Freshman phenom right on course

No one has won the City Section individual golf championship four times, but Layla Phillips has a chance to be the first.

- By STEVE GALLUZZO

STEVE GALLUZZO For The Times LAYLA PHILLIPS of Harbor Teacher Prep could become the first to win four City Section golf titles.

The 14-year-old freshman from Harbor Teacher Prep carded a five-under-par 67 on Thursday at Balboa Golf Course in Encino, good enough for a six-stroke victory over Macy Lee of El Camino Real.

“She’s been playing since she was 2,” explained her father, Kasey, who was there to watch his daughter’s round and could not have been more proud. “Our old house was right off of Maggie Hathaway Golf Course and balls were constantly flying onto our property. It was an annoying thing and my wife was afraid the kids might get hit playing in the backyard. So we complained about it and they offered us free lessons as kind of a peace offering.”

As fate would have it, Layla and her sister, Roxanne, one year younger, both took to the sport like fish to water.