Green with envy

Mike Sciacca

A recent trip to South Carolina during spring break paid dividends

for the Huntington Beach High boys’ golf team.

Bill Seckington said he hoped the Palmetto High School

Championship in April, one of the nation’s prestigious high school

golf events, would prepare his team for the upcoming postseason.

Did it ever.

After earning a second-place finish at the 54-hole tournament, the

Oilers returned home and went on to win yet another Sunset League

title.

They then parlayed that championship into a CIF Southern

Divisional crown as they shot a 1-under 359 at Los Serranos Country

Club in Chino Hills, thus earning a berth in the CIF-Southern Section

team finals.

Despite falling 10 strokes short of qualifying for the

CIF-Southern California Golf Association Championship on June 3, it

was a remarkable year for the Oilers.

Huntington Beach won the school’s first CIF golf title since 1937.

“The kids just played well the entire season,” Seckington said.

“There were several keys to their successes, but the main key was the

team’s camaraderie.

“These guys just pushed each other in a positive manner and

everyone stepped up at one time, or another. Their chemistry worked

very, very well.”

That formula worked well enough to give the school it’s sixth

consecutive Sunset title, a second trip to the team finals in three

years -- and added confidence for the 2004 season.

The Oilers lose just one senior, Derek Zellmer, off this year’s

squad, a group that has extended the program’s Sunset streak to

21-straight match wins.

Out on the green, the Oilers are in an envious position.

“Everyone looks at you like a marked target,” said team member

Joey Benedetti, 17. “But, it’s a great position to be in.”

Benedetti said he knew he was part of something special heading

into the 2003 season.

Then again, the junior has only known success since joining the

golf team his freshman year.

“At the beginning of my freshman year, the seniors on our team

taught me about the Huntington Beach tradition out on the course,” he

said. “I try to do the same with the newer players in our program as

we try to build on that tradition.

“I basically told this year’s freshmen that you can’t get burned

out because there is a lot of golf to be played. We hung in there as

a team all year long and had a great season.”

Benedetti has been among Huntington’s top six golfers in his three

years on varsity. This year, he played at No. 1; as a sophomore, he

played at No. 2 but had the team’s best scoring average at 73.5.

He was one of three Oilers -- and there were only seven of 102

players to do so -- to shot under par at the CIF Southern Divisional.

His score of 71 was bettered by teammate Kris Assawapimonporn who

shot 70 and freshman Robbie Berton who tied for co-medalist honors

with a 3-under 69.

Zellmer shot a 73 and David Lyons, another freshman, was the next

Oiler at 76.

“Derek has had a great influence on the guys in our program,”

Benedetti said. “We came into the season knowing we had a good team

with a lot of depth. We had a lot of guys who could fill the fourth,

fifth and sixth spots, and that’s where you win most of your matches.

“We lose Derek next year but I think with the guys we have coming

back, combined with the freshmen coming into the program next year,

we’ll be able to keep our tradition alive. We’d like to win league

again and I definitely think we have a chance next year to win

state.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.