University Decision Endorsed by SCGA

The decision to disqualify University High last week was scoffed at by the Southern California Golf Assn., the governing body for amateur golf in Southern California.

John Alber, director of rules and competitions for the SCGA, applauded the decision by Southern Section Commissioner Jim Staunton to overturn the disqualification, saying that disqualifying the Trojans would have been misuse of the rules of golf.

“I’m glad he made that decision,” said Alber, who sits on the Southern Section golf committee but was not consulted about the matter. “They should have never been disqualified.”

Tournament officials disqualified University for violating the advice rule after several complaints about Trojan players talking to each other on the course. Senior Sunny Lee and junior Angela Won acknowledged they spoke, but said the conversation was limited to inquiries about each other’s scores.

The rules of golf prohibit teammates from giving advice to one another, but Alber said knowledge of scores cannot be considered advice.

“A player’s score on any hole is public information,” Alber said. “Once that ball goes in the hole, the score can be shared by anyone. Sharing anything considered public information is not a violation of the advice rule.”

SPECIAL DELIVERY

Santa Margarita Coach Tim O’Hara wasn’t sure if he would make the trip to Santa Barbara for the Southern Section team final because his wife was due to deliver the couple’s fourth child.

The baby, a boy, arrived Friday and O’Hara was at the tournament. It is the fourth boy for the O’Haras, but Tim said not to expect the basketball team to be complete. “They’ll have to get me out there to play point guard,” he said. “I think this is going to be it for us.”

FASHION STATEMENT

Los Alamitos’ Jamie Oliver, Michelle Eastlack and Kelly Moffet may not have played well enough to get noticed, but their choice of attire sure drew a lot of attention.

The Griffins made a stop at the Long Beach Salvation Army shop on the way to Santa Barbara and picked up some grotesque garb.

Oliver wore red plaid knickers with a silver glitter belt. Eastlack wore a red plaid kilt and Moffet wore a floor-length baggy green plaid skirt.

“We just wanted to have some fun with this,” Oliver said. “This was our first time here and we don’t know if we’ll be back so we wanted to make it memorable.”

The Griffins shot 285 and finished 11th out of 15 teams.

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