Negotiating Tough Course Becomes an Act of Survival

Poor golfers, they didn’t know what was coming.

Poor golf course, the players didn’t really care.

From the twisting and turning fairways, complete with several blind tee shots, to the wicked pin placements on sloping greens, newly opened Rancho San Marcos Golf Course proved quite a challenge Monday in the Southern Section Northern Individual Regional tournament.

Only a handful of the field’s 75 players had played Rancho San Marcos, which opened in December, and scores were a bit high.

John Lepak of Hacienda Heights Los Altos High shot the only sub-par round, a course record of five-under-par 66.

But because the top 36 finishers advance to the Southern Section championships on Thursday at Friendly Hills Golf Course in Whittier, survival, not winning, was the primary agenda.

“This isn’t the real deal,” said Westlake High’s J.T. Kohut, who advanced by shooting 75. “This just weeds out the bad players.”

The cut fell at 80. Seven players from the Valley / Ventura County region made it.

Calabasas senior Jon Ohye, who recently signed with UC Santa Barbara, led players from the region with a 73. Charlie Smith of Hart shot 74. Justin Ohye, Jon’s younger brother, shot 75 to tie Kohut. Ian Medlock of Westlake fired a 76, Russell Surber of Flintridge Prep shot 77 and Brian Woolf of Alemany rounded out the area qualifiers by shooting 80.

This was the first year that the Southern Section tournament was divided into Northern and Southern regionals. In the past, players went directly from league play to the Southern Section championship.

“I like it,” Jon Ohye said. “You need to weed out the flukes. This way the better players can take it easy and get a feel for how everyone else is playing.”

Ohye, playing the course for the first time, wasn’t sure whether he would be playing at all.

Ohye smashed his right thumb Friday night while working out with a 35-pound weight. With his thumb bruised and bleeding, Ohye did not swing a club all weekend. But he discovered Monday morning at the driving range that he could play, despite a heavily bandaged thumb.

“It kept me from getting overly aggressive,” said Ohye, who had two birdies in his round. “Going into this tournament, my mind-set was to attack. But it worked out a little better this way.”

Smith made the turn at one-under par, but made double-bogeys at the 15th and 18th holes en route to a back-nine 40. Surber also staggered home, making eight on both the par-4 15th and par-5 18th for a back-nine 44.

“I didn’t feel like I hit bad shots,” Surber said. “Take away 15 and 18 and I’m one under.”