GOLF / MAL FLORENCE : Faster-Play Plan That’s Right on the Mark

Everybody complains about slow play on golf courses, but nobody does much about it.

Jack Kirby, a retired real estate developer who lives in Carmel Valley, is an exception.

He did something about it.

Kirby is a former USC and NFL running back, and scored the only touchdown in the Trojans’ 6-0 victory over UCLA in 1947. He is also an avid golfer.

Like others, he has heard complaints about slow play on public and private courses for years.

“I noticed a significant delay came when players tried to figure out how far they were from the green,” Kirby said. “The way distance was given--posts, bushes and sprinkler heads--didn’t make sense.”

So, Kirby invented a distance-marking system.

The markers are green with yardage numbers in yellow. They’re made of a hard but not brittle plastic and are seven inches in diameter.

Unlike some markers on city courses, they’re not obtrusive. They’re located at 25-yard intervals, from 75 yards from the center of the green to 225 yards on par-fours and par-fives. They’e also 25 yards apart laterally on the fairways.

The markers are collapsible, allowing maintenance workers to mow over them without damage to the markers or the mower.

They have already been installed at Poppy Hills and Spyglass Hill, two of the three courses used for the annual Pebble Beach tournament.

Poppy Hills pro John Gertsen Jr. said the pace of play has picked up since the markers were installed, cutting a half-hour off a round in crowded course conditions.

Moreover, with more rounds now being played, there is additional revenue for the courses.

“I think it is going to result in more than two additional foursomes a day,” Kirby said.

There was some concern that the Kirby Markers, the official name of the product, would be unsightly, detracting from the natural beauty of a course.

“Some thought it would be like an LAX runway,” Kirby said. “But that’s not the case at all. You can see them when you want to see them, from 15 to 20 yards away. When you get farther away, they look like little mounds of grass.”

Response by golfers to the Kirby Makrkers has been mostly posoitive, according to teaching pros at Poppy Hills and Spyglass.

Tom Kite, the defending champion in the Infiniti Tournament of Champions in progress at La Costa, says it’s difficult to become a multiple winner on the PGA Tour because of the depth of talent.

Only four tour members--Mark Brooks, Corey Pavin, Tom Purtzer and Billy Andrade--won more than one event last year. Each won two.

“The good players don’t have much room to improve,” Kite said. “The poorer playrs have a lot more to improve, and when they improve, they kind of jam everything up.”

John Daly, a tour rookie last year, was the big “jammer.” He captured the admiration of the public with his Paul Bunyan-like drives in winning the PGA Championship.

Asked to comment on Daly’s impact, Kite said: “He did an awful lot for the game of golf. There were also some other players who did some very exciting things. Corey Pavin had a great year. He was the leading money-winner, and what a gutsy player.

“To a certain extent, it’s unfortunate that the public hasn’t been able to grasp hold of other players as they have Daly.

“John has a certain charisma. He worked the crowd well while he was winning. And hitting it as far as he does--(this) creates a lot of excitement, too. He probably created more excitement than golf has ever seen in one week. Home runs are more fun to watch than singles.”

Even though there are more established players in the field at La Costa, Daly is drawing the largest galleries.

There is a Babe Ruth-like quality to this unassuming 25-year-old pro from Dardanelle, Ark. Asked about his instant celebrity status, Daly said: “My lifestyle has changed, but I’m not going to change.”

He conceded that it’s more comfortable to sleep in a hotel bed than in his van, as he did when he first came on the tour and was struggling to make the cut.

As an example of his prodigious power, Daly said he can hit a 5-iron anywhere from 200 to 220 yards.

“I’ve also hit a wedge over 155 yards,” he said. “It’s just how you feel.”

Golf Notes

Fred Couples was named the PGA Tour’s player of the year at the annual awards dinner Thursday night at La Costa. He led the tour in scoring average and finished third on the official money-winning list. . . . George Archer and Mike Hill were named co-players of the year on the Senior PGA Tour. . . . Ben Lehman, who had three victories on the Ben Hogan Tour in 1991, was also honored. . . . PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman was selected as the winner of the William H. Richardson Award by the Golf Writers Assn. of America, and Jim Nelford won the Ben Hogan Award. The Richardson award recognizes an individual who has consistently made an outstanding contribution to golf. The Hogan award recognizes an individual who has continued to be active in golf despite a physical handicap.