Knights get some revenge on Spartans

There isn’t much separating the cross-town rivals La Cañada and St. Francis high boys’ golf teams this season.

It was evident March 1 when the Spartans topped the Golden Knights by one stroke at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club.

St. Francis got a little revenge with a 192-197 victory over La Cañada at the same course Tuesday.

“It is a rivalry because we are right next door to each other,” said St. Francis Coach Jeff Durfee, who evened his record at 1-1. “It’s not like basketball or football in golf, but it’s always nice [winning]. It certainly beats our team losing by one stroke.”

For Golden Knight Vince De Pinto, though, it was a repeat performance, as he earned medalist honors for the second straight match, finishing with a one-over-par 35.

Perhaps the only difference between March 1 and Tuesday was the weather.

“The numbers were higher for both teams [Tuesday],” said Durfee, whose team fell to La Cañada, 184-185, last week. “It was really cold and a little windy out there today, but even with the conditions we’re a young team and I thought we handled ourselves pretty well, came back and beat a good team.”

Jack Tenney and Johnny Brandt shot a 37 and 38, respectively, for the Golden Knights. Michael Finney finished with a 39 and Michael Doll chipped in a 43 for St. Francis.

“The good news is we have 11 guys who can play and they are going to be fighting every week,” Durfee said. “I like that we have some rivalry and competition on our team this year. Sometimes you only have seven or eight guys who can shoot low, but this year all 11 are capable.”

La Cañada’s two lowest scorers, Daniel Rhee and Kolin Morikawai, both carded a 38.

The victory gives the Golden Knights some momentum as they enter Mission League play today against Notre Dame Sherman Oaks.

“It’s good to get the feeling of winning before we go into league,” Durfee said. “Hopefully we can keep it rolling into tomorrow.”