Paul Park leads Crescenta Valley boys’ golf team to second-place finish
PASADENA — Heading into the home stretch in the Pacific League, Paul Park is pleased with his overall play.
Nonetheless, the way the Crescenta Valley High boys’ junior golfer sees it, there’s still room for improvement and Park’s effort Thursday raised his confidence of doing that going forward.
PHOTOS: Pacific League boys’ golf
“I’m doing a lot of things well right now, like striking the ball,” said Park, who shot a two-over-par 72 on Thursday in Pacific League match No. 4 at Brookside Golf Course No. 2. “That really helped me out today on some different holes.
“We still have another [league match] left, and I just need to remain focused. I’d like to get [to the CIF Individual Tournament].”
Park, who shared medalist honors with a three-over-par 74 in a league match at De Bell Golf Club on April 11, helped Crescenta Valley register a second-place finish Thursday with a 409. Crescenta Valley improved to 16-14, 9-6 in league.
The Falcons received a 76 from Cody Renfro an 80 from Adrian Chia, a 90 from AJ Roa and 91 from Mike Shin.
Arcadia (17-1, 14-0) took first with a 361. Jonathan Lai of Arcadia shot a 68 to earn medalist accolades.
Burbank, which finished second in the league’s first two matches, recorded a 411 to place third. Burroughs was fourth at 441.
Glendale, which doesn’t have enough players to field a complete lineup, got another stellar effort from freshman Russell Caletena. Caletena fired a 75 on Thursday.
Like Park, Caletena said he’s peaking at the right time.
“Everything seems to be working well for me and I’m staying with it,” Caletena said. “I like where I’m at.
“My swing wasn’t that good at the beginning. I got to the back nine and started to figure things out. I made some nice putts for par.”
Burbank (16-8, 7-7) was led by Austin Tatka, who finished with a 76.
A strong short game aided Tatka after he began his round with a triple-bogey on the par-four first hole.
“It’s a bit of an easier course, but I got off to a bad start with that triple-bogey,” Tatka said. “After that, my putting was on and that helped me get back into it.
“I was able to get up and down on some big holes and made the putts when I needed to.”
The Bulldogs got an 82 from Roman Verciglio, 83 from Andy Chung, 84 from Brady Dunayer and 86 from Jason Apinchapong.
Burroughs (7-16, 5-10) didn’t have any of its players crack 80 after taking second in a league match April 18 at Santa Anita Golf Course. Daniel Kesicbasian had an 85 for the Indians, who got 88s from Sean White and Patrick Colbert, an 89 from Dylan McNeely and 91 from Tnick Trivimol.
“Last week, we had two guys shoot in the 70s,” Burroughs Coach Greg Everhart said. “We just couldn’t keep it going today.
“I look at our scores and they’ve been consistent. This point in the season, you’d like to see some more improvement, but we were left in a standstill today.”
Glendale got a 78 from Sammy Do, an 82 from Dong Yoo and 90 from Kent Asano.
Arcadia, which has won six league championships in a row, also got a 71 from Bryan Shin, 74 from William Oetojo and 75s from Showta Moriyama and Vamsi Damerla.
The league prelims will be held at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at De Bell. The league’s individual championship will take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday at De Bell.
