GOLF STATE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP : Wi, 18, Will Face Vanier for Title

Charlie Wi, 18, of Thousand Oaks, who graduated from high school only two weeks ago, reached the final of the 79th California Amateur Golf Championship with two victories Thursday on the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Wi, who got into the tournament as an alternate when another player withdrew, will play Gary Vanier, 39, of Oakland in today’s 36-hole final.

Wi ousted veteran Craig Steinberg of Van Nuys, 3 and 1, in the quarterfinals Thursday morning. It was the third consecutive year that Steinberg, 32, had made it to the quarterfinals. Wi then defeated Paul Stankowski, 20, of Oxnard, the 1989 Southern California Amateur champion, on the first hole of a playoff in their afternoon semifinal.

Wi, who was born in South Korea and came to the United States when he was 9, played on the Westlake High golf team for four years. He will attend Nevada Reno on a golf scholarship in the fall.

He moved into the championship match by making a three-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole against Stankowski after hitting a seven-iron from 170 yards within three feet of the pin.

Wi was the No. 3 qualifier entering match play Wednesday. He opened stroke play Monday with a 75 at Cypress Point but came back Tuesday with a 68 at Monterey Peninsula Country Club--the second-lowest score in the tournament among the 102 entrants.

Vanier, a stockbroker and a former Stanford golfer, advanced to the final by beating Pat Duncan of Rancho Santa Fe, 1 up, in the quarterfinals, then turning back Terrence Miskell of Salinas, also 1 up.