ORANGE COUNTY GOLF NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK and STEVE KRESAL : They Have a Welcome Mat Out for Beginners

Southland golf courses that cater to beginners are rare, but there are two within seven miles of each other on the Orange County coast.

These courses--Driftwood in Huntington Beach and Back Bay in Newport Beach--aren’t listed in most local golf guides.

Clare Juhl, director of golf at Driftwood, says he doesn’t advertise his course or accept tee-time reservations. His goal is to keep the course uncrowded and beginner-friendly.

For the most part, he’s successful. Driftwood, a nine-hole par-3 course with holes ranging from 65 to 145 yards, is the perfect place for parents to bring their children.

The holes are fairly straightforward with only a few hazards.

The greens are remarkably good for a course that charges only $5 during the week, $6 on weekends and holidays. The tee boxes are more shaggy, but players hit off grass, not mats, as they do at many par-3 and executive courses.

Driftwood also offers a decent layout for more experienced players who want to work on their short game. All but two of the holes--the 65-yard first and the 66-yard fourth--allow a full swing with a highly lofted club. Sand traps guard the front of three of the greens and you must hit over water on the sixth hole.

“If it’s not too crowded and backing up, I don’t mind if someone hits two balls and picks the best one,” said Juhl, who took over the lease on the course 8 1/2 years ago.

Juhl, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, had been running a successful insurance business before taking over the course. He said a friend told him the Driftwood owner was looking for a new course operator and “that course is in such bad shape, even you could do better.”

Juhl said: “When I took over, it was really a goat patch. There were flowers on the greens.”

Originally, Juhl was supposed to run the course for three years, until it was plowed under. The course is adjacent to the Waterfront Hilton and plans call for two more luxury hotels, a convention center and condominiums on the property, but the economic slowdown put the project on hold indefinitely.

“There’s little doubt that ultimately the property will be used for something else and then the golf course will go,” Juhl said.

Until then, it will remain one of the county’s best bargains.

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Seven miles south on Pacific Coast Highway, the Back Bay course at the Hyatt Newporter Resort offers a similar beginner-friendly layout.

It’s a more impressive looking course--groomed to look like a country club--but it is so short that experienced players can’t take full swings. The 100-yard ninth hole is the only one longer than 85 yards. The shortest hole is 50 yards.

Even so, for $7 during the week and $11 on the weekend the course offers some nice views of the back bay and challenging chip shots.

And it’s an especially great place for beginners.

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For the first time since 1973, the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship will be played in Orange County. Santa Ana Country Club will play host to the 96th tournament July 14-16.

The event last was held at Santa Ana in 1956 when Al Geiberger beat another 18-year-old, Dick Foote, a Santa Ana member, 9 and 8, in the match-play final.

Many county golfers are entered, including former Esperanza standout Chris Berry and UC Irvine’s Darren Humphrey.

Jeff Sanday and John Pate, who played in the California Golf Assn. Amateur final last month at Pebble Beach, are also entered. Sanday beat Pate, 1-up, with a 18-foot putt on the 36th hole.

Tiger Woods, who set a tournament record of 270 to win by five strokes last year at Hacienda in La Habra Heights, won’t be there.

“He has decided to forgo this tournament to play in some tournament on a dinky old course in Scotland,” said Bob Thomas, a SCGA spokesman.

Woods is scheduled to play in the Scottish Open July 12-15 and the British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews the next week.

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Sanday, of South Pasadena, beat Huntington Beach’s Scott Gibson in the second playoff hole to win the Long Beach City championship Monday at Recreation Park. Gibson, who plays for Tulsa, shot 72-66-71; Sanday shot 69-70-70. Yorba Linda’s Chris Berry, who plays at Arizona, finished one shot back in third, shooting 67-75-68.

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The Hal Sherbeck Open: That there is a golf tournament Friday at Imperial in Brea to help raise money for the Fullerton College football program isn’t really of much distinction.

Similar tournaments for similar causes are held weekly across Southern California.

What makes this one special is that the athletic department has sent a plane ticket to the shores of Flathead Lake in Montana for former Coach Hal Sherbeck, the event’s guest of honor.

Sherbeck complied a 241-71-8 record and won three national championships and 16 conference titles at Fullerton before retiring after the 1991 season.

Sherbeck is only one of several celebrities expected to play. Kiki Vandeweghe and Walt Hazzard, both former UCLA basketball standouts; Mark Collins, a defensive back with the Kansas City Chiefs, and former Ram star Rosey Grier also are scheduled to appear.

After the tournament, there will be a sports auction hosted by Channel 5 sportscaster Ed Arnold.

The Orange County Golf Notebook will run regularly throughout the summer. Readers are encouraged to suggest items. Call (714) 966-5904 or fax (714) 966-5663.

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County Drives

Here’s a look at the features that make one golf hole in Orange County stand out: Course: Cypress Golf Club Hole: No. 18 Yardage: Tournament, black, 461; Championship, blue, 430; Regular, white, 403; Senior, gold, 366; Forward, green, 350 Description: Two lakes come into play on this challenging par-4 hole. To reach the undulating fairway--a common feature on this Perry Dye-designed course--you must carry one fair-sized body of water. Another lies in wait on the right near the green. Hint: Those with higher handicaps should stay right with their tee shots; the distance over the water increases to the left. Quote: “It can be intimidating, for sure. It’s one of the toughest holes on the course. Most average golfers should play the hole for a bogey. Unless they want the ultimate challenge, that thrill of going over the second lake.”-- Keith McDuff, assistant professional