Parker’s Eagle Has Landed in Front of Thousands

Perry Parker has made plenty of eagles during his nine years as a golf professional, but this one was special: thousands were watching.

Parker usually operates in the relative anonymity of the Canadian Tour or the Nike Tour, but he estimates 4,000 watched him hole out from 124 yards on the ninth hole at Congressional Country Club during the U.S. Open last month.

“It was a thrill of a lifetime,” Parker said. “I was telling my brother Stacy who was caddying for me that you play golf your whole life to experience something like that.”

Parker, 32, a former standout at UC Irvine and Foothill High, actually came close to making consecutive eagles that day, in the second round of the Open. On the previous hole, he hit a wedge shot that landed just beyond the flag, spun back and missed the cup by inches. But he missed the four-foot birdie putt.

“I was kind of disgusted going into the next hole,” Parker said. “I thought, ‘Enough of this.’ ”

So he hit nearly an identical shot, a wedge from 124 yards, and this time it spun back and dropped into the cup.

The eagle, the only one of the day on the par-5 ninth, helped him to his best round at Congressional. Parker shot 71 that day, but said it could have been much lower. “It was one of the best ball-striking rounds of my life,” Parker said. “If I putted like I usually putt, I could have shot 66.”

Parker, who missed the cut in his first U.S. Open (1992 at Pebble Beach), made it this time by two strokes. He shot 77 on Saturday and 78 on Sunday to finish 21-over and win $5,275. Only three--led by winner Ernie Els at four-under--broke par for the tournament.

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Parker is back on the Canadian Tour. He spent most of the last four years playing on the Nike Tour--the triple-A level of American golf--but failed to regain his Nike exempt status at the 1996 PGA Tour qualifying tournament.

After that disappointment, Parker took some time off from touring and took a job at a Mission Viejo sporting goods store. It was a good way to replenish his energy reserves after nine years of professional golf, Parker said.

It also gave him the chance to spend more time with his wife, Lori, and their infant twins, Scott and Diana, at home in Dana Point.

Parker didn’t put away his clubs, however. He worked with Ted Norby, a former UC Irvine teammate who’s now a club pro at Aviara, and tinkered with his swing.

The changes have given Parker more consistency and have begun to pay dividends. He shot 69-67--eight-under par--in U.S. Open qualifying in Blaine, Wash.

Then he finished sixth at a Canadian Tour event in British Columbia, shooting eight-under 63--10 birdies, two bogeys--in the final round. That gave him some momentum going into the U.S. Open.

Since returning to Canada he has continued his steady, if not spectacular, play. If he keeps on plugging and improving, Parker believes he’ll eventually take his game to the PGA Tour.

“I’ve just got to try to be patient and keep believing in myself,” Parker said, “and know that my time is going to come.”

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Canadian Tour update: Parker finished in a tie for 16th Sunday at the Edmonton Open, but he wasn’t the highest finishing Orange County golfer.

Chris Tidland, a former Valencia High and Oklahoma State player, made a four-way playoff for the title, losing when Manny Zerman of South Africa made a 30-foot bunker shot on the second extra hole.

Tidland, in his second year as a pro after playing on the Nike Tour last year, shot 10-under (69-69-66-70) for the tournament and won $10,400.

Parker was four under, Kent Wiese of Huntington Beach finished three under and Mike Fergin of Trabuco Canyon was two under.

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Coto de Caza’s Kellee Booth lost in the final of the Broadmoor Ladies Invitational tournament Saturday in Colorado Springs.

Booth, a senior-to-be at Arizona State, lost 2-up to future teammate Grace Park of Phoenix, when Park eagled the 17th hole.

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Busy signal: Those trying to get in touch with Doug Booth (no relation to Kellee), the head pro at Tijeras Creek, need to be patient. The accomplished teacher is in such demand that he’s coming out of the pro shop and going into teaching full-time by the middle of this month.

Booth is about to open a teaching academy at the course to help meet the growing demand for lessons. The academy will offer full- and half-day group lessons much like those at the schools at Pelican Hill and Aviara in Carlsbad.

One of the classes will include instruction, then playing nine holes with Booth, then an evaluation.

“I had 17 messages on my voice mail today,” Booth said recently, “and most were about lessons. I think Tiger [Woods] has a lot to do with it. It’s not all beginners either. I’m getting a lot of calls from people who just want to learn to play better.”

Notes

Sandy Galbraith of Fountain Valley won the senior flight of the Long Beach Men’s City Championship on Sunday. His total of one-under 215 at Recreation Park, Skylinks and El Dorado was five strokes ahead of second-place finisher Bob Foster of Huntington Beach.

The Orange County Golf Notebook runs every other week during the summer. Suggestions are welcome. Call (714) 966-5904, fax 966-5663 or e-mail Martin.Beck@latimes.com or Steve.Kresal@latimes.com

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County Drives

Here’s a look at the features that make one golf hole in Orange County stand out:

Course: Tijeras Creek Golf Club, 29082 Tijeras Creek, Rancho Santa Margarita, (714) 589-9793

Hole: No. 10

Length: 342 yards (championship), 327 (forward)

Description: After a mostly gentle front nine, this hole gets a player’s attention quickly. The short length is countered by a lake that starts at about the halfway point on the left and protects that side and front of the green. The green sits in a bowl, so a long approach will yield a downhill chip toward the lake.

Pro’s Advice: Lower handicap players usually hit middle to long irons, but tee shots must find the fairway because there are mounds and two bunkers on the right side. Anything too far right could end up in the driving range and out of bounds. “Give yourself enough club to get over the water,” said head professional Doug Booth. “The left side of the green is the safest shot, but there is no good place to miss the green.”