By Pete Borello

If there’s a junior golf tournament going on in the Bay Area this summer, it’s a good bet at least one of the participants has the last name of The.

Siblings Toby and Tessa The enter as many tournaments as their mom Lea will take them to.

When Toby, 11, and Tessa, 10, aren’t competing, the Los Altos residents are probably practicing.

“Tessa - she loves to play golf,” Lea said. “Toby would play almost every day if we let him. He walks 18 holes by himself. He’s passionate about it.”

A typical summer week for the Thes includes at least one tournament, three practice rounds and a Friday clinic at Deep Cliff Golf Course.

The Springer School students also hone their golfing skills at home by chipping in the back yard and putting in the house.

Upon returning from last Thursday’s Robert O’Brien Memorial Tournament at San Mateo’s Poplar Creek Golf Course - where Toby took third in the boys 10-11 division and Tessa placed fourth among girls 11 and under - the kids grabbed their clubs and went out back.

“We got home at 6 (p.m.) and they were in the back yard until 9,” Lea said. “I don’t know why they do that. I kept telling them to get into the house and they didn’t want to.”

Tessa explained why.

“We had a friend over who wanted to see us play,” the fifth-grader said. “And I didn’t play well (at Poplar Creek) and needed to practice my chipping.”

The The’s drive to drive, chip and putt has paid off. Toby and Tessa regularly win or place near the top of their respective age divisions.

Tessa, who has played in 10 tournaments this season, said she is most proud of her July 10 performance in the California Junior Girls State Championship at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. She placed second in her age bracket.

“There was good competition,” Tessa said. “There were two really good players from San Diego.”

That same week, sixth-grader Toby won the boys under-11 championship at the Saratoga Country Club Little Junior Classic.

“I was happy to place first because it’s quite a tough course,” said Toby, who’s competed in 11 tourneys this year. “I thought I did pretty good.”

Toby began playing golf at age 7 when his father K.H. - an avid golfer - returned from a trip with a set of clubs for his son. Tessa took up the sport two years ago, inspired by watching her brother and father play.

This week, the Thes travel to Hollister for the City Junior Tournament at Ridgemark Golf & Country Club.

Lea also will be there, of course. After all, she plays an important role in her kids’ golfing endeavors.

“It’s fun to watch the kids play golf,” the recreational golfer said. “But I’m just a driver.”