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Damian Dottore. Sports. HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Associate Mug Shot taken August 24, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

YORBA LINDA – The last time Beau Hossler was here at Yorba Linda Country Club was six years ago when he was 11 and entered the Yorba Linda Invitational, so there wasn’t a whole lot the Santa Margarita junior remembered about the course during Tuesday’s first round of the Trinity League Championship.

Compare that to some of the players in the field, mostly from Servite, who are members there. Davis Holman is one of those Friars who tees off there all of the time, and he knew exactly how to attack some of the tricky pin positions that were used on Tuesday.

Hossler, on the other hand, often times had no idea what was in store for him up ahead. When he was standing in the 18th fairway, he asked a player walking around the green what it looked like up there.

He told Hossler, the hole was 5 yards from the back.

But what the Santa Margarita junior lacked in course knowledge, he made up for with his ball striking, and he put his approach pin high, 5 feet from the hole.  His missed his birdie putt on the low side, but tapped in for par to finish with a 5-under 66 to move into first place.

“When I get out here (to a tournament), I am trying to shoot the best score possible. I am trying to everything that I can to make sure that that happens,” Hossler said. “I want to win every tournament equally as bad.”

He just might have done that on the first day of the Trinity League Championships.

Hossler was the only one in the field to come in under par, and heading into Wednesday’s final round, he’s five shots in front of his Santa Margarita teammate Andrew Levitt and Orange Lutheran junior Blake Barens. They tied for second after posting an even-par 71.

“A 66 is really, really good out here,” said Holman, who is in fourth place with a 1-over 72. “I am sure that he feels he has some strokes that he left out there too.”

He was right. Hossler said he missed several easy birdie chances, such as the one on the 18th green. Some bad reads cost him on Tuesday, he said.

The fact that his was the only sub-par round kind of surprised Hossler because he didn’t think the course was playing all that hard. The most challenging part of his round was figuring out how to hit into the greens, which he said were “super soft.” That usually makes it easy, but Hossler was having a hard time controlling his spin on his approach shots, so he clubbed up instead and hit soft shots into the green.

Holman found some of the greens to be a bit difficult, too, and had three three-putts on his round. Difficult pin placements, he said, could have been the problem.

The hole on the par-4 No. 4, was on a slope below a ridge. On the par-5 14th, the hole was tucked in the back of the green so if a player missed left, the ball was in the rough. And the on the par-4 16th, the hole was on the back right, so if an approach was short, the ball rolled off the front of the green.

“I will take a 72 any day here. I am just going to try to hit the ball as good as I did today, and improve on my putting,” Holman said. “And I should be right around the same score.”

With the way that Hossler has been playing as of late, he’s going to be very tough to catch, though. This month he has won an AJGA tournament, finished first for Santa Margarita in the Champions Invitational in Indio, and tied for 10th at the Junior Invitational this past weekend in Georgia.

Including Tuesday’s 66, Hossler has played his last 10 18-hole rounds at 28-under par.

“I am playing pretty well. My ball striking has really improved, and I am keeping the ball in play and not putting myself in trouble,” Hossler said. “When you get the ball out there in a good scoring position, some rounds you are going to take advantage more than others, but I think I have done pretty well.”

Results

Players who made the cut

1. Beau Hossler (Santa Margarita) 66; 2. Andrew Levitt (Santa Margarita) 71; 2. Blake Barens (Orange Lutheran) 71, 4. Davis Holman (Servite) 72, 5. Court Lewis (Servite) 74, 5. Andrew Namkoong (Mater Dei) 74; 7. Marcus De La Rosa (Mater Dei) 75; 7. Aaron Grimes (St. John Bosco) 75; 9. Austin Lastinger (Servite) 76; 9. Tyler Smith (Servite) 76; 11. Troy Ditzler (Santa Margarita) 77; 11. Max Palmer (JSerra) 77; 11. Tanner Dice (Servite) 77; 11. Drew Bradley (Santa Margarita) 77; 11. Brandon Brame (Servite) 77; 11. Ryan Mendoza (Mater Dei) 77; 11. Nico Mendoza (Mater Dei) 77; 11. Dan McCarthy (Santa Margarita) 77