ORANGE COUNTY GOLF NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : Victory Is Stroke of Luck for Firm

Corey Pavin’s victory in the U.S. Open Sunday was also a triumph for Cypress-based Cleveland Golf.

All 14 clubs in Pavin’s bag were made by Roger Cleveland’s company. “After he won the two L.A. Opens we noticed an increase in sales,” said Judy Potts, spokeswoman for Cleveland Golf. “Now that he has won a major we don’t know how big an impact it’s going to have, but we had a lot of phone calls Monday.”

Buying an $1,100 set of Cleveland VAS Irons probably won’t make you play like Pavin, but Potts claims even recreational golfers are having immediate success with the clubs.

The shaft is attached to the club head as close to the center of gravity as the USGA rules of golf allow. The blades are egg shaped and backed by a purple vibration absorbing system.

“They look really strange and that prevents a lot of players from trying them out,” Potts said.

*

Add Pavin: Potts says Pavin was the only player at the Open carrying 14 clubs from the same manufacturer. Pavin, who had been struggling with his putting, switched to a Cleveland putter before the Kemper Open, the week before the U.S. Open. He finished second.

*

Corona del Mar’s Eric Woods, leading money-winner the last two years on the Canadian Tour, is off to a steady start in 1995.

Woods shot four-under-par 68 Sunday in the final round of the Morningstar Classic in British Columbia and finished tied for eighth at seven-under 281. Jeff Bloom and Jim Rutledge each finished 15 under. Bloom won a playoff for the title.

After three events (Woods has played in two), Woods has earned $4,325, putting him in a tie for 18th on the Canadian money list.

*

Fullerton’s Jenny Lee had a disappointing finish to her high school golf career.

Lee, from Sunny Hills High and the overwhelming favorite to defend her CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. girls’ individual title June 7, finished tied for third.

But starting today, she has a chance to put that memory behind her. Lee is playing in the U.S. Amateur Women’s Public Links championship, which runs through Sunday at Hominy Hills Golf Course in Colts Neck, N.J. The tournament starts with two rounds of stroke play and then cuts to the top 64 for match play.

Lee had the low round, a four-under 68, in May at the qualifier at Rancho California in Murrieta.

Dove Canyon’s Eunice Choi, a Laguna Hills graduate, is another Orange County resident in the tournament.

After completing the Public Links tournament, Lee plans to stay in the East and try to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, which starts July 13 at the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs.

*

Wacky ideas department: In Southern California, the golf cart has largely replaced the caddie, but a Minnesota man plans on using llamas to carry clubs on a course he built on his family farm.

Bruce Brage figures using llamas is novel enough to persuade some golfers to give his new course a try. Elmdale Hills Golf Course, southeast of the Twin Cities, is expected to open in July.

Brage is hoping the remote, peaceful setting will attract golfers. If only the llama caddies could read the greens.

* The Associated Press contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

County Drives

A look at one of the top golf holes in Orange County:

* Course: Tustin Ranch Golf Club

* Hole: No. 11

* Yardage: Tournament, 170; Championship, 155; Regular, 133; Women’s 107

* Description: Green on this par 3 is surrounded by water, but most intimidating aspect is the lake stretching from 20 yards in front of the tee box to the front of the green. Low-sloping waterfalls frame the two-tiered green. There isn’t much room to bail out so balls that don’t hit the green usually end up in the water.

* Hint: Good club selection is imperative in order to clear the water guarding green front yet still stay short of trees lining the back.

*

“It’s kind of a scary hole, if you will.”

--Mike Lichty, general manager