Living the Life O’Brien : Left-Hander Helps Make Canyons a Contender for State Golf Title

Any chap with Michael Timothy Patrick O’Brien for a name and golf for an interest learns early in life the meaning of a mulligan.

But this Mike O’Brien, the one who distinguishes himself on the College of the Canyons golf team, hardly needs them these days.

His left-handed drives are true and long, leaving the mulligans to hackers. They are the ones who can benefit the most from a free shot here and there.

But O’Brien, golf-wise beyond his 21 years, knows their full value.

“They count as two free shots for me because I’m Irish,” O’Brien joked.

The way O’Brien plays, nobody would be that generous with him.

A sophomore, O’Brien is one of the top players for the Cougars, who already clinched the Western State Conference title with three matches remaining. Canyons is 37-3 and a solid contender for the state championship held in early May.

The Cougars were state champions in 1993 and finished third in 1989. Their other leading players are sophomore Paul Muniz from Granada Hills High, freshman Ryan Shaffer (Crescenta Valley), sophomore David Richardson (Kennedy) and sophomore Jason Plosz from Canada.

It is a talented group that Coach Gary Peterson--who has guided the Cougars to five WSC titles in 12 seasons with the team--calls the best ever at the school.

“This team is extremely balanced,” Peterson said. “Any one of our guys could beat anybody. My four, five and six guys in ’93 would not have made the top six on this team.”

O’Brien was a redshirt freshman that season and played only in Golden State Tour events as an amateur. Like so many other Cougar golfers, he was a three-year standout on the perennially powerful Hart High team.

Last season, O’Brien averaged 81.4 strokes per round as the Cougars finished third in the conference. He has improved to 79.5 this season and hopes to polish his game enough at a four-year school to try professional golf after college.

“I’ve been dedicating my life the last two years basically to golf,” O’Brien said. “I want to finish school and my collegiate career and then try to make it to the (PGA) Tour. If that doesn’t happen, I’d like to be a pro at a country club. I could be on the course all the time. That’s where I’d like my office to be.”

O’Brien has been interested in golf since he was about 4 years old. His cousin Shane, a former star at Hart and Canyons and now one of the top players at Cal State Northridge, lived in a home with a back yard that bordered the Vista Valencia Golf Course in Valencia. The two spent more time in sand traps than sand boxes.

“My dad had put a little gate from our back yard to the course,” Shane said. “We would look for golf balls that people would lose and that’s what we used to play. We had a little treehouse by the course.

“When people left, we would come down and play. Our whole world was that golf course.”

After getting an early taste of golf, Mike pursued more mainstream sports and settled on baseball for several years. He again picked up golf when he was about 13 and has been at it since.

“It’s an individual thing,” O’Brien said. “It’s you against the golf course and the elements that become involved. If you do bad, it’s your fault. But it’s a fun sport. It’s a nice, relaxed atmosphere. I’ve never heard of a golf brawl.”

He’ll never start one, either. O’Brien seemingly stays cool and controlled regardless of how he is playing. In a recent practice round at Valencia Country Club, O’Brien handled poor shots calmly--there weren’t many--and went about his business methodically.

“I tell him that good golfers are a dime a dozen,” Shane said. “The ones who make it are the ones who can mentally take the game a step above everyone else.”

Mike O’Brien is headed in that direction. Both Peterson and Shane have seen Mike mature as a player at Canyons.

“I think he’s a smarter golfer. He’s a real positive guy,” Peterson said. “What he has done is to take the pitfalls and perils that come on a golf course and has learned from them.”

O’Brien feels the changes. Some of it comes from experience and some from trying to form a complete package that perhaps will lead him to the pro ranks.

“I’m more of a player this year, I’m mentally stronger,” O’Brien said. “I battle the golf course. I can turn it around on the back nine if I play bad on the front. . . . There’s always nine more holes to play.”