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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

LONG BEACH – It is a sight that Tesoro boys golf coach Van Johnstone said he rarely sees when he watches Gordon Neale walking around the course.

As Neale bent down to mark his ball on the 17th green on Monday here at Skylinks Golf Course, gone was the angry-looking scowl that he normally wears, replaced instead by a big, happy smile.

Even the most fanatical perfectionist, though, could have found little wrong with Neale’s approach on the 433-yard, par 4.

After watching his drive smack into a tree, Neale hit a fade 9-iron 165 yards on his second shot, leaving the ball less than a foot from the pin on the 17th. He tapped in for his fourth birdie of the day. That added to his eagle on the 533-yard par-5 sixth helped him finish with a 5-under-par 67 to become the first player in the 10-year history of the Tesoro boys golf program to win the CIF-SS Southern Individual Regional.  He knocked his second shot close on the sixth hole, too, hitting a 7-iron to with 10 feet of the hole.

“I played a really nice round of golf, so I am pleased with today,” Neale said. “The last week or so I am starting to get back to form. Today will help my confidence.”

The past few weeks, Neale had a problem controlling his driver, and putts he would normally hole, suddenly weren’t dropping, causing him to approach each round with a bit of uncertainty.

“That,” he said, “has finally turned around.”

Villa Park’s Kyle DeSilva finished second with a 4-under 68 followed by Northwood’s Sammy Kim and Henry Chung of Cerritos who both shot a 69. Chung won the third-place medal on a card-off.

DeSilva was at 5-under when after birdying the 358-yard par 4 14th, but he hit his tee shot right on the 17th, landing into a divot under a tree. He had little choice but to punch the ball out into the fairway. He hit his third shot to the back of the green, and took a two-putt bogey, dropping him to 4-under.

“I wasn’t playing to well, coming in (to the tournament), so I am all right with second,” DeSilva said. “I am sure when I go over the round … I know I messed up.”

While Neale took the lead with his close approach on 17, he couldn’t have won the tournament without his scrambling par on the 215-yard, par 3 13th. He blasted his tee shot over the green, landing in the rough between some trees. His chip shot came down on top of the hill in front of him, and the ball caught the slope on the green, leaving him with a 12-foot putt for par. He drained it.

“When his putts start falling then you know he is playing well,” Johnstone said. “For a Tesoro kid to come in and with this, means a lot. He has all of the capability to go on to state and win the whole thing.”

Ramiz Jamal and Johnny Hyun, the Sunset League co-champion and Pacific Coast League champion, respectively, finished in a three-way tie for fifth with Tai Kuida from South Torrance. All three players posted a 2-under 70.

Jamal came within inches of recording a career first on Monday. His tee shot on the par-3 13th rolled over the edge of the hole, leaving him 6 inches away from an ace.

“But I will take the birdie on that hole every day,” Jamal said.

Tanner Dice led the five Servite golfers to advance out of the Trinity League tournament, holing six birdies to finish tied for eighth with a 1-under 71. His Servite teammate Martin Manalo also made it to the CIF-SS Individual Championship in Lompoc on May 30 after firing a 3-over-par 74.

“It could have been better. I had three bogeys and a double. It could have been really good,” he said. “But I will take it.”