Amazing What Starts in Garage

Gus Villela came home one day to find his 9-year-old daughter, Angela, using a golf club to hit rocks. She had discovered her grandfather’s clubs hidden in the garage.

The rocks were flying everywhere, and Gus decided he didn’t want any dents in his car, so he took Angela to the El Cariso Golf Course driving range in Sylmar.

The local pro, Rudy Garcia, spotted her hitting balls and asked whether he could give her lessons. So began what could be a prolific golf career for Villela, a 14-year-old freshman at Granada Hills and one of the favorites to win the City Section girls’ championship Nov. 8 at Balboa Golf Course in Encino.

“I think she’s the front-runner,” Granada Hills Coach Steve Thompson said. “She’s mentally tough enough to do it. She has a desire to play. It’s important to her.”

Villela is so dedicated that every night she practices 100 putts in the hallway of her home in Sylmar. No one disturbs her, not her mother or father, not even her three younger siblings.

“They watch TV,” she said.

She can hit a ball 250 yards off the tee, loves pressure putts and enjoys the up-and-down challenge of golf.

“I like the competitiveness,” she said. “I like going out any day and doing good or bad.”

She has a coach for her short game and another coach for her swing. She finished fourth last summer in her age group at the Junior World tournament. She doesn’t mind taking on older players.

“I don’t feel any intimidation at all,” she said. “I try my best every time.”

There was little golf background in her family. Only her grandfather played the sport. Fate had her finding those clubs in the garage and embracing a sport that requires great precision and practice.

“There are times I do get amazed,” Gus said of his daughter’s success. “For an Hispanic girl, we don’t have too many in our neighborhood who have clubs. Golf is a very expensive sport. There are a lot of people who help out.”

Thompson said the skill level in girls’ golf has improved at a rapid rate, and Villela is the perfect example of what can happen when someone becomes dedicated to a sport.

“Parents are introducing the game to their kids at a younger age, and it’s becoming more affordable,” he said, referring to the youth discounts that a growing number of courses are providing.

The Southern California regional championship takes place Nov. 15 at the SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta, followed the next day by the state championship at Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.

The City Section can send two teams and 12 individuals not affiliated with the teams to the former, which is a qualifier for the latter.

Villela, despite her youth, hopes to get the chance to compete against the best.

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A chop block is an illegal move in football usually called against offensive players for blocks below the waist. But in Friday’s West Valley League game involving Woodland Hills Taft and Lake Balboa Birmingham, chop blocking became an issue for defensive players.

Birmingham Coach Ed Croson used his team’s goal-line offense to start the game. It features two tight ends and a power pitch play, with the fullback as the lead blocker.

Croson had warned the officials before the game that if Taft’s defensive players tried to take out his fullback by hitting him below the knees, it was an illegal chop block.

The officials didn’t call any penalties early on, despite vehement pleading from Croson on the sideline.

“The only way you can stop our goal-line offense is to chop-bock our pullers,” Croson said.

The officials ended up calling two chop-block penalties against Taft’s defense, but by then, after four offensive possessions, Birmingham had to abandon its game plan and eventually lost, 28-21.

Taft Coach Troy Starr insisted his outside linebacker wasn’t chop-blocking.

“Getting low is part of great defensive football,” he said.

This debate about what constitutes chop-blocking on defense isn’t likely to go away. If Birmingham and Taft have a rematch in the City playoffs, officials figure to get an earful from both coaches before the game.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.