The Times’ All-County High School Teams : GOLF : Baugh’s Game Remains Remarkably the Same

Matt Baugh displayed a consistency seldom seen on the high school level for the Huntington Beach golf team this season.

He shot the low round in the team’s last 10 regular-season matches. And along with teammate Brett Brummett, he led the Oilers to their third consecutive Sunset League title.

“He had the best year any golfer has had since I began coaching here in 1979,” Oiler Coach Bill Seckington said. “He was just so consistent all season. It seemed like he just hit the ball the same every time we played. He could always be counted on to shoot well.”

Then came the Sunset League championships in early May at the Los Alamitos Navy Course.

Baugh shot a 78 in the morning round and found himself in an unfamiliar place--three shots behind Brummett.

Baugh shot a 77 in the afternoon round, but Brummett shot a 78 and won by two strokes.

A week later and coming off an unexpected loss, Baugh got an unexpected win at the Southern Section individual championships at Los Purisima County Club in Lompoc.

He began the day only trying to finish in the top 22, which would qualify him for the state tournament. But Baugh, The Times’ golfer of the year, shot an even-par 72 and won by three strokes.

“After the league final I felt at kind of a loss,” Baugh, an 18-year-old senior, said. “It really helped me to get ready to play in the Southern Section tournament. But I was still surprised that I won it.

“When I came in (to the clubhouse), I looked and saw a few of the names I expected to be near the top and none were better than 76.”

Baugh shot a disappointing 83 and failed to make the cut at the state tournament June 9 at La Jolla Country Club.

Baugh, who will attend Nevada Las Vegas in the fall, said his desire to do well this season was a result of his missing most of last season with mononucleosis.

“He came back at the end of the season and attempted to play and didn’t do as well as he could,” Seckington said. “But he came back this season with a real commitment to do well and it showed. He has worked hard all season to reach some of his goals.”

ALL-COUNTY

FIRST TEAM Matt Baugh . . . Huntington Beach J.B. Broms . . . Valencia Ken Calvert . . . Estancia Tony DuPre . . . Corona del Mar John Gilles . . . Laguna Beach Joey Sugar . . . Esperanza

SECOND TEAM Brett Brummett . . . Huntington Beach Chris Jacques . . . Esperanza Bob Jacobson . . . University Joon Lee . . . Sunny Hills Frank Pantoja . . . Edison John Welker . . . Corona del Mar