Golf

The City Council on Tuesday approved a $1 million loan to the city-owned DeBell Golf Course and agreed to defer loan payments on $2.1 million in outstanding debt for two years as the troubled course tries to recover from a drop in revenue. The council also set aside $1 million as a possible cushion for the cash-strapped golf course, bringing the total package $2 million — far more than the roughly $567,000 in proposed cuts to public services as City Hall works to close a projected $8.7-million budget gap for next fiscal year.

The City Council is considering a $2 million loan for the cash-strapped Debell Golf Course — more than the $566,878 in proposed budget cuts to the Fire Department, libraries and other public services — after Mayor Jess Talamantes called the municipally owned course “too big to fail.” Also on the table is suspending the golf course’s payments to the city on $2.1 million in outstanding debt, and combining the two loans for repayment by...

There is good and bad associated with both the Burroughs High and Burbank girls' golf teams this season. Although the Bulldogs have two of their best players back from a year ago, the team will be extremely thin with just five athletes. For the Indians, they lost two of their top players to graduation and a third has decided not to come out for the team. Fortunately for Burroughs, it has a solid group of returners coming back. Here is a closer look at how the teams are shaping up. BURROUGHS The Indians placed third in the Pacific League in 2011.

The 5th Annual Paul Sutton Charity Golf Classic, an event honoring the memory of Simi Valley resident and long-time Providence High Athletic Director and Coach Paul Sutton, is set for Oct. 30 at Elkins Ranch Golf Course in Fillmore. Proceeds from the event will benefit the National Childhood Cancer Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting clinical research, education and advocacy for the needs of infants, children and young adults with cancer.

BURBANK — The Burroughs High girls’ golf team is headed to the postseason. The Indians placed third Monday in the fifth Pacific League match at Santa Anita Golf Course in Arcadia and finished the regular season tied for second place with Crescenta Valley. Arcadia won Monday’s event, as well as the league title. All three teams will participate in the CIF Southern Section Central Team Divisionals on Nov. 10 at Menifee Lakes Country Club in Riverside County.

Karen S. Kim HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- After six months of construction and renovations that forced golfers to use temporary greens and play on shorter-yardage holes, DeBell Municipal Golf Course will kick off its reopening ceremony with a 180-player tournament Saturday. For the first time since the golf course was built more than 40 years ago, two of the greens were reseeded, four of the tee boxes were resodded and concrete cart paths were constructed throughout the course to allow players to drive even after rainy days.

I am writing this letter in response to one in the Mailbag (“Golf course must be preserved,” July 15). I do not play golf as this young reader does, but I do know how important it is to save the course, not only as part of our area’s history, but as a green belt and home to wildlife. We are losing too many of our precious open spaces. This developer doesn’t care about any of this! I find it mind-boggling that with the state of California being broke and our water being rationed that such a development would even be considered, not to mention the added traffic.

GIRLS' GOLF Burroughs 297, Crescenta Valley 305: Led by Scarlet Wilson, the Indians won the nonleague match Monday at Brookside Golf Course No. 1 in Pasadena. Wilson tied CV's Ally Forsling for low medalist honors, as the two shot 52s on the par-37 course. Andrea Reyes and Laurie Van Wagenen shot 59s, Wonna Khe had a 61, Danielle Caffey had a 66 and Jennifer Scott had a 71 for the Indians (1-1). CROSS-COUNTRY Burroughs in Seaside Invitational: Indian senior Carolyn Brown led the Indian contingent Friday at the meet in Ventura.

Bell-Jeff golf tourney for a good cause Preparing for its fourth annual golf tournament on May 13, Bellarmine-Jefferson High has acquired two formidable allies. First, Jo-Jo Marckese is combining her own tournament with the Guards' alumni event at De Bell Municipal Golf Course. She began the event in 2003 as a memorial to her late husband, Jeff, an avid golfer. Marckese said the workload was just too much, since she also promotes a fund-raising youth basketball tourney in the Bell-Jeff gym and has parental responsibilities at home.

The City Council's decision Tuesday approving construction of a new clubhouse at the city-owned DeBell Golf Course reflects that our elected officials are making good decisions based on lessons learned. It wasn't long ago that council members were lamenting the soaring costs of a new Community Services Building after years of city delays caused the $28-million price tag to shoot up about $10 million, because of rising costs for construction materials, before it was completed. The city paid the price for sitting on that project.

Firefighters are trying to contain a brush fire near DeBell Golf Club in Burbank that was reported shortly after 12:15 p.m. The size of the brush fire was not immediately known as firefighters converged on the area near Stough and Wildwood Canyon parks above East Harvard Road and East Walnut Avenue. Water-dropping helicopters had been called in to assist with the firefighting effort. Speaking from the pro-shop at the DeBell Golf Club, David Gallegos said he could see “plenty of smoke” rising from the hills behind the course, but that golfers had not been asked to evacuate.

Update on local athletes competing in college. Emily Tubert (Burroughs High, 2010) junior, University of Arkansas women's golf : The former All-Area standout for the Indians and her Razorback teammates are preparing for the 2013 NCAA Championships, which begin Tuesday and conclude on Friday. The fifth-ranked Razorbacks punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships by way of a program-best tie for third place at the 2013 NCAA East Regional in Auburn, Ala., May 9-11. The Razorbacks posted an 864 en route to advancing.

Ben Allen couldn't catch a break early on while competing Monday in the CIF Southern Section Individual Championship at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc. The San Marino High boys' senior golfer found himself in immediate trouble, as he began his 18-hole round with a double-bogey. He later had a triple-bogey, putting him in a bigger jam. Allen eventually recovered, but his stellar season came up just short as he carded a seven-over-par 79. "It's tough right now," said Allen, who finished one stroke shy of qualifying for the Southern California Golf Assn.

The Magnolia Park Optimist Club will hold its 26th annual Youth Golf Classic on May 17 at DeBell Gold Club. The tournament raises funds for youth and school programs in Burbank and at the Optimist Youth Homes. Terry Scott, Gary Oseransky and Jim Gascoigne are heading the event committee. Entry fee is $135. For more information, call Scott at (818) 842-7950. Rotary keeps students focused The Burbank Noon Rotary Club made a $2,000 donation to the Burroughs photography department and the funds are covering the costs of printing, mounting, matting and framing photographs, allowing students to have their work displayed like a professional, said Burroughs photography teacher Bonnie Burrow.  "Our Rotarians are to be commended for their generosity," Burrow said.

As president of the Burbank Senior Men's Golf Club, I find I must respond to the continuous rants of Molly Shore in the Burbank Leader Mailbag relative to the DeBell Golf Club. There are four public golf clubs calling DeBell home. Two are for men and two are for women. Altogether, more than 300 Burbank residents use and enjoy the golf course through these clubs. My club gives continuous support to youth activities, including both high school golf teams. The other clubs have similar endeavors.

It was a struggle for the Burroughs High and Burbank boys' golf teams Monday in the first round of CIF Southern Section play. Neither team was able to qualify out of the CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional at Soule Park Golf Club in Ojai. While the Indians finished 15th out of the 19 teams that took part with a team total of 424, the Bulldogs placed 19th with a 453. The team competition was won my Westlake, which carded a 360. It was followed by Oaks Christian with a 375 and Arcadia out of the Pacific League, which had a 376. Burroughs was paced by Patrick Colvert and Sivakorn Losakul, who both fired nine-over-par 81s. They were followed by Daniel Kesicbasian with an 83, Sean White with an 89 and Dylan McNeely with a 90. The top scorers for Burbank were Brady Dunayer and Andy Chung, who both had 85s. Teammate Jason Apinchapong had an 89, Jason Tatka also had an 89 and Grant Le had a 105. Crescenta Valley's Paul Park finished second overall with a two-under-par 70. The Falcons placed 17th with a 445.

BURBANK - All four area boys' golf teams had something at stake Tuesday leading into the Pacific League prelims at De Bell Golf Club. Each team looked to send at least one athlete to the league's individual tournament. Three of the squads aimed to clinch spots in the CIF Southern Section Northern Team Divisional. Each left De Bell pleased, as Burbank, Crescenta Valley and Burroughs qualified for the playoffs and nine area players moved on to Wednesday's individual final, which will also include a pair of Glendale athletes.

BOYS' GOLF Webb 202, Pasadena Poly 216, Buckley 223: The Panthers took second in a three-team shoot-off Monday to determine the Prep League champion. Willy Moffly carded a three-over-par 39 for Pasadena Poly at Industry Hills' Eisenhower Course. The Panthers finished second in league after winning the title last season. Webb finished first this year. BOYS' TENNIS Pasadena High in Pacific League prelims: Three Bulldogs competed in the event Monday at Pasadena High.

Nearly two years after the Burbank City Council bailed out the cash-strapped DeBell Golf Club to the tune of $2 million, the club's financial health remains in limbo, leaving it unable to afford the loan payments that were slated to start next January. Factoring in depreciation and the original loan payments, city officials projected the club's cash flow by the end of fiscal year 2013-14 to be in the red to the tune of $303,000. On Tuesday, the Burbank City Council unanimously signed off on plans to give the club two extra years to boost its revenue before having to pay up. Loan payments on $1 million are now scheduled to start in January of 2016, as DeBell has not needed the remaining funds.