Golfers Under Scrutiny

Lake Highland Prep of Orlando, Fla., is under investigation by the Florida High School Activities Association for playing illegal matches against Santa Margarita, Servite and Palm Desert last week, FHSAA spokesman Jack Watford said Monday.

Boys’ golf is a fall sport in Florida and Lake Highland would have needed a waiver from the FHSAA to play matches out of season. Watford said no such waiver was granted.

“We are looking into the matter,” Watford said. “If they played matches then, yes, they are in violation of our bylaws. We have contacted them and they are claiming that they were not playing official matches against those schools.”

Lake Highland features sophomore Ty Tryon, the 16-year-old who finished 39th at the PGA Tour Honda Classic March 11. The team was on a pre-planned trip to Southern California last week.

Though scores were kept in each match--Santa Margarita defeated Lake Highland and Servite tied the Highlanders--Lake Highland Coach Jon Busch said his team was playing “just for fun” and requested that the scores not be reported.

Watford, who did not want to speculate on possible punishments, said the FHSAA intends to contact Servite and Santa Margarita as part of the investigation. Southern Section spokesman Thom Simmons said Santa Margarita, Servite and Palm Desert did not violate section rules by playing against Lake Highland.

PAR FOR THE COURSE

Servite shot eight-over-par 358 against Orange Lutheran at Willowick and Los Coyotes last week, including a one-over-par 176 at Willowick. But the eye-popping score wasn’t that big of a deal to Coach Tim Meagher.

“It’s not a bad score, but its indicative of where you are playing,” Meagher said. “That day at Willowick all the tee boxes were up front. The course was laying more like a par 33.”

The score may be a school record, but Meagher, in his third year as coach, wasn’t certain.

“That’s probably the lowest,” he said. “But I’m not a big score guy.”

LOOKING AHEAD

League play begins in most leagues this week and no league opener carries more weight than the match between San Clemente, ranked fourth in the county, and No. 5 Capistrano Valley to kick off the South Coast League today at Marbella . . . Also today, Servite will try to avenge its only regular-season loss from last year when it plays Calabasas at Calabasas Country Club.

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

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BOYS’ GOLF TOP 10

Orange County Sportswriters’ Poll

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Pos. School League Rec 1. Servite Serra 2-1 2. Santa Margarita Serra 2-0 3. Huntington Beach Sunset 2-0 4. San Clemente South Coast 1-0 5. Capistrano Valley South Coast 6-0 6. Sunny Hills Freelance 1-0 7. Esperanza Sunset 5-0 8. Villa Park Century 4-2 9. Brea Olinda Orange 2-1 10. Marina Sunset 4-0

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