A Fringe Tour for Fringe Players

Steve Pate of Santa Barbara mushroomed out of the PGA tour ranks a few weeks ago to appear on national TV from Atlanta and collect $54,000 after losing a playoff to Wayne Levi.

Then last week, along came Mark Wiebe of Escondido, struggling through his second year as a touring professional, to beat John Mahaffey in a playoff in Williamsburg, Va., and win $90,000.

In a dozen of more homes in Southern California, the reaction was the same: “Hey, I can beat those guys. I’ve done it before. If only I could out there on the tour and prove it.”

If a young golfer fails to get his player’s card, as Wiebe did once and Mac O’Grady did 16 times before making it, what is there to do? As far as the PGA is concerned: Nothing. Wait a year and try again.

“I think it’s a shame the PGA does not care about anyone not on the tour,” says Doug Ives, who took a leave of absence from the Long Beach Press-Telegram to conduct a series of tours for pros, amateurs and seniors that helps fill the void for non-PGA players.

“They have no feeling for golfers struggling to make it. You can tell that by the way they dropped the Second Tour a few years ago and now they’ve dropped the TPS (Tournament Players Series). If it weren’t for the Golden State tour and a couple of other mini-tours in Florida and Arizona, there wouldn’t be any place for them to sharpen their games.”

Pate is a product of Ives’ post-college competition. The former UCLA player participated in Golden State tour events all last summer before qualifying for a PGA tour card in the fall. Even after getting his card, Pate’s priority was so low that he found it difficult just getting into some tournaments. He came home during one slow period and played in a three-day Golden State event two months before his breakthrough in Atlanta.

The idea for the Golden State tour began 14 years ago when Ives, a sportswriter, and Monte Blodgett, then head professional at the El Dorado municipal course in Long Beach, got together to put on the first Queen Mary Open at El Dorado.

“Each year, in talking to players in the Queen Mary, I found out how frustrating it was for the fringe pros, or the ones who wanted to turn pro, to find competition,” Ives said. “There just weren’t any tournaments. So I decided to put on some small ones on my own to see if the demand was there.

“Four years ago, I had nine tournaments. Three years ago it was up to 23, and last year I had 40 and had to leave the paper to work full time on golf tournaments.”

The professionals usually play an 18-hole event each Monday and a 36 or 54-hole tournament one weekend a month.

Ives also conducts separate tournaments for amateurs and seniors--often on the same course where the pros are playing. He merged with Larry Margison and the West Coast Amateur Golf Assn., which was producing about 30 amateur events a year, and this year will have 70 events.

“You would be amazed at how many senior players there are who don’t belong to a country club, but enjoy playing country club courses,” Ives said. “I booked Bear Creek (Jack Nicklaus’ new course near Temecula) at $60 a round and sent out some flyers as a feeler. The response was unbelievable. I had a full field of 100 players a month in advance.

“After that, I started booking courses like Riviera, Mesa Verde, Monarch Canyon and La Quinta Hotel. The fields are always largest at the most expensive places because they’re the ones they can’t get on as individuals.”

The fee is always the same: Cart and greens fees, plus $20--$15 for prizes and $5 for Ives. “That’s a pretty small override but the players like it because they know they’re not getting ripped off the way they are on some mini-tours,” Ives said.

“My expenses are $600 a week, most of it for the 400 newsletters I send each week to keep everyone informed of what’s happened and what’s going to happen.”

The 54-hole GST summer championships concluded Tuesday with Ed Luethke of Fresno winning with a 214, two under par, at Sandpiper, north of Santa Barbara. He beat former touring pro Eric Batten of Santa Cruz by three shots.

Ives’ long-range plan is to develop a second tour, about a dozen events with a $25,000 purse, for pros on the West Coast, but like even the major events on the PGA tour, it will take sponsorship money to make it go.

“The more I’m around these young players, the more impressed I am with their skills,” he said. “I’ll bet there are 15 guys playing regularly with me, guys like Dave Hobby, Brad Sherfy, Luethke, Mark Blakely and Mike Miles, who could make it on the tour if they could just get on.

“The qualifying school is the toughest obstacle, and our tour is a big help. There is no substitute for competition and right now the Golden State tour is one of the few places to get it, except for the regular summer tournaments like the Queen Mary, the State Open, Southern Cal Open and a couple in Nevada and Utah.

“A lot of players on the tour, besides Pate, prepped with us. Greg Twiggs, Jay Delsing, Jeff Hart, Ernie Gonzales all came from the Golden State. And before that, Wiebe, Tony Sills, Mark O’Meara and Ron Commans came out of the West Coast Amateur.”

Running around from tournament to tournament doesn’t faze Ives. To keep in condition, he officiates between 60 and 70 college basketball games a season.

Golf Notes The man with the big smile on his face this week is UCLA coach Eddie Merrins. First, his prize pupil, Duffy Waldorf, was named to the Walker Cup team along with USC’s Sam Randolph. Then, a future pupil, Ken Tanigawa, broke the Optimist Junior World tournament record with a 6-under-par 66 over the tough Torrey Pines South course. Tanigawa, a senior at Loyola High, is headed for UCLA in the fall. . . . Two former club champions made history at Oakmont CC. Ex-USC star Mike Haney had eight birdies and a bogey and needed only 23 putts for a course-record 32-33--65 over the 6,703-yard Glendale course. Haney and pro Skip Whittet shared the old mark at 67. Craig Messner made consecutive eagles, holing out with a 5-wood on the 437-yard 13th hole and with a 3-iron on the 179-yard 14th for a hole in one. Messner finished with a 68.

Soule Park, a Ventura county course in Ojai, is alive and well, despite rumors that the 18-hole facility was closed because of the recent fires that came within a few hundred yards of the course. The Greater Ojai Valley Pro-Am, scheduled for July 28-29, has been postponed, but not because of the fire, according to pro Jim Allen. The pro-am will be rescheduled when the new clubhouse is completed, but the course is open for play. . . . La Costa CC, home of the annual MONY Tournament of Champions, has opened another nine holes, making it a 36-hole golfing resort. . . . The 37th National Amputee tournament will be played Aug. 19-23 at Singing Hills CC in El Cajon. . . . City golfers at Rancho Park, Harbor Park and Penmar next Saturday and Sunday will be asked to donate $1 each for a hole-in-one contest to provide camperships and golf lessons for disadvantaged youths. . . . Entries will close Friday for Fred Sherman’s North San Diego County women’s championship Aug. 5-6 at Escondido CC. Linda Morrison is the defending champion.

A record 329 players entered the U.S. Women’s Amateur tournament Aug. 5-10 in Pittsburgh. Local qualifying is set for Tuesday at Rancho Santa Fe GC, where 22 women will play for nine spots. Exempt players include Pearl Sinn of Bellflower, Kathy Kostas of Antelope Valley, and Cathy Cook, formerly of Rolling Hills. Favorites include Cindy Scholefield, Flori Prono, Kim Saiki and Lois Hodge. . . . National girls’ champion Cathy Mockett of Newport Beach will defend her championship July 29-Aug. 3 at the St. Claire CC, also in Pittsburgh. . . . Southern California will be represented in the $100,000 Colorado Open, starting Thursday, by pro Al Geiberger and his son, Rob; pros Todd Yoshitake of Whittier Narrows and John Bell of Rams Hill CC in Borrego Springs, and amateur John O’Neill of Arcadia, winner of the Southwestern Amateur.

Teaching pro Corky Dahl of El Caballero picked the right time to make a hole in one. He was playing in a pro-am while vacationing in Minnesota and won a 1985 Chevrolet. . . . The SoCal PGA pro-junior championship will be played Monday at Candlewood CC. . . . The Stroh’s San Diego County Open, in its 56th year, will be a $15,000, 72-hole tournament Aug. 3-4-5 at Cottonwood CC in El Cajon with 36 holes on the final day. Barry Mahlberg is the defending champion. . . . Lakeside GC will hold a Maurie Luxford pro-am Aug. 5. . . . Dianne Lennon Gass, one of the singing Lennon sisters, shot a women’s course-record 33, two under par, at Penmar when she eagled the ninth hole. . . . A new men’s club, Woodley Lakes, is being organized at the city course in the Sepulveda basin. Barry Maultasch is president. . . . Tom McHugh will hold a free junior clinic for six Fridays, starting this week, at his L.A. National course. Teaching pro Vince Ronca will conduct the lessons, for boys and girls 8 through 17, at 9 a.m.