MAKING WAVES : Conway Has Spent Summer Building on His Success at California Amateur

It’s summer, so it’s a good bet that if Steve Conway isn’t at the golf course, he’s at the beach.

Bodyboard in tow, the quiet 17-year-old from Dove Canyon often spends his days searching the waters off Orange County beaches for that perfect wave.

He found it, however, on a different kind of beach: Pebble Beach.

Conway, who will be a senior at Santa Margarita High, climbed aboard that giant golf wave at Pebble Beach Golf Links in June and has ridden the crest throughout the summer.

It has propelled him to the tops of leaderboards in tournaments where 17-year-olds are not often found: the California State Amateur and the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship.

This week, he found himself crashing back onto the shores of the Monterey Peninsula, testing his game against some of the top amateurs in the nation at the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill.

The self-professed beach lover has gained an affinity for Pebble Beach, calling it the best course he has ever played.

It helps that his two appearances there this summer have been high points in a torrid summer streak that has put the once-dominant junior golfer back on the golf map.

“It’s definitely helped a lot in getting recognition,” Conway said. “Especially starting like that at the state amateur. That gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the summer.”

After the California Amateur June 21-25, Conway went to Ohio July 6-10 and finished 26th in the Rolex Tournament of Champions, one of the four junior major championships. Next, he took on Southern California’s top players in the SCGA Amateur July 16-18, where he held the lead after two rounds before fading to 25th.

He finished 10th at the AJGA Junior Championship at Coto de Caza July 19-22, then went to Mission Viejo Country Club--his home course--for U.S. Amateur qualifying. He shot 73-71--144 and finished second in the 93-player field to claim one of three spots.

He finished second by a stroke in the AJGA Southwestern Junior Classic in New Mexico, Aug. 2-5, in his final tuneup for the U.S. Amateur.

“It’s been a pretty good summer,” Conway said. “Making the U.S. Amateur has been kind of my main goal since the beginning, so I guess it is pretty satisfying.”

The success is not a surprise to those who know Conway and play with him often. Conway’s closest friend is Mike Lavery, an Irvine High graduate headed to UC Irvine on a golf scholarship. Lavery started seeing signs when the two played practice rounds over the winter.

“The first three months of this year I could just tell he was hitting it well,” Lavery said.

In the first high school match of the season, Conway shot four-under-par 32 in a nine-hole match at Coto de Caza. He went on to a stellar high school season, averaging 36.8 over nine holes and earning all-county honors from the The Times.

“For quite a while he was averaging under par,” Santa Margarita Coach Tim O’Hara said. “I think he only had two bad rounds all season.”

Unfortunately, one of those bad rounds came in the Sea View League finals, when he shot a two-day total of 160 and failed to advance to the Southern Section individual regional tournament.

“It was pretty disappointing, but I didn’t dwell on it,” Conway said.

He couldn’t afford to, not with California Amateur qualifying a few days later. He shot 72 at Los Coyotes to qualify by a shot.

Conway, who says he has been playing golf for as long as he can remember, was a force in his early days. But over the last two years he has struggled to regain that form.

“Until he was 14, he would just dominate,” Lavery said. “He went through a rough patch for a year or two when he just didn’t have it, then all of a sudden he started playing well again.”

He is long and accurate off the tee, averaging about 270-275 yards with a driver. He has a delicate short game and can get hot with the putter. But it is his iron play that makes him so good.

“He rarely misses greens with his irons,” Lavery said. “It seems like he’s always hitting it in there real close.”

College coaches have taken note. Stanford, UCLA and California are among those that have expressed interest in Conway, who says his first choice is Stanford. His father, Bob Conway, played at Stanford.

O’Hara said that Conway’s leadership capabilities will be as valuable to any college team as his skills on the course.

The day before Santa Margarita played in the Southern Section team finals at La Purisima, the team gathered for a meeting. Conway was the only one who had previously played the course and he held court in his hotel room for about 45 minutes answering questions from teammates about how to play the course.

“When he was talking you could hear a pin drop,” O’Hara said. “He talked about every hole, what club to hit, how to play it. He knew every hole--it was amazing.

“I basically picked him as a captain last year because I knew he could handle it. He is a silent leader, but the kids are going to follow him no matter what. He is way beyond his years in maturity.”

O’Hara compares Conway’s game and attitude with that of Ron Won of Irvine, the No. 4-ranked junior golfer in the nation and one of the best Orange County juniors in recent years. He also said Conway, ranked No. 86, could be the best that golf power Santa Margarita has produced.

“No one [from Santa Margarita] has ever done what Steve has done when they were still in high school,” O’Hara said. “I’d say Steve Wagner was our best player ever and Conway is playing better than he is now. I can’t wait to see what he does next year.”

Most likely, Conway will be looking for another wave destined for Pebble Beach. The 2000 U.S. Open will be held there in June.