Santa Margarita Stands by Itself

The real Santa Margarita golf team finally stood up.

The Eagles lost the Serra League title to Anaheim Servite and said “just wait.”

Frustrated by a second-place finish to Servite in the Western Divisional, they reiterated the sentiment.

Even after an eight-shot victory in the Southern Section championships last month, Santa Margarita was not satisfied.

The Eagles finally unleashed their potential in record-setting fashion Tuesday at the season-ending CIF-SCGA championships.

Led by UCLA-bound senior Steve Conway and his tournament-record seven-under-par 65, the Eagles scorched the SCGA Members’ Club in Murrieta with a team tournament record three-under 357 to win by six shots over La Costa Canyon.

The team total, the first in tournament history under par, broke the previous record of 362 set by Westlake in 1987. Conway broke the record of 66 set by Ron Won of Irvine University last year.

“We kept waiting and waiting for this,” Santa Margarita Coach Tim O’Hara said. “I guess we picked the right day to do it.”

Dave Hawkins shot 71 for Santa Margarita, Taylor Wood 72, Scott Manley 73 and Mike Farrell 76. Andrew Price was disqualified for failing to sign his scorecard. He shot 73.

It is the third time Santa Margarita has won the CIF-SCGA tournament, which pits the top teams in the Southern, Central, San Diego and City sections against one another and is the closest thing to a state tournament in golf. But this is the first time the Eagles have won the tournament the same year they won a Southern Section title.

Conway, who did not make it through regional qualifying as an individual and was playing on a team exemption, birdied Nos. 10, 11, 13, 15 and 17 to go seven under and finished with a par.

“I started feeling it after my drive on eight,” Conway said. “I hit that one right in the middle. My swing was perfect and it just clicked. I didn’t really miss any shots after that.”