Brea Olinda’s Oh Pushes Himself in Front of Pack

Brea Olinda golf Coach Ken Lutz knew Alex Oh and his twin brother Brad would be great additions for the Wildcats this season. He just didn’t realize how good they were.

The Oh brothers, juniors who transferred from Cerritos, helped the Wildcats win the Orange League. Both performed well at the Southern Section and CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. individual finals, posting two of the county’s top six scores at both tournaments.

And Alex Oh, The Times Orange County player of the year, was the county’s best at the CIF-SCGA finals last week.

Oh shot two-under-par 70, one stroke behind champion Brett Bockmann of Palm Desert, on the 6,722-yard course at the SCGA Members’ Club in Murrieta.

Oh’s strong individual finish helped soothe some of the pain he endured with his teammates after the Wildcats’ season came to wet and disappointing finish.

One of the late spring storms helped wash out part of the Southern Regional team finals at Green River, shortening the qualifying event to nine holes.

The top four teams qualified for the Southern Section team finals in Palm Springs, but for the fourth consecutive season, the Wildcats failed to qualify, finishing one stroke out of fourth place.

In a driving rainstorm that turned the course into a quagmire, Alex Oh shot one-under par for nine holes.

“There were kids walking off the course,” Lutz said. “But my kids hung in there.”

The premature end to Brea’s season was tougher to swallow last week at the CIF-SCGA finals when Fountain Valley finished third.

“See that guys,” Lutz said to Alex and Brad, who shot 75 at the CIF-SCGA finals. “We were right there with them.”

Brea Olinda finished the season ranked fifth in the county. Fountain Valley was ranked sixth.

Although the Wildcats didn’t advance as a team, Oh played impressively as an individual in the postseason. He won the Orange League title and shot 69 on the El Prado Butterfield Stage course to post the second-lowest score at the section individual regional qualifying tournament, tying Servite’s Nico Bollini.

At the section individual finals at Friendly Hills in Whittier, Oh shot 74 to tie University’s Ron Won for third-lowest score in the county, behind Foothill’s Nick Seymour (72) and University’s Brian Sinay (73).

Then came Oh’s great round at the SCGA Members’ Club, where he was two-under through 15 holes and the championship plate was well within reach.

“I missed three birdie putts on my last three holes,” Oh said smiling. “I had a chance.”