ORANGE COUNTY ALL-STAR GOLF : Dana, Maki Team for Shutout to Lead South Past North

Midway through the Orange County all-star golf tournament Thursday at Santa Ana Country Club, Steve Dana of Corona del Mar High School saw a lead slipping away.

Dana and partner Austin Maki of Estancia had started quickly but their opponents, Kengo Takahashi of Valencia and Steve Greenfield of Canyon, were closing fast.

“We kind of knew we were losing it, so we picked it up a little bit and didn’t lose it altogether,” Dana said.

They didn’t lose at all. Dana and Maki were the only twosome to shut out their opponents and they led the South to a 16-8 victory over the North in the competition, which was sponsored by the Southern California PGA, between teams of eight seniors each.

Ken Calvert of Estancia had the low round of the day, shooting a five-over-par 77. Dana and Maki shot 79s.

Calvert defeated Jason VanderSteen of Servite in their singles’ match, but Calvert and his partner, David Jacobson of University, lost to VanderSteen and Pete Gimino of Esperanza, and because Gimino defeated Jacobson, the North won four of the six points at stake for each foursome.

Other North scorers were El Toro’s Jim Zakhar, who tied Gene Choi of Laguna Hills; Jon Reinke of Western, who beat Tom Haren of Dana Hills, and the team of Reinke and Michael Sharp of Estancia, who tied the team of Haren and Scott Auerbach of Irvine.

Many of the all-stars hadn’t played competitively since the Southern Section individual championships May 21. Because of a shortage of qualified Northerners, the lines between North and South were blurred.

Jim Zakhar of El Toro and Gregg Lee of Capistrano Valley played for the North. And because the North’s top player, Chris Tidland, injured his wrist and couldn’t play, an alternate from the the South, Sharp of Estancia, also competed for the North.

“I came out here more or less to have fun,” said Zakhar, echoing the sentiments of most of the golfers. “But at the end I started thinking about it more.”

So it wasn’t an intense rivalry, although South co-coaches Art and Chuck Perry of Estancia said they were hoping for a sweep of all the matches, except the one involving their own player, Sharp.

“We were hoping to win, 22-2,” said Art Perry, laughing.

Valencia Coach John Winek, who coached the North, had a prediction.

“We have a lot of players in the North that are pretty young,” Winek said. “Watch out next year. The North will rise again.”