UJIHARAS, KEESEYS WIN FIRST SCGA PARENT/JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
AT MARBELLA COUNTRY CLUB

David Ujihara (standing) and son Taylor won the President Flight of the first SCGA Parent/Junior Championship, when they fired a 4-under 66 at Marbella CC. Below, Blake (left) and dad Victor Keesey won the Vice President Flight with a 4-under 66 as well. (photos: Katie Denbo/SCGA)

David Ujihara and son Taylor of Brea shot a team net 66 to win the President Flight of the first SCGA Parent/Junior Championship, and Tehachapi’s Victor and Blake Keesey shot the same 4-under-par score to win the Vice President Flight today at Marbella Country Club in San Juan Capistrano.

The elder Ujihara, a landscape contractor, and 16-year-old Taylor, an incoming senior and golf team member at Brea Orlinda High School in Brea, finished two strokes in front of duo Jim and son Andrew Akers of Coto de Caza in the modified net Foursomes (alternate shot, with the team’s choice of tee shot) event. Laguna Niguel’s Gary and son Corey Sammon shot a 1-under 69 on the 6,229-yard course to finish third.

“We just played the eighth hole really well,” said David Ujihara, who was the President Flight winner in the 2005 SCGA Four-Ball Net Match Play Championship. “I hit a great drive, Taylor hit a great approach shot, and we ended up birdieing the hole, one of two birdies we had.”

In the Vice President Flight, 7-year-old Blake Keesey, the youngest in the field, and dad Victor of Tehachapi topped Dennis and son Chris Noren of Newport Beach by one shot, while the team of Ken and son Taylor Crouse of Fallbrook shot a 2-under 68 for third place o the 5,778-yard layout.

“I love this course, I enjoyed the heck out of it,” said Blake, a incoming second-grader at Carden School of Tehachapi who is also the flight champion of the junior club championship at his home course, Oak Creek GC. “I’ve been playing golf for five years, and maybe one day I’ll be a little better than my dad.”

With the team using four of Blake’s tee shots in the event, the elder Keesey, a Southland golf native and sheriff’s deputy, said that “we had some good sand shots, and we had a gross birdie on the third hole which was good. It was just so much fun out there.”

The round wasn’t without some tense moments, however: “The 10th hole wasn’t very good,” Blake said. “I got all mad at my dad for shooting a 7.”

The winners weren’t the only teams that fared well. Twelve-year-old Frank Cuccia, Jr., a golf student of Mike Raschko at The SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta, shot his first career ace on the second hole he played in the Vice President Flight, the 117-yard 11th with his 5-iron. “It’s pretty cool,” he said. “I have one more hole-in-one than my dad now.”

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GOLF ASSOCIATION
FIRST SCGA PARENT/JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
At Marbella Country Club; San Juan Capistrano
President Flight: 6,229 yards, par 70
Vice President Flight: 5,778 yards, par 70

PRESIDENT FLIGHT RESULTS:
66—David Ujihara-Taylor Ujihara, Brea
68—Jim Akers-Andrew Akers, Coto de Caza
69—Gary Sammon-Corey Sammon, Laguna Niguel
70—Brad Capo-Christopher Capo, Woodland Hills; Phil Tagley, Costa Mesa-Kord Tagley, Huntington Beach
72—Gary Hunt-Geoff Hunt, San Clemente; Kenneth Kubis-Kyle Kubis, San Diego
74—Robert Murphy-Carol Murphy, Temecula
75—Kevin Smylie-Rick Smylie, Murrieta
76—Paul Fuzzard-Jeff Fuzzard, Huntington Beach; Greg Ontiveros-Blayne Ontiveros, Bakersfield
78—Andy Levin-Lindsay Levin, Escondido

VICE PRESIDENT FLIGHT RESULTS:
66—Victor Keesey-Blake Keesey, Tehachapi
67—Chris Noren-Dennis Noren, Newport Beach
68—Ken Crouse-Taylor Crouse, Fallbrook
71—Frank Cuccia-Frank Cuccia, Jr., Murrieta; Gregory French-Todd French, Manhattan Beach
73—Steven Melvin-Alexander Melvin, Oxnard
74—Miles Green-Nicholas Green, Long Beach
77—Les Lindley, Anaheim-Chad Lindley, Dove Canyon
78—Michael Soran-Colin Soran, Bermuda Dunes
82—Douglas Young-Douglas Young, Jr., Huntington Beach