Long Beach Boys’ Golf Season Preview

The562’s coverage of Long Beach golf is sponsored by Dan and Desiree Gooch.

Moore League boys’ golf will see a mixture of new and old faces this season while multiple teams are looking to shake up the frequent final standings from recent years.

WILSON

The Wilson boys’ golf team has been among the more dominant programs in the Moore League as they’re hunting for their 18th consecutive Moore League title to add to their 194 consecutive league matches won.

The Bruins are without last year’s individual Moore League champion Ky Stopp who graduated, however they’ve got just the guy to fill in his shoes in Bryson Barnes.

“(Barnes) is far and above the number one guy on the team,” said Wilson coach Paul Henry. “He’s been consistently shooting under par and he’s playing to a +4 handicap. He recently won three separate Future Champions of Golf events and one Toyota Tour Cup event so without a doubt he is by far our best player.”

Barnes will be backed by teammates Dominic Macchia and Owen White, meanwhile Tyler Merlina and Dresden Underwood will round out Wilson’s top five.

Wilson was invited to two of the most prestigious tournaments in the off-season in the Glendora Invitational and the Southern Nevada Invitational in Vegas. Henry believes that these competitive tournaments will help amp up his squad before the season.

“It has a lot to do with trying to make the kids as competitive as you can in the preseason. So they’re trying to move ahead of each other in the standings and trying to get themselves into the most competitive tournaments. Just getting them competing for the spots because only six of them get on our tournament team and they all want that spot.”

MILLIKAN

The Rams are in rebuild mode as they’re looking to fill the spots of three varsity seniors who graduated last year.

“It’s a rebuilding year for us, so I just have some spots that I’m trying to fill on the team,” said coach Robert Tomlin. “But whoever the top six guys are, the goal is always the same. We’re hoping to finish no lower than second place and that would make us qualify for the CIF team.”

Looking to lead the way for Millikan will be four-year varsity golfer Tyler Lao, while juniors Zach Wood and Jacob Binder will also play a huge role in the team’s success.

Tomlin is letting his guys compete for the final spots on the team, and mentioned Alex Coakley and freshman Tyler Carmichael as potential frontrunners to his team’s top six.

“I’m hoping that out of our top three or four guys we can get a couple of players to qualify for CIF individuals at the end of the season, so that would be a success for me.”

The Rams have sat in second place the last few seasons as Tomlin is looking to compete with Wilson again this year with hopes of dethroning them as Moore League champs.

LONG BEACH POLY

After graduating just one senior in 2023, the Jackrabbits are looking to improve this year with a fairly young roster.

Poly will once again be led by senior Nathan Brava Partain who qualified for the CIF individuals in each of his three high school seasons.

Quinn Van Wagner will join Partain in leading the group as the teams’ two most experienced golfers. Wagner was unable to compete in his junior season due to injury as he looks to return to his 10th grade self as a senior.

Max Ostlund, Alex Uyematsu, and William Som de Cerff are all newcomers that coach Bill Dodge is hoping to grow and have as an integral part of his varsity team.

“A successful season to me goes beyond the final results,” said Dodge. “If we have fun competing and make strides in regard to players’ scores, then the season will be a success. Getting an individual into CIF and making team CIF would make the year even better.”

LAKEWOOD

Lakewood coach Spencer McDaniel is welcoming plenty of new faces to his program while still retaining the vast majority of last year’s team.

Cameron Merz will once again be the Lancers number one guy and captain as he’ll lead five other returning players on Lakewood’s varsity roster. He’ll be joined by Talon Camarillo, Brandon Hess, Michael Wong, Patrick Pascual.

“I am excited for the Lakewood Lancers 2024 Spring season,” said McDaniel. “We had a great season in 2023. They have made great strides on improving their games. We look forward to an even better 2024 season.”

JORDAN

For yet another year Osiris Beltran will be the only girl in the Panthers lineup as she continues to put up the team’s best numbers.

“She has been the captain of the boys team for 3 years and she is my strongest golfer,” said Jordan coach Mike Carrol of Beltran. “She is my only four-year golfer and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

Beltran will be joined by Samuel Ramos and Isaac Nunez who are both three year varsity players. Carrol’s top four will be rounded out by Frank Bracamonte who he believes is due for a good season and could even crack the teams two or three spot.

“My expectations are that my kids do their best and continue to learn the lessons of golf; that character matters and acting with dignity and honesty will help them navigate the world after they graduate,” he said.

CABRILLO

The Jaguars come into the season looking to pick up a few wins while improving their program, and they’ve assembled the right schedule to do so.

As he looks to gain his team more experience, coach Blake Dorman scheduled a busy pre-season including two friendly practice matches against league opponents Jordan and Lakewood.

“The matches against Jordan are always competitive, ” Dorman pointed out. “They’re a lot like us with a lot of newer players. Coach Carroll is a great coach and he does a great job coaching his athletes up (at Jordan). So I’d hope to compete and get some victories there. I’d also hope to get a few pre-season wins and have a nice record. It might not be a winning record but hopefully we can have some wins after those matches.”

Cabrillo will be led by senior and future Stanford student Jonathan Ocampo alongside sophomore Joe Gogue. The pair are each hoping to find the second round of the individual Moore League tournament after falling out in the first round by just a single stroke in back-to-back years.

Alexis Hernandez will also return for the Jags’ and play alongside several newcomers in Herbert Castro, Luis Zuniga, Diego Baires, and Diego Villamizar.

ST. ANTHONY

The Saints are looking to add to their seventh straight Camino Real League championship last year under new coach Robert Klenk. Klenk has most recently led the Saints girls golf team to three consecutive undefeated seasons as he looks to continue his success while taking over the boys program.

St. Anthony comes into the season with a well experienced group including the reigning two-time Camino Real league individual champion Ethan Schwichtenberg. Fellow senior Blake Andrews joins Schwichtenberg in the teams two slot as the Saints two captains.

The Saints are also hoping to get quality play from returnering senior Connor Barrett and juniors Christen Davila and Jake Swan. Rounding out their six-spot will be sophomore Cruz Ortiz.

“The goals for this year is to improve individual scores, individual/team overall play, and win our eighth straight Camino Real league championship,” said Klenk.