The Preps / Scott Howard-Cooper : Los Altos Golfer Bobby May Plays Some Rounds With the Pros

Bobby May of Hacienda Heights Los Altos, the Southern Section individual golf champion last year as a junior, played in the Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams Open in San Diego. Although he failed to make the cut for the last two rounds, he was one of only two amateurs to make the field.

His first-day total of 79 left him 16 shots behind the leader, but he rebounded Friday with a 71. His 36-hole score of 150 put him 10 over the qualifying total.

However, it wasn’t his first try against the pros. At 16, he played in the 1985 Los Angeles Open at Riviera, where he shot 73-76 but failed to make the cut.

May is bound for Oklahoma State, which has one of the strongest golf programs in the country, and last Tuesday he had a chance to play a practice round with two former Cowboys, Scott Verplank and Willie Wood. He also had a chance to work with new clubs that have added 10 or 15 yards to his drives.

“He’s hitting the ball a lot farther,” Los Altos Coach Dick Slosek said. “I know when he played his qualifying round down there (San Diego), on the front nine he must have hit three shots that were paced off to 290. All were downhill, but that’s still pretty far.”

May has another week before Los Altos begins practice Feb. 23.

On the eve of the Southern Section basketball playoffs, Newhall Hart suspended Coach Doug Michelson because of his confrontation with referee Bob Bria after last Thursday’s regular-season finale.

The incident, which allegedly started with Michelson walking over to talk to Bria, escalated into a fight. Michelson said he was retaliating when he shoved and punched Bria, who denied instigating anything.

“I never said a word to him and I’m willing to take a polygraph test,” Bria told The Times’ Ed Hagerott. “The man just lost control of himself.”

Said Michelson, in an interview with Roger Campbell of The Times: “I’m not apologizing for defending myself. As the dialogue became more heated, Mr. Bria told me that he wanted to get in the physical education office. At that point in time, after much shouting, profanity and name-calling and character assassination by both parties, Mr. Bria put a body block on me that actually lifted me in the air.”

School administrators and other adults broke up the scuffle.

Originally, Bria said he would not file charges against Michelson, but by Tuesday was reconsidering and talked of civil charges.

“I feel the only poor judgment I made all night (Thursday) was not having him arrested,” Bria said.

Hart (12-11) will play Saugus (16-9) in a 3-A wild-card game today at Saugus. Dave Munroe, the junior varsity coach, will take over for Michelson.

Add playoffs: Several familiar teams will be missing this year:

--Long Beach Poly. The Jackrabbits had reached postseason competition every season since 1973-74 and had won or shared nine straight Moore League titles, but they missed the top three this time.

--Gardena Serra and Playa del Rey St. Bernard. Both had reached the 5-A final four each of the last two seasons.

--L.A. Verbum Dei. A string of 19 straight playoff appearances was snapped.

Anaheim Katella, the second-seeded team in the 3-A, has the Southern Section’s longest streak at 21 consecutive seasons.

Craig Turley, soccer star at Diamond Bar, continues to roll.

He scored three goals against Covina Charter Oak last Thursday, setting a Southern Section record with 58 goals in a season, breaking the mark of 57 set by Craig Sherman of North Hollywood Oakwood in 1981-82 and tied by Raffi Yardimian of Pico Rivera Mesrobian in 1982-83.

That performance also pushed Turley’s total goals to 179, already good for the No. 3 spot on the national list.

Diamond Bar, the Sierra League champion, will open the 3-A playoffs Friday with a home game against Los Alamitos.

Nebraska added a major football prospect last week as Mickey Joseph of Marrero, La., an option quarterback, signed with the Cornhuskers. His father, Robert Joseph Sr., told reporters soon afterward that Notre Dame, Nebraska and Tulane were the only schools that were entirely honest throughout the recruiting process.

He singled out Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer as one not fitting that description, saying that Switzer had told Mickey that he was the only quarterback the Sooners were recruiting.

“Anybody knows that a school like Oklahoma is recruiting more than one quarterback,” Robert Joseph said.

It was a slap Switzer could have done without. The day before, Kenny Ford of Port Arthur, Tex., another top quarterback, had pulled a switch and signed with Oklahoma State over Oklahoma.

Prep Notes

Wide receiver Tony Johnson of Pasadena Muir, an All-Coastal Conference selection, has received an academic scholarship to USC and will be a walk-on with the football team. He had offers to sign with New Mexico and Nevada Reno but chose instead to join Muir teammates Vince Phillips and Ricky Ervins, who signed with the Trojans last week. . . . Stan Clark, the offensive coordinator with the Westminster football team, has been named to replace Jim O’Hara as the Lions’ co-coach. O’Hara died of a heart attack while jogging. . . . Goalie Laurie Wong of the South Pasadena girls’ soccer team had 11 shutouts and allowed only 5 goals through the first 16 games. . . . Bill Pinkham, an assistant at Cypress College, has been hired to replace Frank Arena as baseball coach at Buena Park. Arena retired after last season. . . . The 42-34 girls’ basketball win by Burbank Burroughs over San Gabriel was the Matadors’ first league loss after 79 straight wins dating back to 1979, the second-longest streak in Southern Section history behind Riverside Poly’s 97.

The San Gabriel Valley chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame will hold its 18th annual awards dinner March 10 at the Pasadena Hilton to honor 23 players from the San Gabriel Valley area. Tickets are $25. For more information, contact Linda Sells at (818) 793-6486 during the day or (818) 447-7155 at night. . . . Jim Gasso, an assistant at Pasadena City College the last two years, has been hired as football coach at at Long Beach St. Anthony, the Saints’ seventh in the last eight years. . . . Allie Schaff has been fired after 15 years as football coach at San Clemente. . . . Rancho Alamitos football Coach Paul Shane has resigned. His team had an 0-9-1 season. . . . Jim Rawls has been fired as football coach at Garden Grove but will remain as head of the baseball program.

Rob Duran, a former assistant at Westchester, has accepted the job as baseball coach at Los Angeles High. . . . Bill Craven, football coach at Pacifica of Garden Grove, has taken over the wrestling program for Bill Schindler, a non-teaching coach who was removed by Principal Don Wise. The action was sparked by actions at Pacifica’s match against Los Alamitos, in which members of both teams complained about being bitten by opponents, and Wise later said “the attitudes of the kids reflected the coaching.” . . . Lynne Lorenzen of Mason City, Iowa, scored 54 points Monday, running her career total to 6,266 and breaking the national scoring record for girls’ basketball. Lorenzen, who plays six-on-six in girls, broke the mark of 6,250 almost 20 years ago by Denise Long. . . . Archie Newton, girls’ basketball coach at Muir, has announced that he will resign at the end of the season. . . . Beginning with the 1987-88 season, field hockey players will be allowed to use one-piece fiberglass sticks instead of the traditional wooden sticks or two-piece sticks with wooden heads.

Correction: Last Friday’s basketball game between Montebello and Santa Fe Springs of Santa Fe, was halted after two technical fouls had been charged against Montebello and a third against Santa Fe Coach Joe Mendoza. According to Southern Section administrator Dean Crowley, the game was called because “the officials just felt that the game had gone beyond their control.” It had been reported that Mendoza had been given three technicals, which automatically halts a game.