After Gory Start, Gore Shoots 69

Jason Gore was dripping with sweat. His statement was dripping with double entendre.

After he completed the first of two rounds Friday in the 95th Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship at Hacienda Golf Club, he ducked into the locker room. “Have to change my shirt,” he said. “I stink.”

Which was pretty much his assessment of his play to that point. He slapped on some fresh deodorant, washed his face and cleaned up his act. Presto, change-oh. . . .

Gore’s morning round of three-over-par 73 may not have smelled like a rose garden, but his afternoon 69 left him primed for a shot at the leaders with two rounds to play.

Gore, 20, a Hart High graduate who plays at Arizona, is one of four area players in the top eight at the halfway point of the 72-hole event, which ends Sunday.

Three area players, Don Baker of Canoga Park, Charlie Wi of North Hills and Chad Wright of Ventura are tied for fourth at 141, three shots behind 18-year-old leader Tiger Woods of Cypress.

The four were among a group of 10 players from the region who made the 46-man cut at 152. Play begins this morning at 7:30.

Gore, two-time Pacific 10 Conference champion, put together three birdies over the final six holes in the afternoon to charge into contention. He is tied for seventh and trails Woods, who shot 68-70--138, by four strokes.

Gore missed two birdie putts from two feet in the morning, then undressed himself before starting anew. “I was almost gonna take a shower,” he cracked.

It rained birdies for Wright, an 18-year-old sophomore from Buena High and USC. He had six birdies during a morning 69, but added four three-putt greens for equal balance. He had three more birdies during an afternoon 72, which meant he birdied one-fourth of the holes he played. “A roller coaster,” Wright said.

Those following Baker, 43, didn’t need any such seat belt. A former PGA Tour pro who played at USC, Baker put together a solid round, despite making a bogey on two of the last three holes for an afternoon 70.

“I was real consistent, especially in the morning,” he said. “I had a lot of pars, a lot of fairways and a lot of greens.”

Baker had one troublesome hole down the stretch. On the par-three 16th, his tee shot landed in a greenside bunker. He left his first shot in the bunker, then scrambled to save bogey.

“I had to hit it sideways,” Baker said of his initial sand attempt.

Baker, Wi and Wright will tee off in the same threesome today at 9:30.

Paul Ladin of Westlake Village, 61, the oldest player in the field, shot 149 to make the cut with ease, but missed four putts inside two feet.

“I’m tickled pink just to have made the cut,” said Ladin, the 1993 State Senior Amateur champion.

Ladin and Jamey Forsyth of Chatsworth, playing in the same threesome, found their Waterloo on the par-five 10th hole.

They started the day on No. 10, a tricky 520-yarder. Forsyth, a Cal State Northridge product, promptly hit two tee shots out of bounds and took a 10. He shot 83-72 and missed the cut by three strokes.

In the afternoon, Ladin four-putted No. 10 for a double bogey en route to a 76. He missed twice from two feet on the hole.

Wi, 22, also stumbled on No. 10 in the afternoon, nearly blasting a greenside sand shot out of bounds before saving bogey. After a solid 69 in the morning, Wi was three over midway through his afternoon round before he caught fire.

Wi, a senior at California, knocked the ball to within 18 inches on the 14th and 15th holes for birdies and finished at 72.

Wi produced a spectacular run during a 69 in the morning round when he finished the front nine birdie-eagle-bogey-birdie.

Greg Bell of Studio City, another former Trojan, shot 71-73 to land in a three-way tie for 10th.

Mike Tingus of Calabasas was near the lead after a 71, but shot 79 in the afternoon. He is in a five-way tie for 29th that includes Dave Sheff of Oakmont Country Club in Glendale.

Keith Kinsel of Glendale (74-77--151) and James Camaione (73-79--152), a member of the Crystalaire Country Club in the Antelope Valley, also made the cut.

Among those who missed the cut were Mike Turner of Woodland Hills and Lawrence O’Neil of Camarillo at 155, and Jim Tassano of Camarillo and Steve Holmes of Newbury Park at 156.

Jeff Leonard of Encino had a 73 in the morning, but skidded to an 81 and missed by two shots.

Sang Hyun of Glendale, Rob Campbell of Simi Valley, Stephen Cutts of Westlake Village and Cameron Gray of Camarillo each finished at 162.

Kelly Schlender, the state junior college champion from Ventura College, shot 87-80--167.