Brea Olinda, Los Alamitos Advance to Finals

A smile from Coach Ken Lutz and a sigh from senior Brad Sader simply described how Brea Olinda finally avoided heartbreak.

Brea Olinda and Los Alamitos finished among the top three at the Southern Section Southern Regional Monday at Los Serranos to qualify for Thursday’s team golf finals at La Purisima in Lompoc.

In each of the last three seasons, Brea Olinda missed making the team finals by one stroke. And Monday the Wildcats played without last season’s Orange County player of the year, Alex Oh, and his twin, Brad, who were suspended from school last week.

And even after Brea’s Jason Woodrome shot a one-over 75 on the 7,088-yard South Course and sophomore Ryan Sader added a 79 to help the Wildcats to a 395, Lutz paced nervously after Long Beach Wilson posted a tournament-low 379, led by Nick Badel’s two-under 72 and John Merrick’s 73.

“I was reliving nightmares of past experiences,” said Brea senior Brad Sader, who shot 77. “But to finally make it? It’s a big lift off our shoulders.”

Los Alamitos tied Brea at 395 to claim the final qualifying spot. Seniors Brett Dolch and Matt Crawford each shot 78s to help the Griffins reach their second consecutive team final.

A notable absence from Monday’s tournament was Fountain Valley’s Candie Kung, the top-ranked girls’ junior in the nation.

Kung is scheduled to play Wednesday in a U.S. Open qualifier in Pittsburgh, Fountain Valley Coach Don Terranove said.

At the Eastern Regional:

University qualifies--Brian Sinay shot three-under 69 and Ron Won shot 72 at Mesquite Country Club in Palm Springs to lead the Trojans, who shot 370, the low score of the regional.