Charles Rich
Having been in the military for 20 years, Richard Tetu learned plenty
about discipline. To back it up, he earned a ranking of Chief Master
Sgt. in the Air Force.
Some former military members have left their respective branches
to excel at coaching, like Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski. Tetu
will take over as coach of the La Canada High boys' golf team, which
should be primed to challenge for the Rio Hondo League championship.
A little discipline along that journey shouldn't hurt the
Spartans, who finished second in league last year under then-Coach
Dave Appleton behind powerhouse San Marino. Tetu said Appleton
retired from coaching at La Canada to take a position as an assistant
track and field coach at Occidental College.
"I do more coaching," said Tetu, who served in the Air Force from
1972-92 and will be one of two first-year area coaches, along with
Hoover's Vigen Jilizian. "I'm not going to be messing with the
players' swings, but I will help them with things like course
management, self-discipline and etiquette.
"I take the team approach that high school golf isn't necessarily
an individual sport."
Junior David Lipsky, who won the individual league crown after he
shot a six-under-par 66 at Diamond Bar Golf Course, will lead the
Spartans. Other returners include senior Joe Williams and Andy
Mikuckis.
La Canada, which will look to win its first league title since
sharing it with South Pasadena in 2002, lost Phil Horwith, Umar Khan
and David Armstrong to graduation. The Spartans might have found
suitable replacements in sophomores Kevin Lim and Edward Yim.
"We have a lot of younger kids who are taking up golf and
developing properly," said Tetu, who served as the school's junior
varsity coach the previous two seasons. "That's why you see a
tremendous amount of talent out there, and we should be strong at the
top."
Crescenta Valley also lost its best player, Damian Yi, to
graduation after he won the individual championship in the Pacific
League. The Falcons will look to win that elusive league
championship, which has been won by powerful Arcadia for 14
consecutive seasons.
David Langer and Sol Jung will look to provide senior leadership
for Crescenta Valley. Look for a possible breakout season from
sophomore Bill Varsh, who fit in nicely last season.
"We don't have anybody to take Yi's spot," Crescenta Valley Coach
John Pehar said. "I think we are pretty evenly matched with Arcadia,
but we have to have five [athletes] that can score consistently."
