OCC golfer Marcus De La Rosa driven

Marcus De La Rosa has a group of friends he enjoys. He also has a loving family with whom he has shared countless memories. He favors the beach, works hard to succeed at school, and would, like most college freshmen, relish an opportunity to spend Friday night out of the house doing something fun.

But for roughly one quarter of his waking days, easily more than 300 days a year, all that fades into unwanted distraction.

For those three or four hours a day, six sometimes seven days a week, De La Rosa chooses to focus on a little white ball.

“Golf is the passion,” said De La Rosa, who since being introduced to the sport in the eighth grade by his grandfather, has been driven by a driver, as well as every other club in his bag. “Once you get started playing competitively, you want nothing more than to get better.”

De La Rosa was bitten hard by the golf bug from that very first day, and the teeth marks grew deeper after taking some 140 strokes to complete his first 18-hole round.

“Once I found golf, for me it was like, ‘Man, I have to figure this out,’” said De La Rosa, who won the Orange Empire Conference individual championship and helped Orange Coast College claim the team crown on April 25.

The OEC Player of the Year, the first Pirate so honored during Coach of the Year Sean Collins’ 13 seasons at the helm, leads OCC into the Southern California Regionals on Monday at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta. A strong performance there would propel the Pirates into the state tournament, May 16 at Desert Island Golf and Country Club in Palm Springs.

The road from novice to champion was paved with dedication.

“I’m the kind of person that no matter what I do, I’m going to put all the effort I have into it,” said De La Rosa, who made the Mater Dei High varsity as a freshman and, as a junior captain, led the Monarchs to the program’s first CIF Southern Section championship.

A scholarship to a four-year school was derailed by a bicycle accident in which he broke his shoulder and collarbone his senior year at Mater Dei.

But, just as he would after a bad shot, a difficult hole or a less-than-satisfying round, De La Rosa chose to view the next fairway with anticipation, and without regret.

“Things happen,” he said. “I was out seven or eight months and I wanted to make sure I took time to fully heal, before I started playing again.”

The injury negated any recruiting interest from four-year schools, but De La Rosa soon found a collegiate home with Collins at OCC.

With a scoring average around 73.5, De La Rosa has been consistently excellent all season, said Collins, who noted De La Rosa has also flourished as a team leader.

A superior driver, the 5-foot-11, 217-pound De La Rosa, said he averages more than 310 yards. And his short game, initially rusty after his layoff, has also come around, leaving the solid ball striker with virtually no glaring weakness.

Add the mental part of the game to his growing list of attributes, Collins said, and a fairly recent emphasis on conditioning has also paid dividends on the scorecard.

“I work hard in the gym, I work with a physical trainer and I have a swing coach,” De La Rosa said. “That all helps. Since beginning with a trainer, I have lost 30 pounds in about the last year. And I could not imagine what my game would be if it weren’t for my swing coach, Tom Sargent [the head professional at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa].”

De La Rosa also credits family members, including his cousin, Hunter Mahan, a pro golfer with six PGA Tour titles, with adding to his support network.

“They all understand that this has been my goal from the day I picked up a golf club,” said De La Rosa, who is hopeful about a future at a four-year college, and possibly in professional golf. “I make sacrifices, but that’s part of having a passion and a love for the game. I take a lot of pride in my work ethic, because I won’t let anybody out-work me. Considering how late I started playing, I think dedicating myself to the game and practicing as much as I do is what got me to where I am now.”

De La Rosa said he plans to return to OCC next year, but he would consider an opportunity at a four-year school, should one arise.

And while his focus prevents him from overlooking the SoCal regional, he said securing Collins’ first state crown would top an already momentous season that he said exceeded his expectations.

“Things seem to be going in the right direction, which is really gratifying,” De La Rosa said.