Boys’ Golf Preview: Outlook appears bright on course for locals

Before the first shot off the tee occurs, there’s hope that all three local teams can meet their defined goals.

Burroughs High, Burbank and Providence will look to contend in their respective leagues and qualify for the CIF Southern Section playoffs in May.

Providence is the last area team to win a league championship after the Pioneers shared the Liberty League title in 2013.

Although the squads, who use De Bell Golf Club as their home course, did lose some players to graduation, all three coaches have plenty of talent to choose from when selecting a lineup.

BURROUGHS

Under coach Greg Everhart, the Indians look to have a squad of mostly seniors. The Indians will look to draw from their experiences of the last couple of seasons to put them in position to challenge for the Pacific League title. Burroughs finished third in league last season behind Arcadia and Crescenta Valley.

Everhart will have plenty of talent to choose from with six seniors paving the way.

The lineup will include seniors Daniel Kesicbasian, Calvin Guntetong, Garrit Green, Ethan Williams, Cole Astamendi and Ryan O’Neill. They will be joined by junior Louis D’Aquila and sophomore Aaron Cohen.

Having a surplus of talent should benefit the Indians, who finished 15th in the CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional at Soule Golf Club in Ojai last season, in their bid to dethrone Arcadia.

“The great thing is that we didn’t lose a lot of players,” said Everhart, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Golf Coach of the Year. “Because we have so many seniors, we think we have a pretty good chance at making a run at league. Arcadia will be solid and the league should be tough.

“It’s the most experienced team we’ve had in a while.”

BURBANK

The Bulldogs finished fourth in the Pacific League, one spot away from qualifying for the CIF playoffs last season. Still, Burbank Coach Frank Childress said there’s reason for optimism surrounding his current crop of athletes.

Burbank’s Jason Apinchapong hits out of a bunker next to the second green in a Pacific League golf match at Griffith Park’s Harding Golf Course on Thursday, April 16, 2015.

(Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

Burbank should have a top-flight trio in senior Jason Apinchapong, junior Michael Guzman and sophomore Jason Snow. Childress will look to find two or three more players to crack the lineup and steer the Bulldogs in the right direction.

“I think we will be better than last year,” Childress said. “We have a couple of holes in the lineup to fill and we’ll look to group them with our top three.

“I think our top three should be solid. They will play well and we think Jason can have a shot at a top-five finish in our league and qualify [for the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament]. In terms of our league, you still have Arcadia to deal with and Burroughs should be pretty strong.”

PROVIDENCE

The Pioneers took second in the Liberty League last season behind New Jewish Community. New Jewish Community (now de Toledo) is no longer in the league, paving the way for Providence to make a dash for the league crown under coach Carl Light.

“The league is up in the air,” Light said. “Do we have a chance to win league? Absolutely. I’m optimistic.

“We have some experienced players who we will look to to provide leadership. They are good players and they’ve been putting in the time to get better. We’ll see where things go.”

Providence will have a lineup that will consist of seniors Eddie Hwang, Christian Santa Cruz and Andre Ortiz and juniors Joseph Brion and Paolo Largoza.

--

Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich