Villa Park lacks some focus but beats Foothill

TUSTIN - With seniors comes experience and short attention spans.

"The focus that we had last year isn't there ... we are not as sharp," Villa Park boys golf coach Chris Salio said.

The Spartans, ranked No. 3 in the county, have their share of seniors this season, and two of them already have scholarships. Alex Bungert is headed to St. Mary's while Corey Gard is going to Cal State Fullerton. 

"So they are already starting to think about next year," Salio said. "They are looking down the road. Good thing we are kind of at the back end of our season. We don't have too many tough matches left."

Monday's nonleague meeting with No. 7 Foothill could have been a challenge, but the Coach Erik Horve decided to rest some of the Knights and Villa Park (15-3) cruised to a 191-222 victory at Tustin Ranch Golf Club.  

The Knights have a big Sea View League match on Tuesday against Woodbridge, so he had his regulars go out and play the back nine at Tustin Ranch since that is where the match with the Warriors will be played So it was time to call up some guys from JV to fill in.

"You know they did OK," Horve said. "They were all in the 40s." Brant Deboer, who's normally on the JV Gold roster, led the way for the Knights with his 41.

As far as the Spartans go, it was the two usually players who topped the leader board - Bungert and Ryan Tetrault.

Bungert eagled the par-5 No. 9 and finished with a 3-under 36. This is the second time in a week that he has medaled with a 33. He did it in a match against Brea Olinda last week at Yorba Linda Country Club. His scoring average for his last four matches is 34.75.

Tetrault, who like Bungert was an All-County first team selection last year, posted a 1-over 37 for the Spartans.

Yeah, the Spartans might not seem to be as determined as last year, but Salio said he likes "their consistency." In last week's match against the Wildcats at Green River, Villa Park won even though Brea Olinda had the medalist. That day, Salio said his team's high was a 37, and the score he threw out was a 40.

"I like that. And that is where we have been lately, we haven't had many high scores," Salio said. "It helps when you have a 39 or a 40 as the max. Still, I think we were a little sharper last year."