Newport Harbor sophomore golfer Ethan Barnes wins Sunset League championship

Newport Harbor High sophomore Ethan Barnes had quite the first round with a four-under-par 68 at Skylinks Golf Course in Long Beach for the Sunset League finals on Wednesday.

Strong winds made things more challenging in the final round back at Skylinks on Thursday, but Barnes performed well enough to edge Devin Keith of Los Alamitos, winning the Sunset League championship by one stroke.

Barnes, who was medalist in three league matches this season, was also crowned Sunset League MVP with the winning performance.

“I felt my nerves because I didn’t have much control of my ball,” Barnes said of Thursday’s round that included winds that reached 35 mph. “I didn’t know which way my ball would go. I tried to keep it low as I could.”

Barnes finished bogey, bogey in that last round, but he certainly went low in the first round. His sensational round featured an eagle on the par-four No. 10 hole, where he chipped in from about 20 yards out.

Barnes (68-81-149) also collected four birdies and held a two-stroke lead against Fountain Valley’s Joshua Vu.

Barnes qualified to compete in the CIF Southern Section Southern Individual Regional Tournament at Skylinks on May 8. Newport Harbor senior Noah Mayne (76-77-153), who tied for sixth, also made the cut to play at Skylinks again.

Ted Terry (85-80-165) made it to the second day at the Sunset League finals, but missed the cut for CIF and finished 16^th.

Barnes has a busy upcoming schedule with a Toyota Tour Cup 36-hole event at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta this weekend. He also has another junior tournament next weekend, the 54-hole TTC College Showcase at La Costa in Carlsbad.

After the CIF Individual Regional, he plans to play in the U.S. Open local qualifier at Andalusia Country Club in La Quinta on May 9.

steven.virgen@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveVirgen