GOLF / STEVE ELLING : Wright Brothers Fly Tandem Once More

Three years ago, they were routinely paired in their high-school matches.

Big brother Justin, a senior, and kiddie hawk Chad, a very-talented freshman.

The Wright Brothers are flying again.

The pair, who played together at Buena High, are among the entries in the 82nd California Amateur Championship, which begins Monday on the Monterey Peninsula.

They will be making their first appearances in the state amateur, which opens with 36 holes of stroke play at the renowned Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill courses. The low 32 players in the field of 102 advance to match play, which begins Wednesday and concludes with a 36-hole championship match on Friday.

Chad, who graduates from Buena today, qualified with rounds of 72-73 at Wood Ranch Country Club in Simi Valley. Justin, a sophomore at San Jose State, shot 74-77 at The Village Country Club in Lompoc and was designated an alternate. Justin was added to the field last week when another player dropped out.

“I just want to advance to match play,” Chad said. “Once that starts, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Indeed. Three years ago, Charlie Wi of Thousand Oaks won the event, even though he graduated from Westlake High only a week earlier. Wi, who now plays at the University of Nevada, also is entered this year.

Other entries from the region are Craig Steinberg of Van Nuys, Yukonori Miyashita of Simi Valley, David Saylor of West Hills and Corby Segal of Burbank.

It’s been 39 years since a player won consecutive state amateur titles--and that streak will not end. Todd Demsey of Rancho Santa Fe, the defending champion, is not entered. Dave Berganio of Sylmar, last year’s runner-up and an Alemany High graduate, also did not enter.

There will be plenty of Wrights around to fill the void. The entire family of four plans to make the trip and father Jim will caddy for Chad.

“No matter what, it’ll be a good learning experience,” Chad said. “And to play Pebble Beach is just the ultimate.”

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Kid stuff: Segal owes a thank-you note to a 12-year-old girl named Amanda.

At least, he thinks she’s 12. Might be 11. He doesn’t know her last name.

It seems that Amanda is a regular at the Studio City Golf Course, a cozy little par-three layout located south of the Ventura Freeway. Sometimes, Segal coaches Amanda on the putting green.

She’s taken to the instruction and has been making every putt in sight--while using her girls’ mallet-head putter.

Segal attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open at Valencia last week, but couldn’t make a putt. He shots rounds of 77 and 74 and didn’t come close.

So Segal did something about it. He was given the men’s model of the same putter Amanda uses and had the shaft shortened to girls’ length.

Voila.

Segal, who played the past four years at Cal State Northridge, shot a 71 in a state amateur qualifier Monday at Wood Ranch Country Club in Simi Valley, earning medalist honors.

“I made everything,” he said.

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No defense: ‘Tis the season of choice for many of the region’s best area players.

Segal, for instance, had to pass up the L.A. City Men’s Championship, which begins Saturday at Griffith Park, in order to play in the state amateur.

Last summer, Segal finished second in the City tournament, losing to Pete Wilman of Manhattan Beach on the second hole of sudden death.

“Everything goes back and forth this time of year,” Segal said. “Everybody goes everywhere. I wish I could have played.”

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The earth moved: It took four years to complete and was sometimes a logistics nightmare, but last Saturday the Spanish Hills Golf and Country Club opened its doors in Camarillo.

Course architect Robert Cupp of Atlanta was asked to sculpt a top-flight course out of a “pile of dirt.”

It took some time--more than twice as long as it takes to build a typical course, he said--but Cupp pulled it off. With flair.

Each of the 18 holes features views of the foothills and Pacific Ocean. The course is a manageable 6,800 yards from the back tees and is more fun than punitive, Cupp said.

“The intent was to create a course that was fun to play,” Cupp said. “I wanted a course where players could hit a driver off all 14 holes (discounting par-threes).

“For me, nothing’s more fun than being able to drive it close to the green on a par-four.”

Cupp, 53, worked in Jack Nicklaus’ international course design group for 16 years before going solo in 1986. He said Spanish Hills ranks as one of the most difficult courses he’s ever designed in terms of logistics problems.

There were all the usual planning and zoning hurdles, and not much to work with in terms of acreage.

This surely wasn’t a case of adding a lake and a couple of sand traps to a pasture, Cupp said. Anything but.

“I’m not gonna tell you it was all done with the existing topography,” Cupp said, laughing. “We literally didn’t have anything to work with.

“We moved lots of earth. We started with one large pile of dirt, and were asked to play around the edges. It was a very difficult piece of land to work with.”

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High-rent district: Mark Singer of North Hollywood opens play today in the U.S. Open. To say the largely unknown journeyman professional is experiencing culture shock is an understatement.

Earlier this week, while hitting balls on the practice range at Baltusrol, Singer took a look around and finally realized where he was and what was at stake. If Singer has been grinning all week, it’s easy to understand why.

“We had Ray Floyd, Jose Maria Olazabal, Seve Ballesteros, Peter Jacobsen, Mark Calcavecchia and,” Singer said, pausing for comic effect, “Mark Singer.”