COSTA MESA CITY CHAMPIONSHIP:

Evan Derian said he had fun playing in his first Costa Mesa City Golf Championship last year, but he also left with some unfinished business. He was tied for third last year, one shot away from competing in a playoff to win the title.

This year, he didn’t need to worry about one shot or a playoff. The Cal junior-to-be shot a six-under-par 66 on the Los Lagos course at Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club Sunday to win the Championship Flight title he wanted since last year.

Derian won the tournament in its 36th year by six strokes, finishing 11-under 131.

“[The Costa Mesa City Championship is] a fun tournament and it’s pretty close to home, so I thought why not?” said Derian, who spends his summers with his family in Manhattan Beach.

Derian said he was about to play in a different tournament, but it conflicted with his schedule to visit his grandmother in New York this weekend. So, he played the Costa Mesa City Championship to get some golf in a week earlier.

A few local residents probably wish Derian never had a schedule conflict. Corona del Mar resident Will Tipton, the Big Canyon Country Club men’s champ, and Newport Beach resident Mike Carpenter (66-71) finished tied for second at five-under 137 among the field of 134.

It was the second straight year Tipton (65-72) settled for second-place status, as he lost in a playoff to Chris Hirahatake last year.

Karl Katnik, who will be a junior at Long Beach State, took fourth (65-72—137). Marcus Sostak, an Estancia High product, finished fifth (66-73—139) and UC Irvine alumnus Sean Shahi was sixth (66-74—140).

Redondo Beach resident Mark Harding, who led after the first round with his career-best eight-under 62 on Mesa Linda Saturday, finished tied for 12th after eight over Sunday.

Derian, who prepped at Mira Costa High, said he originally heard about the Costa Mesa City Championship through Katnik and Shahi. But word of mouth wasn’t the only reason Derian was able to set himself up for a tournament championship.

He came off a breakout year, helping the Bears to third place in the Pac-10 Championships, Cal’s best finish since 2000.

“I had four top-10 finishes this past year,” said Derian, who finished second in the Irvine men’s tournament last month at Strawberry Farms. “I tied for eighth twice and sixth twice. Finishing sixth at the Pac-10 tournament was a big accomplishment for me and got me All-Pac-10 honorable mention.”

Derian said he wants to continue to build off that momentum into his junior year at Cal. Then maybe he’ll play in the Costa Mesa tournament next summer and go for a repeat.

Hirahatake was unsuccessful in his bid to win the title again. He finished tied for 25th with four others, 72-73—145.

Steve Trivelpiece of Irvine won the Flight 1 title (gross score, minus handicap) with a net of 68-69—137.

Scott Harris of Laguna Niguel took home the Flight 2 title with a net of 63-59—122.

Mark Simmons won the Senior Flight whtih a net score of 65-71—136.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at [email protected].