Golf / Brian Murphy : Locals to Put Talents on Stage in Amateur Hour

Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Craig Steinberg.

Wait a minute. Craig Steinberg?

Doesn’t sound right, does it? Try this, then: Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Bob Burns.

No. Still doesn’t sound right. Let’s face it. The names Steinberg, Burns, Rich Greenwood, Phil Hurlbut, Charlie Wi and Mitch Voges will never be mistaken for the golfing legends mentioned above.

And yet, starting next Tuesday, these six Valley-area golfers (Simi Valley’s Voges and Thousand Oaks’ Wi are alternates) will tread the hallowed fairways of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., as they compete in the prestigious U. S. Amateur Open--the same fairways that have played host to some of American golf’s great moments.

To wit: Jones won his first U. S. Amateur at Merion in 1922 and Hogan made his dramatic comeback from a near-fatal car accident to win the 1950 U. S. Open at Merion.

Thus, one would think, for a 23-year-old UCLA graduate such as Encino’s Greenwood, who will be playing in his first U. S. Amateur, the thought of playing historic Merion must surely leave him quaking in his golf spikes.

Well, not really.

“A course is just a course, really,” Greenwood said.

Listening to those words would surely make the golfing greats of yore spin like lathes in their graves. But before we dismiss Greenwood as a disrespectful youth, keep listening.

“But it’ll be great to play on a course with such a history,” said Greenwood, who plans to turn pro immediately after the Amateur. “Every time I’m driving in my car I think about winning it there. I’m kind of on a semi-high about the whole thing.”

And why not? Many a golf legend can count a U. S. Amateur titles in his resume. Jack Nicklaus won the thing twice, in 1959 and 1961.

Being even mentioned in the same breath along with such legendary names is one reason why playing in the Amateur is still a bit of fantasy for a young golfer such as Granada Hills’ Burns, a 21-year-old Mission College student who, like Greenwood, will be playing in his first Amateur.

“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” said Burns, the 1987 junior college state champion.

Burns qualified last Monday at Palos Verdes Golf Club by firing a 143 over 36 holes to tie for second with Greenwood. Hurlbut, from Sherman Oaks, shot a 145 to just make the cut. Of 114 golfers at Palos Verdes, only the top seven could qualify, which places the trio in fairly lofty standing among California amateurs. But Burns hasn’t lost his perspective of youthful exuberance.

“I’m sure I’ll make a little vacation out of the whole thing,” Burns said.

On the flip side of these fuzzy-cheeked newcomers is Steinberg, the 31-year-old Van Nuys resident who qualified last Monday with a 137 over 36 holes at San Luis Obispo Country Club to place first in a field of 45. Unlike Burns or Greenwood, the feeling of qualifying for the Amateur is an old one for Steinberg: He will be making his sixth trip to the Amateur in the past eight years.

But don’t think that makes him a callous veteran. In fact, Steinberg is almost as pumped as Greenwood or Burns.

“The excitement never gets old,” said Steinberg, who played on USC’s 1980 NCAA championship team. “It’s the best tournament an amateur can play. The most important, certainly.”

Steinberg, an optometrist with a practice in Westlake Village, reached the round of 32 in 1982 for his best finish. This year, however, he says that he would like to finish in the top eight or four. The U. S. Amateur is a match-play event.

Regardless of his finish, however, Steinberg isn’t looking to make a career out the event. When the Amateur is over, Steinberg will shove his putter back in the bag and head back to the land of retinas and corneas. At least until the next major amateur event rolls around.

“I’m not a 21-year old college senior who’s about to turn pro,” Steinberg said. “So if I win, great. If not, I’ll try again. For a 21-year old, it means a lot more. I probably have more fun.”

On the storied greens of Merion, though, one can be sure that a lot of amateurs will be having fun next week.

Straight down the middle: Birdies, schmirdies. Sometimes it pays to play a little boring golf. Just ask Matt Williamson.

Williamson, 18, a Simi Valley High graduate, won the Desert Golf Assn.’s Junior Invitational one-day tournament at Palm Valley Country Club in Palm Springs last week with exactly zero birdies.

That’s right. Williamson shot a three-over 75 with some consistent play and, yawn, a lot of pars. But it’s not as if that was the way he liked it.

“I couldn’t find a birdie,” Williamson said. “But I’d seen some scores from the other golfers and I figured if they shot that poorly I’d beat them if 75 was all it takes.”

Williamson’s round edged Clark Heavner’s 76 and Robert Castro’s 77 in the seniors group for 18-year-old players. He won a “nice, big trophy” for his efforts. But, as Williamson says, the efforts he put forth were not on the spectacular side as far as mashing the ball off the tee.

“I just hit a lot of irons off the tees,” said Williamson, who was Simi Valley High’s No. 1 player as a senior. “I used my driver on two holes and just left it in the bag the rest of the time.”

Surely, though, Williamson must have had a big finish on 18 for a dramatic win, right?

“No,” he said, “I just reached the green and two-putted it.” So much for drama.

Williamson is currently pondering an opportunity to play golf for Cal Lutheran in the fall. In the meantime, though, he can serve as inspiration for all those golfers out there for whom the elusive birdie consistently lies a frustrating shot away.

Be prepared: Philanthropic golfers, take note. The 10th Boy Scout Golf tournament is set for Monday, Sept. 11 at Pasadena’s Brookside Golf Course.

The tournament is open to men and women with a registration fee of $150. In addition to a bevy of door prizes, a 1989 Thunderbird will be presented to anyone who records a hole-in-one on the 191-yard eighth hole.

Cash prizes also will be handed out in three categories: low net, low gross and calloway. The event is co-sponsored by the West Glendale and Burbank Kiwanis clubs to benefit the Verdugo Hills Council, Boy Scouts of America.

For the record: Mark Rapko of Oxnard last week narrowly missed lowering the course record at Simi Hills Public Golf Course.

Rapko, 23, fired a 63, but Simi Hills starter Ted Schumacher believes that Rapko’s red-hot score only tied him with two other, Paul Hoppe and Bobby Garza.

“I’ve been here six years and I’m sure they’re the only three who have shot that low,” Schumacher said.