Calabasas Golfers Finish 17th at CIF Finals

The Calabasas High golf team saw their season end on a beautiful day in Temecula.

The surprise winners of the CIF Northern Team Divisional finished 17^th on Thursday in the Southern Section final at Riverhawk Golf Club in Temecula.

Calabasas was 37 shots off the pace of first-place Servite of Anaheim, which won the Southern Section final with a team score of 365.

The Coyotes won the Northern Team Divisional at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai by one stroke to advance to the Southern Section final, when the top five players shot in the 70s.

"Winning the divisional was a great high for the team," Calabasas coach Lance Novak said. "Coming here, we didn't have great expectations because we were up against some of the top teams in Southern California."

Sophomore Walker Huddy led Calabasas with a 1-over par, 73, at Riverhawk. Teammate Kyle Demshki shot a 6-over 78, but they were the only two Calabasas golfers to shoot in the 70s.

Senior Brandon Molnar was 8-over par at 80. Jordan Malinoff shot 9-over 81, Kyle Karazissis was 14-over 86, and Richard Wallen shot 92.

Servite had two players shoot under par. Preston Valder led his team with a 3-under 69. Patrick Cantlay came in with a 1-under 71. Cantlay is a sectional qualifier for the 2010 U.S. Open Championship. He advanced after shooting a 2-under par 69 at the Newport Beach Country Club in a local qualifier on Wednesday.

Cantlay was one of two golfers in the Southern Section final field who qualified for the U.S. Open sectional qualifier. Mater Dei's Brian Campbell matched Cantlay's 69 at Newport Beach to make the cut in the local qualifier.

In addition to Servite, Great Oak, Villa Park and Santa Barbara qualified for the SCGA tournament at the SCGA Members Course in Murrieta. The top four teams advance to the SCGA tournament for a chance to play in the CIF state tournament.

Huddy had three birdies and four bogeys in his round.

He birdied the first, seventh and 14^th holes, and bogeyed the second, ninth, 16^th and 18^th holes. He reached the par-5 seventh green in two shots - his approach shot from about 260 yards out with a 3-wood was his best shot of the day, he said - and easily two-putted for birdie.

He said the par-4, 14^th "was a fun hole." It had a ridge on the green and it funneled down to the front of the green and the pin.

Even though his team's season is over, Huddy will play in the CIF Individual Regional at River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard on Monday.

"I'm happy with my game," Huddy said. "But I need more putts to drop."

Molnar birdied three of the four par-5s on the course, but he also had two triple bogeys. He said the course was gorgeous, but he had one complaint.

"The only thing I was upset about, they closed the range early," Molnar said. "There wasn't much time to warm up."

Molnar had his best hole on the 18^th. He was able to hit his drive over a creek bed and leave himself about 120-yard approach shot. He hit a 9-iron on the green and made birdie.

"I could hit it over the creek," Molnar said. "Most people layed up."

Novak said his team could have used a practice round at Riverhawk to prepare for the Southern Section final.

"You can't have a bad day and expect to move on," he said.