GOLF / MAL FLORENCE : At 64, She Can Still Beat Kids

You might say that Millie Stanley branched out as a golfer at a very early age.

Stanley grew up on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where she was introduced to golf when she was 4.

“My father would bring back the broken clubs from the haoles (whites) who would break them out of frustration,” Stanley said. “Then he would fix the clubs by inserting branches from trees.

“We would sneak onto this public course late in the evening and play a few holes. Once in a while, we would get caught.

“But I really didn’t like golf then. I would rather be swimming or surfing.”

Golf, though, has become a big part of Stanley’s life. At 64, she will compete in the City Senior Women’s tournament Wednesday and Thursday at Rancho Park Golf Course.

It’s a tournament she virtually owns, having won it 10 times in the last 12 years.

Stanley lives in Escondido with her husband, Bob, a retired banker, and plays out of Wilshire Country Club.

As for her heritage, she said, “I’m Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, English. I’m the chop suey kid. My maiden name was Mahelona.”

Stanley, who stands 5 feet 4 and weighs 132 pounds, said that she works hard on her short game.

“I can’t reach the long par-fours in regulation, but I can reach the par-fives and threes,” she said. “And I always go for the middle of the greens.”

That’s where she frustrates younger players with her putting.

Stanley said she left Hawaii to go to Japan in 1949.

“I wanted to see the rest of the world,” she said. “I went to business college in Hawaii and then went to work for the U.S. Navy in Japan as a civilian.

“That’s when I really started to play golf. I remember that it cost only 50 cents, or a quarter a round then during the U.S. occupation.

“I played all the courses over there that are so expensive today.”

Stanley said she was the only woman on a civilian men’s golf team that competed against the military.

“Bob was in the Navy and working at the same place I was,” Stanley said. “Then, I played golf with him and he was bad because he had never played before. But he had a wonderful heart.”

Millie and Bob came to California as a married couple in December of 1954. She said that Bob got two master’s degrees at USC in the early 1960s before beginning his banking career.

Millie Stanley went back to school in 1976, at 47.

“Cal State Long Beach recruited me on a four-year scholarship,” she said. “I graduated in 1981 with a degree in political science, and then became a volunteer golf coach there until 1984.”

Stanley won the L.A. City women’s championship in 1968 and 1969, a title that was won by Laura Baugh and Amy Alcott in the early 1970s.

“Oh, I know them both very well,” Stanley said. “I’ve known Laura since she was 13 years old.”

She refers to Alcott and Baugh, veterans of the LPGA tour, as kids, even though Baugh is 38 and Alcott 37.

Stanley has played in women’s golf events all over the world and still has an active schedule.

“I made the quarterfinals twice in the (U.S.) Women’s Amateur--once against Beth Daniel in the 1970s,” Stanley said. “She beat me on the last hole with a birdie just before she turned pro.”

Stanley also competed against Hall of Fame player Patty Sheehan in college. Stanley represented Long Beach; Sheehan, San Jose State.

Stanley said she has played in the U.S. Women’s Open, but didn’t make the cut.

“You are shaking in your boots and playing with big-name people,” Stanley recalled. “I was a scratch, or a one (handicap), and I’d shoot an 81 or 82.”

Nothing intimidates the cheerful, outgoing Stanley now.

“Golf is a cog in the wheel of life,” she said. “And I’ve been so fortunate and blessed.”

Moreover, Stanley actually recruits good players to play against her.

“I think it is so wonderful to have the best players in a tournament,” she said. “It makes it more exciting.”

Golf Notes

The Southern California Amateur Championship concludes today at Brentwood Country Club. Craig Steinberg is the defending champion. . . . Tiger Woods, two-time defending champion, and Ted Oh, a U.S. Open qualifier, will compete in the 46th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship July 27-31 at the Waverly Country Club in Portland, Ore. . . . The U.S. Women’s Open begins Thursday at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. Patty Sheehan is the defending champion.

The PRGR/SCPGA section championship is scheduled Aug. 23-25 at Wilshire CC. . . . The third annual Golf Show tournament will be held Aug. 15 at Mesa Verde CC. . . . The AVID Players’ Championship will be held Aug. 30 at Crystalaire CC. . . . Joe McKeon and Paul Gienger won the Valencia CC member-guest tournament with a 36-hole score of 135. . . . The Cadillac invitational tournament is scheduled Aug. 5 at the Pointe course on Santa Catalina Island.