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Coburn captures crown

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Jeff Coburn felt a bit nervous entering the final round of the Costa Mesa City Championship Sunday at Costa Mesa Country Club.

The UC Irvine alumnus was determined to find his comfort zone. Fortunately for him, that came a little easier than most, as he’s a member of the club. In addition to getting comfortable, Coburn also wanted to represent CMCC well. He did just that. One of the club’s own won the top prize.

Coburn shot four-under-par 68 on the Los Lagos course to win the championship flight by four strokes to runner-up Will Tipton, a Newport Beach resident.

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“It was a good one to win,” Coburn said. “I can’t remember the last time a local won the tournament, so I had a lot of crowd support. A lot of people turned up to root for me down the stretch. It was a good one to bring home, being a member there. It was one I wanted and a nice one to win.”

After shooting a six-under 64 on the Mesa Linda course to become the leader Saturday, Coburn knew he need to score under par again on Sunday. That’s because Tipton shot the low for the day, a 65, to finish at six-under 136 for his two-day total. He shot one-over 71 Saturday

Coburn began with two straight birdies to help his cause. He collected three more birdies and bogeyed once to maintain his lead, finishing at 10-under 132.

“I felt pretty comfortable [Sunday],” Coburn said. “A little nervous to start out, but I was OK.”

Coburn, 29, was the 2003 Big West Conference Golfer of the Year, his final season with Anteaters. He was also named to the PING All-West Region Team.

“It was an awesome place to play golf,” Coburn said of UCI.

Coburn now lives in Rancho Santa Margarita and works for a pre-employment screening company. In two weeks, he’ll return to Costa Mesa Country Club to compete in the club’s championship, he said.

Matt Parkovich, who will play for Orange Coast College next season, finished third at 139 (68-71) Sunday. Parkovich, an Edison High alumnus, went to Santiago Canyon two years ago, but is set to play for OCC this year.

Stewart Hagestad, a Newport Beach resident, finished fourth at 141 (71-65). Hagestad, who went to Sage Hill School for a year and will play at USC, qualified for the U.S. Amateur last month at Big Canyon Country Club.

Ryan Indovina (68-76), who qualified for the U.S. Am last week, was one of four who finished at 144, tied for fifth. Andy Overton (72-72), Chris Rendler (73-71) and Stan Watkins (73-71) also finished at 144.

Jason Bittick (67-78), last year’s champion, was one of five who scored 145, along with Austen Dailey (70-75), Max Greil (71-74), Benny Santa-Maria (68-77) and Marcus Sostak-Rosa (72-73).

Greil will be a senior at UCI, Santa-Maria helped OCC win the Orange Empire Conference title last season and Sostak-Rosa is a former golfer of Estancia and OCC.

David Holloway won the first flight (net), scoring 136.

Wayne Chumbley won the second flight (net), scoring 134.

Jeff Thomas was the senior flight (gross) champion (69-68—137).

Jay Decker was the senior flight (net) champion (70-65—135).

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