Section Golf Finals Lose in Scheduling Conflict

Many of the top girls’ golfers in Southern California will skip the Southern Section Individual championships next Tuesday and will instead play in the AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic in Florida, which begins the same day.

The AJGA tournament is among the most prestigious junior tournaments in the nation and falls on Thanksgiving week each year. Two years ago, the same conflict resulted in the same problem: a watered down field at the Southern Section championships.

Among those who qualified for the Southern Section finals this year but will not play are junior All-American selections Ina Kim of Harvard-Westlake, Erica Blasberg of Corona, Elena Kurokawa of Redondo Union and Stella Lee of Irvine.

Southern Section Commissioner Jim Staunton said the section golf committee has discussed moving the section finals to a different week in future years but that might necessitate playing the team divisionals and the team finals in the same week.

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Girls’ volleyball finals in nine divisions will be played Friday and Saturday in two gyms at Cypress College.

Friday’s schedule: Division III-AA--North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake vs. Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 7 p.m.; IV-AA--Marymount vs. Thousand Oaks La Reina, 7 p.m.

Saturday’s schedule: Div. II-AA--South Torrance vs. Santa Barbara, 10 a.m.; VAA--St. Margaret’s vs. Pasadena Poly, 10:30 a.m.; II-A--Lakewood St. Joseph vs. La Habra, 1 p.m.; V-A--Hemet Baptist Christian vs. Hesperia Christian, 1:30 p.m.; I-A--Manhattan Beach Mira Costa vs. Santa Ana Mater Dei, 4:30 p.m.; IV-A--Whittier Christian vs. Sierra Madre Maranatha, 6:30 p.m.; I-AA--Long Beach Poly vs. San Clemente, 7:30 p.m.

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The Southern Section cross-country finals will be staged Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College at 7:45 a.m.

The top four teams and top five individuals in each division qualify for the state championships Nov. 25 at Woodward Park in Fresno.