Golf

M ike Moorhead and Jake Knapp are both sophomores and they both find themselves at the same spot. But the similarities stop there. The way they each reached this point are different in their special way. Knapp and Moorhead from Estancia High and Corona del Mar, respectively, responded quickly when asked what has been the key to reaching today's CIF SCGA Tournament at the SCGA Course in Murrieta with a CIF State berth on the line. Six players from the 124-golfer field — players tee off at 8 a.m. in a shotgun start — will advance to the CIF State Championship Tuesday at Santa Maria Country Club.

Santa Ana Country Club head golf professional Geoff Cochrane and men's champion Boyd Martin will see some new faces, at least as the Jones Cup is concerned, beside them as they play Mesa Verde Country Club today. Cochrane and Martin join three first-timers to the event, a competition of four Newport-Mesa country clubs that include Santa Ana, Big Canyon, Newport Beach and Mesa Verde. Tee time is 1 p.m. Two best balls from each club's fivesome will count. Santa Ana's group includes women's club champion Deborah Britton, senior champion Bob Veeh, men's champion Martin, fresh off his victory Sunday, Cochrane, and assistant pro Nick Kumpis.

The OC GOP's third annual Reagan Cup golf tournament in Newport Beach on Oct. 17 will also double as a fundraiser for House Speaker John Boehner, who will attend as a special guest, according to the organization's website. The event costs $2,500 per golfer or $1,000 to just attend the lunch reception. Boehner will be joined by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) and Rep. Ed Royce (R-Orange) for the event, hosted at the Resort at Pelican Hill, 22701 Pelican Hill Road South in Newport Coast.

For Dan Cahill, the Toshiba Classic isn’t just a great opportunity to enjoy watching some golf: It’s a way to give back to the people who helped save his life. Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, which benefits from the annual golf tournament, was “instrumental in helping me out of a bad heart attack a while back,” Cahill said. The Santa Ana man enjoyed Wednesday afternoon catching some of the action on the senior tour as the pros and amateurs got in some practice.

NEWPORT BEACH — When most think of the face of golf, names like Nicklaus, Palmer and Woods immediately come to mind. But Toshiba Classic defending champion Jay Haas’ long lineage of family golfers is so impressive that he could stake a claim to that image as well. Haas delighted the crowd at the Newport Beach Marriott Tuesday morning as the keynote speaker of the annual Allergan, “Breakfast with a Champion,” attended by some 300 community and business leaders.

It has been a long time since Jeb Kraul had as good a round of golf as he had on Sunday. Kraul, a Costa Mesa resident, finished the Costa Mesa City Golf Championships in style, tallying a net 62 on the Mesa Linda course at Costa Mesa Country Club. His two-day total of 136 made him the humble champion of the first flight (handicaps between four and eight). He edged out Brad Furry (138), Tim Bjelland (139) and Paul DeForest (140) to win. "I'm thrilled," Kraul said. "I've had my share of high 80s and miserable rounds of golf."

Susan Goldberg has more than one reason to be glad the Toshiba Classic this year is benefiting the Heart and Vascular Institute at Hoag Hospital. Goldberg, the institute’s vice president, gets patients every year who come straight to the hospital from the golf course. She can’t recall getting any from the Toshiba Classic itself, but for a large demographic of golfers — men aged 50 to 65 — heart problems are far from a rarity. “It’s not a strenuous sport, but people do a lot of walking,” Goldberg said.

While fantasy leagues for other sports are extremely popular, golf doesn’t seem to fit very well for this pastime for hard-core fans of the sport. I played in a golf league last year and it wasn’t nearly as thrilling as other sports as I have participated in the past. Football, baseball, basketball and hockey, you can make moves and it keeps you more involved in the sport. The golf league I was in we picked 12 players and used their weekly finishes to accumulate points.

The Toshiba Classic did it again. For the seventh year in a row, the Champions Tour stop at the Newport Beach Country Club raised more than $1 million for Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian ? topping out this year at $1,010,000 to keep the streak going. For those keeping score, that's more than $8.8 million over the past nine years. The tournament once again lived up to its reputation as being one of the community's biggest events of the year. With its connection to Hoag (not to mention the game of golf)

We're heading into the meat of golf's major championship season, which got me thinking? What are the criteria to host a U.S. Open or PGA Championship? Do the powers that be at area golf courses desire to stage one of these events? And, perhaps the most critical question is: Are events of that magnitude feasible and make economic, logistical sense at a certain venue? Let's discuss the pros for hosting a tournament with U.S. Open or PGA Championship magnitude. First, the pros: 1. Exposure.

CHINO HILLS - The Orange Coast College men's golf team won its third straight Orange Empire Conference title on Monday at Los Serranos Golf Course. The Pirates, who played 18 holes on both of Los Serranos' courses, finished first on the North Course with a score of 360 and third on the South Course with a 378. OCC went 62-8 on the season, followed by Cypress (52-18) and Santiago (46-24), which finished second and third, respectively. The Pirates were led by Jaime Moreno and Kyle Frame on the North Course.

Chase Wheatley moved from Illinois two years ago and has zoomed toward the top of the Corona del Mar High boys' golf team lineup in a season of winning, a lot of winning. The Sea Kings come off their first undefeated season (22-0), with seniors Mike Moorhead, John Davenport and Brian Mull helping the team go 40-0 in Pacific Coast League matches during their four years. "Things happen naturally," Wheatley, a junior, said of this season's run. "It's been pretty simple: just go out, play and not think too much.

BOYS' GOLF Academy League finals LAGUNA NIGUEL - Ahmed Eltamami of Sage Hill shot a two-under-par 70 on Tuesday, winning the league championship at El Niguel Country Club. Eltamami finished with a two-round total of 142, six shots ahead of Anthony Cecere of St. Margaret's. Eltamami had shot an even-par 72 in the first round Friday at San Clemente Municipal Golf Course. Sage Hill's Matt Marlin and Darren Chen (totals of 174) finished tied for seventh, and Paul Chang (176)

BOYS' GOLF Corona del Mar 190, Dana Hills 191 NEWPORT BEACH - Senior Mike Moorhead recorded a one-under-par 34, earning medalist honors in a nonleague match and helping the Sea Kings rally late at Newport Beach Country Club on Thursday to close out the regular season undefeated for the first time in the program's history. The Sea Kings went 22-0 overall, their most wins in history, said CdM Coach Mike Starkweather. Starkweather, who's in his 18th season at CdM, was proud of the Sea Kings' comeback win. "I thought we were going to lose the match," said Starkweather, adding that his team was down four strokes before the last group, which included Moorhead and Hale Furey, finished.

Five more golfers will crash this year's Jones Cup. The neighborhood tradition will include players from Irvine's Shady Canyon Golf Club for the June 27 event at Newport Beach Country Club. The team of five will include director of golf Brian Gunson and head professional Kirk Manley. Manley went to Big Canyon Country Club for last year's Jones Cup, and Gunson said he and others discussed the idea of participating in the Jones Cup. "We wanted to take part in team play and it's good to get together," Gunson said.

WOMEN'S GOLF Big West Conference Championships SAN LUIS OBISPO - UC Irvine finished second and Anteaters redshirt freshman Michelle Yang finished third in the three-day event completed Tuesday at the San Luis Obispo Country Club. Yang shot one-under-par 71 in the final round to make her 54-hole total 224, four shots back of champion Bev Vatananugulkit of UC Davis. Sophomore Ronnie Valerio tied for eighth (229) while junior Michelle Park tied for 13th at 231. Senior Lalita Patipaksiri tied for 16th at 233 and sophomore Sara Banke tied for 29th at 238. UCI's team score of 911 was 13 shots behind victorious UC Davis.

BOYS' GOLF Corona del Mar 182, University 192 NEWPORT BEACH - Junior Chase Wheatley shot three-under-par 32 to earn medalist honors and lead the host Sea Kings, who clinched the outright Pacific Coast League title on Tuesday at Newport Beach Country Club. John Davenport (36), Mike Moorhead (36), Brian Mull (38) and Karick Brown (40) also scored for CdM (20-0, 9-0 in league). Coach Mike Starkweather's squad closes out league play Wednesday against Beckman.

BOYS' GOLF Estancia tournament COSTA MESA - Newport Harbor claimed the team title in the modified scoring system to earn the first tournament crown in Coach Scott Tarnow's 12-season tenure. Brad Tapfer had four birdies and shot 73, while Carter Norris (74), Tyler Tashiro (75) and Mason Moody (75) combined for five birdies. The Sailors tied with Sunny Hills with 69 points, but scored more points on the 18th hole to win the tiebreaker. Newport Harbor's B team finished seventh and Estancia was eighth in the 28-team event.

Corona del Mar High boys' golf coach Mike Starkweather has reason to be giddy. The Sea Kings began the week 16-0, the best start in team history with the season nearing the final turn before CIF play. The Sea Kings have seniors John Davenport, whom Starkweather said is headed to Columbia to play golf, and Mike Moorhead, a USC commit, with junior Chase Wheatley. Starkweather said Wheatley is recording low round after low round. Brian Mull, Hale Furey and Karick Brown are also part of the Sea Kings' lineup.