Moon Rises to Tie for Second at 69

Forget the unseasonably cool wind that whipped around the SCGA Members’ Club course all day Tuesday in this desert town.

Roy Moon of Royal High wasn’t about to let it ruin his round in the CIF-SCGA boys’ individual golf championships.

“I finished pretty strong, with three birdies in the final six holes,” Moon said.

Moon, a junior, continued his hot streak by shooting a three-under 69 over the 6,722-yard course to finish in a tie for second place with Chris Whitaker of Palisades.

Moon finished three strokes behind Ron Won of Irvine University, whose 66 established a tournament record.

The previous mark of 67 was set by Charley Hoffman of Poway, now at Nevada Las Vegas, at Bernardo Heights Country Club in 1995.

Moon won the Marmonte League title and shot a 69 in the Southern Section final on May 20 to advance to the CIF-SCGA championships.

His recent success, he said, is mostly because of a new philosophy.

“I’m trying to play a little safer,” Moon said. “Basically, I looked at my stats and it came down to me hitting fairways. I noticed that when I did that on a regular basis, I shot pretty well.”

To make that plan work, Moon removed the driver from his bag and is using a two-wood off the tee.

It worked well Tuesday, as demonstrated on his last hole, the 565-yard, par-five 13th.

“I hit an OK drive,” Moon said. “I tried to lay up to the [150-yard marker]. I hit a six-iron and I had 173 left to the pin. I put it on the back of the pin, putted, took my par and got out.”

For Ryan Wyman of Hart, one of the tournament favorites, putting was his downfall at Murrieta. He finished with six-over 78.

“I hit 14 greens [in regulation] but I couldn’t make a birdie,” said Wyman, who is headed for Long Beach State. “I had six or seven 10-footers for birdie and I couldn’t make anything. I didn’t feel comfortable over the putter at all.”

The round pretty much disintegrated for Wyman on the first tee, his ninth hole after a shotgun start, when his drive went out of bounds on the right side and he took a double-bogey seven.

While Wyman’s round came apart, Chris Darnell of Westlake was hanging tough.

Darnell, in a foursome with Wyman, Shawn Andrews of Nordhoff and Jordan Scott of San Marcos, was playing for the first time since breaking a hand in April.

He sustained the injury after tripping in class and trying to catch himself on a table. He got the go-ahead from a doctor to resume playing only a few weeks ago.

Darnell, a senior, finished at 74 despite troubles with--this sound familiar?--putting.

“I drove the ball excellent,” Darnell said. “I hit 15 greens. . . . The wind dried up the greens so they wouldn’t bite. But I’m very satisfied.”

Also scoring well was Jeff Osborn of Flintridge Prep, who finished one-under par to tie for sixth.

Other low scorers from the region included Ian Medlock of Westlake at 72, Zack King of Ventura at 73, Andy Smith of Hart at 75, Brian Edick of Hart at 76, Mark Lauver of Hart at 76 and J.T. Kohut of Westlake at 77.

At 78 were John Huppert and Kuu Sin, both of Granada Hills.

Finishing at 79 were Scott Bashin and Keith Romar, both of Birmingham, and Jeff Siembieda of Hart.

For Moon, the end to his junior season was much more upbeat than last year.

“I started kind of slow [this season] and paced myself,” Moon said. “In the 10th grade, I started hot and cooled off.”

Even the wind couldn’t do that to Moon this time.

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PARKING IT

* Although Julie Park, above, of Granada Hills High said she had been in a slump, she shot a three-over-par 75 to tie for sixth in the CIF-SCGA girls’ golf tournament on Tuesday at the SCGA Members’ Club in Murrieta.

* Hart and Westlake tied for fourth in the boys’ team competition by shooting 384, 14 strokes behind champion San Marcos.

Details, Page 9

* Ron Won of Irvine University finishes off an illustrious career with a CIF-SCGA boys’ tournament title.

Details, Page 3