Weiner Tops Field as Taft Takes City Golf Lead

Art Weiner’s second shot in the first round of the City Section golf finals Wednesday traveled about 100 yards. It was not a majestic pitch shot. Heck, it wasn’t even crudely effective.

In fact, it was just plain homely.

Weiner’s shot traveled 50 yards, hit a tree, and ricocheted back at the Taft High junior.

“I netted about three or four feet on it,” Weiner said, spreading his arms for effect. “I just said to myself, ‘I gotta calm down, it’s only the first hole.’ ”

It got considerably better for Weiner. After opening with a triple-bogey eight at Wilson Golf Course in Griffith Park, Weiner played the rest of the round even par to lead Taft into first place in the team competition with one round remaining.

Weiner finished with a three-over-par 75, the low individual round, and was one of two players to break 80 on a day when scores were as high and unpredictable as the shaggy municipal greens.

Taft fired a five-player total of 410, good for a nine-shot lead over Granada Hills. The reign of two-time defending champion Grant--which shot 438--seems all but over. The second round is Monday--same time, same place.

“We’re gonna have to do a lot of golfing (to catch up),” Grant Coach Howard Levine conceded. “We’ll have to career-out in every spot.”

Nobody careered-out in the first round. Granada Hills sophomore Darren Angel, the pre-tournament individual favorite, skied to a six-over 41 on the back nine and finished with an 80. He hit his tee shot out-of-bounds on No. 18 and made a triple-bogey seven.

“Angel played bad,” Angel said, forcing a smile. “Angel got killed.”

Despite missing two putts from inside three feet on the back nine, Scott Golditch of Taft shot 79, which gave the Toreadors a solid one-two punch.

“I felt I played pretty well,” Golditch said. “Putting was another story.”

Ditto for most players. Angel had 36 putts and failed to record a birdie. In fact, there was one birdie recorded in the first foursome, which included some of the best players in the tournament.

Weiner was the lone player who figured out the heavily traveled greens. After the triple bogey at the first hole, Weiner birdied Nos. 3-4-5 to finish the front nine at one over. He had five birdies to offset the fact that he played the three par-fives at four over.

The top two teams advance to the Southern California Golf Assn. finals June 7 at Stockdale Country Club in Bakersfield.