Greer Tries for Repeat in the SoCal Amateur; 1,337 Expected to Play

Two of the Southland’s most prestigious golf championships--the 86th Southern California Amateur and the 61st Southern California PGA match play tournament, will be contested in the next two weeks, the Amateur at Long Beach’s Virginia Country Club and the PGA on the North course of the Los Angeles Country Club.

The Amateur is the longest-running, continuously contested men’s amateur championship in the country. This year it attracted an entry of 1,337, of which 371 are in the championship flight.

Competition starts July 15 in four flights at 11 locations with the championship qualifiers playing a final 72 holes at Virginia on July 19-21. Virginia is the home course of Bob Thompson, the Southern California Golf Assn. president.

Brad Greer of Mission Viejo is defending champion and he will be attempting to become the first repeat winner since Jim Ferree won back-to-back in 1950 and 1951.

Greer defeated Sam Randolph of La Cumbre on the final hole last year at San Gabriel Country Club. The same two met in the California State Amateur last month with Randolph defeating Greer in a match-play final. Randolph, who is playing in the Western Amateur this week, is not entered in the Southern California championship.

Championship flight qualifying July 15-16 will be at Palos Verdes, Green River in Corona, Alta Vista in Placentia, Pala Mesa in Fallbrook, Horse Thief in Tehachapi and Elkins Ranch in Fillmore.

The toughest qualifying site is expected to be Palos Verdes, where 22 out of 131 will advance. Entries include John O’Neill of Glendora, winner of the Southwestern Amateur last month in Phoenix; Greg Bruckner of Brookside, 1982 L.A. City champion; Greg Starkman of UCLA and Sepulveda; and Alton Duhon of Griffith Park, the 1983 U.S. Senior and L.A. Senior champion.

Los Angeles City champion Bobby Lasken of UCLA and Candlewood will be one of 60 trying for 10 spots at Alta Vista. At Pala Mesa, where only nine spots are available for 53 entries, players include Dirk Jones of Torrey Pines, runner-up in the 1984 U.S. Public Links championship, and Jim Myers of El Camino, the Southern California Mid-Amateur champion.

For the first time, the Southern California Golf Assn. has exempted four players from last year’s tournament from qualifying. They are Greer, Pat Duncan of Rancho Santa Fe, Cris Brown of Santa Ana and former champion Lee Davis of Los Angeles.

Paul Wise, an assistant professional at Hillcrest, will defend the Southern California PGA championship he won in defeating Dave Barber of Bakersfield last year at La Jolla. Wise also won in 1983.

The entry deadline is Monday for the July 15-18 all-match play tournament. About 100 players are expected to participate. Early favorites include tour pro Cesar Sanudo, who is entered for the first time; Dave Barber, the 1978 champion; Jim Petralia of Annandale, the Southern California PGA stroke play champion; former touring pro Frank Beard of Canyon Hotel, and Arne Dokka of San Juan Hills, runner-up to Wise in 1983.

The champion, who will be exempt for the Bob Hope, San Diego and Los Angeles opens next winter, will be determined in a 36-hole match July 18.

Golf Notes As SoCal PGA chairman of the National Golf Day fund-raising program, Candlewood head professional George Thompson set a high standard for his fellow pros when he and his assistant pro Greg Graham played a 171-hole marathon and raised $7,100 for charity. They started at 5:15 a.m. and holed out the last putt at 8:50 p.m. When Graham made an eagle on the final round it cost 230 Candlewood members $5 each. . . . Joe Robinson, director of golf at Jurupa Hills CC in Riverside, celebrated his 50th anniversary as a head professional on July 1, the date he became pro at Brentwood CC in 1935. . . . The Golden State Tour holds its 54-hole Summer Championships July 15-16 at Sandpiper GC in Goleta. The GST, including seniors, also plays Monday at Yorba Linda.

An NCAA crackdown on prizes for collegians cost L.A. City champion Bobby Lasken and runner-up Tom Stankowski gift certificates worth $350 each--the amount acceptable by the U.S. Golf Assn. Lasken, who plays at UCLA, and Stankowski, of Arizona State, both were advised not to accept the certificates or risk losing their eligibility. Lasken’s 69-68-68-70--275 was 11 under par for rounds at Wilson, Balboa and two at Rancho. It was also a City record, bettering Alan Tapie’s 276 set in 1972. . . . Bob Weiss defeated Clyde Reynolds and Tom Hickman in a unique three-man match play final for the President’s Cup at Sepulveda. . . . The Vince Ferragamo celebrity tournament raised $25,000 for the Special Olympics, enough to send 291 competitors to the California championships in Berkeley. . . . Bob Russo shot a final-round 69 to tie Randy Cross for the DeBell club championship, then won a playoff on the first hole. Low net: Justin Linam, a 15-handicapper, who shot 81-86-81-79. . . . Wanda Haun won a 3-hole playoff over Pat Lloyd for the Los Serranos’ women’s championship. Low net: Lila Grik.

Former NFL quarterback John Brodie will return to professional golf as a senior on Aug. 14 when he reaches his 50th birthday. Brodie played briefly as a pro after leaving football, but later regained his amateur status. . . . The SoCal PGA team championship, scheduled for Monday at Old Ranch CC, has been canceled. . . . Helen Knight won her 28th successive El Caballero CC women’s championship, beating Carol Bruce by 10 strokes over 72 holes. . . . Marge Callahan, who won her first Brookside club championship in 1948, won No. 15 with a 10-stroke margin over Sharon Onak. Callahan’s last Brookside win was in 1965. . . . A benefit for the Downtown Women’s Center will be played Aug. 5 at California CC. Entry deadline is July 15.