{"id":860518,"date":"2026-06-11T19:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/860518\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T19:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:19:14","slug":"crespi-senior-grant-leary-is-the-la-daily-news-boys-golfer-of-the-year-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/860518\/","title":{"rendered":"Crespi senior Grant Leary is the LA Daily News Boys Golfer of the Year \u2013 Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"

PACOIMA \u2014 The late afternoon ritual commenced<\/a> over a slow sunset for Crespi senior Grant Leary at Hansen Dam Golf Course.<\/p>\n

Leary took swings at a driving range set up by his father, John, a former USC golfer and a high school All-American who is now an instructor at Hansen Dam.<\/p>\n

First, he fires with a 7-iron, aiming to keep his shots centered and then a 3-iron with the dot of the ball squared upon three Western Sycamore trees, one centered parallel to the 50-foot marker while the two others fade right.<\/p>\n

John Leary drives up in a golf cart and spends 15 minutes watching his son swing and offers a few compliments before driving off. No pressure, no analyzing. Just Grant Leary, the ball and swings that are loose and free flowing but find their center.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing more than technique and skill is knowing how to play the game,\u201d Leary said of his father. \u201cCoaching is one thing but having playing experience is another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experience and confidence allowed Leary this season to post scores unheard of in high school golf, which is why Leary has been chosen as the LA Daily News Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

\"Crespi<\/p>\n

Ethan Hanson\/LA Daily News<\/p>\n

Crespi senior Grant Leary, holding the CIF-SS awards he won this year, at Hansen Dam Golf Course in Pacoima, Calif., on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (Photo by Ethan Hanson, LA Daily News\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

He matched the course record \u2013 9-under par \u2013 at Los Robles in a Mission League tournament and he shot a 4-under 68 at Brookside in Pasadena against St. Francis.<\/p>\n

He fired a career-low 62 at Balboa Golf Course in the California Junior Golf Spring Championship, and he won the CIF Southern Section Northern Individual title<\/a> with a round of 64 at Los Robles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what situation you have, whether you\u2019re a country club kid or a city kid like I am practicing,\u201d Leary said. \u201cIf you have the will to work, things will pan out your way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being a multi-sport athlete proves key for Leary<\/p>\n

While Leary has golfed since he was 10 years old, he wasn\u2019t thrust into the sport despite his father\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

He played football, basketball and track. His father believed it was important for him to be a well-rounded athlete first before transitioning more into golf. That background would be key to his son\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt came with the understanding that you have to be an athlete in this sport,\u201d John Leary said. \u201cJust play a bunch of different sports and if golf ended up being the deal, those sports were going to help anyway. I was more inclined to make him an athlete first.\u201d<\/p>\n

The younger Leary made golf his main sport by the time he was 13 years old and is ranked 451st by the American Junior Golf Association. He placed fifth in the RG Golf Junior Championship last July and tied for 23rd at the PGA Junior West Championship last June.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing from playing those sports gave me the foundation of being an athlete before specializing in a specific sport,\u201d Leary said.<\/p>\n

None of it, Leary said, would be possible without the philosophies shared by his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to push past even if you\u2019re hurting, and the mentality you have to have when things aren\u2019t going well when you\u2019re getting tired and your team needs you,\u201d Leary said. \u201cTo keep going and never quitting. I\u2019d say that carried over from football, basketball and track.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CrespiCrespi golfer Grant Leary lets out a smile as he competes in the CIF-SS Individual Regional Championships at Los Robles Greens Golf Course on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in Thousand Oaks. (Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
\nPhotography becomes outlet for Leary<\/p>\n

Leary doesn\u2019t play basketball, football or soccer anymore. But he\u2019s still a rabid sports fan who is a diehard USC football fan and he will find any way to be involved in a game.<\/p>\n

He started photography and became one of the team photographers at Crespi.<\/p>\n

Getting involved in the action came with a trigger and lens. He saw sports in a different light, watched angles and it allowed him to find a muse in sports but without competing.<\/p>\n

He could be demiurgic and use his passion for sports to help his classmates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really cool to be in the locker room or in the dugout with the other sports,\u201d Leary said. \u201cYou\u2019re getting a fresh taste of another sport rather than having the same repetitive thing over and over again, and it\u2019s fun to be a part of a team as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained how photography has allowed him to see courses and dictate how he wants to navigate courses with his driver and approaching shots to holes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings out the creative side that I like to apply to,\u201d Leary said. \u201cIf I\u2019m practicing, rather than hitting the same stock shot, I might try to play it like a situation. Pretend that I\u2019ve hooked the drive left so I either have to launch the ball over the tree or maybe curve it around it. It helps me prepare for what I\u2019m going to see on the course rather than playing range golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CrespiCrespi golfer Grant Leary plays a shot from the fairway during the CIF-SS Individual Regional Championships at Los Robles Greens Golf Course on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in Thousand Oaks. (Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
\nU.S. Open qualifying and next phase at San Jose State<\/p>\n

Leary was among the top five players to advance in U.S. Open qualifying by shooting a 1-under 71 at Brentwood Country Club on May 4.<\/p>\n

After the summer, he\u2019ll begin attending college at San Jose State.<\/p>\n

San Jose State hosts the Western Intercollegiate, one of the elite NCAA regular-season tournaments at Pasatiempo Country Club in Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n

Golf continues to be his passion because it was the one sport that didn\u2019t catch on as quickly. It still hasn\u2019t caught on in Leary\u2019s mind. It\u2019s a game of self improvement, learning and relearning.<\/p>\n

A yearning to grow that\u2019s proved tantamount to his success as a player.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t come naturally to me,\u201d Leary said. \u201cAll the other sports I had a pretty good grasp on to pick up and how to play. But golf, (it took) a really long time to get used to. It made me stick to it because it was hard. And my work ethic allowed me to get good at this game, even if it didn\u2019t come naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PACOIMA \u2014 The late afternoon ritual commenced over a slow sunset for Crespi senior Grant Leary at Hansen…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":860519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,143099,120396,3102,2961,224,6080,5337,39410,62],"class_list":["post-860518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-high-school-all-sports","tag-high-school-golf","tag-high-school-sports","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-losangeles","tag-san-fernando-valley","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116733095829442159","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}