Cool Hand Luke

Luke Schultz Wins Playoff, Leads Dolphins to Team Title    

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

It was a battle of attrition at last Wednesday’s City Section finals in Griffith Park and the one standing tallest in the end was Palisades High junior Luke Schultz, who carved up Harding Golf Course for a four under par 68 and eventually prevailed on the sixth extra hole to capture the individual title.

“It feels great because I’ve worked all year, since first semester, and the work definitely pays off—the more work the better the outcome,” a euphoric Schultz said with the first-place medal around his neck.

“This is like a dream because my personal best is a 74 here in league  from the white [tees] so there’s no rhyme or reason to why I shot this score… putts were falling, drives were going far and straight and it just so happened to be 68 at the end of it all.”   

Schultz arrived at the 18th green neededing an eagle to force a sudden death playoff with clubhouse leader Isaiah Kim of Van Nuys and that’s just what he produced, calmly rolling in a 15-footer to pull even.

Half of the foursomes were still finishing their rounds when Kim and Schultz returned to the 18th tee box to begin a sudden death playoff. Both made short birdie putts and headed to the 17th, where Schultz had to blast out of a bad lie on his second shot with his opponent safely on the green. He eventually saved par while Kim’s title-clinching putt rolled dead an inch short of the cup.

The pair returned to No. 18 for the third playoff hole, where Schultz again scrambled after an errant drive landed right of the cart path. The fourth and fifth playoff holes were at No. 17 and on the fourth, Kim extended the match with a clutch birdie putt from 12 feet after Schultz had rolled in a 17-footer of his own moments before. On the fifth, Schultz could not bear to watch as

Kim missed a potential winner from inside six feet. They returned to No. 18 for the sixth extra hole and this time, Kim hooked his tee shot into the weeds next to the fairway. He chipped back onto the green but it gave Schultz a slight advantage and that is all he needed to win the title.

“My home course [at MountainGate Country Club] has a driveable par 4 just like 17 here and we have a par 5 that’s reachable in two so to be honest it didn’t fell like I was at Harding, it felt like I was at my home course to make it more comfortable and I was playing the same shots I play there,” Schultz stated.   

The winning putt was an eight-footer without much break and Schultz    looked skyward in relief when it dropped into the cup.

“As far as the last one, I’ve hit that same putt from that exact distance a thousand times,” Schultz said. “Same old putt and the same result.”

“I’ve hit that same putt from that exact distance a thousand times,” Schultz said. “Same old putt and the same result. My personal best was a 74 here and today I shoot 68. Can’t explain. There’s no rhyme or reason to why I shot what I did today. Putts were just falling.”

Playing in the first group alongside Granada Hills’ Joseph Wong, New West Charter’s Miles Tauzin-Fox and Palisades’ Liam Husain, Kim pulled off the shot off the day after driving the green on the 17th hole. He drained a 75-foot eagle putt to take a two-stroke lead after Wong had pulled even with a birdie at one-under with a birdie at 16. Kim then birdied the 18th to give himself a seemingly safe cushion.

“It was a double breaker from the back of the green that started to the right, came back left, then came back right,” Kim said. “ I had zero intention of making that putt. It was 100 percent about speed. I hit it a little harder than I wanted. so when it dropped I just froze and was like ‘did that really just happen?’”    

After bogeying the first hole, Kim parred the next five before back-to-back-to-back birdies at seven, eight and nine. Kim bogeyed No. 13 but shooting three under on the last two holes left him waiting nervously to see what Schultz did, several groups behind.

Schultz’ marathon effort also helped Palisades secure its 23rd team crown and third in the last four years with a 10-stroke triumph over defending champion Granada Hills, who beat the Dolphins by the same number of shots last year.

Jake Norr finished alone in fourth place with a one-under 71, Husain was fifth with a one-over 73, Michael Conner shot a 73 to finish 11, Mason Gellar was 17th at 10 over and Levi Salzman also shot an 82. Only the top five scores counted in the team scoring.

Palisades and Granada Hills both advanced to the Southern California Regionals, which were held yesterday on the South Course at Los Serranos Golf Club in Chino Hills.

The state finals are May 29 at San Gabriel Country Club.

Winning the team title was especially gratifying for Palisades coach Dave Suarez. Since taking over the program the guided the Dolphins to three girls titles and three boys titles, none more satisfying than the latest one.

“We had a very deep team this year which was great because the kids really pushed each other in practice rounds and there was healthy competition for playing spots,” Suarez said. “I’m proud of Luke for pulling it out. The other kid was outdriving him by 40 yards but he made some clutch putts in the playoff. Luke would’ve won the card-off because he was four-under on the back nine, but I’m happy they settled it on the course. It’s better that way.”