Title victories and standout facilities: How high school golf has risen in the High Desert

The game of golf starts early in the small community of Helendale.

With a population of just over 6,000 people, Helendale is home to the Silver Lakes Country Club which features a 27-hole golf course.

Todd Lagergren has been the head coach of the golf program at the Academy for Careers and Exploration in Helendale since it started 14 years ago. He saw first-hand the level of development that would come through his school with young kids going to Silver Lakes Country Club at a young age.

“The four kids I have, have been playing since they’ve been six years old, walking by my house to hit the golf course,” Lagergren said.

It is a golfing community, one that Nate Carlson has grown up in. Carlson, a sophomore at ACE, has played golf his whole life as his dad got him into it when he was young.

“It’s a good place to grow up and play golf on,” Carlson said, referring to the Silver Lakes Country Club.

Carlson proved that much on March 8 when he set the course record there by shooting an 11-under par with a score of 61.

This comes just one year after helping ACE to the program’s first-ever boys CIF-Southern Section championship.

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The Eagles captured the Division 6 title, which came a year after the Hesperia boys team won the CIF-SS title in Division 7.

The success of Carlson and teams like ACE as well as Hesperia and others, including Apple Valley, has brought to light the rising level of talent in the golf scene in the High Desert over the past few years.

Lows turn to individual highs

From the time that Lagergren started his head coaching role at ACE 14, the state of golf was in a rough state.

“The whole desert was pretty much in shambles. Two or three good players and none from our school,” Lagergren said.

Art Rivera, who has been the head coach of the boys golf team at Oak Hills since the school opened in 2009, says there were a few competitive teams around the time he started but that was about it.

Things changed in the mid to late 2010s with Devon Bling from Burroughs and Isaiah Wilson from Hesperia.

Bling shot a China Lake Golf Course record of 59 while at Burroughs and eventually enrolled at UCLA, where he ranks fourth on the school’s career scoring average list with 71.9. Bling has played on the PGA Tour, and last month claimed a $30,000 prize after taking first place at the 2024 Bakersfield Open.

Wilson won three straight Mojave River League titles and is credited by Jeremy Topete, head coach of boys golf at Hesperia, with putting Hesperia golf on the map.

“Our league benefited from his talent 'cause he kept moving on in the postseason so we were able to garner multiple spots in postseason because of him,” Topete said of Wilson.

Increased competition

This high level of competition in the High Desert was shown off at the High Desert Classic, an invitational and fundraiser put on by Rivera.

Seventeen schools from across the High Desert, and out of the area, played in the invitational at Bear Valley Country Club on March 11.

Brady McColm, who led Hesperia to the CIF-SS title two years ago as a freshman, was in group one. He was paired together with Carlson, Aaron Kusnowo from Chino Hills, and Yucaipa’s Tyler Price. It was the premier group of the day as Price was the reigning individual winner of the High Desert Classic.

McColm started well enough in the front 9, shooting a 33 for 3-under par. The struggles for McColm came in the back 9, leading to visible frustration for the junior. McColm shot a 38 on the back 9, two over par.

He was not able to catch Price, who took first place with a score of 70. McColm, his teammate Sullivan Kilkenny, and Carlson, and his ACE teammate Cody Grounds all were one stroke behind Price with a 71.

Despite it being early in the season for boys’ golf and finishing one point behind the leader, McColm was not satisfied with his performance but says that he and the team will get where they need to be.

“We’re not where we need to be or where we expect to be but we’re getting better. We’re just gonna keep practicing,” McColm said.

With the invitational including top golfers from Yucaipa and Chino Hills, Carlson and Grounds both thought this was the perfect opportunity to play as best as possible to highlight their talent as well as all of the High Desert.

Grounds, a sophomore who was a part of last year’s CIF-SS title victory, shot his best round ever at the invitational with his score of 71.

Advantage for some

The level of talent has increased throughout the whole High Desert but three schools in particular are a step ahead of the curve compared to everyone else.

Hesperia, ACE, and Apple Valley are frequently referred to as having the best golf programs in the High Desert with recent success.

Apple Valley finished eight strokes behind Hesperia two years ago in the CIF-SS Division 7 team tournament. Last year, Apple Valley was bumped up to Division 3 and finished in sixth place in the CIF-SS tournament.

One big reason for the advantage these schools have over other schools in the High Desert is the proximity to golf courses — Apple Valley Golf Course, Ashwood Golf Course, Bear Valley Country Club, Hesperia Golf & Country Club and Silver Lakes Country Club.

For those who do not have a golf course just minutes away, it cuts into potential practice time when the drive to these facilities takes up time.

John Gonzalez, who is in his first year as head coach at Apple Valley after being an assistant for the last seven years, says the helpful management from those who run the courses has been instrumental in the development of his team.

“It’s a huge advantage, not only the proximity of the courses but also the management of courses,” Gonzalez said.

Cody Cantu is a senior at Serrano High School. Cantu has played golf all four years at the school.

He has seen first-hand the increased level of play coming from Hesperia, ACE and Apple Valley, and credits it to them being close to their courses and getting the practice in.

The closest golf course to Serrano is Crystalaire Country Club in Llano, which is a 30-minute drive from the high school. An hour's drive just for practice cuts into practice time and personal life, says Cantu.

“It definitely affects personal life like doing homework,” Cantu said.

Rivera sees the same struggles at Oak Hills.

“It’s a challenge at our place because of the facilities. We practice here (Bear Valley Country Club) so it’s a 20, 25-minute drive. Most of the players that are at these other schools are either members here or have an opportunity to play all the time,” Rivera said.

Rivera says some hitting cages were recently installed at the school and hopes interest in the team picks up a little bit.

CIF-SS tourney comes to the High Desert

The rise of golf in the High Desert and the facilities at the Bear Valley Country Club have caught the eye of the CIF-SS in the past year.

In October, the CIF-SS Central Individual Regional Tournament for girls golf was held at Bear Valley Country Club. CIF-SS officials were so impressed with the facilities that they decided they would hold the same tournament for the boys, as well as the Division 6 team tournament at Bear Valley Country Club this season.

The coaches and players agree that this is another big step in gaining interest in golf.

“Now that’s gonna bring more interest and possibly more tournaments up here,” Gonzalez said.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: The high school golf scene is thriving in the High Desert