Jeff TullyIt’s not often local athletes can...

Jeff Tully

It’s not often local athletes can get something for nothing.

However, because of the efforts of a Burroughs High coach, area

high school -- and possibly middle school -- golfers will get the

opportunity to improve their skills through a private training

program. And the best part of it all is it will be free of charge.

Indian boys’ and girls’ golf Coach Mike Krose applied for and was

awarded a $5,700 Pay Grant from the city of Burbank to pay for

lessons for boys’ and girls’ golfers from Burroughs and Burbank.

“We are very appreciative of the city for giving us the money for

this project,” Krose said. “The city has been very good about

supporting local sports and athletes and we are very happy to have

been given the grant.”

Krose said the money will be earmarked for 10 golfers to take

lessons four days a week for 12 weeks at De Bell Municipal Golf

Course. The lessons will begin on June 1.

“Ideally, we would have liked the grant to have come through at

little earlier, when all the athletes were still in school,” Krose

said. “But we are pleased the money finally came through.”

The program will be open to golfers from Burbank and Burroughs,

who will get the first shot at the lessons. However, if all the spots

aren’t taken by high school players, local middle school athletes

will get the opportunity to take advantage of the program.

Krose said he came up with the idea of applying for a grant in

order for the local golfers to compete on a level playing field with

the high school teams from Santa Clarita.

“A lot of the players from the Santa Clarita schools take private

lessons,” Krose said. “We just want to give the golfers from our area

a chance to improve and compete with the schools from there.”

For years, the local teams have had to take a back seat to the

Santa Clarita schools when it came to Foothill League competition.

Last season, Hart won the boys’ league title, Valencia was second and

Saugus was third. Burroughs finished fourth and Burbank was fifth.

As for individuals, only Burroughs freshman Jeff Looby qualified

for CIF Southern Section postseason competition.

“Hopefully with this grant, something we hope will be an ongoing

thing, we can reverse that trend,” Krose said.

“The lessons will be good for players to improve their game and

work on some things they are having problems with.”

After the money for the initial grant is used up, Krose said he is

hoping to apply for another grant to keep the program going.