PREP GOLF : San Diegan Shoots a 68 to Win Title--and Perhaps Much More

Mike Samoles of Patrick Henry High in San Diego might have earned a college scholarship with one round of golf Monday.

Samoles said negotiations with a coach from a university he declined to identify suggested that he needed a strong showing at the CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. tournament.

“I felt I had to finish in the top three to have that opportunity,” he said. “Putts just kept falling, and I won.”

Samoles shot a three-under-par 68 in winning the boys’ individual title at Stockdale Country Club.

Samoles, the only player under par, birdied two of his final four holes and finished with four birdies and a bogey.

“It’s my first win in either junior or high school golf,” he said. “It’s a nice way to start.”

It was the first time in the 23-year history of the event that the boys’ individual title was decided in 18 holes instead of 36.

Darren Angel, a sophomore from Granada Hills, and Andrew Wen, a junior from Vista Rancho Buena Vista, each shot 71, with Wen taking second because of better score on the back nine. Poway’s Bill Lunde and Greg Padilla each shot 72, Lunde getting fourth. Steve Wagner of Santa Margarita was sixth with a 73.

Wagner, a freshman, led Santa Margarita to the team championship. The Eagles, who finished second in the Southern Section team championship last month, had five players at 79 or better and finished at 375, 20 over par.

Del Mar Torrey Pines was second at 380 and Palm Desert, which won the previous two Southern Section titles, was third at 386.

Santa Margarita junior Kellee Booth retained her girls’ individual title with a 74.