Santa Margarita set for run at top, Servite
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA - Andrew Levitt has turned into one of the top junior golfers in the country, holding down 28th place in the AJGA rankings, a poll that includes 900 players. He topped the leaderboard in back-to-back tournaments last August, beginning his winning streak with a 7-under 65, which he carded at Maderas Golf Club in the third and final round of the Emerson Junior Classic in Poway.
Kevin De Huff can post some low scores, too, averaging 39.3 strokes for nine holes during the 2009 boys golf season.
And then there's Beau Hossler, a freshman who definitely doesn't swing his clubs like a high school rookie. He qualified for the U.S Amateur as a 14 year old. He missed becoming the youngest player ever to make it into the prestigious tournament by three months, and the history of the event spans 105 years. The whole experience, Hossler said, was "pretty sick."
Together they make up the Santa Margarita Eagles, a team that just might end Servite's recent domination of the Trinity League.
"We are just going to try and take it one match at a time, and really focus on just one shot a time between those matches," De Huff said. "When we get Servite, we will play our best and give it our all, and let our clubs do the talking. And if we win, we win."
That, however, is something no one could do last year. The Friars finished the season 23-0, with 10 of those triumphs coming in the Trinity League. The Eagles finished 21 strokes behind the first-place Friars at the 2009 CIF-SS Team Regional, and failed to place among the top three, which meant they couldn't play for a CIF championship.
The Friars finished 1-under as a team that day at Tijeras Creek, carding a 259. The Eagles were missing one of their seniors that day; Diwen Chen chose to attend a U.S. Open qualifier. The Friars, however, had their star, Patrick Cantlay, and he posted the lowest score, an 8-under 64.
"It (Chen's absence) didn't bother us as much as it would be beneficial if we had a better leader there, someone to motivate us more," De Huff said. "I don't want to pick on anyone and say anything bad."
This year, De Huff said the Eagles are ready for business, taking only the best players, players who can regularly break 40. Practices seem harder, and they have become more unified as a team.
"I feel like we are taking it a lot more serious this year. Last year we threw all the seniors on the team because we couldn't put them on JV," Levitt said. "We went to Oakland on one trip, and two guys couldn't even break 90. This year we have no seniors on our team. We just took everyone we thought was the best."
And one of those newcomers is Hossler, a player that Levitt has known for some time now, and "for being 4 -foot," he said, "Beau is as good as it gets." Hossler's strength is putting.
"That's how he gets it done," Levitt said. "He makes more putts than anyone I have ever seen."
He's pretty good with the driver, too. He had to be in order to break 80 on the 7,331-yard U.S. Amateur course at Cedar Ridge Country Club. He finished with a 7-over 77, including a birdie on the 195-yard, par-3 No. 6 during the first round of the tournament. Round 2 was held at Southern Hills, and he finished with a 77 there, too, on a 7,093-yard course with a slope of 140.
"Not having to worry about all of the kids on the team that couldn't break 45," Levitt said. "We have seven kids on our team right now who on any given day that can shoot even par ... it is a lot easier to go out there now and play."
