Photo: Steve Galluzzo
A cruel twist of fate changed the fortune of the Palisades High boys golf team May 17 at Griffith Park’s Harding Course.
The Dolphins were confident they would win their third straight City championship—that is until finding out that Gavin Loughran, their most consistent player all season—would not be in the lineup.
“So I woke up this morning with a searing pain in my neck,” lamented Loughran, who finished second by one stroke a year ago and showed up anyway last Wednesday to cheer on his teammates. “I mean, it hurts. It felt really stiff and I’m still unable to move it.”
Senior Kourey Patterson led for the first five holes but struggled on the back nine and finished third with a 1-over par 73. He was in a group with defending champion Turner Osswald of El Camino Real (who fell out of contention after a double bogey at No. 16) and Isaiah Kim of Van Nuys, who birdied the 18th hole to get to 1-under, tied for the lead with Jahan Battu, who was a three groups behind. Battu rolled his eagle try to within six inches of the cup, then tapped in for his birdie at 18 to clinch the individual crown at -2. All but two of the 58 players in the field finished above par.
“It was windy and I could’ve done a little better but third isn’t too bad,” Patterson said.
Alec Lam was sixth with a 76, Harrison Rautbort was ninth with a 79, Levi Salzman was 15th with an 83, Luke Schultz was 18th with an 86 and Liam Husain shot an 87, but his score didn’t count towards the team total. The Dolphins’ cumulative score of +37 was 10 behind winner Granada Hills. The league rivals have combined to win the last 10 team titles and both qualified for yesterday’s SoCal Regionals.
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