Conway Ties Cuff in State Am Qualifying

Steve Conway of Dove Canyon shot a tournament-low 69 in the second round of stroke play at the California Amateur Championship Tuesday at Pebble Beach Golf Links and tied defending champion Ed Cuff Jr. of Temecula for first place with a two-day total of 142.

Conway, who will be a senior at Santa Margarita High in the fall, lost a playoff for medalist honors and the No. 1 seeding in the 32-player match-play field when Cuff parred the first extra hole.

Cuff faces Garrett Wagner of Pleasanton today in the first round of match play.

Conway, 16, is the youngest player to make match play. He will play John Wardup of San Diego in the first round.

Kemp Richardson of Laguna Niguel (147) and Jason Gross of San Clemente (153) also finished in the top 32. Richardson plays Tom Johnson of Fair Oaks in the first round and Gross plays 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Tim Hogarth of Chatsworth.

BOOTH, KUNG ADVANCE

Kellee Booth of Coto de Caza shot a second-round 71 Tuesday at the Women’s Western Golf Assn. Amateur Championship and won medalist honors with a two-day total of 140 at The Hawthorne Golf and Country Club in Fishers, Ind.

Booth, runner-up to Grace Park in the 1998 tournament, finished stroke play three shots ahead of Meredith Duncan of Shreveport, La.

Candie Kung of Fountain Valley shot 70 in the second round and finished tied for fifth at 150.

The top 64 players advance to match play, which begins today and continues through a 36-hole final on Saturday.

RHO TAKES LEAD

Angela Rho of Fullerton shot two-under-par 70 Tuesday and has a one-stroke lead over Hana Kim of Encino after the first round of the AJGA Mission Hills Desert Junior Championship girls’ division at Mission Hills Country Club.

Alex Oh of Brea, Sung Yoon Kim of Tustin and Nico Bollini of Yorba Linda each shot 73 in the boys’ division and are in a 10-way tie for 10th, four strokes behind leader Troy McKinley of Danville.

Ron Won of Irvine shot 74, Brian Sigler of Fullerton shot 75 and Brad Oh of Brea and Dusty Schmidt of Chino Hills each shot 76.

The three-round tournament ends Thursday.

THREE QUALIFY

Len Studinger of Aliso Viejo, Jimmy Adams of Newport Beach and amateur Kemp Richardson of Laguna Niguel have qualified for the U.S. Senior Open July 8-11 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Des Moines, Iowa.

Studinger shot 69 and was medalist in the qualifying tournament June 17 at Alta Vista Country Club in Placentia. Adams shot 71 and finished second in the same event. Richardson shot 72 and tied for second at a qualifier June 14 at La Jolla Country Club.

EURO CASH

Alan Tapie of Laguna Niguel and Ray Carrasco of Irvine are having great success on the Senior European Tour. They finished second and third in their first event in May in Turkey and currently Tapie is second on the money list and Carrasco is fifth.

Tapie has won 39,344 eurodollars (about $40,500 at current exchange rates) and Carrasco 28,681.

Tapie and Carrasco are in England this week for the Lawrence Batley Senior at Huddersfield Golf Club in West Yorkshire.

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TEE TIMES

A look at upcoming tournaments in the region or major events involving top regional players.

JUNE

* 21-24: California Net Amateur Match Play Championship, Poppy Hills GC, Pebble Beach/Bayonet and Blackhorse GC, Marina/Del Monte GC, Monterey; AJGA Mission Hills Desert Junior, Mission Hills CC, Rancho Mirage; AJGA Junior Championship, Trophy Lake GC, Seattle.

* 21-26: California Amateur Championship, Pebble Beach Golf Links/Spyglass Hill GC.

* 22-27: U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, Santa Ana GC, Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

* 23-25: California Senior Amateur Championship, Poppy Hills GC, Pebble Beach.

* 26-27: U.S. Amateur Public Links Qualifying, Alister MacKenzie GC, Sacramento.

* 28: U.S. Amateur Public Links Qualifying, Carmel Mountain Ranch CC, San Diego; SCPGA Players Championship, Crystalaire CC, Llano, Calif.

* 28-1: AJGA Junior Classic, Langdon Farms GC, Portland, Ore.

* 29: SCGA Amateur Qualifying, Brookside GC #1, Pasadena/Rio Hondo GC, Downey/SCGA Members Club, Murrieta; U.S. Girls Junior Amateur Qualifying, Coto de Caza Golf and Racquet Club.

* 30: U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur Qualifying, Claremont CC, Oakland; SCPGA Pro-Junior Championship, Temeku Hills GC, Temecula.

* 30-1: SCPGA Junior Cup Series, Indian Wells CC.

JULY

* 1: SCGA Amateur Qualifying, Oak Valley GC, Beaumont/Tahquitz Creek GC, Palm Springs.

* 5: U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying, Auburn Valley CC, Sacramento; Stanford University GC.

* 6-10: AJGA Tournament of Champions, Ohio State Scarlet GC, Columbus, Ohio.

* 7: U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying, Carlton Oaks CC, Santee.

* 8-11: U.S. Senior Open, Des Moines G&CC;, Des Moines, Iowa.

* 12: U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying, Woodland Hills CC; U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying, Ft. Washington G&CC;, Fresno.

* 12-15: AJGA Sacramento Junior Championship, Twelve Bridges GC, Lincoln.

* 12-16: California State Open, Coyote Hills GC, Fullerton.

* 12-17: U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, Spencer T. Olin Community GC, Alton, Ill.

* 16-18: SCGA Amateur Championship, Industry Hills GC.

*19-22: AJGA Junior Championship, Coto de Caza Golf and Racquet Club.

* 21-22: SCGA Affiliate Championship, Coronado GC, Coronado.

* 26: U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying, Mission Viejo CC/Bakersfield CC/Pauma Valley CC.

* 26-27: SCPGA Junior Cup Series, PGA West Resort, La Quinta.

* 26-29: AJGA Betsy Rawls Girls’ National Championship, Dupont CC, Wilmington, Del.

* 28: U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying, SCGA Members Club, Murrieta.

* 29: U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying, Western Hills CC, Chino Hills.

AUGUST

* 2: U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying, Apple Valley CC/Tustin Ranch GC.

* 2-5: AJGA Southwestern Junior Classic, The Championship Course at UNM, Albuquerque, N.M.

* 2-6: AJGA Boys’ Junior Championship, Gleneagles CC, Plano, Tex.

* 2-7: U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, Green Spring Valley Hunt Club, Owings Mills, Md.

* 3-6: Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, Seattle CC, Seattle.

* 4-5: SCPGA Junior Cup Series, Moreno Valley Ranch GC.

* 9-10: SCPGA Junior Cup Series, La Quinta Resort.

* 9-12: AJGA Cup, Long Cove GC, Hilton Head, S.C.

* 9-14: U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, Biltmore Forest CC, Asheville, N.C.

* 10-13: AJGA Colorado Junior Roundup, Legacy Ridge GC, Westminster, Colo.

* 12: SCGA Mid-Amateur Qualifying, SCGA Members Club, Murrieta.

* 16: SCGA Mid-Amateur Qualifying, Wood Ranch GC, Simi Valley.

* 16-17: SCPGA Junior Cup Series, Tustin Ranch GC.

* 16-19: AJGA Boise Junior Classic, Warm Springs GC, Boise, Idaho.

* 16-20: U.S. Amateur Championship, Pebble Beach Golf Links.

* 18: SCGA Mid-Amateur Qualifying, Warner Springs Ranch, Warner Springs.

* 19: SCGA Mid-Amateur Qualifying, Friendly Hills CC, Whittier.

* 23-26: AJGA Western Canadian Junior, Glencoe G&CC;, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

* 26-29: AJGA Phoenix Junior Championship, Karsten Golf Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz.

* 24: SCGA Four-Ball Net Qualifying, Menifee Lakes GC/Sierra La Verne CC/Soule Park GC, Ojai/Steele Canyon GC, Jamul.

* 30: SCGA Senior Amateur Qualifying, Antelope Valley CC, Palmdale; U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying, Virginia CC, Long Beach/CC of Rancho Bernardo.

* 30-31: SCPGA Junior Cup Series, Singing Hills Resort, El Cajon.

HOW TO REACH US

If you have an item for Chip Shots, Tee Times or Leaderboard, give us a call at (714) 966-5904 and ask for golf writer Peter Yoon. You can also fax us with your news, notes, results or tournament information at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail them to ocsports@latimes.com.