Whatever home course advantage that Newport Harbor might have at Big Canyon Country Club doesn’t seem to account for much when the Sailor play host to Los Alamitos.
The Griffins just can’t seem to lose there.
On Thursday, sophomore Ellis Tirdao medaled for the first time this season with a 2-under-par 34, leading No. 3 Los Alamitos to a 189-202 victory against the Sailors.
It was the Griffins’ fifth consecutive victory against its Sunset League rival at the Newport Beach course. Tirado holed four birdies on the front nine as he fired his lowest score of the season to help the Griffins (11-1, 4-0) finish 9 over par as a team on one of the most difficult courses used in high school golf.
“I just really like the greens. I can really see the lines here,” Tirado said. “I can stand up over any putt and feel confident that I can make it. “
Los Alamitos coach John Haygood said going low at Big Canyon requires some experience, and the Griffins’ varsity veterans do a good job telling the younger players the right approach for each hole.
“They will talk about the course with each other and they are like, ‘You can’t hit driver on this hole, this hole and this hole. You need to use a long iron,’” Haygood said. “They will let each other know what shots to play and when not to try to overpower the course. It is a terrific golf course. My kids look forward to this every year.”
After Thursday’s match, the Griffins scoring average at Big Canyon is 190.8, which includes a high-school course record 183. Tirado, though, said the Girffins had the potential to do even better.
“If we had a day where we all put it together, we could go under par (180),“ he said. “We had some pretty big numbers (on Thursday) from some of our better guys. One guys shot a 52, at least we go to drop that. But that (189) isn’t that bad.”
