GOLF BEAT\Match of the Week.

Byline: Dave Shelburne and Vincent Bonsignore

Classic matchup: Wait a couple of months and there's an excellent chance you can see Hart High School and Westlake square off in the regional golf playoffs - and maybe again in the Southern Section final and state tournament, as well.

But why wait?

Hart and Westlake, two of the area's premier programs, also meet Thursday at 1 p.m. at Vista Valencia GC in the first of a home-and-home series that easily qualifies as the area's best rivalry.

The two schools have combined to win 10 consecutive league titles, six by Hart in the Foothill League and four straight Marmonte crowns by Westlake. This year, both have golfers who already have accepted scholarship offers from UCLA - Ross Fulgentis of Westlake and Jason Semelsberger of Hart.

Assuming Hart sweeps its six-team Foothill League opener Tuesday at Vista Valencia (and the Indians haven't lost a varsity or JV match in Dennis Ford's six years as head coach), they will bring a 13-0 record against Westlake, which improved to 5-0 Wednesday and already has defeated traditional section power San Marcos.

"I think it will be pretty close," said Ford, who also thinks Westlake deserves to be the favorite with Fulgentis, Matt McCrite, Alex Kuyumjian and Linda Ishii back from last year's 18-2 team that finished third in state - after helping eliminate Hart in the regionals.

Hart, which won last year's regular-season meeting with the Warriors 315-319 at Vista Valencia, will have its own considerable resources when the rivalry resumes Thursday.

Ford says Semelsberger, Charlie Smith, Carlos Robledo, Brian Buck, Brandon Wallace, Mike Farris and freshman Ryan Wyman are all capable of shooting par at the par-61 Vista Valencia executive course.

TREND WATCH

Who's No. 1? With Division I scholarships assured, it would seem Fulgentis and Semelsberger are the class of their programs, but both have had to fight serious challenges from teammates.

Semelsberger has been pushed all year by Smith, who won two matches before Semelsberger prevailed by two strokes with a par-35 in Thursday's 186-213 win over Chaminade at Simi Hills CC. Smith, a sophomore, has the Indians' low round of the year with a par-61 at Vista Valencia.

Fulgentis has been similarly pushed by Kohut, one of two freshmen regulars (with Ian Medlock) for coach Dave Costley's Warriors. Kohut, whose drives have been averaging more than 280 yards, made his high school debut with a 2-over par 74 for medalist honors in a season-opening sweep of Thousand Oaks and Buena at North Ranch.

First Knight: St. Francis coach Jim Bonds, a Hart alumnus more famous for football than golf (he quarterbacked the Indians to a Southern Section football title in 1986), has an improved player in sophomore Riley Marshall. He's been the Knights' leading scorer in every match after playing in the middle of the pack last year, when St. Francis was paced by eventual Mission League champion Brian Thibault - now at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo but not playing collegiate golf. Senior Bryan Lerma and sophomore Gerret Grim are the other leaders for this year's Knights.

SWIM BEAT PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Takin' it easy:

Birmingham's Gretchen Ballard is taking it easy this year. Sort of.

Last year, Ballard spent a whirlwind season competing in high school events and national meets. She spent two weeks in France in May for a swim meet.

Her training for that meet might have cost her a chance at defending her City 500 freestyle championship, which she lost to Granada Hills' Stephanie Shapiro in the finals last year.

This being her senior year, Ballard is cutting back her outside interests and concentrating on school.

"She just wants to enjoy her senior year," said Braves coach Nick Rodinoff, who thinks Ballard can add three more events to her City record list this year. "She had so many things going on last year. This season she's definitely not going to do quite as much."

TREND WATCH

Getting back on track:

Glendale took third place in the Pacific League last year, which would thrill a lot of schools.

But the Dynamiters were hardly impressed. Not when they've been one of the top Pacific League teams for the majority of the past 17 years.

"Finishing in third was unusual for us," said Glendale coach Steve Garberson.

A 4-0 start for the girls team and a 3-1 start for the boys has the Dynamiters believing they'll make a better showing this year.

The boys are led by seniors Scott Greenwood and Mike Morrow, freshman Mike Do and sophomore Andrew Lim.

Keeping track: Five Marmonte League diving teams are coached by two people. At Westlake and Thousand Oaks, Bill Douglas is the coach. At Newbury Park, Royal and Simi Valley, Judy Wedermann wears the coaching hats.

Wedermann took over the Panthers' program this year. Douglas had also coached at Newbury Park while coaching Westlake and Thousand Oaks at one point.

What a difference a year makes: Last year at this time the Cleveland swimming team was scrambling to find a pool.

The Cavaliers' new indoor facility was damaged due to the Northridge Earthquake and as a result they had a two-week period in which they had to find other sites in which to practice.

A year later, all is well with the Cavaliers' pool.

"It makes a world of difference," said Cleveland girls' coach Barbara Suto, who said the Cavaliers passed time a year ago by watching a lot of video. "The kids appreciate having a pool so much more now."