Cha shines in qualifier

UC Irvine golfer Tim Cha and Newport Beach resident Stewart Hagestad finished first and second, respectively, to qualify for next month’s U.S. Amateur Championship. But it was Cha who stole the show.

Cha’s first-round score at the U.S. Amateur Open Qualifier at Big Canyon Country Club on Monday was a tournament leading four-under-par 68. His second round started out with four birdies in a row and ended with him winning the qualifier by nine shots.

Cha started the day with eight straight pars, but it was his ninth hole where he started to gain momentum. He made an eagle and then followed it up with a birdie on the 10th hole, creating a sufficient lead early on.

It was a lead he would not stop adding to.

He finished his first round without a bogey and after he saw his name atop the leaders, he knew he was in a good position to take the whole thing.

“I was hitting a lot of greens all day,” Cha said. “Once I saw the leaderboard I knew all I really needed to do was finish one-under to win it.”

However, Cha may not have known who his competition was that day.

Hagestad, whose home is near Big Canyon’s eighth hole, has grown up on the course and went into the day with the mentality that this was his tournament to take.

“Before the round, all I was thinking was that this was my tournament to win,” said Hagestad, who finished fifth at the Junior World Golf Championships boys’ 15-17 division July 18. “I wasn’t hitting the ball that well on the range, but I still felt no one would beat me on my home course.”

Thursday, Hagestad will begin his quest for the title at the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Florida, where he finished second last year.

He had a great chance to win Monday. Knowing every aspect of Big Canyon, Hagestad, 18, took advantage of his course knowledge and finished ahead of all but one golfer. After two rounds of 72 and 70, his two-under would have won if it wasn’t for Cha’s phenomenal day.

“He went nuts,” Hagestad said about Cha’s two rounds.

After a first-round 68, Cha started out his second round with four straight birdies and never looked back. He continued his second round with a conservative mentality, but ended up making four more birdies on the round. His only hiccup of the day was his sole bogey to bring his second-round score to a 65 and his total score after 36 holes to 11-under.

Sean Shahi, who will be a senior at UCI this fall, finished sixth (74-74) in Monday’s qualifier.

“In my ten years at Irvine I have only seen two or three guys hit under a 67 at Big Canyon,” UC Irvine Coach Paul Smolinksi said of Cha. “I am really proud of him. Only a handful of our golfers have ever qualified for the Amateur Open and to have two do it this year is pretty remarkable.”

Cha will join his teammate John Chin at Pinehurst in August. Chin qualified earlier this month at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, where he was runner-up. The two will be competing against a field of 312 amateurs in a six-day tournament.

After the U.S. Amateur Open is over, both golfers will attend UC Irvine, but only Chin will be golfing. Cha and his coach have made the decision for Cha to redshirt this season in order for him to complete his school credits on time and improve his game before attempting to become a professional golfer.

After his two rounds on Monday, it might not be too long until he is.

MARK RATTO may be reached at (714) 966-4616.