Golf / Rich Tosches : Field Takes Aim at Lou Gehrig’s Disease

The 2nd ALS Charity Golf tournament honoring the late Robert Bauman has been scheduled for Oct. 17 at Brookside Country Club in Pasadena.

Bauman died in February, 1987, at age 36. He was diagnosed in 1981 as having Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is a degenerative disease of the muscles. His brother, Bill Bauman of Mission Hills, organized the first charity golf tournament in his brother’s name a year ago.

“Being involved in sports all of our lives, my brother and I had always heard about Lou Gehrig’s disease, but when it happens to your kid brother it really strikes home,” Bauman said. “We started talking at his funeral about a way to raise some money for the ALS Assn., and the idea of a golf tournament seemed perfect.”

Last year’s tournament attracted a capacity field of 144 golfers. Bauman said he expects the same turnout this year. The golfers will play a four-man scramble format, and prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places.

Robert Bauman competed in track and cross-country at Santa Monica High. He was the charter president of the Malibu Kiwanis Club and vice president of Santa Monica Bank at the time of his death.

Information: 818-996-8082.

Nice purse: The MONY Tournament of Champions, won in 1988 by Steve Pate of Simi Valley, will offer a purse of $750,000 in 1989, it was announced Tuesday.

The 72-hole tournament, which brings together PGA tournament winners from the past 12 months, will be played at La Costa Country Club in Carlsbad on Jan. 5-8. Last year’s total purse was $500,000. The purse for a companion event, the Senior Tournament of Champions, will be raised to $250,000.

Pate, who was born in Santa Barbara and played golf at UCLA, earned the $90,000 winner’s share of the TOC purse last January by shooting sizzling rounds of 66 the first two days. Rain shortened the tournament to 54 holes.

Pate plays out of Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley.

In addition to Pate, those who already have qualified for the Tournament of Champions include Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, U. S. Open champion Curtis Strange, Sandy Lyle, Ben Crenshaw, Lanny Wadkins, Jay Haas, Paul Azinger and Morris Hatalsky.

Pate also will play in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, formerly the Crosby, Jan. 26-29 on the Monterey Peninsula. Organizers of that tournament also have announced an increase in prize money, from $700,000 in 1988 to $1 million in 1989.

Juniors: Charlie Wi of Westlake Village shot a 36-hole total of 3-over-par 147 at Wood Ranch Country Club to lead all qualifiers for the U. S. Golf Assn. Junior Championship, to be played on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

Wi, a member of the Westlake High golf team, finished two strokes ahead of runner-up Yascha Feld of Palm Springs in the tournament Monday.

Jerry Chang and Chris Zambri, who play out of North Ranch Country Club in Thousand Oaks, finished at 153 in the battle for first alternate in the national tournament. Chang then earned the berth by beating Zambri on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

The USGA Junior Championship will be played July 26-30.

Last Friday, Wi finished second in a junior invitational tournament at Mountain Meadows Country Club for boys aged 16-17. He lost by a stroke to Tony Kim of Yorba Linda.

Cruel cut: Ron Commans of Thousand Oaks missed the cut in last week’s $900,000 French Open. The former USC golfer staggered to an opening-round 8-over-par 80 in Chantilly, France. He recovered for an even-par 72 in the second round but missed the qualifying mark by four strokes.

Also among the non-qualifiers for the final two rounds was Sandy Lyle of Scotland, the reigning British Open and Masters champion and the current leader on the PGA money list.