GOLF / STEVE ELLING : Club Title Leaves Woodland Hills’ Kearns, 71, Feeling Chipper

Everybody’s heard the saying, All doctors play golf.

Walter Kearns, a general surgeon from Woodland Hills, never had as much time for the sport as he would have liked. So most of his rounds were conducted elsewhere.

But Kearns, 71, went into semi-retirement a few months ago and dedicated more time to the game, his passion.

His new operating room?

Lakeside Golf Club.

Last weekend, despite spotting his opponent several years and several yards off the tee, Kearns won the club championship at the Toluca Lake course.

That’s right, a 71-year-old beat a field that included players less than half his age. Kearns knocked off three younger players earlier in the tournament to reach the final. In the championship match, 36 holes of match play on Sunday, Kearns beat Mark McMurrey of Los Angeles, 3 and 2.

McMurrey is 31.

“I don’t know what happened out there,” Kearns said with a laugh. “I pulled up something out of my past.”

In short, McMurrey lost to a guy who could pass for his grandfather.

“That’s what I was thinking,” McMurrey said.

Make no mistake, Kearns definitely can play. Two years ago, he shot 66 at Lakeside. If the afternoon round of his match with McMurrey had lasted 18 holes, Kearns would have shot his age with pars on the two final holes.

Kearns has been a member at Lakeside for 32 years and last won the club championship in 1967 . . . when McMurrey was 5.

“I’ve been playing more golf over the last couple or three years,” said Kearns, who played at Princeton in the early 1940s. “I’m in a little better shape, I’ve been putting better and the game has started to come around.”

McMurrey routinely hit the ball 50 yards farther off the tee, which meant Kearns had to work his magic around the greens. Kearns proved he has the hands of a surgeon.

McMurrey said Kearns put on a short-game exhibition, prompting the former to concede more tap-in putts than he’d care to remember.

“I’m not kidding,” McMurrey said. “There must have been a dozen times in the 34 holes where he chipped up and I kicked it back to him.”

It was also quite a kick for the good doctor.

“I thought I had a chance to win,” Kearns said. “But I have to admit that I was a little surprised that I survived all four matches.”

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Divine intervention: Darren Angel of Northridge says victory was not on his mind last week in the closing moments of the Mission Hills Desert Junior Golf tournament in Palm Springs.

The front-runner and local favorite, Mike Walton of Palm Desert High, held a commanding lead and time was fast running out.

“I wasn’t thinking about winning,” Angel said. “He was still up eight shots heading into the back nine.”

Heavens above, Angel almost pulled off a miracle, with a little assist from Walton. Angel finished with a final-round 68 as Walton, a Southern Section standout who will play next season at Pepperdine, struggled home. Angel shot a three-under 33 on the back nine.

Though Angel kept applying the pressure, Walton held a three-shot lead on the 18th hole when his drive lodged in the top of a palm tree. Walton was assessed a two-shot penalty for an unplayable lie, trudged back to the tee and reloaded.

Angel, 16, was having no such difficulty. In fact, by the time the pair reached the green, Angel was looking at a 25-footer for birdie and Walton had a 20-footer for bogey.

Angel, who will be a junior at Granada Hills, drained his putt. However, Walton somehow shook off the haymaker and dropped his putt to hold on for a one-shot victory.

“I’m glad he won,” Angel said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to win like that.

“It was practically by default. Hitting it in the palm tree was just plain unlucky.”

Maybe Walton’s karma has improved. Walton lost the tournament title in sudden death last summer when Tiger Woods of Cypress made a 40-footer for birdie.

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Kid stuff: The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department is providing lessons for youngsters next Tuesday through Thursday at the Sepulveda Dam Golf Complex and Woodley Lakes Golf Course in Encino.

California Golf, which operates the three courses, will give lessons to beginners from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at no charge. Players also will be given the opportunity to join the Junior Golf Club program. Information: 818-760-6886 or 818-995-1170.

Hansen Dam Golf Course, located in Pacoima, offers free lessons for juniors every other Saturday. The next session is Saturday.

Information: 818-896-1390.