BHS Golf: Cougars stay atop DsL

APPLE VALLEY — Granite Hills golfer Robbie Mamo dresses like Tiger Woods. On Thursday at the Desert Sky League’s fourth match, he finished in a fashion usually reserved for Woods on the last day of a tournament.

Mamo birdied the par-5 18th hole at Apple Valley Country Club to finish with a 2-under, 69 beating out teammate B.J. Doucett’s 70 for medalist honors. It was the first league tournament that Doucett did not win this season.

“I knew (I had to birdie), because my coach told me on 18,” said Mamo, who wore the Granite Hills golf team’s red shirt, black pants and a Woods Nike golf hat. “(Doucett) was 1-under, so I was like I have to birdie this one.”

Mamo and Doucett were the only two golfers to break 80 and helped Granite Hills shoot a team score of 403 to win their fourth DSL match by 77 shots. Five Granite Hills players in cracked the top 10, and four of them finished in the top six.

It gives the Cougars a six-point lead in the team standings and puts them in good position to win their first ever league title.

Mamo and Doucett lead a very deep squad. Granite Hills coach Gilbert Vasquez says has six players who can break 80 any given tournament.

“Our team is just so good right now,” said Vasquez, who compared the Cougars to the Mojave River League champion Apple Valley team that he played for from 2001-03. “I think we’re the best team in the Desert right now.”

Vasquez said his team plays a qualifying round every Wednesday to determine who will play in the varsity match the next day. He said nobody is safe, and it’s competitive.

Victor Valley (480), led by Jake Lynch and Nathan Burnaman’s 82, beat out Burroughs (487) by seven strokes for second place. It put the Jackrabbits in a tie for second in the standings with the Burros, who had finished runner-up the last two matches.

Victor Valley doesn’t look much like last season’s team which won a CIF-Southern Section Desert Division Team Championships. The Jackrabbits graduated four seniors, including four-time Daily Press Athlete of the Year Ricky Montanez. While Lynch is the only returning full-time varsity player, coach Brian Miano said that Burnaman, Jack Sudathip and Kendall Hall all came out last year but didn’t get much time due to the talent in front of them.

“They came out on their own last year,” Miano said. “They came out and worked hard and established themselves as pretty good golfers. We’re competing, and I think we’ll have a good chance at finishing second. ... It will be a dogfight.”

Barstow (505) finished fourth and was led by John Pace’s 89. Stephen Williams and Jose Prada each shot a 100 to lead Silverado (533).
Mamo had a chance to shoot an even better score after starting 3-under through the first five holes, but a double bogey and two bogeys during the middle of his round slowed him down. Birdies at 13, 15 and on the last where he nearly chipped in for eagle helped him finish 2-under.
The Desert Sky League takes a break this week, but will return on April 3 for a match at Spring Valley Lake Country Club.

DESERT SKY LEAGUE MATCH NO. 4
Apple Valley Country Club
TEAM SCORES
1. Granite Hills 403; 2. Victor Valley 480; 3. Burroughs 487; 4. Barstow 505; 5. Silverado 533.
INDIVIDUAL SCORES
1. Mamo (G) 69; 2. Doucett (G) 70; T3. Lynch (V) 82; T3. Burnaman (V) 82; 5. Hutchison (G) 85; 6. Hill (G) 86; 7. Pace (Ba) 89; 8. Park (Bu) 92; T9. Quigley (G) 93; T9. Sudathip (V) 93.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Granite Hills 20; T2. Victor Valley 14; T2. Burroughs 14; 4. Barstow 8; 5. Silverado 4.

C.J. Daft can be reached via e-mail at christiand@vvdailypress.com
or at 951-6275.