DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL MALE ATHETE OF THE WEEK

Andrew Skjonsby played golf for his first two years at Newport Harbor High, but he didn’t really play golf.

He was strictly a high school golfer, which was fine for the Sailors. But that alone wouldn’t take him to the next level that he wanted to reach so badly.

“I always tell these guys that somebody is out here working harder than you,” Sailors Coach Scott Tarnow said. “You can never tell. Andrew told me that he took that to heart. He wasn’t very good as a freshman, mostly because he hadn’t been playing for very long. But he started playing really hard and every day.”

His junior year, Skjonsby decided to take it to the next level. He went to the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, S.C. for eight months of training. He worked with Gary Gilchrist, one of the best junior golf instructors in the country who has also worked with phenoms like Michelle Wie.

“We trained on weekdays and traveled the country to play tournaments on weekends,” Skjonsby said of the program, associated with the International Junior Golf Tour on which he still competes in weekend tournaments. “Each day had its own program, whether it was sports psychology or chipping and putting. I thought junior year was a good year to take off and get the eyes of some college scouts. I improved a lot.”

Skjonsby has proved it this year, his senior year, for Newport Harbor. The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week shot a three-round total of seven-over-par 223 at the Champions Invitational, which concluded April 14 at Terra Lago Golf Course in Indio.

The score placed him eighth out of 124 golfers, even including an eight-over-par 80 for the opening round, where the golfers had to deal with brutal winds.

“He played fantastic,” Tarnow said. “He’s striking the ball beautifully; his drive is fantastic right now. Any time you go to just about any tournament and place top 10, you played some solid golf. And that was definitely one of the premiere tournaments in California, in terms of the people there.”

Skjonsby, however, said he could have done better. He said he was three-under on the front nine in the final round, but struggled on the back nine to shoot a 74.

“The middle of the tournament was when I played my best,” Skjonsby said.

But it still feels satisfying to place top 10 in a prestigious tournament, right?

“I didn’t get first, so I guess not,” he said. “I didn’t come home with a trophy, so I guess not.”

It’s that kind of competitiveness that has helped Skjonsby and the Sailors this year.

“He hates to lose,” Tarnow said. “He takes it very seriously, but he’s there to have a good time. We don’t really have a clear leader, but they can lead by playing well, and Andrew has done that.”

On a senior-dominated team, he has formed sort of a “big three” with fellow seniors Bryce Greeley and Justin Morehead. Any one of the trio fully is capable of shooting a medalist round at any time.

Newport Harbor has needed that edge as it has moved into the Sunset League, which features two of the tougher teams in Orange County in Los Alamitos and Edison.

The Tars won nine of 10 matches at one point, and started out 4-0 in league before dropping their last three league matches.

“Los Al and Edison are both awesome teams,” Skjonsby said. “They’re giving us a run for our money for Sunset League [supremacy]. The better the teams, the more fun I have. It’s great to compete against the best.”

Skjonsby also looks forward to playing on the college level. He said he has a college golf counselor in Ted Gleason, former men’s coach at USC, but has yet to decide on a school.

All of this is not bad for someone who celebrated his 18th birthday on April 6.

“It’s nice to be an adult,” Skjonsby said.

His golf game is becoming quite mature as well.

ANDREW SKJONSBY

Hometown: Newport Beach

Born: April 6, 1989

Height: 5-foot-9

Weight: 165 pounds

Sport: Golf

Coach: Scott Tarnow

Favorite food: Sushi

Favorite movie: “Pulp Fiction”

Favorite athletic moment: Playing in the final group with Rickie Fowler of Murrieta Valley (the No. 2-ranked junior golfer in the country) at an International Junior Golf Tour event at Torrey Pines last December.

Week in review: Shot 223 at the three-round Champions Invitational in Indio and was one under par in the final two rounds, finishing eighth out of 124 golfers. Also shot a one-under 70 in the second round of the Palms Springs Tournament, helping the Tars to a third-place team finish.