Brea’s Bendt, Sader Take Different Courses to Get to Top

Brad Sader has been playing golf since he could walk. Steve Bendt picked up the clubs only three years ago. Different paths, same destination: the top of Brea Olinda’s golf team.

Bendt, a senior and defending Orange League individual champion, and Sader, a sophomore who finished fourth, are a formidable pair at Nos. 1 and 1A for the Wildcats.

“They are both super guys and good students,” Brea Olinda Coach Ken Lutz said. “Steve is very, very mature and he’s a tough competitor, and Brad has a little more short-game savvy and a little more touch.

“They’re not the longest players on the team, but they seem to get the job done anyway.”

The Wildcats are planning big things this season. They have most of their players back from last year’s team that finished better than all but four Orange County squads. There is strength in numbers.

“It’s fun because you can have an off day,” Sader said, “and your teammates will come through to help you out.”

Sader didn’t have many of those days last season as a freshman. He was consistently strong and edged Bendt for the team’s low handicap, 2.36 over par for nine holes.

During one month of the season, Sader didn’t have a round over par, prompting a comparison to a certain former Orange League prodigy.

“[Valencia Coach] John Winek and I were joking around saying Tiger Woods won the league title four years in a row,” Lutz said. “We said Brad could do the same thing.”

Sader struggled at Los Coyotes Country Club in one of the three rounds but still finished high enough to qualify for the Southern Section individual tournament.

Sader came to Brea Olinda well prepared for high school golf. It’s the family business. His father, Dick, owns Brea Golf Course, a nine-hole executive layout. His grandfather, the late Marvin Sader, built the Big T Golf Center--now Buena Park Golf Center--35 years ago, but the family lost its lease on the property in 1994.

Dick Sader, who won a Suburban League individual championship for La Mirada High in the 1960s, said he never pushed Brad to play.

Sometimes, however, there was little option. His bus from elementary school dropped him off in front of the family golf course. For some youngsters such immersion can be a turnoff, but not for Brad, who won his first local junior tournament at age 9.

“I’ve seen it where almost the opposite happens, a child who just doesn’t have the interest,” Dick Sader said. “But he always maintained the interest, so I guess from that standpoint it has been an advantage.”

Bendt didn’t have that advantage. Growing up he had played once or twice a year with his family, but the summer after his freshman year at Brea Olinda, he started playing once a week with friends.

It was usually double-bogey time, but soon Bendt was hooked. His sophomore year, he quit baseball for golf and improved enough to be the top player on the Wildcat junior varsity.

Bendt got better because he practiced every chance he got. The next summer he took a job at The Islands Golf Center in Anaheim, driving the boat that gathers range balls out of the water surrounding the floating greens.

That meant more time to practice. “I was always there and hitting balls, whether it be left-handed or on my knees,” Bendt said. “We had a lot of fun.”

Last season, opponents had to take Bendt’s game seriously; it kept getting stronger. He won the league title by eight strokes. Bendt now has a job at Coyote Hills Golf Club in Fullerton. Predictably, when he’s not working, he’s working on his game. “He’s almost always there,” said his father, Jim. “Put up a cot and a tent and he’d be fine.”

Bendt is playing very well now. He averaged less than one stroke over par during the Wildcats’ preseason qualifying play. Sader, who started at point guard for Brea Olinda’s 23-2 sophomore basketball team, is a bit rusty in the transition. His qualifying scores tied him for fourth on the team.

“It’s just not quick enough for him, so he’s a bit frustrated now,” Bendt said. “But obviously he’ll come around. Give him a week or two and he’ll be going good.”

Sader wants to get up to speed to help the team and challenge Bendt.

“It’s just a friendly rivalry,” Sader said. “We don’t really talk much about it, but you can tell that we’re focusing to beat each other.”

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Golf at a Glance

Other top players: Julia Allison, Foothill, Sr.; Brett Armstrong, Mission Viejo, So.; Austin Berger, San Clemente, So.; Brad Blank, Canyon, Sr.; Steve Brooks, Corona del Mar, Jr.; John Chappell, El Toro, Sr.; Bill Collopy, Newport Harbor, Sr.; Mark Cone, Los Amigos, Sr.; Dalen DeMary, Valencia, Jr.; Chris Eichman, Savanna, Jr.; Pete Hergert, Esperanza, Sr.; Brian Henderson, Whittier Christian, Sr.; Steve Henderson, Whittier Christian, Fr.; William Hulse, Cypress, So., Daniel Jung, Loara, Jr.; Mike Kendall, Aliso Niguel, So.; Candie Kung, Fountain Valley, So.; Tony Mendoza, Huntington Beach, Sr.; Grant Mouldin, Canyon, Sr.; Bret Parker, Mater Dei, Sr.; Robert Pavlovich, Aliso Niguel, Jr.; Jeff Perry, Estancia, Sr.; Chip Pullium, Magnolia, Jr.; Matt Reese, El Dorado, Jr.; Donald Rhee, El Toro, So.; Evan Rothman, Rancho Alamitos, Jr.; Bob Sauer, Mission Viejo, Sr.; Nick Seymour, Foothill, Jr.; Justin Shapiro, Newport Harbor, Sr.; Robin Shelton, Dana Hills, So.; Brian Six, Esperanza, So.; Kyle Stedman, Rancho Alamitos, Sr.; Steven Sterry, Cypress, Jr.; Mac Tedford, Huntington Beach, Jr.; Andy Thomson, Estancia, Jr.; Max Wallick, Corona del Mar, Jr.; Clint White, Rancho Alamitos, So.; David Williams, Calvary Chapel, Jr.; Yon Yim, Woodbridge, Jr.

League favorites: Century: Villa Park; Golden West: Servite; Empire: Sunny Hills; Garden Grove: Rancho Alamitos; Olympic: Cerritos Valley Christian; Orange: Brea Olinda; Pacific Coast: University; Sea View: Santa Margarita; South Coast: Trabuco Hills; Sunset: Huntington Beach.

1997 O.C. sportswriters’ preseason poll: 1. Santa Margarita, 2. Sunny Hills, 3. Servite, 4. University, 5. Trabuco Hills, 6. Brea Olinda, 7. Dana Hills, 8. Villa Park, 9. Estancia, 10. Valencia.

Key dates: April 28--Southern Section girls’ individual championship, Mission Lakes CC, Desert Hot Springs; May 12--Southern Section team regionals, Big Canyon and Green River; May 19--Southern Section team championship, Saticoy CC, Somis; May 30--Southern Section boys’ individual championship, Canyon Country Club, Palm Springs; June 3--CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. Championships, SCGA Members Club, Temecula.

Notes: Orange County teams will have a better chance to qualify for the section team championship after a reorganization of the postseason. County teams will be sent into two regional tournaments--the South Coast at Big Canyon and the Southern at Green River. Qualifying teams from the Century, Garden Grove, Golden West, Olympic, Pacific Coast, Sea View and South Coast leagues will play at Big Canyon. Teams from the Empire, Orange and Sunset leagues join four out-of-county leagues (Del Rey, Del Rio, Moore and Suburban) at Green River. Four teams will advance from each regional, up from three in previous years.