Lots of Birdies Lately in Matt Amen’s Corner

Matt Amen felt punch drunk when he walked off the golf course March 28, and the feeling continued the next day.

Amen, a sophomore at Orange Lutheran High, made an eagle and two birdies in his last four holes March 28 in a match against Whittier Christian at Willowick in Santa Ana, then made four consecutive birdies at Mile Square to begin a match March 29 against Fountain Valley. All told, he was eight under par for eight holes.

Of course, a good old-fashioned bogey brought him back to earth.

“I was definitely like, ‘Where am I?’ ” Amen said. “Then I made a bogey and it was like, ‘OK, now I’m back to playing regular golf.’ ”

Amen has broken par five times in his last eight matches, including his career-best six-under 29 against Whittier Christian. His season average is just over par (36.65 for nine holes) and includes a 10-over-par 45. It is the only round this season in which Amen has not broken 40.

“Every round, there seems to be one or two bad shots,” Amen said. “That round, every shot was a bad shot.”

Amen, 16, is no stranger to the game. His father is a member of Yorba Linda Country Club and Matt has played golf since childhood. He is a regular at Southern California PGA junior tournaments and in his American Junior Golf Assn. debut, he finished seventh last year at the Southwestern Junior classic in New Mexico.

He won the Olympic League individual title as a freshman and came within three strokes of advancing to the Southern Section finals.

“Matt is very serious about golf,” Lancer Coach Les Salisbury said. “He’s going to be a star and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him go all the way [to the PGA Tour].”

Amen drives the ball about 270 yards, and is very accurate. He is working on consistency with his irons and has hit about 70% of the greens in regulation this season. His putting, however, is streaky.

“When I get going with the putter, I can put up some low numbers,” Amen said.

Like eight under par over eight holes.

TIGHT LEAGUES

The talk in the Sea View and South Coast leagues is not about who will win the league titles, it’s about who will be left out of the team playoffs.

Each league has at least four deserving teams, but only three playoff berths.

El Toro (5-1), Dana Hills (4-2), San Clemente (3-2) and Capistrano Valley (2-3) are battling for the South Coast spots, while Woodbridge (3-1), Newport Harbor (3-1), Irvine (2-2) and Aliso Niguel (2-2) are fighting it out in the Sea View.

“It’s too confusing to think about right now,” El Toro Coach Bob Bosanko said. “It will start to sort itself out in the next week.”

Woodbridge and Newport Harbor meet Thursday at Strawberry Farms.

“Anyone can beat anyone,” Woodbridge Coach Tracy Roberts said. “Here we thought that when Santa Margarita left [for the Serra League], the league would be bearable. But it’s actually tougher.”

Woodbridge, which needed a school-record 180 last week to defeat Irvine, has been getting solid play from seniors Nate Yates, Michael Clarke and Andy Browning.

“All the league matches have been tight,” Roberts said. “The only bad thing is that at least one very good team won’t make the playoffs.”

LOOKING AHEAD

The second annual Orange Lutheran tournament takes place Tuesday at Willowick. The eight-team field features four of the county’s top seven teams.

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