’Shaughnessy, the team’s No. 1 player. Voorhees was the medalist--the day’s low individual--seven times. O’Shaughnessy was medalist five times.

Last season, life was even tougher on the egos of opposing males. Emilee Klein, who won the women’s state amateur competition before enrolling at Notre Dame for her freshman season, also played on the varsity. This season, however, Klein decided to devote more time to tournament play and will not compete for the golf team, Coach John Skeese said.

Area teams to watch:

* Westlake (Marmonte League): Coach Lorin Maygren predicts that 1989 was nothing more than an anomaly. Westlake’s track record indicates that he is probably correct. “I think this is going to be another real good year,” Maygren said.

That statement alone should prove worrisome for every team in the Southern Section, if not Southern California. Over the past six seasons, the Warriors have won two Southern Section titles as well as finishing second, third and fifth. Last season, however, Westlake did not advance beyond the regional.

The Warriors again are led by Charlie Wi and Jerry Chang. Wi is a four-year starter. Chang has started for three seasons. Together they form the most potent 1-2 punch in the area; both advanced as individuals to the Southern California Championships in Bakersfield last season.

Stewart Roman, Rob Paley and Jeff Rulon, all seniors who played in the top six last season, are back to defend the Marmonte League title, which Westlake has won the past six seasons.

* Newbury Park (Marmonte League): The Panthers stormed out of the Marmonte League pack last season and into the Southern Section team finals, where they finished second and became the first team in school history to advance to the Southern California Championships.

Senior Steve Holmes, who emerged as Newbury Park’s most consistent player toward the end of ‘89, returns. Genio Borghi, a junior, and sophomores Brad Bronk, Keith Early and Darren Humphrey round out the top five.

* Crespi (Del Rey League): The Celts finished behind Loyola and St. Francis in league play last season, but everyone returns, including team co-MVPs Brett McGovern (junior) and Robbie Collins (sophomore). Seniors Rich Nehus and Scott Brunette and junior Brian Nourse also are returning members.

* St. Francis (Del Rey League): The defending league co-champion Golden Knights received a shot in the arm with the addition of two new players. Kevin O’Connell transferred to St. Francis from Hoover and is a possible No. 1 player. However, the biggest boon might be the addition of senior Dan Jennings, who previously played on the baseball team during spring semester. Top-six players Terry Brice, Matt Hydar, Tim Shepard and Dave Friedman also return.

* Hart (Foothill League): Sophomore Jason Gore and junior Shane O’Brien, each of whom finished in the top five individually in the league tournament last season, are back. Juniors Mike Miller and Jason Black and senior Todd Leone also are returning starters.

* Canyon (Golden League): Sophomore Jason Wolter, who finished second individually at the league tournament last season, leads a group of four talented underclassmen who return from last year’s team, which finished second to Ridgecrest Burroughs. Juniors Valent Soisuvarn, Ryan Dunkel and John Weidner give Canyon a potent top four.

* Hoover (Pacific League): Dee Kohlmeier has coached the Tornadoes off and on since 1953. Entering his fifth decade at the school, he might still be coaching the team to beat in the four-team Pacific League. Behind seniors John Hillman and Sean Boulton--both are three-year lettermen--Hoover has won three of the past four league titles. Sophomore Sam Park, freshman Eugene Song and junior Francisco Kim round out the top five.

* Notre Dame (San Fernando Valley): The defending league champions--the Knights were unbeaten in San Fernando Valley League dual matches--have five of their top eight players back, led by Voorhees. Senior Tony DeFranco, juniors Danny Suter and Mike Calczynski and sophomore Greg Gonzalez also should contribute.

* Agoura (Frontier League): The defending league champion is again the team to beat behind returning standouts Tim Murphy (senior), John Schweizer (junior) and Jason Tulley (junior).

* Taft (City 5-A League): The Toreadors have won eight City Section titles, two in the past three years. Last year’s team, which won the City team title by 12 shots, was manned solely by non-seniors. Seniors Jim Venetos, Jason Meshekow and Chad Persons form the likely top three.

* El Camino Real (City 5-A): The Conquistadores could wrest the City title from Taft. Returning are seniors Tony Bordwell, Tony Sanelli and Paul Parazato. Two years ago, El Camino Real stormed out of the 4-A League to win the City team title--the first team outside the 5-A League ever to do so.