THE OREGON I team won the 40th Hogan Cup Team Matches junior golf tournament Aug. 17 at Riverside Country Club in Portland. Pictured from left to right are captain Steve Hagen, Jack Pennington, Nick Sherwood, Arthur Kim and Damian Telles. Contributed photo

Telles concludes golf season with championship
Hogan Cup’s first team trophy for Telles

By MIKE WEBER
of The Chronicle

     There’s really no better way to conclude the summer golf season than by winning a championship. That’s what Damian Telles did as he helped lead Oregon to the 40th Hogan Cup Team Matches Junior Golf Tournament Title.
     Telles combined with teammates Jack Pennington of Eugene, Nick Sherwood of Albany and Arthur Kimof Tigard to win the prestigious Hogan Cup Trophy Aug. 17 at Riverside Country Club in Portland.
     The Oregon I squad, which included team captain Steve Hagen of Scappoose, won the 36 hole tourney with a score of 430. The Oregon II team of Gresham’s Nick Chianello, Wilsonville’s Travis Johnson, Portland’s Connor Logan and Eugene’s Bobby Monaco, took second place at 432.
     Prior to the three-day tournament Aug. 15-17, Telles hoped to finish as one of the top individual junior golfers. Last year, Telles took sixth place and he nearly duplicated it on Sunday. He shot an even par 144, tying him with Pennington for seventh place on the leaderboard.
     More importantly, he helped the Oregon I team take first place out of 12 four-player squads from the Western United States and Canada.
     “When we came out on Sunday, we were talking about how badly we wanted to win,” said Telles. “We were focusing on just beating Southern California and stopping their win streak,” referring to California’s five consecutive Hogan Cup titles (2003-2007). “We played pretty well and it’s sure nice that both Oregon teams came out on top.”
     The tournament started in 1969 in commemoration of the achievements and contributions to the sport by Eddie Hogan. He was the head golf professional at the Riverside club from 1939 until his death in 1968.
     Hogan Cup alumni include PGA tour players such as Bobby Clampett, Fred Couples, Peter Jacobsen, Jeff Quinney, Casey Martin, Jason Gore and Tiger Woods.
     This year, Patrick Cantly, 16, of Los Alamitos, Calif., earned medalist honors with a 6-under par 138. Monaco took second place with a score of 139. Cantlay’s score was the second best ever in tournament history.
     It marked the third and final year that Telles would compete in this event for the regions top junior golfers, age 17 and under.
     “It’s been my goal the last three years to win the Hogan Cup,” said Telles, 17, a senior at The Dalles Wahtonka High School. “It’s nice to win it in my final year in the tournament and it’s a great way for me to end the junior golf season.”
     Telles shot a 2-under par 70 in Saturday’s first round and he followed with a score of 74 in the second round. Telles shot par on 24 holes and he had a total of five birdies.
     “I had a tough day on Sunday and it was an uphill fight for me for awhile,” said Telles, who had a triple bogey on the par 5 fifth hole. “I just tried to bounce back from one frustrating hole. My short game really helped me turn things around and I did pretty well with my putting and chipping.”
     He’s spent more time this year on the golf course than any previous year of his career. With the tremendous success that he’s had, there’s no doubt that Telles will have a good shot at achieving his goal of winning the Class 5A individual state championship next spring.
     Telles has competed in 10 tournaments this summer, including three highly regarded nationals. He qualified for several regional tournaments in addition to some local Oregon Golf Association events.
     “It’s the first time that I’ve ever won a team match,” said Telles, whose dad Dan, traveled with him to every tournament. “It certainly ranks as one of the highlights of the season for me. The most satisfying accomplishment for me this year was taking seventh place at the Big “I” Tournament in North Carolina. That was a much bigger event with the top players from all over the country competing there.“
     Telles will probably have a limited amount of time on the golf course now though. He’s participating in daily doubles practice with the Eagle Indians football team. Telles played football during his freshman and sophomore seasons, but he didn’t play last year. He said he’s looking forward to playing on the team in his senior year.
     “It’s going to be hard finding some time to play golf this time of year with so many things keeping me busy now,” said Telles, who will also play on the basketball team in the winter. “I’ll still try to get out to the The Dalles Country Club and play as much as a I can though, because golf is really my favorite sport.”