Moon Eclipses Marmonte Foes to Capture Title

Roy Moon of Royal High wrapped up his first individual title in the Marmonte League boys’ golf finals at Sunset Hills Country Club on Thursday, but he frowned when asked about his final round.

Moon, a junior, shot a three-over par 285 in the four-round tournament to defeat Westlake teammates Ian Medlock and Brian O’Flaherty by three strokes, but he was disappointed with his seven-over-par 78 in the fourth round.

“I just wanted to finish strong,” Moon said. “I had had five [consecutive] rounds under par before today, but I just didn’t play well. Perhaps I was a little burned out.”

Moon, runner-up to J.T. Kohut of Westlake in last year’s tournament, parred the 10th hole to start the final round, but then came a triple bogey on the par-five 11th after hitting two shots out of bounds.

He had six pars and a birdie to finish the back nine at two-over 38, but bogeys on Nos. 1, 2 and 6 and a double bogey on No. 8 led to a five-over par 40 on the front nine.

“I started pretty bad,” Moon said. “I did all right for the rest of the back nine, but then I just started struggling on the front.”

Medlock, a senior, made up 10 strokes on Moon with a final round of 68 and then beat sophomore O’Flaherty in a sudden-death playoff for second. Kohut, a senior and two-time defending champion, shot a 72 to finish fourth at 292.

Westlake won its eighth consecutive title with a final round of 368 and a 1,471 total. Simi Valley shot 1,541 to finish second for the third consecutive year, and Royal was third at 1,577.

The top three teams advanced to the Northern Regional at River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard on Monday, and the top six individuals qualified for the Northern Regional at La Cumbre Country Club in Santa Barbara on May 17.

Kohut was favored to win his third title in a row when the tournament began at Elkins Ranch Golf Course near Fillmore on April 27, but a five-over-par 76 left him seven strokes behind first-place Moon.

Kohut and Moon each shot a one-under-par 68 at Los Robles Golf Course in Thousand Oaks two days later, but Kohut’s five-over-par 76 at Simi Hills Golf Course on Tuesday left him 13 strokes behind Moon entering the final round.