GOLF : Tarnished Putter Gave Luster to Wi’s Game

As Charlie Wi of Thousand Oaks danced his way across the golf courses of the Monterey Peninsula last week, spreading his magic against the best amateur golfers in California en route to winning the state championship, his golf clubs shimmered in the bright sunshine.

A driver with a flaming red shaft, topped by a gleaming steel head. Irons that glistened. A polished silver sand wedge that Wi manipulated with such skill during the five-day tournament that he broke the spirit of more than one opponent.

But then, each time he walked onto a green, Wi drew out a putter that seemed to have no right being in the same golf bag as the other clubs. It was beaten and battered and tarnished and chipped and dented. The leather handle appeared to have served time as a pit bull’s chew toy and the head of the putter had more flaws than Dan Quayle’s public-speaking technique.

The putter, which looked as if it had spent its best years sending golf balls into a clown’s mouth or through the spinning blades of a windmill, was, however, as important to Wi’s success as any of its newer and shinier relatives.

On Thursday, playing in the quarterfinals against Craig Steinberg of Van Nuys, Wi used the battered old putter to ram in a curving, 45-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole, giving him a three-hole lead in the match-play format and in effect sealing Steinberg’s fate.

Later Thursday, playing in the semifinals against Paul Stankowski of Oxnard, Wi curled in a putt of nearly 50 feet for a birdie. And on Friday, playing in the championship match against Gary Vanier of Pleasant Hill, Wi and his well-worn putter teamed on yet another 45-foot birdie putt, sending Wi on his way to an easy victory for the state title.

Where did Wi, 18, come up with this relic? What did he move in his grandparents’ attic to uncover the Spaulding putter that was deemed by golf history buffs at the Pebble Beach Golf Links to be significantly older than Wi himself?

“I took it from the golf bag of my friend’s mother,” Wi explained.

Oh, so it wasn’t just an old, battered, beaten, tarnished, chipped and dented putter. It was a ladies’ old, battered, beaten, tarnished, chipped and dented putter.

Wi said that he was in his friend’s garage four months ago when they spotted a golf bag tucked away in a corner. He investigated, found three putters. Wi took two of them out to check out their balance and weight then quickly returned them.

“Golfers are always looking for a putter that feels right,” Wi explained. “The first two didn’t, and I didn’t even want to take the other one out. It was terrible-looking. But I figured I’d check it out. And it felt so good, I kept it.”

And he liked it so much after his first round of golf that he kept using it. Right across the Monterey Peninsula.

Who was the woman who unwittingly sent Wi heading toward a week of golfing glory? Well, as well as being an unusually good golfer, Wi is also an unusually polite and respectful young man, and . . .

“God, I don’t know her name,” Wi said. “I mean, I know her name. Her son and I have been friends for a long time. And I know his whole family, the Buntz family. But I only call the parents Mr. and Mrs.

“Do me a favor. Just say her name is Mrs. Buntz. I’m really embarrassed.”

And what did Mrs. Buntz ask in return? A share of his future golfing wealth, perhaps?

“She told me I could keep (the putter), but she wants me to mention her name a few times when I get on the PGA Tour,” Wi said.

By then, of course, he might know her first name as well.

Who’s on first?: The following conversation took place in the press room of the state amateur tournament at Pebble Beach on Thursday between Steinberg, who had just lost to Wi (pronounced We ), and Pat Duncan of Rancho Santa Fe, who also was ousted in the quarterfinals:

Duncan: How did you do?

Steinberg: I lost.

Duncan: Sorry, Craig. Did you play OK?

Steinberg: Not really. But Wi had five birdies.

Duncan: You had five birdies and you lost?

Steinberg: No. Wi had five birdies.

Duncan: Who had five birdies?

Steinberg: Wi did.

Duncan: You had five birdies between the two of you?

Steinberg: No. Wi had five birdies. Charlie Wi. The guy who beat me.

And then, as the veil of confusion was lifted, the two men who hadn’t had a thing to laugh about all day leaned back in their chairs and laughed like hyenas.

One shot shy: Debbie Koyama of Thousand Oaks finished second in last week’s Long Beach city women’s championship. Her rounds of 75, 78 and 77 left her at 230, just a stroke behind Sue Ewart of Long Beach.

Koyama plays out of the North Ranch Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Almost a hero: Also coming close last week was Hiro Kikkawa of Simi Valley, who came within one stroke of tying for first place in a Golden State Tour event at California Country Club in Whittier.

Kikkawa shot a 69, but three golfers tied for first with 68s.