Amateurs Picking Up Valuable Experience

Not just anyone can play in professional golf’s major tournaments.

Just ask Jim Furyk, winner of two PGA Tour events in the past seven months: He didn’t qualify for a major last year. Or Davis Love III, a two-time member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, winner of 10 tour events and more than $5 million in an 11-year career; he only qualified for the 1995 Masters by winning the week before in New Orleans.

But two of Orange County’s best amateurs are getting major experience in golf’s top tournaments.

Tiger Woods, 20, from Cypress, is preparing for his second Masters--and fourth major--this month. Kellee Booth, 19, from Coto de Caza, played in her fourth women’s major last week, missing the cut at the Nabisco Dinah Shore by two strokes. Booth, one of four amateurs invited, posted the best amateur score of the tournament. She was playing well Friday, and appeared to be on the way to making the cut through 13 holes, but her tee shot on the 14th hole spun back into the water and she made triple bogey. Then she bogeyed two of the last four holes.

Booth made the cut at the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open, finishing in the tie for 57th.

Woods qualified to play in the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open again because he won his second consecutive U.S. Amateur title last summer. Last year at the Masters, Woods made the cut and finished in a tie for 41st.

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Because of their early success, it’s easy to overlook that Woods and Booth are still primarily collegiate players. Woods is a sophomore at Stanford; Booth a sophomore at Arizona State. They are among quite a few local players who are making strong showings for their college teams.

Here, in alphabetical order, is a roundup of how some former county high school and community college golfers are faring this season:

Alicia Allison (Foothill High): Allison, a sophomore at Duke, has the fourth-best stroke average (76.3) for the Blue Devils, fourth in the latest Rolex Collegiate Rankings, heading into the Duke Spring Invitational that started Sunday. Duke has won its last two tournaments, helped largely by Allison who finished tied for fifth and tied for sixth.

Chris Berry (Esperanza): Berry transferred to Nevada Las Vegas from Arizona after last season and recently broke into the third-ranked Rebels’ lineup for the first time. UNLV has one of the deepest teams in the nation--Ted Oh and Charley Hoffman, two of the best freshmen in the country, joined an already strong group--and cracking the Rebel top five isn’t easily done--or maintained. Berry played last month in Austin, Texas, and finished in a tie for 36th.

Booth (Santa Margarita High): Booth, who helped Arizona State to its third consecutive NCAA Division I title, is the third-ranked Sun Devils’ top player this season. She hasn’t won a tournament, but has finished in the top 10 in five of six events.

Eunice Choi (Laguna Hills High): Choi, a junior at UCLA, is a solid performer for the top-ranked Bruins. She has five top-20 finishes in seven events this school year, the best being a third place last fall in New Mexico.

Mark Christensen (Trabuco Hills High): Christensen, a UC Irvine senior, has been in the Anteater lineup lately. UCI hosts the Anteater Invitational at Coto de Caza today and Tuesday.

Scott Gibson (Huntington Beach High): Gibson, a senior at Tulsa, is tinkering with his game while he tries to decide whether to turn pro immediately after the college golf season or spend another summer as an amateur.

Gibson made the cut at the U.S. Amateur last summer and lost in the second round of match play when UNLV’s Chris Riley holed a pitch from 60 yards on No. 17.

Gibson, Tulsa’s top player, nearly won a tournament early last month, coming from seven shots back in the last round to finish a stroke behind Graham Davidson of Mississippi State. Tulsa, ranked 22nd in the nation, won by three shots over Louisiana State.

Candida Kim (Trabuco Hills): Kim, a junior at Pepperdine, is the Waves’ No. 1 player. Last season, Kim won two events and became the first Pepperdine player to make the NCAA West Regional Championships. She finished in a tie for 48th. This season, she won at San Diego State in October.

Jenny Lee (Sunny Hills): Lee and 1995 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kelli Kuehne give fifth-ranked Texas two of the best freshmen in the nation. Lee, however, has struggled recently, shooting 83-83-78--244 and finishing in a tie for 50th in the Longhorns’ last event.

Jason McDaniel (San Clemente High, Saddleback College): McDaniel, who helped Saddleback to the state title in 1994, is a major contributor for Cal State Stanislaus, ranked fourth in NCAA Division II. McDaniel, a junior, has the team’s lowest stroke average (73.5) in the spring season. He won a tournament in the fall and has since finished second twice.

Brian Ricketts (Cypress College): Ricketts, medalist in the 1995 community college state tournament, has a 71.3 stroke average for Cal State San Bernardino, another strong Division II team. Ricketts won the Southern California Intercollegiate last month at Torrey Pines.

Woods (Western High): Woods, a first-team All-American as a freshman, is having another stellar year for Stanford, winning two of his last three tournaments, including the Southwestern Intercollegiate last week at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.

He is scheduled to play competitively in Orange County for the first time since high school at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships, April 29-May 1. USC is hosting the event at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach.

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Add Tiger: A day after winning the college tournament in the San Fernando Valley, Woods flew to Houston for a tune-up with teaching pro Butch Harmon. He was back in Palo Alto by the end of the week, preparing for the start of the spring quarter today.

This weekend, he will be playing in a college event in Santa Cruz. Immediately afterward, he will leave for Masters week in Augusta, Ga.

His practice round schedule at Augusta: Monday--Arnold Palmer. Tuesday--Greg Norman. Wednesday--Fred Couples.

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Patrick Gradoville, superintendent at Cypress Golf Club, has won an Environmental Steward Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Assn. of America Foundation.

Gradoville, who works for Dye Golf Services, which manages the course, wrote an essay describing the water conservation and pesticide-reducing methods implemented at the course that opened in 1992.

Gradoville said drought resistant grasses reduce water consumption from 30% to 50% of what it would be. The course also uses organic fertilizers--including horse manure from nearby Los Alamitos Race Course.

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Notes

Orange County’s newest public golf course, Coyote Hills Golf Club, designed by Cal Olson with input from Payne Stewart, is scheduled to open May 21 in the hills north of Cal State Fullerton. There will be a private opening ceremony, attended by Olson and Stewart, April 29, and a charity tournament May 20. Greens fees are expected to be in the $45 to $50 range during the week and $75 to $80 on weekends.

The Orange County Golf Notebook runs monthly. Readers are encouraged to suggest items. Call (714) 966-5904, fax 966-5663 or e-mail Martin.Beck@latimes.com