Course’s History Sparkles : Mesa Verde Country Club Offers Wealth of Stories, Challenges to Girls’ Junior Championship

In Orange County, a place recognized more for suburban sprawl than historical pedigree, the golf course at Mesa Verde Country Club stands out.

Although young by traditional measures--the William Bell-designed layout opened in 1959--it has had more lively moments than most clubs twice its age.

Tucked away in a residential neighborhood in the northwest corner of the city, the lushly landscaped course usually is reserved for the club’s 430 golf members and their guests. But from the beginning, the membership has shared it. The first year it opened, it was the site of the inaugural Orange County PGA Open.

Four more PGA Tour events followed in the 1960s, and more recently, Mesa Verde was the site of six LPGA events, developing the reputation of being one of the most difficult courses on that tour.

Starting Monday, the best young female players in the country will test it in the 45th U.S. Golf Assn. Girls’ Junior Championship. It is believed to be the first USGA championship held in Orange County.

But when it comes to history-making moments, it’s doubtful anything will match the events at the club on the last weekend of October, 1962, after Tony Lema, a flashy pro from San Leandro, made an off-the-cuff pledge.

It was the 1962 Orange County Open--it turned out to be the final year of that PGA event--and Lema shot 64 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead.

Although he had showed promise, Lema had not won an official PGA event in eight years as a pro. After taking the lead, Lema stopped by the press tent and asked for a beer, said Stan Wood, who was covering the tournament for The Associated Press.

While drinking the beer and chatting with reporters, Wood remembers Lema saying, “If I should win this tomorrow, none of this beer stuff, we’ll have champagne.”

The reporters must have been licking their lips; Lema’s chances were good. Jack Nicklaus, who had won the ’62 U.S. Open, wasn’t there. Neither was Arnold Palmer, whom Nicklaus had beaten in an 18-hole playoff in the Open.

At the time, the PGA Tour was more regionalized, and many eastern players didn’t make the fall swing through the West. Even so, there were plenty of strong players in the field, including:

--Four former U.S. Open champions: Olin Dutra (1934), Jack Fleck (1955), Dick Mayer (1957) and Gene Littler (1961).

--Al Geiberger, who would win the 1966 PGA Championship and in 1977 shoot 59, a Tour record that went unmatched until Chris Beck equaled it in 1991.

--Bob Rosburg, who won the 1959 PGA Championship.

--Jerry Barber, who won the 1961 PGA Championship.

--Charlie Sifford, one of the first black players on the Tour and the first black to win a PGA event (1967).

--Jim Ferree, Phil Rodgers and Dale Douglass, who all are playing on the Senior Tour.

On Sunday, Rosburg pulled into a tie with Lema, forcing a sudden-death playoff. Lema won it on the third hole with an 11-foot birdie putt.

In the press tent, three bottles of cheap California sparking wine were ready, thanks to a photographer, Lester Nehamkin, who figured Lema wouldn’t have time to buy it himself.

Lema poured while Wood wrote his story for the AP, coining the nickname, (Champagne) Tony Lema.

“It really stuck,” said Rosburg, a close friend of Lema’s who has been an on-course commentator for ABC since 1975. “He was Champagne Tony to everybody. He was the kind of guy who could handle that. He was a flamboyant guy. He was good for the game.”

Lema’s game was good to him as well. Noted for his fluid swing, he finished second to Nicklaus at the Masters in 1963 and won the 1964 British Open on his first try, beating Nicklaus by five strokes at St. Andrews. He also continued winning tour events, including consecutive Buick Opens, and after each victory, he would supply the bubbly.

He had become one of golf’s most popular players. But in July, 1966, Lema and his wife were killed when their private plane crashed on the seventh green of a golf course in Indiana.

Lema was 32 when he died and that day had just completed the PGA Championship in Akron, Ohio, finishing 34th, before getting on the twin-engine plane that was supposed to take him to another tournament.

The golf world was rocked by his death. Many wondered how many more tournaments he would have won.

At Mesa Verde, the banquet room is named for Lema--spelled out in big capital letters on a sign facing the parking lot.

But that hasn’t been the only reminder of the 1962 champagne promise. In 1986, Laura Baugh, another promising player who has never won a tour event, made the same pledge after coming into the press tent at Mesa Verde leading the LPGA Uniden Invitational.

Baugh, who attended Cal State Long Beach and won the 1971 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship when she was 16, led by four entering the final round, but Mary Beth Zimmerman birdied the last three holes to win by a stroke.

Would-be “Champagne” Laura finished second, tied with Pat Bradley, and after 20 years on the tour she still has not won.

For others, the LPGA’s stops at Mesa Verde have been more rewarding. A couple of records were set in 1979 at the Women’s Kemper Open, the first year the tour came to Costa Mesa.

--Jo Ann Washam had two holes-in-one in the tournament. In the second round, she aced the 165-yard 16th with a five-iron and in the fourth, she holed a three-iron shot on the 168-yard seventh.

--The tournament ended in a record five-way playoff with JoAnne Carner beating Donna Caponi, Jan Stephenson, Nancy Lopez and Chako Higuchi on the second extra hole.

Nancy Lopez won at Mesa Verde twice, the Women’s Kemper in 1980 and the 1984 Uniden Invitational. Pat Bradley won in 1981.

But the course was often a struggle for the pros. The rough was deep because of winter rains, the greens hard and fast.

No one broke par for the tournament in the first four years.

“It can jump up and get you real fast,” Bonnie Lauer said before the course’s final LPGA tournament, in 1986.

The previous year, Lauer had been the first woman in red numbers. She finished 11 under for the tournament, winning by five strokes over Alice Miller. The notorious par-four 10th hole, one of the least forgiving on the LPGA tour, had been changed to a par five for the tournament, but Lauer would have easily broken par anyway.

This week, the 10th hole has been similarly modified for the girls’ junior championship. The entire course should be more forgiving than it was for the LPGA, according to head pro Art Schilling.

“The course is perfect,” Schilling said. “It’s in its best shape ever, and that will probably make for better scores.”

Four of the greens have been rebuilt since the LPGA was last here. The turf on the fairways and tees is in better shape.

Even so, Mesa Verde will likely be a tough test. It’s narrow and lined with mature trees, playing at 5,934 yards, about 200 yards shorter than the pros played. When the wind picks up in the late morning, it plays even longer.

Coto de Caza’s Kellee Booth, one of the favorites this week, said it will be interesting to see what the scores are in the qualifying rounds Monday and Tuesday.

“Aside from Dove Canyon or Coto de Caza, it’s probably the toughest course in Orange County,” Booth said. “It’s a challenge. You really have to be smart out there. A lot of times if you pull out your driver, you’ll get into trouble.”

USGA Girls’ Junior Facts

Tournament: 45th U.S. Golf Assn. Girls’ Junior Championship

Course: Mesa Verde Country Club, par 72, 5,934 yards

Defending champion: Jamie Koizumi, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

Eligibility: Female golfers who have not reached their 18th birthday by the day of the final match, and who have a handicap index of less than 11.5 could apply. The field was filled based on the lowest index numbers; 6.5 was the highest.

Local entrants: Alicia Allison, Santa Ana; Kellee Booth, Coto de Caza; Jenny Glasgow, Corona del Mar; Brandi Harms, Lake Forest; Candida Kim, Coto de Caza; Jane Park, Buena Park; Susie Park, Buena Park.

Format: 156 girls will play 36 holes of stroke play Monday and Tuesday. The field will be cut to 64 for match play Wednesday through Saturday.

Schedule: Play starts at 7:30 a.m. Monday and Tuesday. There are morning and afternoon matches Wednesday and Thursday. Semifinals are Friday morning. Final is at 9 a.m. Saturday. Spectators are welcome; admission is free.

MESA VERDE, HOLE BY HOLE No. 1: 441 Yards, Par 5 Dogleg right that plays into the wind. Only longest hitters reach green in two. No. 2: 337 Yards, Par 4 Not terribly long, but pot bunker lurks on right of fairway. Two-tiered green. No. 3: 149 Yards, Par 3 Elevated tee intensifies effect of facing prevailing wind. Green breaks subtly. No. 4: 501 Yards, Par 5 Wind from rear makes it play short. Deep mulch on left swallows errant shots. No. 5: 363 Yards, Par 4 Small contoured green hard to hit, harder to hold and stay out of bunkers. No. 6: 299 Yards, Par 4 Shouldn’t be much trouble. Elevated green slopes away from the approach shot. No. 7: 193 Yards, Par 3 Wind, usually from players’ left shoulder, causes even well-hit balls to go right. No. 8: 367 Yards, Par 4 Bogey-producer; fairway seems wide but is hard to hit. Green slopes from middle. No. 9: 337 Yards, Par 4 Lake along left edge of fairway makes for scary second shots; tough green. No. 10: 442 Yards, Par 5 Long par 4 becomes short par 5 for this event. With wind, many will reach in two. No. 11: 504 Yards, Par 5 Second and possibly third shots are uphill and blind. No. 12: 117 Yards, Par 3 Short par 3, but pin spot can create small landing area next to pond, large bunker. No. 13: 521 Yards, Par 5 PGA Pro Art Schilling calls this the hardest par 5 in Orange County. No. 14: 351 Yards, Par 4 Narrowest fairway, 20 yards between right bunker and left rough at one point. No. 15: 321 Yards, Par 4 Funnel-like fairway forgives shots that are slightly off-center. No. 16: 153 Yards, Par 3 Difficult par 3 with bunker in the left middle of an L-shaped green. No. 17: 379 Yards, Par 4 Many shots blown into right rough by wind. Green well surrounded by bunkers. No. 18: 159 Yards, Par 3 Course’s signature hole over lake. Plays about 20 yards longer because of wind.

Sources: USGA, Mesa Verde Country Club