GOLF NOTEBOOK / STEVE KRESAL : Los Coyotes’ Tribute to Defending Champion Bradley Has a Familiar Ring

As the first ring came over the public-address system, most of the audience at the Los Coyotes County Club was unsure of what was going on.

But after a few more rings of the bell, word circulated around the room about the meaning. For special guest Pat Bradley, there was never a question about what the sound meant.

Each ring brought her closer to tears. By the end, she was wiping her eyes.

The 30 rings at Los Coyotes were a tribute to the bell her mother sounds back home in Westford, Mass., to let neighbors know when her daughter has won a golf tournament.

The last time the sound was heard in New England was on Sept. 29, 1991, when Bradley won the LPGA event at Los Coyotes with an 11-under 277, beating Michelle Estill by one shot. The victory was the 30th of Bradley’s career, and she earned an automatic induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Bradley was in Orange County this week to help promote the Los Coyotes LPGA Classic, which will be held Sept. 24-27 in Buena Park.

“Just coming back to this golf course where it happened,” she said, “I have so many emotions and so many fine memories moving inside me.”

The bell ringing was the first of a number of tributes paid to Bradley, including a key to the City of Buena Park and a glass trophy etched with her likeness.

For the final tribute, Bradley was taken out behind the 18th green where a plaque was unveiled that commemorates her Hall of Fame victory.

“I’m just so thrilled it’s not my tombstone,” she said. “What an overwhelming day.”

This will be the fourth time the tournament will be at Los Coyotes, but the first without a title sponsor.

The MBS Corp. dropped out after three years, leaving it up to the membership at Los Coyotes to decide if the tournament would continue.

With the members in favor, several sponsors, including the Miller Brewing Co., Lucky food stores, J.M. Smucker Co. and Kraft Foods, were found to help with the $500,000 tournament.

“After the title sponsor pulled out we decided to make it a community affair,” tournament chairman Don Stieler said. “Only to do that, we needed the support of the County of Orange and the City of Buena Park and they are behind us.”

Hall of Fame Tradition: Despite being only three years old, the tournament at Los Coyotes has an impressive history.

Nancy Lopez, who earned a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1987, won the first two events and Bradley entered the Hall of Fame with her victory last year.

Lopez didn’t play in last year’s event because she was pregnant with her third daughter, who was born Oct. 30. But Lopez was on hand to bathe Bradley in champagne after Bradley’s victory.

Hole of the Week: Although most of the holes are short at the Lake Forest Golf and Practice Center’s nine-hole executive course, one of them deserves special mention.

The third hole is a tricky, 270-yard par-four with a sharp dogleg left that’s split by a creek.

It would take a drive of about 250 yards with a slight hook to carry the creek, which is dotted with rocks. The smarter play is to lay up off the tee about 170 yards. On the left side of the fairway is a thicket; the right side is protected by one of the few orange groves left in the area.

Three sand traps also protect the right side of the fairway. The second shot must carry the creek into a pear-shaped green that has a trap on the left side and trees on the right.