ORANGE COUNTY GOLF NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK and STEVE KRESAL : Stewart Admires His Work on New Course

Payne Stewart, veteran PGA Tour professional and fledgling golf course design consultant, dedicates most of his time to the former pursuit. Monday, between tour stops, he pursued the latter, taking a side trip to Fullerton to inspect the progress on Orange County’s newest public golf course.

Stewart’s primary reason for being in the Southland is to play in the PGA Championship this week at Riviera. Typically, on a Monday before a tournament, Stewart said, he checks in at the tournament site and perhaps does a bit of putting. This time, he was cruising around the Coyote Hills course, helping architect Cal Olson fine-tune some of the holes on the course due to open next March.

Stewart played the three holes that have been completely sodded--and birdied them all. Afterward he talked about the course.

“They keep sending me videos of the different holes. I saw this one video of big rolls of sod,” Stewart said. “Now it looks great.

“I don’t think the public is going to understand how good this golf course is for a public golf course.

“It’s par 70, but we’ve got elevation that you just don’t get in a lot of places. That really makes us able to create a lot of unique things.”

When it’s finished early next year, Coyote Hills will give Orange County another upscale public course. This one will be managed by American Golf and cost about $50 to play.

When Stewart became the design consultant in 1992, he said he demanded it be a user-friendly course. He likes what he sees.

“The bunkers are really playable, which I was very adamant about,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than getting in the bunker and not being able to get out.

“That slows up the pace of play and this is a public golf course and people want to get out and play. They don’t want to stand around here for six hours.

“We’re going to test people’s ability out here. It’s going to be a fun golf course to play.”

One of the keys of making a course playable, Stewart said, is to give the average player several possible paths to the green.

“Most amateurs have a hard time getting the ball in the air,” he said. “So give them an avenue to get to the green. On St. Andrews, where the British Open was played this year, the original golf course, you can roll it all over that golf course. You shouldn’t have to say you have to play that way.

“There are certain holes out here where you have to carry something.

“You’ve got to challenge them but you have to give them an avenue to play different ways.”

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A tip from Payne: Stewart was asked what advice would help the average golfer. “I’d say that about 50% of the amateurs I play with don’t hit enough club,” he said. “They think they are going to hit the shot perfect. They always under club and they’re always short of the green. Think about how many shots you’ve knocked over the green and think of how many you’ve left short.”

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What to wear? Stewart, who has won two majors, might be best known to casual fans as the guy who wears the outfits with NFL logos on them. At most tournaments he usually tries to include area teams among his choices.

But with the Rams in St. Louis and the Raiders in Oakland, his choices are limited this week.

“I guess I’ll have to have those Chargers on because they are the local favorites now. I was in my closet and I was saying ‘I’m not going take the Rams and Raiders out there because I’d just get abused.’ [People would say] ‘Hey, what are you wearing those for? They don’t play here anymore.’ ”

“Now, I’ll wear the Chargers and everybody will be happy.”

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Two local amateurs, Huntington Beach’s Scott Gibson and Fullerton’s Terry Noe, qualified July 31 for the U.S. Amateur.

Gibson, who plays at Tulsa, shot two-under-par 70-72 at Western Hills in Chino Hills to finish tied for second in the qualifier. Noe, who will be a senior at Sunny Hills, shot 70-74 to finish fifth and take the final spot.

San Diego’s Aki Amaya, who helped Saddleback College to the 1994 State title, was the top qualifier Monday at Wood Ranch in Simi Valley. Amaya shot 141. Don DuBois of Coto de Caza shot 143 at Glendora Country Club and also qualified.

The U.S. Amateur starts Aug. 22 at Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I.

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Several of Orange County’s top junior players will take part in the upcoming Ashworth Golfweek junior tournament at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad.

Noe and Jeff McGraw, also of Fullerton, are scheduled to compete in the three-day tournament, which starts Tuesday.

Others from the county entered are Sammy Chin of Anaheim, Perry Dickey, Jeff Farley and Jonathan Pan, all of Huntington Beach, Greg Pittenger of Coto de Caza and Stephen Wagner of Mission Viejo.

Among the other prominent players in the field are Ben Curtis of Ostrander, Ohio, Charley Hoffman of Poway and Jorge Corral of Tijuana. Curtis and Hoffman are Rolex Junior All-Americans. Hoffman, from Poway High, won the last two CIF-Southern California Golf Assn. boys’ titles.

Corral caught the attention of the local golfing community at the SCGA Amateur Championship last month at Santa Ana Country Club, when he set the competitive course record with a 63 in the third round. That also tied the overall course record set by Fred Couples.

Corona del Mar’s Jenny Glasgow, the CIF-SCGA girls’ champion, Ramie Takahashi of Irvine and Yon Yim of Irvine are scheduled to compete in the girls’ tournament.

The Orange County Golf Notebook runs 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:

Anaheim Hills

Hole No. 12

* Yardage: Blue, 509; White, 497; Red, 486.

* Description: This par-5 helps give Anaheim Hills its reputation as a hike. It’s a long uphill walk from tee to green. There is water off the rigt side of the fairway about 240 yards out. To the left is a hardscrabble hill that serves as a barrier to cutting the dogleg. The small, two-tiered green on top of the hill is a nice finishing touch.

* Hint: Don’t think of getting there in two. The steep hill makes it difficult even for lower handicap players.

Quote: “There are not too many people who hit that green in two. Although I did see Al Geiberger hit driver, seven-iron into it.”--Ward Lyon, assistant professional.