San Diego’s Aubry rags to riches to rags

COSTA MESA — Somewhere deep in the lake near the 18th hole at Costa Mesa Country Club there is a lob wedge.

It’s a symbol of the type of day that unfolded for Michael Aubry, a 27-year-old from San Diego.

Golf can sometimes be a cruel game and Aubry learned that on Sunday, while competing in the championship flight of the Costa Mesa City Championship.

After his final round, Aubry, with a bottle of beer in one hand, tossed his lob wedge into the lake with the other.

That spoke volumes of his short game, or lack thereof, that cost him the title. He led by two shots after he birdied the first two holes. But lost it eventually. He three-putted on the greens at least three times and came undone.

Once the leader, he finished tied for 28th. He was two-under-par 68 on the first day. Eight-over on Sunday and finished six-over 146.

“I couldn’t read the greens,” Aubry said. “It was so frustrating. I would look at a putt, and I would think, I don’t know which way to go.”

During the early part of the front nine on Sunday, Aubry was baffling Will Tipton, a Corona del Mar resident who finished second after losing in a sudden-death playoff to Chris Hirahatake.

The word was out on Tipton, a former player at USC, and Hirahatake, who competed briefly at UC San Diego.

But hardly anyone knew of Aubry.

He never played in college and doesn’t belong to a golf club in San Diego. In fact, the Costa Mesa City Championship was only his second tournament in the past eight years.

He picked up golf as a 10-year-old. Later, after high school, he served six years for the U.S. Air Force.

He was hoping to come away with a championship, gaining confidence after the first two holes, but he was just left standing, staring at the leaderboard, drinking beer.

“After the first two holes I felt pretty confident and then it all went downhill from there,” Aubry said. “The short game is key in the game of golf. If you’re going to play this game, you need to spend more time [at the putting greens] than out on the driving range.”

Aubry could definitely drive. Tipton could attest to that. At times, Tipton thought he drove the ball farther than Aubry, only to see the San Diego resident sometimes 40-50 yards ahead.

Even though Aubry fell apart down the stretch, he still seemed to make the trip worthwhile, congratulating Tipton after the final round, and drinking with his buddy Sean Schweikert, who finished tied for 32nd at seven-over 147.

Still, Aubry didn’t stick around to watch the sudden-death playoff that ended on the first hole. He couldn’t bear to watch.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or at steve.virgen@latimes.com.