Depth Helps Santa Margarita Win Title; Sunny Hills Second

By MICHAEL ITAGAKI

May 14, 1996 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

PALM SPRINGS — After only one hole, Santa Margarita senior Greg Pittenger knew it was going to be a special day.

“I hit my tee shot 50 yards,” Pittenger said of the 379-yard first hole, “but I still made par.”

Pittenger was three-under par on the front nine and finished with a one-over 73 for the Eagles, who used their depth to win their first Southern Section Team Championship Monday at Canyon Country Club.

Pittenger didn’t even post the lowest score on his team. Junior Nate Blauer shot a one-under 71 on the 6,869-yard par-72 course to help Santa Margarita post a team score of 370, edging Sunny Hills by four strokes.

Santa Margarita, which won the Southern Regional last week by 24 strokes, had all six players shoot 79 or better. Senior Steve Wagner shot 73, junior Nick Fritz 76, junior Kelly Craig 77 and sophomore Jimmy Dunn shot a 79, which was not counted.

Although the Eagles had won the 1992 CIF Southern California Golf Assn. title and the Southern Regional titles in 1993, ‘95, and this year, the section team championship had eluded them.

“I think we were expecting to win this by a good margin,” Pittenger said after he finished his round. “We’ll be disappointed if we don’t win.”

There was no disappointment, just calm celebration after the Eagles posted the lowest winning score for the team championships at Canyon Country Club. Estancia shot 371 in 1990.

The section’s team championships record is held by Santa Barbara San Marcos, which shot 364 at Camarillo Springs in 1981.

“We shot 374 today and that would win most years,” Sunny Hills Coach Tim Devaney said. “I think there were a half dozen teams here that thought they could win. Our guys thought they could play better. But we knew we’d have to beat Santa Margarita to win.”

Sophomore Philip Lee led the Lancers, shooting par 72 including a three-under 32 on the front nine. Jin Park shot 73 and 1994 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Terry Noe shot 75.

Servite and University also made respectable showings, finishing ninth and 10th. Adam Ainbinder shot 74 for Servite (391) and Ron Won and Lee Orr each shot 76s for University (395).

Santa Margarita and Sunny Hills advanced to the CIF-SCGA Championships June 6 at the SCGA Members’ Club at Rancho California in Murrieta. Monday’s top four teams qualified.

Palos Verdes Peninsula and Redlands tied for fourth at 380, but Peninsula won a one-hole fourth-place playoff.

Westlake freshman J.T. Kohut shot two-under 70 to earn medalist honors and lead the Warriors to a third-place finish at 379.

Westlake appeared ready to challenge for the championship, but the Warriors’ top player, UCLA-bound senior Ross Fulgentis, shot 84.

Although Matt McCrite shot one-under 71 and USC-bound senior Linda Ishii shot 76, the Warriors barely held on to third place.

“Ross just really struggled,” Westlake Coach Dave Costley said. “He shot four-over 76 [in the Southern Section Northern Regional at La Purisima in Lompoc] last week.

“Today, we had some other really outstanding rounds and if Ross would have been close to his normal form . . . “

It would have been closer, but Santa Margarita Coach Tim O’Hara still felt good about his team’s chances throughout the day.

“I thought if we could get one or two guys under par, that would do it,” O’Hara said.