Royal takes Round 1
Highlanders prevail in first of four Marmonte League boys' golf championships; Westlake is second
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

Photos by JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SWING IN MOMENTUM- Clockwise, from above, Thousand Oaks High's Nate Fisher chips a shot onto the green during Tuesday's first Marmonte League golf championship at Los Robles Greens. Newbury Park's Trent Armstrong gets a hold of one off the tee, and Westlake's Brandon Hagy stares down an iron shot.

One down, three to go.

The boys' golf teams from Westlake and Royal high schools entered the first of four Marmonte League championships Tuesday deadlocked in first place, with each team having lost only one league match all year- to each other.

With the league championships representing 75 percent of the final standings, Royal made sure to get out to a strong start at Los Robles Greens in Thousand Oaks by shooting a matchlow 359, seven strokes better than Westlake.

The Marmonte's eight teams will play three more times, beginning today at Tierra Rejada Golf Club. Play will then resume Tuesday at Simi Hills Golf Club before concluding May 1 at Sunset Hills Golf Club.

Leading the way for Royal was junior Chris Gilbert, who shot a matchlow 68. Highlanders Danny Katz and Julian Ho each logged a 71, while brothers Bobby and Kyle Holden shot a 73 and 76, respectively.

After the match, Royal head coach Bob Misko said the key to the win was his sixth golfer, Ho, shooting a 71.

Ho "was the difference today," Misko said. "Whenever you have your sixth golfer shoot a 71, it's just a coach's dream."

Royal may have won the first round, but Westlake remained confident they could turn things around in the next three matches.

"Last year we were down 28 strokes to Royal after the first league championship match," Westlake head coach Dave Costley said. "So only being down seven, we still feel we are very much alive in this thing. We're going to be all right."

The Warriors, who shot a 366, were led by Brandon Hagy and Jake Katz, both of whom shot a 69. Marshall Colby posted a 74; Scott Patterson shot a 76, and Cole Seeger shot a 78 for WHS.

Costley said he was favorably impressed with the play of Hagy and Katz, but felt the Warriors' No. 1 golfer, Colby, could have played a little better. Colby agreed with his coach.

"I got off to a bad start," Colby said. "Around the fourth hole I started to play a little better. I finished up strong, but I need to play better the whole day. Hopefully I can improve and our team can go on to win a league championship."

Patterson said the Warriors aren't feeling any added pressure.

"Nothing has changed in our team's attitude," Patterson said. "We've been playing pretty well lately. Today I played okay, but the back nine was a little tougher on me, and it was a little windier. I've played better, but I've also played worse."

After the match, most of the discussion from the coaches around the league centered on the improvement of Thousand Oaks, who finished the day in third place with a score of 374.

Thousand Oaks came into the day tied for fourth place in league. Leading the Lancers was Kyle Sauer, who shot a 70.

"I've been playing pretty good golf lately," Sauer said. "Today, my short game really worked for me. I've had a lot of ups and downs this year, but today I did a good job of staying focused and easing up on some of my shots."

Other Lancers contributing to the team's strong result were Derek Larson (72), Nate Fisher (73), Brian Tsai (78) and Travis Hankins (81).

Simi Valley finished in fourth place with a 383, three strokes ahead of Moorpark. The Musketeers' Brent Duclas finished tied for second place overall by shooting a team-best 69.

Agoura finished in sixth place with a 388. Jacob Gralitzer led AHS with a score of 75. Other Chargers contributing included Jake Silbereich (76), James Gould (78), Michael Bassler (79) and Sam Silbereich (80).

Newbury Park finished in seventh place with a 390. Taylor Broughton led the Panthers with a 75. Donovan Tinglof (77), Kit Nelson (78), Kyle Laddusaw (79) and Mark Noble (81) rounded out the Panthers' scoring.

Calabasas finished in eighth, three strokes behind NPHS. Cameron Tennant led the Coyotes with a 76, while Brandon Molnar (77), Josh Mesna (78), Jon Fields (80) and Kyle Demshki (82) were also in the mix for the Coyotes.