Foursome Makes Age an Issue
It didn’t turn out quite the way they planned it, but just trying was a feat in itself.
Fred Abblett, Fred Campbell, Fred Starks and Frank Duelks formed a unique foursome Friday at Leisure World in Laguna Hills. All are at least 90 and each has shot his age dozens of times. They were attempting to become the first foursome in Leisure World history to shoot their age in the same round.
Only Abblett, 94, managed to accomplish the feat with an 87. Campbell, 90, shot 101, Starks, 92, shot 97, and Duelks, 92, shot 101.
‘Well, we didn’t set no record,” Abblett said. “We were hoping to, but we didn’t play as well as we should have.”
Ablett, a 14 handicap, plays three times a week and hasn’t shot over his age in more than a year.
“The first time I did it I was 75 and shot 72,” he said. “Since then it’s been easy.”
It was the first time the foursome, each a Leisure World resident, had played together. They plan to continue playing together on a regular basis.
OJAI VICTORY
Jeff Coburn, a UC Irvine redshirt freshman, shot 67-66--133 Saturday and Sunday at Soule Park in Ojai and won the Ojai city championship.
Coburn, who is from Ojai, won by five shots over UCLA freshman J.T. Kohut and broke the tournament record by three shots. Coburn won the Orange County Championships at Strawberry Farms last month.
Coburn plays next with UC Irvine in the Big West Conference championships Monday and Tuesday at Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills.
WESTERN SWING
Some of the top county juniors begin national-level competition this weekend as the American Junior Golf Assn. begins its 2000 western U.S. schedule.
Matt Amen of Yorba Linda, Nico Bollini of Yorba Linda, Steve Conway of Irvine, Chris Gallagher of Dove Canyon, Dave Hawkins of Rancho Santa Margarita, Daniel Kush of Tustin, Scott Manley of Dove Canyon, Breene Murphy of Los Alamitos, Andrew Price of Mission Viejo, Matt Schreiber of Laguna Niguel, Brian Sinay of Irvine, Taylor Wood of Laguna Niguel, Stella Lee of Irvine and Angela Rho of Fullerton are playing in the AJGA Arizona Junior Classic at The Legacy Golf Club in Phoenix.
Playing in the Texas Junior Classic at Columbia Lakes Resort in West Columbia, Texas, are Jae Choe of Yorba Linda, John Kwon of Newport Beach and Priscilla Park of Santa Ana.
DEADLINE PRESSURE
The deadline to apply for the Southern California Golf Assn. Jim Murray Fellowship for Golf Journalism is May 10.
The chosen applicant will work June 1 through mid-September in the SCGA communications department, writing features, news stories, profiles and columns for FORE magazine and the SCGA website.
Applicants should be juniors or seniors in college or recent college graduates with an interest in journalism and golf.
Information: (818) 980-8896 or www.scga.org.
NOTEWORTHY
Channing Lovejoy of Woodbridge High has signed with Boston College, Warrior Coach Tracy Roberts said. Lovejoy, a two-time all-county selection by The Times, averaged 38.6 over nine holes last season . . . Fountain Valley High graduate Candie Kung, a USC freshman, shot 71-75--146 and finished tied for second in the Peg Barnard Classic Saturday and Sunday at Stanford Golf Course. USC, ranked No. 3 in the nation, tied with Washington for the team title.