Spartans stave off charging Falcons
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Charles Rich
With a warm breeze beginning to turn brisk during the waning moments
of daylight, Damian Yi remained hot on the course.
Yi, a member of the Crescenta Valley High boys’ golf team, burned
up the course after he made some alterations with his swing shortly
before the season began. Perhaps he’s peaking at the right time.
Yi showed impeccable concentration as he shot a two-under-par 34
in CV’s 191-197 nonleague loss to intercity rival La Canada at
Brookside Golf Course No. 1 on Wednesday.
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LEADERBOARD
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La Canada 191
Crescenta Valley 197
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Damian Yi (Crescenta Valley) 34
Chris Henley (La Canada) 36
Joe Williams (La Canada) 37
Phil Horwith (La Canada) 38
Marcus Russell (Crescenta Valley) 38
David Lipsky (La Canada) 40
David Armstrong (La Canada) 40
Bill Varsh (Crescenta Valley) 40
David Langer (Crescenta Valley) 41
Paul Young (Crescenta Valley) 44
*--*
He finished with three birdies, five pars and a bogey on a course
that featured plenty of bumpy greens.
“Everything is starting to fall into place for me,” said Yi, a
senior. “In the beginning [of the match], I wasn’t really warmed up,
but I started to make putts.
“Before the season began, I was hooking the ball. I wanted to hit
the ball straight and go from there.”
La Canada (9-0) completed its two-match season series with CV
(9-5). The Spartans recorded a come-from-behind 188-201 win against
the Falcons on March 18 at the La Canada Country Club.
Joe Williams fired a 37 for the Spartans, who managed to hold off
the Falcons. Teammate Phil Horwith -- who served as the catalyst in
La Canada’s first win against CV with a one-over-par 35 -- carded a
38.
Despite a perfect record through the first half of the season,
there’s still room for La Canada to improve.
“We are going to have to play better,” La Canada Coach Dave
Appleton said. “We get a 191, and we should play better.
“Some guys had poor scores, and we are going to have to find a way
to get all six [golfers] to lower their scores.”
There are similar parallels with CV. Its losses this season have
come against La Canada and Pacific League powerhouse Arcadia, which
has won 14 consecutive league championships.
The Falcons have slightly closed the margin against Arcadia, which
handed CV a 203-210 loss on Monday at the Oakmont Country Club.
“Our biggest problem is that we only have two or three guys who
consistently shoot low scores,” CV Coach John Pehar said. “I’m trying
to find two more who can do that, and I know we are trying hard.
“Yi’s been an excellent player for us and he’s playing his best
right now.”
There’s never a dull moment when CV and La Canada meet.
On the par-three eighth hole, La Canada’s Umar Khan teed off and
his shot landed on the edge of the small pond. Khan’s shot missed
striking a duck by less than a foot.
The ball settled in the shallow water, forcing Khan to wedge his
next shot toward the hole. He finished with a double-bogey.