Servite Freshmen Are Golf-Wise Beyond Their Years : High school: Success in junior tournaments has helped prepare McGraw and Lauder for varsity play.

Wisdom and experience are crucial in golf--a sport that is never totally mastered. Yet for the last three years, the Southern Section individual golf tournament has been won by a freshman.

Notice an inconsistency? Not exactly. The successive freshman champions--Eddy Lee of Corona, Tiger Woods of Western and Ted Oh of Torrance--were all seasoned in junior tournaments before entering high school. Because of strong junior programs, it’s not rare for a prep golf team to reap the benefits of a player fresh out of junior high, but Servite’s bounty this season is a bit out of the ordinary.

The Friars, who graduated seven of eight varsity players from the team that finished seventh in the section last season, have at least two freshmen who will help them try to return to the championships.

Jeff McGraw and Mike Lauder, freshmen from Fullerton, have already made strong contributions to the team, tied for second in one of the county’s strongest leagues. A third freshman, Won Rhee of Anaheim, is showing promise and will soon join the varsity lineup, Servite Coach John Ebbe said.

“My philosophy is that this is a very young team,” Ebbe said. “We are quite inexperienced to varsity competition. What we will do is learn this year and we will win next year.

“We prefer to play the underdog role but next year we won’t be underdogs.”

Juniors make up the starting lineup’s core. One, Wally Luciano, is the only player returning from last year’s varsity. The others--Dave Barcott, Matt Moran and Scott Cutshall--were key players on the junior varsity, which didn’t lose a match.

But the two freshmen are generating the most sparks. McGraw has the team’s best average and has won or been tied for medalist in eight of 12 opportunities. Lauder, the teams’ No. 4 player, hasn’t been as consistent but he has been Servite’s low scorer five times.

Given their success as junior golfers, their play in high school isn’t a surprise. They met in the summer of 1987 when they picked up the game at Fullerton Municipal Golf Course. Lauder remembers McGraw being a little better than he was. At the end of that summer, McGraw won a tournament among the youths taking lessons at the course.

But Lauder developed quickly also and in each of the last two years, the two have helped the Fullerton junior team win Southern California championships.

The Friars play some of their home matches at Fullerton and several Servite players knew the pair, so Ebbe was aware of them before they enrolled at Servite.

“People were singing their praises like no tomorrow,” said Ebbe, a Servite history teacher who took over the program this season after four years as junior varsity coach. “When I heard they had taken the entrance exam at Servite I was ecstatic.”

The transition has been a smooth one, surprising some of the more experienced team members.

“I thought they would need a year under their belts,” Luciano said. “It surprised me how well they’re dealing with pressure. I think it’s great how they’re helping the team.”

McGraw helped immediately, shooting three-under par for nine holes against Valencia at Alta Vista Country Club in his first high school match. In the second nine holes of the match, at Hacienda Country Club, he shot nine-over, but still was low for the Friars, losers to Valencia.

McGraw is only several inches taller than 5 feet, but that has not stopped him from posting low scores.

“He’s a small little kid but he hits the ball a long way,” said Matt Kliner, Servite’s No. 2 player and the team’s only senior.

McGraw has played in several American Junior Golf Assn. tournaments the last two summers and finished second in the 13-14 division at a tournament in New York last summer.

But he is surprised he has done so well so quickly in prep golf.

“I didn’t really expect to play No. 1 but I was hoping to play varsity because I’ve been working very hard at it,” McGraw said. “I took whatever spot I could get.”

Lauder, taller at 5-10, has been more erratic.

“I’ve been pretty inconsistent this year,” he said. “I’ve ranged from 35 to 50 and I’ve been everywhere in between. That’s always been a big joke, how consistent Mike Lauder is.”

Lauder’s game has gone and come, one day to the next. On consecutive days, he shot 46 at Hacienda and one-under 35 at Lakewood Country Club. Lauder says the key for him is to relax.

“I try to remember it’s just a game,” he said. “If I don’t do well I’m still going to eat dinner that night. But sometimes I forget that and golf is a war.”

There’s no war between them, Servite’s phenomenal freshmen say. They’re competitive on the course and friends off it, trying to keep these experiences in perspective.

“They don’t try to be the next Tiger Woods,” Ebbe said. “They are young men who play within themselves and play to the best of their ability and who still realize they have a tremendous amount of ability yet to explore.”