Glendale Community College Men’s Golf Preview: Vaqueros continue building
Let the youth movement continue for the Glendale Community College men’s golf team.
With there likely to be at least four freshmen projected in the starting lineup this season, Glendale coach Todd Tyni is confident about the program’s future for at least the next couple of seasons.
He’s brought in a contingent of former area standout high school players to help stabilize the squad while the Vaqueros attempt to improve upon a fourth-place finish in the tough Western State Conference last season.
“We had a team meeting recently and I told them anything is possible,” said Tyni, who took over the program in 2014. “In order for that to happen, they have to continue to work on their overall game so that everything can fall into place.
“I think the team is definitely looking stronger, stronger than last year. We’ll see how the freshmen can handle the process and adjust to the next level.”
Glendale will return Angelo Keklikian and Scott Shuster. They will be joined by freshmen James Huh (Crescenta Valley High), Peter Kim (Crescenta Valley) and Max Kinsel (La Cañada). Casey Syvek, a sophomore, comes to Glendale after transferring from College of the Canyons.
All are likely to fill out the lineup for Glendale, which will field 10-11 players.
Kim earned All-Area recognition and Kinsel helped La Cañada win a 14th consecutive Rio Hondo League championship last season.
“We’ll have some good scorers and they are not new to competitive golf,” Tyni said. “There’s going to be pressure any any level they play and it’s just seeing how they go about handling it.
“They can hit the ball far, but there are other things involved from being able to play smart to course management.”
Glendale finished behind Canyons, Ventura and Santa Barbara last season. Canyons won the conference title for the ninth season in a row before winning the Southern California Championship and finishing runner-up in state behind Cypress last season.
“It’s easily one of the best conferences in the state and you expect that to be the case again,” Tyni said.
Glendale will host a conference match April 22 at a site to be determined.
The 36-hole conference tournament will be held April 29 at San Dimas Canyon Golf Course. The Southern California Regionals will occur May 6 at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills and the state tournament will be May 13 at Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
