Greens Won’t Give, Surber’s 71 Takes Fifth

MURRIETA — Valley-area players came close but couldn’t get many putts to drop in the CIF-SCGA golf championships Tuesday at the SCGA Members’ Club.

Russell Surber of Flintridge Prep shot one-under par 71 to tie for fifth, Chuck Ruiz of Alemany High shot 73 and Mike Briano of Sylmar shot 74.

David Oh of Whitney took individual honors with a 68. Santa Margarita won the team title with a five-player score of 365, three shots shy of the tournament record set by Westlake in 1987.

Chatsworth finished ninth at 408 and Birmingham was last at 418 in the 10-team tournament in which City Section teams traditionally do not fare well against teams from the Central, San Diego and Southern sections.

“I just couldn’t get any putts to fall,” said Surber, who hit 16 greens in regulation but made just two birdies. “I was rolling it pretty good, so I’m happy that they were good putts.”

Ruiz, playing this late in the high school season for the first time, had the same problems.

“A few three-putts kind of hurt me,” the Cal State Northridge-bound senior said. “I had my share of opportunities. I played well but in golf you can shoot the best round of your life and still be mad about that one shot.”

J.T. Kohut of Westlake, who along with Surber was considered a title contender, could not recover from a double-bogey on the par-5 fourth hole and shot a 76.

Surber, made a 25-foot putt for birdie on his last hole of the day, the par-3 10th. It was the first putt he made from outside of 10 feet.

“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “I was trying to get one to fall all day.”

Surber, who recently won the American Junior Golf Assn. tournament at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, made his only bogey when he missed a five-foot putt at the par-4 14th hole.

Surber has switched instructors and clubs over the last year and totally reworked his swing, yet his score of 71 matched his total from last year when he finished third.

“I guess I haven’t improved any,” he said with a laugh.

In the girls’ tournament, Westlake’s Alicia Um tied for third at two-under par 70, three strokes behind winner Nicole Dalkas of Palm Desert, who hit all 18 greens in regulation and played a bogey-free round.

“I did what I wanted to,” said Um, who will attend UCLA and walk on to the golf team. “My goal was par or better.”

Sophomore Julie Park of Granada Hills shot 76 and City girls’ champion Sachi Uechi, also of Granada Hills, was disqualified because she failed to sign her scorecard.