Hot Round Helps Marsh Extend Lead to 5 Strokes

SANTA MARIA —  About the only change in the leaderboard after Saturday’s third round of the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championships was that the leaders were farther in front.

Second-round leader Kevin Marsh, a Goleta resident who played at Pepperdine for the past four seasons, scorched Santa Maria Country Club in the third round with a six-under-par 66.

Marsh, who held a four-stroke lead after two rounds, heads into today’s final round with a total of 204--five shots ahead of Pat Duncan of Rancho Santa Fe, who shot a 68, and six shots better than Santa Barbara’s John Pate, who shot 69.

Even though Marsh holds a comfortable lead and has yet to make a bogey, he remains cautious about his position.

“The lead is not going to mean much until you get to the last couple of holes,” he said. “I just want to keep playing the way I’ve been playing.”

Jason Gore of Valencia made a charge in the third round, starting with birdies at the first two holes and finishing with birdies on 17 and 18 to shoot a 68. He jumped from a tie for 10th to a tie for fourth.

“It’s tough shooting four-under and losing strokes to the leader,” said Gore, Marsh’s teammate at Pepperdine last season.

Gore wasn’t the only one to play well and lose strokes.

Marsh’s 66 was the best round of the tournament. He finished the front nine by draining a quick, downhill six-foot birdie putt to make the turn at three-under. After birdies at the par-three 12th and par-four 16th, Marsh provided the round’s most dramatic moment.

Playing in the last group of the day, he hit his approach shot at the par-four 18th to the left front of the green, 25 feet from the hole.

With most of his competitors looking on, Marsh stroked a putt that rolled to the hole, stopped on the lip for split second and dropped in, eliciting wild cheers from the gallery and putting an exclamation point on an already brilliant round.

Craig Steinberg of Van Nuys, who has won the tournament three times, was not quite as fortunate with his putter.

After making birdies on two of the first four holes, he missed par putts from under five feet on seven, eight and nine en route to a second consecutive round of 73 and a total of 215.

Steinberg, who says putting is the strength of his game, seemed confused and frustrated.

“I putted OK, I just didn’t make anything,” he said.

He returned to the putting green four hours after his round to practice.

Brandon Jones of Agoura Hills birdied three of the last four holes on the front nine and shot a 67, putting him at 215.

Chad Wright of Ventura fired 70 to bring his three-day total to 216. Other local players include Michael Turner of Van Nuys, who shot a 72 for a total of 220; Kelly Schlender of Thousand Oaks (78, 221) and Rick Pratt of Valencia (79, 228).