Wi Loses Match but Not Smile : Amateur golf: Defending champion falls in second round of state tournament but he does so with grace.

Charlie Wi’s two-year dance along the Monterey coast amid the clouds and pounding sea came to an abrupt halt Wednesday as he was ousted from the 80th California Amateur golf championships.

Wi, 19, of Thousand Oaks, shocked everyone in 1990 by sneaking into the tournament at the last moment as an alternate and winning the prestigious event.

He was trying to become the first player since 1955 to repeat as champion. But in the second round of match play at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, he ran into a red-hot Bryan Pemberton of USC and lost 3-and-2.

Also being eliminated Wednesday were Craig Steinberg of Van Nuys and Brian Lamb of Newbury Park. Steinberg, the 1988 Southern California Golf Assn. champion, lost 6-and-4 to Ed Davis of Suisun in the opening round of match play.

Lamb, 20, was defeated in the same round, on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, by John Zetterquist of Aptos in a match that had much tension.

Lamb apparently won the 14th hole when he chipped in from the fringe, but Zetterquist promptly complained to an official that Lamb had played out of turn, hitting the shot before Zetterquist, even though Zetterquist appeared to be further from the hole.

The seemingly befuddled official ordered Lamb to replay the shot. And Lamb ended up losing the hole.

On the 17th hole, Lamb stepped into a sand trap to get to his ball and picked up a rake that had been left there. Zetterquist stepped forward again, arguing that such a move was a violation of the rule prohibiting a player from touching the sand with anything but his feet before a shot. Again, the official agreed and Lamb lost that hole too.

Zetterquist lost in the afternoon session of match play.

At the other extreme from Zetterquist was Wi. He did not leave the tournament without a fight. But he did leave with a smile.

“When I missed qualifying for the tournament last year I said that it was just golf, that it wasn’t life or death,” Wi said. “Well, I feel the same way today. It’s still just a game. I didn’t play bad. Bryan just played great.”

Pemberton, 22, of Dublin, Calif., who completed his collegiate golf career earlier this month, gave Wi only a few opportunities.

But Wi, after playing a brilliant round in the morning to eliminate Doug Faraco of Penn Valley in Northern California--who was this year’s alternate--was not able to take advantage of the openings and bowed out on the 16th hole.

Ironically, it was on the 16th hole that Wi turned in his most spectacular shot of the match, cracking a 120-yard shot from under the lip of a steep sand trap and nearly holing the shot, the ball landing just eight inches from the cup and spinning back four feet.

But Pemberton made a par and Wi’s birdie attempt rolled wide and the match was over.

“It was different this year. Everyone knew me,” said Wi. “It gave me confidence. It was a positive thing. And I played so well this morning.

“But this afternoon, I didn’t seem as focused. I lost it somewhere, and Bryan never let up.”

Pemberton went 1-up on the second hole with a birdie after Wi’s second shot on the par-five sailed wide and into a towering pine tree, dropping far from the green in a grassy ravine.

Wi evened the match on the fourth hole with a birdie putt after lashing a 100-yard shot from heavy grass to within 18 inches of the cup.

Pemberton took the lead for good on the eighth hole as Wi stumbled to a bogey. But he could have stumbled into something much worse.

The hole features the ocean in the middle of the fairway, visible from the edge of a cliff that drops some 90 feet straight to the frothing surf. Wi hit his drive to within two feet of the edge of the vertical drop, a sight that would make the cliff divers of Acapulco wince.

But Wi calmly stepped up to his ball, pounded his spikes into the soil and slapped the ball safely back into play.

Just eight weeks ago, a golfer from Pacific Grove put a ball in nearly the same place. Reaching for it, he tumbled over the edge. Miraculously, the man landed on soft sand and did not die. He did, however, sustain multiple broken bones.

“He did?” a wide-eyed Wi asked when informed later of the danger he was in. “I never thought about it. I didn’t think I was very close.”

Wi lost another hole at No. 10 when he double bogeyed after finding a deep, green-side bunker.

On the 13th hole, Wi had a 100-yard shot to the green and blasted it far over the green. He dropped his head and let out a quiet howl, the kind you would expect from a coyote with his leg caught in a trap.

Pemberton took that hole with a birdie to go three-up, and Wi seemed to sense that the music was about to end.

And even though he lost, he never lost his senses.

On the 16th hole, Wi seemed to cut the deficit when he rolled in a 16-foot birdie putt. Pemberton, however, promptly rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt.

As the two approached a drinking fountain a moment later, Wi suddenly stopped, put his hand on Pemberton’s chest and shoved him.

“What did you have to do that for?” Wi asked a surprised Pemberton.

And then Wi smiled and walked away. Pemberton was left alone, a bigger smile on his face.

“Charlie is a great guy. Really a great guy,” Pemberton said.

Wi completed his freshman year at the Nevada Reno just a few weeks ago. He finished as the golf team’s No. 1 player. He also said he would make another attempt next year at the state amateur tournament. “Coming here, I just wanted to get to match play to give myself a chance to win it again,” he said. “I did that. I’m happy. I’m not satisfied, but I’m happy.

“At least I had the chance.”

Last year, in victory, Wi was very modest. This year, in defeat, he was very gracious.

A winner two years in a row.