Two Area Golfers Qualify for Nissan

Brad Sherfy of Camarillo shot a three-under-par 69 and Roger Gunn of Agoura shot 71 on Monday at Glendora Country Club to earn berths in the PGA Tour’s Nissan Open to be played Feb. 22 through March 1 at Valencia Country Club.

Sherfy, the UCLA men’s golf coach, and Gunn, the director of instruction at Lindero Country Club, join a field of 144 players, including defending champion Nick Faldo.

Gunn needed a par on the second playoff hole to beat Ed Galvan of Glendale for the final spot. Galvan will be the alternate if Gunn or Sherfy cannot play.

The Nissan Open is being played at Valencia Country Club instead of its usual site of Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades because Riviera will host the U.S. Senior Open July 20-26. Riviera officials do not want to host two professional tournaments in the same year.

Leigh Ann Mills and Janice Moody earned the final two spots in the Los Angeles Women’s Championship by finishing first and second in a 42-player qualifying tournament Monday at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale.

Mills, who shot a four-under-par 68, and Moody, who shot 70, complete the 132-player field, which is one of the strongest for an LPGA event. Twenty-four of the top 25 and 95 of the top 100 money winners from 1997 are entered.

“It’s never easy getting one of two spots from a 42-player field, but I figured my chances were as good as anybody else’s,” said Mills, 32, who missed qualifying for the tournament by a stroke last year.

Mills finished 134th on last year’s money list.

Moody, born in Glasgow, Scotland, was a three-time college All-American at San Jose State.

The Los Angeles Women’s Championship is Friday through Sunday at Oakmont.

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* COMING WEDNESDAY: A comprehensive special section previewing the Los Angeles Women’s Championship being played Friday through Sunday at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale.