Boys’ Golf Season Preview: Talented St. Francis eyeing league, postseason success
Two of the four area teams competed in the CIF Southern Section playoffs last season, earning top-five performances in the process.
Buoyed by their efforts on the course, St. Francis High and Crescenta Valley have entered the 2020 campaign looking to ride a wave of momentum and earn return trips to the postseason.
Flintridge Prep saw veteran coach Bob Loughrie retire after a 34-year run guiding the talented program that featured numerous players who would go on to enjoy respectable college careers.
Glendale will field a junior varsity squad for the second straight season, though one or two players might compete individually at the varsity level.
Here is a closer look at the teams.
ST. FRANCIS
It proved to be another impressive season for the Golden Knights, who finished second in the sturdy Mission League behind Loyola before tying for second at the CIF Southern Section Central Division Tournament at Lakewood Country Club.
League foe Loyola won the CIF event with a 369 and St. Francis tied for second with Peninsula at 381. However, Peninsula advanced by virtue of a card-off after its sixth player topped St. Francis sixth scorer.
St. Francis coach Kyle Ostrom said the Golden Knights plan to learn from last season’s experience.
“We came so close to advancing and we’re hungry to make that happen this season,” Ostrom said. “We know the Mission League will be tough again and there’s always a lot of talent there.
“We have a lot of talent and it might be the most amazing team that I’ve had here. We want to go out there and win CIF.”
St. Francis will turn to a pair of seniors to lead the way in Henry Fitzhugh and Lake Kim. Fitzhugh and Kim plan to attend UC Irvine and The United States Military Academy at West Point, respectively, in the fall.
They will be joined by juniors Aidan Lee, Colin Stolpe and Andrew Fiori.
CRESCENTA VALLEY
After finishing third in the Pacific League behind Arcadia and Burroughs, Crescenta Valley took fifth with a 410 at the CIF Southern Section Western Team Divisional at Mountain Meadows Golf Course in Pomona a season ago.
Though the Falcons have since lost several players to graduation, they do bring back a couple of talented athletes who will look to keep the program on track under the direction of coach Mark Samford.
“I think we’ll be fine and we have numbers,” Samford said. “We did very well at CIF and the guys coming back have more experience and a taste of what it’s like to compete with other top teams.
“We have a couple of guys who are capable of shooting at or below par. It’s up for grabs for our fourth, fifth and sixth players in the lineup.”
Crescenta Valley will be paced by senior Nate Frink and sophomore Hank Norman. Looking to provide depth for the Falcons will be junior Jaden Chung and sophomore Justin Ortega.
FLINTRIDGE PREP
For the first time since 1986, Flintridge Prep will have a new coach. Ted Bartscherer takes over for Loughrie.
The Rebels appear to be in good hands following Loughrie’s departure, something Bartscherer noted.
“Bob is a well-respected coach and a friend of mine,” Bartscherer said. “Bob has certainly made the transition easier for me by helping me with every detail.
“We’re excited to get going and we have quite a bit of talent here. I want to teach them how to be good golfers and help them conduct themselves the right way on the course.”
Flintridge Prep, which finished third in the Prep League last season, will rely on sophomore Marcus Chen and freshmen Alex Oh and Gabi Barga.
GLENDALE
The Nitros continue to build their program and will spend this season on the junior varsity stage in the Pacific League.
Glendale coach Anthony Mohr said one or two players will likely have an opportunity to compete at the varsity level. They are freshmen Nathan Scherrer and Matthew Tovmasian.
“We have a lot of beginning players, so there’s promise in terms of growing the program,” Mohr said. “Nathan is raw, but we’d like to get him used to playing varsity competition. Matthew also has some talent and maybe he’ll play a couple of varsity matches.”
