Hemet’s Donahoe Wins Title by Shooting Personal-Best 69

The name of the player with the best score at the CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. Championships Thursday was a bit of a surprise, even to the player himself, James Donahoe of Hemet.

“I’m not one of those players who goes out and shoots phenomenal rounds,” Donahoe said after shooting three-under-par 69 at the SCGA Members’ Club at Rancho California. “This is my lowest round. Yeah, this is probably my lowest round ever.”

Donahoe quickly determined that it was in fact his first time under 70. It was enough to win the boys’ individual title by one stroke over Santa Marcos’ Michael Chavez. Six players were one stroke behind Chavez, the co-Southern Section champion who penalized himself a stroke for hitting the ball during a practice stroke on the fringe of the sixth green.

Westlake won the team title, shooting nine-over 369 on the 6,470-yard course and edging Santa Margarita by a stroke. Westlake was led by Alex Kuyumjian, who shot 70, Matt McCrite (73), J.T. Kohut (74) and Ross Fulgentis (75) and matched the second lowest total in the history of the tournament. In 1987, the last time the Warriors won the CIF-SCGA title, they shot two-over 362 at North Ranch.

Clovis West’s Andrea Cordova, the runner-up in the 1995 U.S. Girls’ Junior, shot par 72 to win the girls’ individual title by one stroke over Westlake’s Linda Ishii.