Hart Hopes to Finally Make the Cut

In recent history, the golf teams at Hart and Nordhoff Highs have had as much in common as persimmon and titanium.

Hart has been a golf power, having won nine consecutive Foothill League titles and produced such talents as Jason Gore, Shane O’Brien, Jason Semelsberger and Mike Miller.

Nordhoff hasn’t won a league title since 1990.

Today in the Southern Section team championships at Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs, the vastly different programs will share the same goal: a section championship.

If either team finishes in the top four, it will advance to the CIF-SCGA high school championships--a tournament that pits the top four teams from the Southern, San Diego, Central, and San Diego sections and the top two L.A. City Section teams. It is the closest thing there is to a state championship in golf.

Today marks the first appearance in the Southern Section championships for Nordhoff. Making it to the section championships is especially sweet for the Rangers after taking a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Frontier League championships only to lose to Calabasas.

“I’m happy for the players because they worked hard and had a great season,” Nordhoff Coach Dick Sebek said. “We came up a little short in league and sometimes even when you have a great season you don’t look at it like that unless you win something major.”

Jeff Coburn, Shawn Andrews and Tommy Hadjuk, two-time all-league selections who carry stroke averages under 75, lead the Rangers--who this year have the top four scores in school history: 367, 368, 368 and 369.

For Hart, appearing in the Southern Section championships is nothing new.

Only twice in the 1990s has Hart failed to qualify for the Southern Section championships. But not since 1975 has Hart advanced to the CIF-SCGA tournament.

The Indians have a team best score of 386 in the Southern Section championships during that span, about 10-12 strokes higher than it typically takes to advance.

“We shot 386 down there and got laughed at,” Hart Coach Dennis Ford said. “For some reason we just don’t come to play those days.”

Ford hopes the Indians can break their 23-year drought with Ryan Wyman, who averaged 72.3 this season, and Charlie Smith, who averaged 71.25 while winning the Foothill individual championship.

“You have to go back to the ancient times to find the last time that happened,” Ford said. “It would really be a blast if we could do it.”