Golf Notebook: Los Alamitos' John Lee Leads Sunset League at the Turn

This Week in the Tee Box: Los Alamitos Griffins (17-4 overall, 9-1 in league); Sunset League Champions

Featured Tournament: Sunset League 

Leader at the Turn: Los Alamitos junior John Lee finished with a one-under-par 71 to take the lead heading into the second day.

Course: Lakewood Country Club; par 72.; 6,729 yards

Conditions: Warm with a slight breeze

It's Tournament Time

With league tournaments in full swing all across Orange County this week, the CIF Southern Section postseason can't be far behind, and along with the weather, some of the county's best high school golfers are about to heat up, right here in our neck of the woods.

Leading the way into the playoffs, as usual, are the Trinity and Sunset Leagues, which currently combine to comprise half of the Orange County Register's top 10 county-wide rankings, with Santa Margarita and Servite taking the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, respectively.

Los Alamitos, which split the Sunset League crown with Newport Harbor a season ago before winning it outright with a 9-1 mark this season, is ranked No. 4 on that list, while Marina (13-4 overall, 8-2), which won the Southern Section team divisional tournament two years ago and was the only squad to upend the Griffins in league play this year, comes in at No. 8.

With third-place Newport Harbor (7-3), Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Edison all playing their top 6 Wednesday, Lakewood Country Club played host to nine groups of four golfers each.

On Thursday, the field will be cut to 16 golfers, and the top seven finishers according to their two-day, combined-score total will be moving on to the CIF Southern Section Southern Individual Regional Tournament at Skylinks, across the street from Long Beach Airport, on May 16.

Los Alamitos junior John Lee finished with a one-under-par 71 to lead the clubhouse at the turn, only one stroke ahead of Fountain Valley sophomore Andre Vu. The highlight of the round came on the 507-yard, par-5 Hole 9, where Lee boomed from the box, then stuck his approach and sunk the eagle putt.

"I hit a bomb drive down the fairway," Lee said. "Then I hit a five-iron to within four feet. I was a anxious over the putt, but I made it. The first nine was pretty good but the back nine was a little bit of a struggle with the driver."

Alongside fellow junior Conner Campbell, who shot a 73 on Wednesday, Lee has grown into a leadership role for the Griffins, who are a joy to coach, according to John Haygood.

"It's a really nice group because four of those kids came in as freshmen and they've all been playing really well," Haygood said. "John, Conner and Shane [Wathanasaynee] all played as freshmen, with John and Shane playing more than the others, but they all contributed. All of them [including junior Daniel Gregory] played last year. We lost one senior from last year, and we only have one senior [Chris Lang] this year."

Haygood lauded the group's chemistry, a factor that played a huge role in the championship run, which could've easily been derailed in a close road win over Fountain Valley at Mile Square, or in a four-stroke win over Newport Harbor at Big Canyon, a round in which Los Alamitos ended up setting the high school nine-hole course record behind Campbell's brilliant four-birdie performance.

"The thing about our league is, it's really good," Haygood said. "You can't look past anybody. Anybody can beat anybody, especially on their home course. Marina beat us at Meadowlark, and Fountain Valley just about beat us at Mile Square, so you can't look past anybody."

Part of what makes the Griffins so good on the golf course is their collective calm, so to speak. Although its top six is composed of four juniors, a very talented freshman in Jonathan Young, and the lone senior, Lang, the group is extremely mature, and has grown up together.

"Our team leaders are John and Conner," Haygood said. "They are two of the most laid back kids in the world. They don't get phased by a lot of stuff, you know. They hit a bad shot and they're like, 'Huh? Whatever,' and they move right on to the next one.

"They kind of feed off each other, they challenge each other, and they've been doing that all year."

And that friendly competition has produced positive results.

Lee's nine-hole scoring average is half a point over par at 36.5, while Campbell is just a shade behind at 37.1.  Wathanasaynee is scoring 38.3 a round, while Young, Gregory and Lang are all averaging 39.4 strokes.

"Our team really connected this year," Lee said. "We have the chemistry this year, we're comfortable with each other, and we have good relationships off the course as well."

When asked of their expectations heading into the postseason, both Lee and Haygood were cautiously optimistic, a vibe that seemed to jive well with the Griffins' take-it-as-it-comes approach.

"The goal is to hopefully do well," Lee said. "You never know though, because it's golf."

Said Haygood: "If anything happens like it has in the past, our league has been right there. Marina won our divisional two years ago, and Newport Harbor has always been in there too. So we're always in the mix, it just depends what team shows up that day."

Sunset League Tournament Day 1 Results (bold names made cut to play in Thursday's championship round):

GROUP 1 -- John Lee, Los Alamitos, 71. Bubba Frame, Marina, 77. Marcus Kiel, Newport Harbor, 76. Miles Young, Edison, 79. GROUP 2 -- Andre Vu, Fountain Valley, 72. Jacob Schulze, HB, 77. Conner Campbell, LA, 73. Andrew Shoup, MAR, 80. GROUP 3 -- Carter Norris, NH, 76. Zach Bauer, ED, 76. Jordan Meas, FV, 85. Conner Hurst, Huntington Beach, 77. GROUP 4 -- Shane Wanathasaynee, LA, 76. Matt Janelli, MAR, 85. Zach Eddy, NH, 77. Jack Koeller, ED, 80. GROUP 5 -- Jake Ehlers, FV, 76. Christian Milner, HB, 84. Jonathan Young, LA, 76. Jesse Heinrichs, MAR, 77. GROUP 6 -- Brad Tapfer, NH, 81. Jeff Ferguson, ED, 89. Justin Smith, FV, 78. Tyler Carnival, HB, 83. GROUP 7 -- Daniel Gregory, LA, 79. Omid Mardi, MAR, 81. Mason Moody, NH, 80. Kevin Koeller, ED, 80. GROUP 8 -- James Smith, FV, 78. Jared Shaft, HB, 86. Chris Lang, LA, 82. Robert Rice, MAR, 84. GROUP 9 -- Tyler Tashiro, NH, 79. Josh Matlock, ED, 92. Jordan Char, FV, 91. Cal Lathrop, HB, 85.

Davenport Shines for CdM at Pacific Coast Tournament

John Davenport, Corona del Mar's smooth-swinging No. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 -- depending on how the loaded Sea Kings wish to play their opponent on any given day -- showed why he's as good as any other junior in the county Monday and Tuesday at Mile Square, turning in rounds of 75 and 71, to finish tied for first place overall in the Pacific Coast League tournament.

Beckman's Kevin Lee (76, 70) ended up claiming the tournament championship by winning the playoff.

Corona del Mar, which is currently ranked No. 3 in the county, was impressive up and down its card, as senior Tanner Trauthen finished fourth with successive rounds of 73 and 75, to also ink his name at the CIF-SS Southern Individual Regional May 16 at Skylinks.

The PCL sends seven individuals to the tournament this season, a list that also includes University's David Pelekoudas (72,75), Woodbridge's Ryan O'Connor (72,77) and Bhuvan Potluri (73,77), and Northwood's Lawrence Tu (76,73).

Corona del Mar's Karick Brown (77,75) and Mike Moorhead (77,75) both just missed out on moving on, finishing tied for eighth overall with Northwood's Joe Kim (77,75).

The Sea Kings' Brian Mull finished with rounds of 73 and 80 to take 11th place, while Chase Wheatley missed the cut with a first-round 81.

Stallions Make History in San Clemente

Mike Page, whose performances all season have often meant the difference for a burgeoning San Juan Hills program, turned in perhaps the most important round of his life on Monday, as his sixth-man total beat out Capistrano Valley's by one strok  to give the Stallions their first league championship.

The Sea View League title was decided this season at the league tournament at San Clemente Municipal because four teams -- San Juan Hills, Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo and Trabuco Hills -- finished the regular season in a four-way tie atop the standings.

Monday's opening tournament round served as the backdrop for a tense league championship battle that ended in a deadlock, with both the Stallions and Cougars turning in cards of 381.

Eric Taylor and Colin McSweeny paced San Juan Hills and Capistrano Valley, respectively, with rounds of 71, followed by Mission Viejo's Raymund Gonzales, who led the Diablos with a 72.

Mission Viejo finished 18 strokes off the pace with a 399, but Mike Lorrimer's 72 meant that the Diablos had two golfers in the top four overall. Trabuco Hills finished in fourth with a 407, and was led by junior Tim Hoang, who carded a 78.

Both San Juan Hills and Capistrano Valley move on to the team portion of the CIF playoffs. The Sea View League will send four individual representatives to Skylinks for the Southern Regional on May 16.

Stephan is Moving On

Heading into the final round of the Trinity League tournament, April 27 at Candlewood in Whittier, JSerra senior Stephan Jasper was only three strokes off the lead and in good position to make history.

With two holes remaining, Jasper birdied out to claim a seven-over 77 and ensure himself a spot in the CIF-SS Southern Individual Regional May 16 at Skylinks.
Jasper, who shot four over on the first day, became the first JSerra golfer to move on to the CIF postseason, by finishing seventh overall.

Servite's Preston Valder won the Trinity League championship, while Santa Margarita's Kevin DeHuff took second, and the Eagles' Beau Hossler settled for third.
Also moving on from the Trinity League will be Servite's Michael Bonicatto, Mater Dei's Brian Campbell and Santa Margarita's Matt Murphy.

Brandon Petersen's "Golf Notebook" appears weekly on all Orange County Patch sites.