LESS-THAN PAR-FECT END AT PREP LEVEL.

Byline: DAVE SHELBURNE Golf

No trunk-slamming, no excuses, no lack of support for struggling friends, even though they struggled far less than he did.

Valencia High senior Brandon Christianson ended one of the best careers in area high school golf history with the class of a champion Monday, shooting a high school career-high 87 at Lompoc's Village Country Club, then sticking around to root for fellow junior golf standout Joe Greiner of rival Hart of Newhall, who shot 78 but won a playoff for the 24th and last berth in next week's Southern Section final.

``I didn't play that badly,'' Christianson said after a rare off day in a Valencia career that produced four postseason playoff appearances and a school-record 62 that tied the course record at Ojai's Soule Park in last year's section team preliminaries, where he was in contention for a 59 going into his final hole.

Winds of 35-40 mph, tight fairways and exceptionally quick, sloping greens made the hilly, oak tree-lined Village an adventure for many of the best high school players in Southern California. But Christianson exited the course as carefree as he did following his 62 last year at Soule Park, where he was 11 under par going into his last hole.

The UCLA-bound 2003 Daily News Golfer of the Year walked back from Greiner's playoff, shrugged off his final high school match and got some back-atcha support as he got into his car.

``Hey,'' Greiner shouted from across the parking lot. ``No one's going to remember what you shot today. But we're going to remember that 62.''

--Edick in State Open: Brian Edick, the former Hart standout, was co- medalist with Dan Anderson of San Diego in the first qualifying tournament for this year's State Open. Edick was the 2001 Daily News Golfer of the Year and came within a playoff of winning the Southern California high school championship as a junior.

Edick, runner-up in this year's Camarillo City Championship, and Anderson shot 2-under-par 69 on the Mountain Course at Robinson Ranch to lead 15 qualifiers for the Sept. 1-4 State Open, which will be played at SCGA Golf Club in Murrieta.

Flintridge Prep of La Canada junior Bret Kanda, who shot 73 Monday at Lompoc's Village Country Club to earn his second berth in the Southern Section finals, placed fifth at 72 in the Robinson Ranch qualifier, two shots back of UCLA coach O.D. Vincent.

Other area players to advance from Robinson Ranch included Anoop Shaw of Tarzana (75), Valencia Country Club professional and former Cal State Northridge star Tony Chieffo, Benji Cherney of Sherman Oaks and Thomas Case of Saugus (all 76) and James Jones of Moorpark (77).

The second State Open qualifier will be today at Oak Valley G.C. in Beaumont.

The State Open, which was played last year at Pasadena's Brookside G.C. and dates to 1900, includes current PGA Tour players Kirk Triplett and Dennis Paulson among its past champions. The late Jerry Barber, longtime head pro at Griffith Park and a PGA Championship winner, was another State Open titlist.

Qualifying information: [phone] or www.calgolfchamp.com

--U.S. Open qualifying: Alex Kuyumjian of Thousand Oaks, the former Westlake High, College of the Canyons and USC standout who was Westlake's leading scorer in its 1996 CIF/SCGA championship, shot 67 at Newport Beach Country Club to share medalist honors in a first-stage U.S. Open qualifier.

Steve Conway of UCLA also shot 67 at par-72, 6,583-yard Newport Beach, where former Hart High, Pepperdine and PGA Tour player Jason Gore of Valencia was second alternate at 68. UCLA's Travis Johnson and UCLA coach Vincent were a shot back at 69.

Other top area finishers included Tierra Rejada instructor Roger Gunn of Oak Park (73) and high school players Christianson of Valencia and Jeremy Bovill of Agoura, who shot 74s.

--Names in the game: Four-time SCGA Amateur champion Craig Steinberg of Oak Park and multiple Los Angeles City champion Michael Turner of Woodland Hills are among the entries in the 69th Pasadena Amateur, which runs Thursday through Sunday at Brookside. More than 600 players are entered in the event, which includes four rounds of championship play and two weekend rounds of net play. ...

Doug Miller of Thousand Oaks, who played at Westlake High and competes for Cal State Northridge, has qualified for the June 21-26 State Amateur at Pebble Beach after shooting 4-under-par 68 for low score at Angeles National G.C., where Edward Teal of Sherman Oaks also advanced with a 72. Steve Tate of Burbank was first alternate at 76.

Kyle Dowden of Somis, redshirting this year as a freshman at California after earning Daily News co-Golfer of the Year honors as a Camarillo High junior in 2002, earned his third State Amateur berth with an even-par 72 in a qualifier at Diamond Valley G.C. in Hemet. ...

Ted Lehmann, instructor at Westlake Village G.C., finished sixth in the Southern California PGA Tournament Players Championship, shooting 72-70-142 at par-71 Mariott's Shadow Ridge, five strokes behind first-place Chris Starkjohn of Sorrento Canyon (66-71), who won in a playoff with Chad Sorenson of Pine Mountain (69-68).

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