Calabasas High Wins CIF Northern Team Divisional Golf Championship

The greens at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai were firm. The wind was gusting. The shotgun start of the CIF Northern Team Divisional golf championship on Monday was delayed an hour because the course scheduled another tournament that ran later than scheduled.

There were surprises awaiting the Calabasas High boys golf team at every turn. But the biggest surprise came at the end of the day when the top-five Calabasas golfers came in with scores in the 70s.

Brandon Molnar and Jordan Malinoff each shot 4-over par, 76s, to lead Calabasas to the CIF Northern Team Divisional championship by one stroke over Arcadia.

A week after finishing third in the Marmonte League championship behind Westlake and Thousand Oaks, Calabasas came out on top against some of the top golf teams in Southern California. The field of 18 teams included champions from the Foothill, Rio Hondo, Pacific, Frontier and Del Rey leagues. Westlake won the Marmonte League championship, a four-round tournament, by a whopping 48-strokes.

None of that mattered as Calabasas was the only team to have its top-five golfers each shoot under 79.

While Molnar and Malinoff shot the low rounds for their team, it was the play of Kyle Karazissis, the No. 5 golfer for Calabasas, that provided the biggest dividend. His round of 78 was eight shots better than his final round of the Marmonte League championship at Sunset Hills Golf Course in Thousand Oaks on Thursday.

"He came up huge for us," Molnar said. "That was big. That was our surprise."

Molnar had a rough start to his round at Soule Park. He bogeyed three of the first four holes and had a double bogey on his third hole. He was 5-over par after four holes and struggling with the firm greens and wind.

But that all changed on the 11^th hole. He holed out a chip shot for eagle on the par 5 and was a respectable 3-over par after six holes. He capped his turnaround with birdies on his final two holes.

Molnar played his drives conservatively and that contributed to his low round.

"I hit driver only three times today," Molnar said. "I can hit my hybrid 290 yards. I was using that all day."

Sophomore Walker Huddy, the Marmonte League MVP, shot 5-over 77 at Soule Park. Kyle Demshki was 7-over par 79 for Calabasas.

"Most of the year, we've been pretty consistent," Calabasas coach Lance Novak said. "Kyle (Karazissis) was the difference maker. He came in with a 78. That was clutch on his part."

Calabasas advances to the CIF Southern Section championship at Riverhawk Golf Course in Temecula on Thursday. Arcadia and West Ranch, the third-place team in the Northern Team Divisional, also advance to the CIF Southern Section championship.

The top-four teams from the CIF Southern Section championship will play in the SCGA tournament and a chance for a spot in the CIF state tournament.