Matt Hoffenberg put an exclamation on a tremendous summer of golf by winning the inaugural Southern California Golf Association Match Play Championship, held last week at Sandpiper Golf Club.

The Simi Valley resident finished a final day filled with under-par scores by rolling in a 28-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to defeat Josh Dupont of Poway, 3 and 1.

Earlier in the summer, Hoffenberg won the Southwestern Amateur and finished second at the California State Amateur.

Hoffenberg, 19, piled up seven birdies in his semifinal victory over Daniel Wax of Pacific Palisades, 5 and 3, then posted seven birdies and an eagle in taking down Dupont, a sophomore at Northwestern University.

It was the second time in two months that Hoffenberg has defeated Dupont — the first being in June at the California Amateur Championship at Lakeside Golf Club, where the former Royal High standout captured a 5-and-4 victory.

In the final match, Hoffenberg appeared to be comfortably in control after making four birdies on the front nine, good for a 3-up lead. However, his momentum slowed with bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes.

"I figured that as good as I played on the front nine and I was due for a hiccup," said Hoffenberg. "I was pleased at how well I was able to get it back together."

Hoffenberg showed he was not going to be denied on the 532-yard 13th hole, hitting a 235-yard hybrid shot to 10 feet of the hole. He then drained the eagle putt to stretch his lead back to 2-up.

The San Diego State sophomore punctuated the win with his 28-foot birdie on the 421-yard 17th hole.

In his five rounds of the tournament, Hoffenberg made 27 birdies and three eagles.

Hole-in-one report: Steve Grindley of Simi Valley aced the 155-yard fourth hole at Simi Hills Golf Course. It was witnessed by Chris and Sean White of Woodland Hills and John Pocket of Newbury Park.

Mike McElrath of Oxnard aced the 147-yard ninth hole at Victoria Lakes, using an 8-iron. It was witnessed by Dennis Rutzen and Bob Rizk.

Short-game help: Putting and short-game experts from the Dave Pelz Scoring Game School will be hosting a series of one-day putting and wedge clinics at Calabasas Country Club on Sept. 17-20.

Students learn proper set-up positions and techniques to make repeatable swings for wedges, chips and bunker shots. The putting session is designed to improve green reading, putter path and face angle, set-up and sweet-spot impact.

The student-to-teacher ratio at each clinic is 6 to 1, with a maximum class size of 18. The fee is $395 per student.

To enroll, call 800-735-9868 or visit http://www.pelzgolf.