Woodbridge Standout Lovejoy Doesn’t Miss the Cut

Channing Lovejoy of Woodbridge is back on the golf course, breaking 40 for nine holes and joking about a surfing accident that sliced open the top of her foot.

But for the last two weeks, when the injury caused her too much pain to walk or even wear shoes, it was no laughing matter.

Lovejoy, an all-county selection as a junior last year and the top player for the eighth-ranked Warriors this year, needed seven stitches to repair the wound. She missed the first three matches of the season, including the Estancia tournament Sept. 20.

“I didn’t even know it happened,” said Lovejoy, who has been surfing only since the beginning of this year. “I was just sitting on the beach and I looked down and I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ ”

The blood was gushing from a deep gash, and didn’t stop until she reached the emergency room.

She said the cold water made her feet numb and she couldn’t determine the ride that caused the injury or how long it had gone unnoticed.

“One of the skegs probably got me,” she said. “Either that or it was low tide, so it could have been a rock.”

After the initial shock of the bloody mess, Lovejoy said her thoughts turned immediately to golf.

“The first thing I thought of was that I won’t be able to wear golf shoes,” she said.

She wore flip flops for a week, even showing up at team practices to work on putting, but was determined to return to competition for a match against Santa Margarita Sept. 21--the day after she had the stitches removed.

She found the biggest pair of golf shoes in her closet, shot 39 and was co-medalist in her first match of the year.

“I’m back to normal now,” said Lovejoy, whose father is Big Canyon Country Club head pro Bob Lovejoy. “I’m happy with my game. I think it’s at the point that I want it to be.”

That point is close to where it was last year, when she shot a county-best 77 at the Southern Section Individual finals and was runner-up in the Sea View League finals.

With the injury behind her, Lovejoy said she can concentrate on the season.

“I’m really excited to be playing on a team,” she said. “We’re in a new league and we have new competition. It should be a fun season.”

She knows it might not have been. A former youth softball player, Lovejoy has seen her share of emergency rooms and injuries.

“I’ve had so many broken bones and sprained or jammed ankles and fingers,” shesaid. “It’s probably good that I play golf now.”

Especially since her parents and her coach have ordered her to stay away from surfboards until golf season is over.

“I definitely have been banned from surfing,” she said.

MISSING MONARCH

Mater Dei’s 4-0 start is impressive on its own, but even more so considering that sophomore Shayna Shaw hasn’t played a match.

Shaw, runner-up in the South Coast League last year and expected to be the top player for the Monarchs this year, is still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, Mater Dei Coach Cathy Quesnell said.

Heather McDermott and Laura Johsz have picked up the slack for the Monarchs, who have averaged 139 over nine holes. McDermott is averaging 43.7 and Johsz has a 45.5 average.

Quesnell expects to have Shaw back sometime in October.

ALL TOGETHER NOW

When Woodbridge defeated Santa Margarita, 223-225, last week at Tijeras Creek, the scores raised some eyebrows.

Counting the top three players from each team, those scores average 74.6 per player--either an exceptionally good 18-hole score or an extremely poor nine holes.

Turns out, it was neither.

Coaches Tracy Roberts of Woodbridge and Tim O’Hara of Santa Margarita agreed to count their best five scores in the nine-hole match, making the average score 44.8 more realistic for two of the top teams in the county.

“We thought it would be fun to keep everybody’s score and make them work,” Roberts said. “It makes them stay more focused knowing they will let down the team if they don’t.

WINDS OF CHANGE

The Southern Section is considering changing the way girls’ golf is scored, section spokesman Thom Simmons said.

Under the current system, the top three out of four scores count toward a team score. In boys’ golf, the top five out of six are counted. Simmons said a change to the boys’ system “is in the discussion phase.”

Another possibility would be to use four out of five scores.

If you have an item or idea for the girls’ golf report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at peter.yoon@latimes.com