Waldorf Defends His State Amateur Title

Duffy Waldorf, UCLA’s Collegiate Player of the Year from Tarzana, will open defense of his California State Amateur championship Monday at Pebble Beach against a strong field that includes Sam Randolph of USC and Santa Barbara, low amateur in the Masters and runner-up in the NCAA.

Waldorf defeated Mark Phillips of Studio City in last year’s final, 2 and 1. He was also the medalist, beating Randolph by a stroke.

The 74th State Amateur has an unusual format. Players will alternate between Pebble Beach and Cypress Point for two rounds of medal play Monday and Tuesday, after which the field of 200 will be cut to the low 64. After a third day of medal play Wednesday at Pebble Beach, there will be another cut to 32. The 54-hole scores will determine the medalist.

Then, match play for the 32 survivors will begin Thursday, with double rounds Thursday and Friday to determine finalists for a 36-hole championship match Saturday.

The marathon format, which could include as many as 162 holes for the finalists, favors college players. In addition to Waldorf and Randolph, the entry list includes collegians Kevin Leach, Greg Starkman and Brian Mahon of UCLA; Doug Thompson of Stanford, and Mike Ivy of Cal State Long Beach. Also entered are Southern California Amateur champion Brad Greer of Huntington Beach and Mid-Amateur champion James Myers of Oceanside.

North-South team matches and a California Interscholastic championship will be held today as preliminaries to the tournament. Two 10-man teams will contest for the Roger Lapham Trophy in the North-South matches. The Southern team includes Waldorf, Randolph, Leach, Phillips, Myers, Greer, Lee Davis, Jim Detrixhe, Ted Richards and John O’Neill.

For the first time, both boys and girls will play in the high school event. Boys’ representatives from the South are O. D. Vincent of Palm Springs, Steve White of La Canada, Bob May of La Habra and Mike Schafer of Clovis. The girls are Joan Pitcock of Clovis and Pearl Sinn of Bellflower.

Handicap competition will be held at the Carmel Valley and Old Del Monte courses.

Golf Notes Winner Andy North wasn’t the only happy golfer when the U. S. Open ended. Tony Sills finished in a tie for 15th, which qualified the former SoCal Amateur champion from Los Angeles and USC for his first Masters next April. . . . North’s win did not surprise James Carson of Mission Viejo, who remembers the Wisconsin golfer when he was 16 and playing in the U.S. Junior championship at California CC in 1966. North, who qualified fourth--ahead of Lanny Wadkins, Tom Kite and Jim Simons--upset defending champion James Masserio in the second round and lost to the eventual champion, Gary Sanders of Buena Park, in the third round. Sanders, who died of cancer in 1975, eliminated Wadkins in the semifinals. In 1967, North reached the U.S. Junior final, where he lost to Johnny Crooks.

The U.S. Public Links tournament has attracted the largest entry of any national-championship tournament in history. The possibility of playing the Wailua CC course in Hawaii prompted 5,519 players to enter the event, set for July 15-20. Among the successful qualifiers was Brian Lindley of Costa Mesa, who lost to Nathaniel Crosby in the 1981 U.S. Amateur final at the Olympic Club. SoCal golfers have wound up second the last two years. In 1984, it was Dirk Jones, winner of the Pasadena City Amateur the last two years, and in 1983, it was David Hobby of Santa Ana, who played as a pro last week in the U.S. Open. . . . Qualifying for the U.S. Junior tournament is scheduled July 8 at Woodland Hills and Rancho Santa Fe. The tournament will be played July 23-27 at Clarence, N.Y.

The $20,000 Southern California Open will start Wednesday at Rio Bravo Resort near Bakersfield. Don Levin of Elk Grove is defending champion in the 54-hole tournament, which will conclude Friday. Other favorites among the 144 entries are Paul Wise, two-time SoCal PGA champion from Hillcrest, and Dave Barber, Chris Houchin and Jack Ewing, all of Bakersfield. . . . The Evanston, Ill., Golf Club is honoring Johnny Revolta this week on the 50th anniversary of his winning the PGA championship. Revolta, who has been associated with the Evanston club all these years, will return to his teaching at Mission Hills CC in Rancho Mirage Aug. 18. . . . The 40th National Blind Golfers’ championship is scheduled Monday through Wednesday at Riviera CC.

Ken Marlis and Rodney Williams of Mile Square won the Los Serranos Invitational with a net 126. Sixth was an all-time tennis duo of Jack Kramer and Ted Schroeder with a 128. . . . Sophomore Pat Burke was named male athlete of the year at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Burke, who came to CSDH from Citrus College, won three tournaments, the Gary Sanders Memorial, Matador Intercollegiate and Division II Region 8 championship, and was a second team All-American. . . . Actor Granville Van Dusen and producer-writer John Barbour shot 79s to share honors in the Hollywood Hackers tournament at Rancho. . . .John O’Neill of Arcadia won the 70th Southwestern Amateur at Phoenix CC in Arizona, defeating Jimmy Carter, the defending champion, and Billy Mayfair by sinking a birdie putt on the second playoff hole. He shot a final-round 68 to gain the three-way tie at 281.