PGA May Close Open If La Jolla Isn’t Improved

San Diego could lose the Andy Williams-San Diego Open golf tournament unless city officials improve the conditions of the Torrey Pines municipal golf course in La Jolla, a tournament official said Wednesday.

John Brophy, executive vice president of the Century Club, which runs the annual event, said he met Wednesday with a City Council committee to report that Professional Golfers Assn. officials were unhappy with the conditions of the course during the past few years.

Brophy said he told the committee that the Century Club received the complaint about two weeks after the February tournament. The letter said the course was “far, far below standards expected by the PGA,” he said, adding that several city officials received similar letters.

The committee, Brophy said, agreed unanimously to a six-point plan that could bring course standards up to par if their suggestions are accepted by the council.

The plan involved planting more grass on fairways, buying more equipment and hiring more people to repair the heavily used course. If approved, allocations for the repairs could be included in the budget for fiscal year 1985-86, which begins in July, he said.

Brophy said he was happy with the suggestions because they showed the officials were unanimous in their desire to improve the course. He said the city could lose an estimated $4 million if the tournament was taken away.