DE LEON FINDS HER NEW LOVE WITH GOLF SAUGUS STAR MADE SWITCH, PUTTING SOFTBALL ASIDE.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne  Staff Writer

Melanie De Leon knew she had found her first love the second she picked up her first golf club one day in an eighth-grade physical-education class at Arroyo Seco Junior High in Santa Clarita.

``We were just hitting whiffle balls. Most people were just hitting grounders, but I was actually lifting the ball in the air, and I kind of liked it,'' said De Leon, a sophomore who has won 19 of 20 matches this season for Saugus (20-0).

Her P.E. teacher, Eric Olson, who also is the varsity girls' basketball coach at Saugus, recognized her potential and encouraged De Leon to pursue the sport. Her father, Carlos, did too, and he bought her a set of clubs for her eighth-grade graduation present.

But before she could pursue golf full time, De Leon had to make an important decision. She had played softball all through her childhood and was planning to play on the varsity at Saugus in the spring. She'd spent countless hours in travel-ball tournaments and hitting lessons and had made many of her friends in softball. But even before she picked up that golf club in Olson's class, De Leon had been burning out.

``It was a hard decision, but I knew what I really wanted to do,'' De Leon said. ``We'd have a four-to-five hour softball practice, and I'd dread going to it. Now I can spend a whole day practicing out on the golf course, and time just flies by.''

Deciding not to play softball was one thing, but ridding herself of her softball swing was another.

``My softball swing ruined my golf swing,'' she said. ``That whole first year, I didn't really have a golf swing. My coach (Santa Clarita golf instructor Lee Breckinridge) gave me enough of a swing to play my freshman year, but we knew we'd have to start from scratch in the offseason.''

``Even with that hybrid softball-golf swing, De Leon made the varsity at Saugus and shot in the mid-40s most of her freshman season.

``Last year, her swing was really just a basic swing to keep the ball on plane and keep it straight,'' Saugus coach John Moleacek said.

The next summer, Breckinridge and De Leon went to work on rebuilding her swing. Hour-long weekly lessons would turn into full days out on the course on the weekends. She put up a net in her garage. Summer mornings, usually reserved for sleeping late, became practice sessions. Dinnertime in the De Leon house was pushed back so Melanie could hit a few more buckets into the net. She was obsessed.

At first, progress with the new swing was slow, like learning the game over again. By August, however, De Leon was feeling comfortable with her new game.

This season, De Leon has emerged as the golfer to beat in the Foothill League. She has won 19 of Saugus' 20 matches this season and consistently is shooting in the mid-30s. The only person to beat her so far is sophomore teammate Stephanie Aston, another Breckinridge pupil.

``Melanie's got a great mental game. Her course management is fantastic,'' Hart of Newhall coach Renee Onori said. ``Usually at that age, they're still in the mode of, `I want to drive the ball the farthest,' rather than making the course work for them. But that's what Melanie excels at.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Saugus High girls' golfer Melanie De Leon is one of the Centurions' top performers this season. She wants to pursue the sport in college and even the pros.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News