Boys golf: CdM; too many golfers, not enough tee time

Joseph Boo

CORONA DEL MAR - It’s hard enough to get a tee time at any golf

course. But try getting tee times for 42 fairway warriors.

As much as Corona del Mar High boys golf coach Mike Starkweather would

like to keep all 42 golfers that tried out for his team, it is highly

impractical. So, he’ll have to make some tough decisions, unless the

school does something about it.

“Maybe the school can build us our own gold course,” Starkweather said

with a laugh. “You know, the CdM golf course.”

“I wish everyone could play. But we can’t get that much tee time. A lot

of people want to play golf.”

Too make it even tougher for the hopefuls at CdM, the Sea Kings are

returning five letterman from last year’s team. Only two of them, Innes

MacDonald and Chris Franta, are seniors. MacDonald had the lowest scoring

average for the Sea Kings last year.

Also returning are the brothers Kwon, junior John and sophomore Joe.

Junior Chris Halladay is the fifth returning lettermen.

Two talented transfers bolster CdM’s talent level and provide even more

competition for roster space. Manuel Fernandez just arrived from Mexico

and Justin Smith is from Michigan. Both are sophomores.

There are talented kids on the junior varsity level, ready to step up if

necessary. And, for the second year in a row, the Sea Kings will field a

frosh/soph team. So the talent resource is sizable at CdM.

Needless to say, Starkweather believes this is one of his very best

teams.

“This year, we’re aiming for the top two or three in (the Pacific Coast

League),” he said. “That should get us a CIF playoff spot.”

Starkweather believes his top golfers are capable of shooting 35 to 40

(over nine holes), and he feels a team score of 200 should be the goal.

That would be an impressive turnaround for a program that lost all 10

dual matches it competed in last year. The Sea Kings move away from the

Sea View League, with Irvine, Woodbridge and Newport Harbor, and into the

PCL.

CdM figures to compete with huge PCL favorite University, as well as a

solid Costa Mesa squad. Nevertheless, plenlty of eager golfers, coupled

with a core of solid veterans, signals a likely reversal of fortune for

CdM.

Roster

Innes MacDonald Sr.

Chris Franta Sr.

Charles Halladay Jr.

John Kwon Jr.

Joe Kwon So.

Manuel Fernandez So.

Justin Smith So.