Prep Golf : Erb Has a Course-Record 70 on Eagle

The only question after the CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. championships at Lakeside Golf Club Monday was which of three performances was most impressive.

Was it San Diego Grossmont high school senior Mike Swingle’s scrambling, five-over-par 145, giving him the boys’ individual title?

Was it the smart play of the six players from Anaheim Esperanza, which won the team title with a 389 after spending the previous night examining chalkboard sketches of the tight Lakeside course, drawn by the Aztecs’ top player, Jason Bittick?

Or was it the nearly unbelievable tour by 15-year-old Christy Erb, who fashioned a four-under-par 70, winning the girls’ title and breaking the women’s course record by one stroke?

Each was outstanding, but the round put together by the diminutive Erb stood above all. The University of San Diego High sophomore opened her 18-hole round with a double bogey, but then scored six birdies and an eagle on a course that her male counterparts found especially difficult.

Erb surprised even herself, considering her previous best round was a 72. “I didn’t think I’d shoot 70,” she said. “I was hitting the ball well. I started with a double bogey, but the eagle helped.”

Erb said pitching and chipping were the strong points of her round, as evidenced by the eagle on nine, when she holed a 25-yard pitch from the fairway.

Consistent pitching and putting brought Swingle success at Lakeside, also. It was a high pitch from the right rough on nine--his final hole--which set up a winning 10-foot putt.

Had Swingle missed the putt, he would have been forced into a playoff against Chris Gonzales, a Montebello Schurr senior, and Chris Robinson of Bakersfield Highland. Gonzales and Robinson finished at 146.

Bittick, a big-driver who scored 73 on the morning 18, was one of the few who had played the exclusive Lakeside course previously, and his insight helped Esperanza to the team title.

Torrey Pines of Del Mar also finished at 39-over 389, but finished second by SCGA rules. Esperanza scored lower as a team on the back nine, giving it the title.