GOLF : Caddy’s Local Knowledge Gave Voorhees a Lift

Heidi Voorhees was smack dab in the middle of explaining her sterling string of performances in the U.S. Women’s Amateur golf championship when she was forced to dab at her nose.

Tough tournament, it seems.

“Can you hold on for a second?” Voorhees sniffed as she put down the telephone. “I have a bloody nose.”

It was the second bloody nose of the week for Voorhees, who said she cannot remember the last time she was similarly stricken.

“I don’t know why it’s happening,” she said.

Perhaps it is because Voorhees, 18, has elevated her game to stratospheric levels, way up there where the air is thin.

Voorhees last weekend advanced to the match-play final of the U.S. Amateur at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan., before falling to a more experienced Amy Fruhwirth of Phoenix, 5 and 4.

Over the final two days of competition, Voorhees, making her first appearance in the tournament, was one over par.

She was even par on Saturday when the 36-hole final against Fruhwirth, a 23-year-old who played at Arizona State, ended on the 14th hole of the second round.

To what did Voorhees--who will be a sophomore at USC in the fall--attribute much of her heightened success? New woods? A hot putter? Improved short game?

Not exactly.

Try a competent caddy.

In amateur events, finding a decent caddy often can be a crapshoot. In a tournament two years ago, Voorhees’ caddy was a 9-year-old boy, who obviously was unable to shed much light on the game’s dark secrets.

For the U.S. Amateur’s two practice rounds and the first two days of stroke-play competition, Voorhees’ caddy was older but not much wiser.

“I had to tell him when to rake the traps, where to put the bag and everything,” she said. “He didn’t know anything about the game or the course.”

A player who missed the cut toted Voorhees’ bag for the next two days as Voorhees advanced through the match-play portion of the tournament. Entering the critical final two days, Voorhees found her man.

Brad Kottas, a golfer from Wichita State who was familiar with the course, volunteered to help.

“He could really read the greens,” Voorhees said. “He was great. It made a difference.”

A good bagman, Voorhees will admit, is nothing to sniff at when trying to bag a national amateur title.

Add Voorhees: Former Notre Dame High classmate Emilee Klein was one of the casualties in Voorhees’ trek to the final.

Voorhees defeated Klein, 2 and 1, although it wasn’t exactly the best performance of the week for either player.

“Neither of us played all that great,” Voorhees said. “She just played a little worse than I did.”

The gang’s all here: Chi Chi Rodriguez, who lost to Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff in the U.S. Seniors Open last month, will return to Ojai next March 2-8 to defend his title in the $450,000 GTE West Classic, another senior event.

Rodriguez won the 1991 tournament at Ojai Valley Country Club with a two-day score of 8-under-par 132, edging Gary Player and Bruce Crampton by a stroke.

The tournament was shortened from the scheduled 54 holes because of torrential rains.

Also expected to play in the 1992 tournament are Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino.

The three rounds of competition will be televised by ESPN. A two-day pro-am will precede the tournament.

Information: 805-646-5796.

Stiff competition: A pair of area high-school standouts finished in a tie for 31st place in the prestigious Ben Hogan Boys Junior championships, which concluded last Friday in Irving, Tex.

Jason Gore of Hart High and Lawrence O’Neil of Rio Mesa each finished with four-round totals of 294, 14 shots behind boys’ 15-18 winner Jason Buha of Farmington Hills, Mich.

Buha finished at even par on the Four Seasons Resort and Club’s 6,800-yard Las Colinas course.

Chad Wright of Ventura and Mike Miller of Valencia finished in a tie for 49th at 296.

Miller and Gore were teammates at Hart.

Darren Angel of Northridge finished in a tie for sixth in the 13-14 division at 296, 12 shots behind Jeffrey Lawrence of Henryetta, Okla.

Tournament workings: The Ventura County golf championships will be held over Labor Day weekend, from Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

The 54-hole tournament event will be held at three county public courses: Buenaventura, Olivas Park and River Ridge.

In addition to a championship flight, competition also will be staged for players of various handicaps in the five handicap flights.

Information: 805-483-6047.