Big SV golf year pays off for Gilles

Add another college to the continually growing list of four-year schools to attract St. Vincent High School graduates.

Graduated senior Graham Gilles is headed to the University of La Verne to play golf and study business with a focus on real estate.

A Division III school, La Verne cannot offer athletic scholarships, but Gilles will receive an academic scholarship and play on the Leopards’ golf team.

The University of La Verne is a private not-for-profit university located in La Verne, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles. Founded in 1891, the university offers 55 undergraduate programs, 19 master’s degrees, four doctorates and eight credential programs.

Gilles will not be left on his own as he leaves St. Vincent for Southern California. His sister, Vanessa, is a softball player for Chapman University, another highly rated independent college in the area. The brother was invited to play on the Chapman golf team but chose to attend La Verne.

Like all members of the St. Vincent golf team, Gilles is an excellent all-around athlete who played baseball as a freshman before switching to golf as a sophomore.

His father introduced him to the game, and he has been working to improve under the guidance of St. Vincent golf coach Bill Kleinecke, who also coached him at the Meadow Club in Marin County.

Gilles said he became a better golfer once he learned to control his emotions.

“It is easy to get frustrated,” he explained. “I learned that when I calm down I play better.”

Gilles was part of an exceptional St. Vincent golf team. He, Max Kleinecke, Justin Peck and Bradley Hogin were all chosen for the All-Coastal Mountain Conference team. They were augmented by a pair of freshmen, Bennett Adams and Bennett Reeves.

Senior Catie Hood, the only girl on the team, received all-conference honorable mention notice.

The team played in five tournaments during the season, always facing teams from much larger schools. They finished second in one and third in three others.

At the end of the season, they won the Coastal Mountain Conference championship tournament and went on to place third in the North Coast Section Tournament, the best finish ever by a St. Vincent team in an NCS Tournament, and the best finish by a Coastal Mountain Conference team.

Kleinecke shot a 73 in the NCS Tournament and became the first St. Vincent golfer to advance to the Tournament of Champions.

Coach Kleinecke, Max’s dad, said part of the team success was the simple fact that the Mustang golfers are good natural athletes.

“Golfers are athletes, too,” was the way Peck put it.

Another big factor was how well they meshed as a team, with the seniors providing strong leadership and the two freshmen contributing consistent play.

“It was a combined effort,” the coach said. “If you don’t have a good No. 5, it doesn’t matter how good your No. 1, 2 and 3 are. It takes the whole team, and we had good players at all the spots.”

Under Kleinecke, who was good enough as an amateur golfer to play in the U.S. National Championships and win several club championships, the Mustangs learned to pay attention to the details of the game that are so important to consistent plays.

It all paid off with a North Coast Section berth for the team and a collegiate career for Gilles.