Pros Take Lead in Century Club Matches : Golf: Navis and Anderson are the lone bright spot for the amateur team, which is trying to pull even in the 20-year series.

The threat of rain wasn’t supposed to work this way.

In Ray Navis’ best-case scenario, when the last putt was sunk at La Jolla Country Club on Saturday afternoon, his amateur golf team would hold a comfortable lead and inclement weather the following day would cancel the event.

No such luck.

Instead, the 10-member amateur team finds itself trailing the professionals, 30-15, going into today’s final round of the Century Club Matches.

“We were hoping to be leading by that much,” said Navis with a laugh. But Navis, who represents The Farms Golf Course in Rancho Santa Fe, teamed with Fallbrook’s Craig Anderson to give the amateurs their lone bright spot of the day.

Navis and Anderson, who represents the Vista Valley Country Club, were the only amateurs to defeat a pair of professionals in the Pinehurst Scotch format, and they did it by outscoring Scott Bentley of Mt. Woodson Country Club and Ron Riess of Stardust Country Club, 7 1/2 to 1 1/2.

“I’m surprised,” Navis said. “The teams were matched up very well. When we came in, I thought, ‘Great,’ but then a couple of teams went soft at the end.”

Four foursomes followed Anderson-Navis and Bentley-Riess into the clubhouse, and every amateur team except Rancho San Diego Golf Course’s Pat Mateer and Fairbanks Ranch Country Club’s Tony Scholl wilted, 7 1/2 to 1 1/2. Mateer and Scholl lost 6-3 to Greg Casagrande and Joe DeBock, both of Torrey Pines Golf Course.

Post-match clubhouse banter between the pros and amateurs was good-natured, but the amateurs still think they can even this 20-year series at 10-10 and are determined to do so.

“I think (we can win),” Navis said. “The matches are very close, really.”

Factoring into Navis’s and Anderson’s victory margin was their familiarity with each other.

According to Navis, who won a partnership tournament with Anderson two years ago, there are players who fare particularly well in partner tournaments. He happens to be one of them.

“I do well in these formats,” he said, “probably because I’m good with the short game. You can never make any really big mistakes. Usually you’re fine if you two-putt, but you get into trouble when you three-putt.”

Navis has won two partner tournaments this year and in the past has teamed with Cynthia, his wife, to win the 1989 Southern California Couples Championships and the 1990 International Husband and Wife Tournament.

Anderson, the two-time defending Trans-Mississippi Best Ball champion, said he’s likely to take more risks when his is the only score on the line.

“It’s my responsibility to give him a good shot,” Anderson said. “You can’t gamble as much.”

And if your partner has a bad hole, it’s wise to remember he can redeem himself on the next.

“You have to be patient,” Anderson said. “Sometimes you get upset if he doesn’t make a shot, but you have to remember that other times, he’s the one that will save you.”