ORANGE COUNTY AMATEUR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS : Field’s Youngest Player Wins in Sudden Death

It wasn’t Ryder Cup pressure, but the situation was nerve-wracking enough for Justin Boatman at the Orange County Amateur Golf Championship Monday on Coto de Caza’s North Course.

Against Steve Ebert on the first hole of their sudden-death playoff in the championship flight, Boatman, 18, putted from five feet off the green at No. 1 to within three feet of the cup. After Ebert missed his 12-foot putt for bogey, Boatman calmly knocked in his bogey putt for the victory.

“The first one was a career putt,”, said Boatman, from San Juan Capistrano and the youngest player in the 135-man field. “I was nervous and this was in front of what, 50 people? I can’t imagine what the guys in the Ryder Cup were going through with the whole world watching.”

Boatman, a freshman on the Saddleback College golf team, and Ebert each shot 76 in the regulation round. Both finished their rounds around noon and then waited for the 5:30 p.m. playoff.

“We were in the lounge together, just kind of hanging around watching the rerun of the Ryder Cup on ESPN,” Boatman said.

When the playoff began on the 576-yard par-five No. 1, each hit the fairway with their drives and landed second shots within 185 yards of the green.

Ebert, 41 and a Marine Corps major from Mission Viejo, then pushed a 3-iron into a deep, tree- and brush-filled ravine short of the green.

He took a one-stroke penalty for an unplayable lie and pitched over the green from 60 yards. Meanwhile, Boatman, who had hit his third shot into a bunker short of the green, blasted out 45 feet past the flag to set up his winning putts.

Ebert took a double-bogey on the hole.

Orange County Amateur Golf Championship Championship Flight

1. Justin Boatman (San Juan Capistrano), 76; 2. Steve Ebert (Mission Viejo), 76 (Boatman won playoff on first hole); 3. (tie) Jeff Metzger (Coto de Caza), Mark Morris (Yorba Linda), 77; 4. Thomas Cox, 78; 5. (tie) Jim Dunn (Coto de Caza), Michael Mills, Jason Vellas, 79.

First Handicap Flight (adjusted net scores with handicap)

1. John Kouri (Rolling Hills), 68; 2.(tie) Bob Abbott (Coto de Caza), Frank Gastelum, 69; 3. (tie) Dan Naddor, Luis Cendejas, Mike Steventon, 70; 4. (tie) David Prince, John Ferguson, 71; 5. (tie) Gordon Logank, Sam Yankasammy, 72.

Second Handicap Flight (adjusted net scores with handicap)

1. Chung Shu (Taiwan), 62; 2. Stephen Cheng, 64; 3. Noni Garcia, 65; 4. (tie) Cliff Davenport (Laguna Hills), John Collins, 70; 5. (tie) Bob Stover, Shing Shu, Rob Weatheral, 71.