City Section

Tuesday, May 18

CITY SECTION FINALS
At Griffith Park

Second Round (Wilson Course, Par 72)

Andrew Ok predicted he would need to shoot par to maintain his lead in Tuesday’s final round of the City Section golf championships.

The Granada Hills junior came within one shot of his goal, but in the end his one-over-par 73 at Griffith Park’s Wilson Course was more than sufficient to earn him the individual title by a comfortable seven strokes.

After shooting a two-under 70 on the shorter Harding Course Monday, Ok finished one under for the tournament with a two-day total of 143.

“It was windy and the conditions were much tougher today. The irons were hard to judge on my approach shots,” said Ok, who equaled his personal best at Wilson. “I missed a five-foot birdie putt on 18 that would have given me par. Still, I’m pretty happy. The other guys in my group struggled on the first few holes and that allowed me to play a lot safer. My goal was just to get on the greens and two-put.”

Sophomore Ben Seelig of Palisades also shot a final-round 73 and finished the competition second with a two-day score of 150 while senior teammate Alex Podell and Venice senior Micah Burke tied for third at 151.

Defending champion Granada Hills won its 10th team title and third in the last four years with a two-day total of 793. The Highlanders entered the final round with a 13-stroke lead.

“My kids started out badly today but came back strong,” said Coach Joe White, in his 38th season at Granada Hills. “That’s all you can ask. We went unbeaten in our section.”

Venice and Palisades finished tied for second with scores of 805, but Venice won the card-off by virtue of lower back-nine scores and will join Granada Hills at the CIF-SCGA championships on June 3 at the SCGA Members Club in Murrieta.
--Steve Galluzzo

TEAM: 793-Granada Hills (Andrew Ok, 143; Scott Hoch, 158; Liam Slattery, 160; Erin Hoffe, 165; Robbie Weinstein, 167; Steve Larsen, dg-89). 805-Venice (Micah Burke, 151; Kyle Asai, 159; Blaine Snyder, 161; Richie Henson, 165; Gene Kim, 171; Paul Henson, 85-withdrew). 804-Palisades (lost card-off on back nine scores, 190-192). 815-Westchester. 830-Monroe. 837-San Pedro. 864-El Camino Real. 867-L.A. Marshall. 873-Taft. 875-North Hollywood. 882-Cleveland.

INDIVIDUAL: 143-Andrew Ok, Granada Hills. 150-Ben Seelig, Palisades. 151-Micah Burke, Venice; Alex Podell, Palisades. 152-Eric Tobak, Taft; Kevin Bognet, Monroe; Andrew Lepore, North Hollywood. 153-Brandon Nunez, El Camino Real. 154-Garet Takeguchik, Westchester. 155-Brandon Schlig, Palisdes; Marshall Dick, El Camino Real. 156-Daniel Park, L.A. CES.

Note: Top two teams and top 10 individuals, not on qualifying teams, advance to SCGA Tournament at SCGA course in Murrieta, June 3.

Monday, May 17

CITY SECTION FINALS
At Griffith Park

First Round (Harding Course, Par 72)

TEAM SCORES: 394--Granada Hills. 402--Venice. 407--Palisades,Westchester. 411-- San Pedro. 417--Monroe. 431--El Camino Real.437--Marshall, Taft, Cleveland. 445--North Hollywood, Chatsworth.

INDIVIDUAL SCORES: 70--Ok, Granada Hills. 73--Podell, Palisades.74--Lepore, North Hollywood. 75--Shin, Kennedy. 76--Slattery, GranadaHills; Burke, Venice; Enseki, Westchester. 77--Tobak, Taft; Seelig,Palisades; Bognat, Monroe; Marshall, El Camino Real; Dver, Chatsworth;Park, LACES; Nunez, El Camino Real; Takiguchi, Westchester; Padocngpat,Monroe; Schlig, Palisades. 78--Kerdpinyo, Marshall; Hoch, Granada Hills;Stephens, San Pedro.

Junior Andrew Ok of Granada Hills shot a two-under-par 70 atGriffith Park’s Harding Course to take a three-stroke lead Mondayafternoon in the first round of the City Section boys golfchampionships.

Ok birdied the first, sixth, seventh and 12th holes but bogeyed thefifth and 16th to better his previous low score at Harding by two shots.”I was hitting bad on the range this morning, but once I hit my firsttee shot I felt good,” Ok said. “The key was back-to-back birdies on thepar fives (six and seven). Both times I chipped it close to the greenand sank the putt. I figure I’ll need to shoot even par tomorrow towin.”

Alex Podell of Palisades shot a 73, Andrew Lepore of North Hollywoodshot a 74 and Mat Shin of Granada Hills Kennedy shot a 75.

Defending champion Granada Hills leads the team competition with alow score of 394. Venice is second with 402 while Palisades andWestchester are tied for third with 407. The final round is today atGriffith Park’s longer Wilson Course.

The top two teams and top 10 individuals qualify for the SouthernCalifornia Regional Championships June 3 in Murrieta.
--Steve Galluzzo