Sage charts a winning course

Senior Joshua Chen has always been the top player in a Sage Hill School boys’ golf program that, with the exception of Chen’s exploits, had struggled in its infancy. But this season, Chen has had talented company and that fact has turned the team into the best the school has known.

Sage Hill captured a share of the Academy League championship for the first time and appears capable of doing some damage in the CIF South Coast Team Divisional, today at the El Prado Golf Courses in Chino.

First-year coach Mike Hogan, a former baseball star at Orange Coast College and Arizona State, said the reason for the newfound success starts with the team’s two captains, Chen and senior Andrew Slusser ? an experienced golfer who joined the team for the first time this year.

“I’m consistently giving them the responsibility to take the team to the next level,” Hogan said. “And they’ve done just that. I tell them I’m just in charge of driving the van.”

Hogan said Chen ? whose sister, Justine, is a star on the Sage Hill girls’ golf team ? and Slusser are kind of like player-coaches, filling out scorecards, driving carts, approaching each course with knowledge beyond their years and providing leadership for the other players.

“This was my first year on the team, and when I came in, I knew the team hadn’t done very well,” Slusser said. “Golf is not really a team sport, but we had a firm practice regimen. Our coach was a big-time baseball player. In the years before they’d horse around a lot. Josh and I were named captains and we decided to make a statement that this was going to be a competitive year for us.”

One of the main beneficiaries has been freshman Stewart Hagestad, who, along with Slusser, are “walking encyclopedias of golf,” according to Hogan.

“They have the golf bug bad,” Hogan said.

As Hagestad has benefited from the leadership of Chen and Slusser, Sage Hill has greatly benefited from the emergence of Hagestad.

“As a freshman, his work ethic is relentless,” Hogan said. “He’s willing to work hard on his game.”

It’s no wonder. Hagestad lives on the eighth hole at Big Canyon County Club and has been golfing almost as long as he’s been walking. Hagestad, at 6-foot-2, 135 pounds, tries to model himself after Tiger Woods.

“I definitely look up to Tiger,” Hagestad said. “We’ve got the same build ? of course he’s a little more muscular ? and I try to have the same swing as him. He says you should try to model your swing after someone with a similar build.”

Slusser, who plans to walk on at George Washington University next season, and Hagestad grew up together playing junior tournaments at Big Canyon. So, when the duo joined the Lightning this season, it made the team a contender for the Academy League title with a chance to do something it had never done before ? beat rival St. Margaret’s.

“We focused all of our energy on beating St. Margaret’s for the first time ? [The Tartans] always win and they’re cocky,” Slusser said. “And the first match we played them, we beat them by two strokes.”

Sage Hill edged St. Margaret’s, 199-201, at San Juan Hills Country Club on April 3. Slusser shared medalist honors with a St. Margaret’s golfer by shooting a 36 while both Chen and Hagestad shot 37. It marked the first time St. Margaret’s had ever lost an Academy League match, snapping a streak of 46 consecutive league victories.

St. Margaret’s came back April 27 and beat Sage Hill, 178-192, at Rancho San Joaquin Golf Course, to claim its share of the league title.

The Sage Hill golf team (14-3, 9-1 in league) has a lot of things going for it, including a player in Hagestad trying to emulate Tiger and a coach with a great golf name.

“With a coach named Hogan, you figure it’s in the bag, right?” Hogan said. The Sage Hill coach is not related to golf legend Ben Hogan, who won 63 PGA Tour events.

While Chen and Slusser lead the charge and Hagestad is a freshman phenom, the Lightning also receive considerable contributions from Geoff Grant, Ryan Babbush and senior Tejas Shaw. Grant and Shaw were the team’s second- and third-best scorers in the second match against St. Margaret’s.

While Chen used to earn medalist honors nearly every match for the Lightning, now it’s just as likely that Slusser or Hagestad will shoot the best score, probably with a couple of other guys close behind.

“This is Sage Hill’s most successful boys’ golf team yet,” Hogan said. “It has tremendous depth. All of our guys are definitely capable of stepping up at any time. These guys are the real deal.”

Hogan said he tries to teach the team concept in what is known as an individual sport, which might seem tricky, but it seems to have worked.

“Golf is an individual sport, but it takes a team effort, and the camaraderie on this team is unbelievable,” Hogan said. “Having a baseball background, that’s something I preach.”

Hogan was a key member of the 1980 Orange Coast College state championship baseball team and went to Arizona State on a full baseball scholarship before turning professional. Hogan played seven years of professional baseball and reached Triple A in the San Francisco Giants organization.

Hogan believes the best is yet to come for this group.

“I would definitely like to see the guys peak at the right time,” Hogan said. “I still believe we haven’t played our best. I think we have a chance to get really hot and surprise some people in CIF.