GOLF NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : Tidland’s Top Priority: Making Cut in Texas

Chris Tidland will miss the first week of school at Oklahoma State, but he’s not taking a hiatus from his education.

Tidland, a former Valencia High standout, will be in Houston trying to make the cut at the U.S. Amateur Championship. It’s another step toward making a living at the sport that currently is providing the financial means for a college education.

Last year, Tidland missed the U.S. Amateur cut by two strokes, but his solid play this summer suggests he might do better this time.

A first-team All-American last season, Tidland finished second at the Northeast Amateur in Rhode Island in June. He finished third in the Long Beach City Championship and was the low amateur in the Long Beach Open.

Late last month, he finished 25th in the Porter Cup in upstate New York, and last weekend he advanced to the quarterfinals of match play in the Western Amateur before losing.

Monday, Tidland was low qualifier for the U.S. Amateur at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, shooting one-over-par 145 (73-72). Scott Richardson of Dana Hills also qualified at Big Canyon with a 147.

Tidland, who is spending the summer at his parents’ house on the first fairway at Alta Vista Country Club in Placentia, said his game has matured at Oklahoma State.

“Being around some of the best players in the nation every day has really helped me,” he said. “The competition brings your game up to a different level.”

Unlike many local players who have returned to Southern California after finding conditions elsewhere too harsh, Tidland has thrived in Stillwater, Okla.

“It probably is the best place to go if you want to play golf because that’s about all there is to do,” he said.

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Tidland was shooting for a spot on the U.S. Walker Cup team but when the five final names were announced by the USGA Monday, his wasn’t among them.

“I think I needed to win either the Western Amateur or the Porter Cup,” Tidland said. “I was considered, I know that.”

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Tiger Woods was another local player being considered for the Walker Cup team. Woods, 17, from Cypress, entered fewer junior tournaments this summer in favor of more open amateur events, but he was stricken with mononucleosis, which slowed him considerably.

Even so, Woods still was able to win his third consecutive USGA Junior Amateur Championship last month in Portland, Ore.

But last week he failed to make the cut for match play at the Western Amateur, which likely ended his chances for a Walker Cup spot.

The Walker Cup, the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup, is Aug. 18-19 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn.

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Add Amateur qualifying: John Dauphin, who like Tidland is a member at Alta Vista, also qualified Monday for the Amateur. Dauphin, who played at Saddleback College in 1991 and ‘92, shot 73-68 at Carlton Oaks in Santee and was the low qualifier.

Woods, who lost in the second round of match play at last year’s Amateur, qualified with his Junior Amateur title.

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With her victory in the USGA Girls’ Junior Championship, Kellee Booth received an exemption into this week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista.

But Booth already had decided to pass up the championship, because if she did well it would conflict with practice rounds for the Independent Insurance Agent Junior Classic next week in Little Rock, Ark.

The Big I, as the tournament is known, is one of the junior “majors” and is holding a girls’ competition for the first time.

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Eric Woods of Corona del Mar won his second Canadian Tour event of the year Aug. 1 and is now the tour’s leading money winner.

Woods, 29, boosted his earnings to $44,325 (Canadian) after winning $18,000 at the Ontario Open. He shot 18-under 270 in four rounds at Bridgewater Country Club in Ft. Erie.

Woods, who won the B.C. Open in June, is virtually assured of receiving a spot in the PGA Tour’s Canadian Open Sept. 9-12.