Oh--So Good! : Sunny Hills Junior Is Making a Name in Golf

When I asked students if they knew that a golfer who placed seventh in a national tournament attended Fullerton’s Sunny Hills High School, most responded, “Oh, really?”

I replied, “Yes, Oh. Albert Oh.”

The junior tied for seventh in his most recent competition, the American Junior Golf Assn. tournament held in Ashland, Ky., in early October. He finished seven strokes off the lead and seven over par under adverse weather conditions.

“I played really badly,” he said. “I missed a lot of easy shots. I four-putted the third hole for a double-bogey.”

Oh, who has a handicap of 1, is one of the hopefuls for the Sunny Hills golf team. He was ranked No. 1 at Servite, but was ineligible to play for Sunny Hills when he transferred last year because of a California Interscholastic Federation rule that requires students to sit out a year from varsity competition if they transfer to a different school without a change of address.

During the summer, he practiced about four or five times a week.

“When I was 13, I practiced every day in the summer because I had nothing better to do,” Oh said. “So four or five times isn’t a lot.”

But there were times when he wasn’t even this enthusiastic about the sport.

“When I was 12, my dad took me out to play golf,” Oh said. “I didn’t want to play. In fact, I hated playing. I just wanted to drive the golf cart.

“A pro told my dad that if I tried, I could be really good,” Oh said. That’s when his father suggested he start taking lessons at the Yorba Linda Country Club, which is now Oh’s home course.

“I just wanted to spend some time with my son,” said Gene Oh, Albert’s father. “Golf is a sport that can last a lifetime.”

At 14, Oh competed in his first two national tournaments. He placed second in New Mexico and fifth at Lake Tahoe.

“I like a lot of sports, like basketball and football,” said Oh, now 16. “But golf is definitely the hardest sport. It takes so much time and patience. In football, if you’re mad, you can tackle harder. In baseball, you can hit a home run. In golf, you can’t do that.”

Though Oh excels at golf, he doesn’t always love it.

“Sometimes I just get burned out,” he said. “It really takes a lot of patience. That’s my problem. I just go with the flow. That’s why I didn’t get better this summer.”

Oh attributes his poor showing at Kentucky also to his attitude.

“I try to think too much,” he said. “Golf is a simple game. To do well, you have to keep it simple. I outthink myself.

“When you start to think about playing, you think about the trees, the sand traps and the out of bounds. You start thinking of all the negative things that can happen instead of all the positive things.”

Oh wants to play for the Sunny Hills team, regardless of his ranking.

He should get competition for the No. 1 spot from 16-year-old junior Richard Son.

“The key is that it’s important that we both play well,” Son said. “For sure we’ll both be No. 1 and No. 2. We have to support each other.

“Albert’s a really steady player, very consistent. He hits the ball down the middle and puts it in the hole in two putts.”

Like Son, Oh isn’t concerned about the rankings.

“I don’t care if I’m No. 1 or No. 6,” he said. “Being No. 1 just means you play with the opponent’s No. 1. I don’t care what man I play. It’s a team (sport). No matter what, I’ll contribute to the team.”

Oh’s talent is reflected in the number of colleges already interested in him.

“But I don’t know if I want to go on to play collegiate golf,” he said. “That’s usually the track for those who want to go on the pro tour.”

Oh remains undecided about pursuing a professional golf career.

“I’m not sure if I have enough talent. Even if I do, I’m not sure I’d become a pro,” said Oh, who is also interested in medicine and business. “I don’t want to be known as someone who spent his life trying to hit a little white ball into a little hole.”