Golf

The Glendale City Council on Tuesday backed away from pledging any direct support for purchase of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, but did vote to send a letter raising issues to be considered in an upcoming environmental impact report. Foothill residents have banded together to call on Glendale to join Los Angeles city, county and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in an effort to buy the 58-acre property and maintain the course. Jim Dantana, a planning deputy for L.A. City Councilwoman Wendy Gruel, announced, ?

GLENDALE — Lee Pope never lost hope. Having spent the past 11 seasons coaching at all of the different levels of the Crescenta Valley High football program and the past two seasons as the junior varsity boys' golf squad, Pope wanted to see if his body of work could lead to a head coaching position at his alma mater. It did. Pope was named the Crescenta Valley girls' golf coach June 24. He succeeds Ken Johnson, who resigned in June after eight seasons so he can attend his daughter's soccer matches this fall at New Mexico Highlands University.

Christine Cho’s everyday life is anything but calm and serene. A junior majoring in economics at Harvard University, the 2008 Crescenta Valley High graduate's academic workload is exhaustive and her summers offer her little opportunity to recharge, as she just spent two months in Japan completing an internship. Fortunately for Cho, who has been one of the top members of the Crimson women's golf team since her freshman year, an escape from the daily grind is only as far as the next round.

Claudia Culling spoke for me and for so many living in Glendale, Sunland-Tujunga, La Crescenta, the unincorporated County and even Burbank ("Fate of golf course is a story to watch," Jan. 17). The Verdugo Hills Golf Course has been the local place to play golf, to learn golf, and to compete in and raise money through golf tournaments for decades. Plans to develop this wonderful property and destroy those magnificent old oak trees have led to a growing grassroots movement to save the golf course.

Verdugo Hills Golf Course, whose fate is uncertain, has the potential to become a regional park, a community activist told a receptive audience at the March meeting of the Crescenta Valley Community Assn. Richard ?Rich? Toyon, president of Glendale-Crescenta Volunteers Organized in Conserving the Environment (V.O.I.C.E.), addressed the association, giving an in-depth presentation of options that included saving the course and adding hiking trails, restored habitat and opportunities for additional active recreation, especially in areas that are currently under-utilized.

GLENDALE — For most of the season, St. Francis High golf Coach Jeff Durfee wondered if his young team could put together a complete 18-hole round. Durfee won’t have to wonder any longer. St. Francis capped its season Monday afternoon in fine form by finishing in a tie for third at the CIF Southern Section Western Team Divisional at Montebello Golf Course. Crescenta Valley, which finished first in the Pacific League for the fourth consecutive year, placed sixth at the 16-team event with a 385. “We’ll take it any time,” said Durfee, whose team finished fourth in the Mission League this season before tying league rival Loyola (383)

NORTH GLENDALE — The clock is ticking for opponents of the controversial redevelopment plan for Verdugo Hills Golf Course, and they know it. Since the 30-day extension on comments was granted for its draft environmental impact report, more “Save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course” signs have gone up, donations from third-party groups are coming in, and fundraisers have been scheduled. The extension was granted by Los Angeles County Department of Planning and ends Aug. 19. Several organizations have banded together to oppose the proposed plan by MWH Development to construct 229 homes on the 58-acre golf course.

Scratch the successful bid for a repeat. A year ago, the Crescenta Valley High girls? golf team unexpectedly won the CIF Southern Section Central Team Divisional. It proved to be one of the significant highlights for the Falcons after winning the Pacific League crown for the first time in the program?s history. This year, the Falcons won another league championship. However, they could not repeat their accomplishment at the team divisional Monday morning. Crescenta Valley saw its season conclude with a seventh-place finish at the tournament, which was held at Menifee Lakes Country Club in Riverside County.

A trio of area boys' golfers had their sights set on moving another step closer to qualifying for the state tournament in June. Andrew Cho of Crescenta Valley High and La Cañada's Colin Morikawa and Joshua Suh entered Monday's round of the CIF Southern Section Individual Final at Victoria Country Club in Riverside fresh off playing some of their best rounds. Unfortunately for them, their bids to advance were derailed. Cho, a senior, saw his season conclude in a two-hole playoff involving 11 players for the final qualification spot, as he finished tied for 27th with a three-over-par 75. Morikawa had a 78 to tie for 52nd and Suh had an 83 to tie for 84th.

Andrew Cho, Colin Morikawa and Joshua Suh are all familiar with Brookside Golf Course No. 1 having played their share of rounds on the Pasadena venue. The trio of area high school boys' golfers would like to return to the course. For that to occur, they still need to play a solid 18-hole round Monday at the CIF Southern Section Individual Final at 9 a.m. Monday at Victoria Country Club in Riverside. The top 28 from the field of 90 will advance to the CIF/Southern California Golf Assn.

Richie Maloof and Mathias Dahl proved throughout the season that they were among the best golfers in the Western State Conference. The freshman duo on the Glendale Community College men's team also displayed the same competitive success while matching up against the elite players from around Southern California. Maloof and Dahl will next look to establish themselves among the best in the state when they participate in the California Community College Athletic Assn. Men's Golf Championship, which will take place at 7 a.m. Monday at Santa Maria Country Club.

As the regular season wound down and the league tournament finals took place, Jack Bouchard and Andrew Cho each had something in common - earning a potential spot in the CIF Southern Section Northern Individual Regional. The duo clearly needed to be at their best in their respective league individual finals for that to happen. Bouchard and Cho passed their tests and will next compete in the event, which will begin at 8 a.m. Monday at Las Posas Country Club in Camarillo. The top 30 plus ties will advance to the CIF Individual Finals at 8 a.m. May 21 at Victoria Country Club in Riverside.

Golfers - professionals and amateurs - from coast to coast have their hearts set on being a part of the field in the 112th United States Open Championship in June. At 32 venues Monday, 8,527 competitors will look to take the first step toward qualifying for the championship. One of the sites will be Glendale's Oakmont Country Club, which will host an 18-hole local qualifier for the second time in three years. Ninety participants will take to the Oakmont course, which opened in 1922 and has hosted its share of large attractions.

[Editor's Note: After the Glendale News-Press had gone to print, it was learned that Glendale college Coach Greg Osbourne appealed to get Michael Timpson into the state round and the change was approved. What follows is an updated version.] While the Glendale Community College men's golf team didn't advance to the state tournament as a unit, it will still have representation in the event. The Vaqueros were not able to advance after finishing third Monday in the Southern California Regionals with a 746. However, Glendale freshmen Richie Maloof and Mathias Dahl and sophomore Michael Timpson will advance as individuals to the California Community College Athletic Assn.

For the members of the Glendale Community College men's golf team, it's been about starting over. After a historic postseason run that culminated with an appearance in the state tournament - the first in the program's history - last season, the Vaqueros began this year with a relatively new lineup. It took most of the first half of the season for Glendale to establish momentum. After some early struggles, the Vaqueros regained their focus in time with the goal of finishing no worse than second in the competitive Western State Conference.

While there wasn't much suspense in determining which boys' golf teams from the Pacific League would qualify for the playoffs, Crescenta Valley High, Burroughs and Burbank enter the postseason with varying goals. They will look to achieve them at the CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional, which will begin at 1 p.m. Monday at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai. Crescenta Valley, Burroughs and Burbank will be joined by league champion Arcadia in the 19-team event. The top three teams from the seven divisionals will move on to the CIF Team Championship Final, which will take place at 8 a.m. Thursday at Rancho San Marcos Golf Club in Santa Barbara.

ARCADIA - Before the season began, Andrew Cho inquired about becoming a member of the Crescenta Valley High boys' golf team. But Cho needed some work on his overall game to improve his chances of making the up-and-coming squad. Once he refined his technique, the results started to show. Cho likely enjoyed his finest moment of the season Wednesday afternoon after he shot a seven-over-par 78 at the Pacific League individual final at Santa Anita Golf Course and grabbed the seventh and final spot to advance to the CIF Southern Section Individual Tournament.

Though it finished third in the Western State Conference Tournament Monday at Marshallia Golf Course in Lompoc, the members of the Glendale Community College men's golf team sewed up second place overall and locked up a spot in the Southern California Regionals. While Glendale college Coach Greg Osbourne would have liked to see the Vaqueros place second overall, he wasn't about to let Monday's two-round score of 765 put a damper on the accomplishment of qualifying for the postseason for the second season in a row. "We were trying for the second spot [in the conference tournament]