HIGH SCHOOL GOLF / SEASON PREVIEW : Golditch Is Learning That He’s No Angel

The phone calls started immediately. Scott Golditch, these bells toll for you.

Friends and acquaintances all wanted to know if the Taft High golf standout had seen the headline in the morning newspaper.

Darren Angel, a rival player from Granada Hills had fired a round of 64 at Knollwood Golf Course to tie the course record. All of Golditch’s alleged pals wanted to know if the collar on his shirt had shrunk.

Said one of Golditch’s telephonic friends: “You’re stupid.”

Maybe, maybe not. But he definitely put himself in quite a predicament.

A month earlier, Golditch brazenly predicted that he would win the City Section individual title in May.

In fact, he guaranteed it.

Keep in mind that golf isn’t typically a sport that includes among its brethren such chest-thumpers as Joe Namath, Deion Sanders or Rickey Henderson.

No trash talk. No finger pointing. No popping off.

All the more reason that Angel, a junior and the defending City individual champion, was amazed by Golditch’s statement.

“He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to do something like that,” Angel said. “He won’t be sneaking up on me. He got my attention.”

It might not be a great idea to get Angel’s dander up. Last summer, he was named a Rolex Junior All-American as a 16-year-old, joining nationally known golfers Tiger Woods and Ted Oh. Angel’s handicap itself is a red number--he carries a plus-three, which is three shots better than scratch.

Golditch has some credentials as well. He finished third in the City last spring as a junior and won ESPN Junior Ping tournaments in Rancho Mirage and The Woodlands, Tex., over the winter.

Even so, his teammates think Golditch has lost his grip on reality. Art Weiner, another Taft senior who finished second to Angel at the City final in 1993, reminded Golditch that there were other guys in the race, too. Namely, Weiner.

“Now, everybody wants to beat me,” Golditch said.

Just because Golditch has declared himself the favorite doesn’t change the fact that the road to the City title runs through Angel’s backyard.

The finals are at Knollwood on May 18-19, and this is clearly a course to which Angel owns everything but the deed.

Said Angel: “I think I can score pretty well there.”

If not everywhere.

The day after Angel tied the course record at Knollwood, he shot a six-under 64 at Porter Valley Country Club.

In January, he shot an 11-under 61 during a practice round at his home course, Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley.

For those unfamiliar with the rigors of Wood Ranch, it is so difficult that a Senior PGA Tour event was moved to Ojai because the course was too demanding for the senior-touring pros.

Said Angel of his 61: “It was from the white tees, though. And the course isn’t as hard as it used to be.”

Just when you thought humility was dead.

Golditch admits that Angel’s recent play has been “pretty impressive,” but does not regret his prediction. Nor does he wish to modify it.

“I still believe it,” he said.

In light of Angel’s widely respected skills, Golditch’s declaration struck some as self-confident, others as self-destructive.

“That takes a lot of guts,” Granada Hills Coach Joe White said.

And in this corner. . . .

“I don’t want (Golditch) to talk like he’s going to go out and get beat,” Taft Coach Tom Stevenson said. “When (the City final is) only two rounds long, it allows mere mortals to enter the picture.”

For the first time in several years, there are at least three teams in the City capable of playing with any team in the region.

“It’s definitely an up year for City golf,” Grant Coach Howard Levine said.

It hasn’t always been that way.

Four years ago, Gerald Wong of Eagle Rock, now at Cal State Northridge, shredded the field in the final and called City golf “a joke.”

Nobody argued with him.

Granada Hills edged Taft and Grant, respectively, to win the team title in 1993 and all three teams have several key returnees.

Teams to Watch

Granada Hills (City 5-A League): Darren Angel is the best junior in the area. Period.

“If (Angel) keeps shooting 64, that’s 16 shots under 80,” Coach Tom Stevenson said. “Man, that means a lot of other guys on the team can shoot in the 80s and they still break 400 (as a team).”

Senior captain Mark Goldman and sophomore Brian Vranish give the Highlanders a solid core.

Taft (City 5-A): Scott Golditch and Art Weiner might be the best 1-2 punch in the City.

Weiner was on Angel’s tail in the individual battle before he was stung on the arm by a bee on the back nine of the final day. He was second and Golditch placed third.

Grant (City 5-A): Senior Josh Jacobs also is determined to make a run. Jacobs broke par in three consecutive rounds last week and leads a team that also includes one of the area’s more celebrated girls, junior Allison Wilson.

Other than Wilson and senior Aaron Agness, the rest of the team are sophomores, which could make it difficult to win in crunch time.

Westlake (Marmonte League): The Warriors, who play in the region’s toughest league, are the best team in the area.

Westlake has defeated Hart, another of the area’s best, in head-to-head play and will be strong for at least one more season.

Of Westlake’s top five, two are juniors and three are sophomores. Brandon DiTullio and last year’s league champion, Koji Ishi, are juniors. Ishi’s sister, Linda, placed third in the high school state girls’ tournament last year and leads a group of talented sophomores.

Westlake placed third last season in the northern regional behind Buena and San Marcos and only lost one starter. Circle this calendar date: On April 8, Westlake plays host to highly regarded Hart and San Marcos in a nonleague match at North Ranch.

The Marmonte League is once again loaded, but everyone else falls into line behind Westlake.

“Westlake is even better than usual,” Newbury Park Coach Greg Ropes said. “But whoever finishes sixth in league is still going to be a pretty good team.”

Hart (Foothill): The Indians won their regional last year and are favored to repeat.

Steve Farris, a junior, and Jason Semelsberger, a sophomore, form the team’s nucleus. Senior Spencer Hill and juniors Dave Trovato and Mike Scott round out Hart’s young, but talented, top five.

Buena (Channel): The Bulldogs will be hard-pressed to edge heavily favored San Marcos for the league title but have the talent to make it a close race.

Nate Whitson, a sophomore, is a returning all-league player. Buena is young. Joining Whitson are junior Bob Smiley and sophomores Greg Phelan and Ryan Radford.

Newbury Park (Marmonte): The Panthers’ top five are back, led by Scott Porter and Matt Ribera, a pair of juniors. Senior Frank Marino is a four-year letterman.

Rio Mesa (Channel): Senior Ryan O’Neil, one of the best junior players in Ventura County, leads a group that figures to chase San Marcos. The Spartans haven’t lost a league match on their home course, Saticoy Country Club, since 1987.

Camarillo (Marmonte): The Scorpions, whose only early losses are to Westlake and Rio Mesa, are led by seniors Jeramy Adams, Tim Simmen and Tom Johnson.

Agoura (Marmonte): Senior Brandon Jones and junior Mike Sepe ranked among the league’s top individuals last spring.

Calabasas (Frontier): The Southern Section only crowns one golf champion, but if there was a separate title for smaller schools, Calabasas might run away with it.

The Coyotes have knocked off Newbury Park, Taft and Thousand Oaks in nonleague matches.

Sophomores Mitch Brown and Eric Gulsrud, and freshman Brian Fatur join seniors Jeff Levy and Phil Abramson in the top five.