UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Injury Doesn’t Push Holmes Off Course

Playing in pain is a part of the game in some sports--Remember when Jack Youngblood played in the Super Bowl with a broken leg?--but it’s not usually par for the course in golf.

UC Irvine senior Steve Holmes, however, has been putting in pain all season.

“I prohibit the guys from playing basketball during the season, but during our winter break, Steve was playing, and he tore the (anterior cruciate ligament) in his knee,” Coach Steve Ainslie said. “It’s pretty serious, but the doctors gave him two options. He could have surgery, rehab it and he’d be off the course for six months. Or, he could wait, take Advil and gut it out.”

There are no golf carts or caddies in college golf, it’s a carry-your-own experience. Most tournaments are two-day, 54-hole events, which means golfers play 36 holes the first day.

“Steve’s a fifth-year senior, and this is his last chance, so he’s gimping around golf courses,” Ainslie said. “A lot of times, golfers are perceived as being kissies, well, here’s a guy who’s walking and carrying his bag for 10 hours with a torn ACL and, to me, that’s pretty gutsy.”

Holmes and his bad knee hobbled to a 75-77, eight-over 152 Monday, tying him for 33rd place in the Big West championships at the University Golf Course in Las Cruces, N.M. The championships will conclude with 18 holes today.

Tim Hart leads Irvine with a 71-77--148. The Anteaters are in eighth place, 40 shots behind 36-hole leader New Mexico State (557).

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Under the big top: Three years ago, Ainslie had four golfers who were much better than the rest of the team. On a whim, he took Holmes to the NCAA regionals as his fifth player.

“I walked around the course with him and, basically, we played the course together,” Ainslie said. “He got it to seven under and then bogeyed 17 and 18 and finished with a 67, which tied him with Phil Mickelson for the first-round lead.

“So there’s these two in the interview tent, one of the most heralded amateurs ever sitting next to the unknown freshman. It was great.”

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Over before it’s over: Steve Clark wasn’t especially happy Monday morning. Clark, the Irvine men’s tennis coach, was lamenting the Anteaters’ loss in the Big West Championships at Ojai.

In wasn’t just that they lost the title to Nevada Las Vegas. It wasn’t just that his No. 2 doubles team--Ken Cruz and Cameran Lindee--was up two breaks and lost. It wasn’t just that Lindee lost, 6-0, 6-2, in singles to player he had beaten earlier in the year.

It was also the tournament’s new format, which left a couple of his players in limbo. Irvine lost to the Rebels, 4-1, because a new rule ends all matches in progress when the deciding fourth point is won.

Senior Chris Tontz, the 38th-ranked singles player in the nation, had just broken UNLV’s Roger Pettersson, No. 21 in the country, and held his serve for a 5-5 tie in the third set. Sophomore Marc-Andre Tardif was serving to win his match.

But both matches were called off when Julian Foxon lost to Tim Blenkiron.

“I voted against the rule when we had the coaches’ meeting on it,” Clark said. “It’s bad enough losing, but it’s worse when one of your guys like Chris is on the verge of winning a really big match.

“They just stop it. The crowd’s just sitting there wondering what’s going on. It’s really bogus.”

Clark was feeling a little better Monday evening when the seedings for the NCAA Region 8 Regional were announced. The Anteaters, rated No. 41 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. computer rankings, will play Arizona Friday at UCLA. The winner will play Cal on Saturday. The finals will be Sunday.

“I’m feeling a little better,” Clark said. “This washes a little salt out of the wound.”

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Losing pretty: The men’s basketball, men’s volleyball and water polo teams had a combined 33-43 record this year, but their coaches must be doing something right.

Ted Newland has been named head water polo coach for the U.S. contingent in this summer’s World University Games. Basketball Coach Rod Baker and volleyball Coach Andy Read will be assistants.

Anteater Notes

Budge and Beth Collins, of Newport Beach, have donated $10,000 to the women’s crew in “recognition of the dedication and determination shown by the athletes and coaches over the last several years.” The school has established an annual competition against Orange Coast College with a perpetual trophy, the Collins Cup, at stake. This year’s race will be held during Sunday’s Newport Regatta in Newport Harbor. . . . Senior forward Khalid Channell, junior swimmer Dena Amr and senior hurdler David Mayeda have been named recipients of the first Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports-Scholarship Award, an honor designed to recognize African American, Asian American, Hispanic American and Native American scholar-athletes . . . Sophomore distance runner Tanja Brix, from University High, recorded two lifetime bests in four days recently. She ran the 5,000 meters in 17:27.84 to finish 26th Thursday night at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia and then won her section of the 3,000 meters in 10:10.39 Sunday at the California/Nevada Championships in Fresno.