SOUTHERN SECTION INDIVIDUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT : Dana Hills Sophomore Has Late Start, but Still Gets Into the Swing

By his reckoning, Dan Buchner of Dana Hills High School became a good golfer only after he stopped playing baseball, soccer and tennis and quit riding his skateboard.

He started playing golf out of boredom, to kill an afternoon with some friends.

“A couple of friends took me out and we hacked it around,” said Buchner, a sophomore who has been playing only three years.

About two years ago, he decided to get serious and took some golf lessons.

“I thought I might want to stick with it,” he said.

And he’s been improving rapidly since.

At the Southern Section individual tournament at Mission Hills Country Club Monday, Buchner shot one-over-par 71, tying Richard Son of Sunny Hills for medalist honors among Orange County players.

Son won a one-hole playoff to finish fourth overall. Buchner was fifth.

Eddy Lee, a freshman at Corona, tied with Mike Miller of Hart with a 68 and won the championship on the second playoff hole.

The top 22 advanced to the CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. tournament June 11 at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana.

It’s the first time Buchner has advanced to the CIF-SCGA tournament.

“I was kind of nervous,” he said. “But no one expected me to do so well, so I had nothing to lose. I was hitting solid and I didn’t get into any trouble.”

More experienced players than Buchner weren’t as lucky.

Chris Tidland of Valencia, the defending Southern Section champion, shot a 76, then was eliminated in a playoff and did not qualify for the CIF-SCGA tournament.

Ken Calvert of Estancia, who led the Eagles to the team championship at Canyon Country Club May 14, shot an 80. He qualified only because Estancia advanced to the team tournament with its victory last week.

Charlie Wi of Westlake, the medalist at the team tournament, shot a 72 and won a playoff for sixth place.

Austin Maki of Estancia hit his tee shot into the water hazard on the 541-yard, par 5 fifth hole. But instead of throwing his clubs, he said he yanked a wooden stake used as an out-of-bounds marker from the ground and carried it with him the rest of the way.

“It (the water hazard) took my ball so I took this stick,” he said.

Maki shot a 74 as did Albert Oh of Sunny Hills and Scott Richardson, a sophomore at Dana Hills. Kengo Takahashi of Valencia and Jim Spurlock of Garden Grove both shot 75s to qualify.