Jane Booth Is Captain of Curtis Cup Team

Jane Bastanchury Booth, formerly of Coto de Caza, has been named captain of the U.S. squad for the 2000 Curtis Cup matches, June 24-25 at Ganton Golf Club in North Yorkshire, England.

Booth, 51, a member of three consecutive winning U.S. Curtis Cup teams from 1970 to 1974, will lead a team of eight women amateurs against a squad from Great Britain and Ireland in this biennial event, begun in 1932.

A career amateur, Booth is the mother of current LPGA Tour rookie Kellee Booth. She was undefeated in three Curtis Cup appearances (3-0-1 in foursomes and 4-0 in singles). She also had three top-10 finishes in the U.S. Women’s Open between 1970 and 1974.

She and her husband, Mike, moved to Florida in December.

FIELD FILLING OUT

Defending champion Gary McCord and 1999 Player of the Year Bruce Fleisher are among the players who have committed to play in the Toshiba Senior Classic, March 3-5 at Newport Beach County Club.

Fleisher, who won seven times on the Senior PGA Tour last year, missed the 1999 Toshiba Senior Classic because of a viral infection.

Hale Irwin, the 1998 Toshiba champion, also will return, as will Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Dave Stockton.

Tom Kite and Lanny Wadkins, members of the much-anticipated 2000 Senior Tour rookie class, also have committed. Bob Murphy, who won in a dramatic nine-hole playoff in 1997, will not attend because of his television contract with NBC.

Advance tickets are $14 per day or $50 for a weeklong pass and can be purchased online at ToshibaSeniorClassic.com or by calling (949) 515-4840.

HELPING HANDS

Volunteers are still needed to work as scorers, marshals and other positions at the Senior Classic.

Applications are available on the tournament website or by calling the tournament office at (949) 515-4840.

SWINGING TO SWEDEN

Nico Bollini of Yorba Linda and Angela Rho of Fullerton have been selected to represent the U.S. in the Izzo Cup, a team competition against Sweden, June 26-30 at Ullna Golf Club in Stockholm.

Bollini, a Servite High junior, and Rho, a senior at Sonora who has signed with Stanford, were selected based on their position in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings as of Dec. 31. Bollini was ninth among boys and Angela Rho was sixth among girls.

OPEN QUALIFIERS

Two spots in the Nissan Open were filled by Southern California PGA professionals Steve Sear of La Quinta and Dan Monday of Redlands in SCPGA qualifying Monday at Glendora Country Club.

Sear shot six-under-par 66 and Monday shot 69. Top Orange County finishers were Kelly Manos of Big Canyon (71), Brett Maffingham of Strawberry Farms (73), Boris King of Pelican Hill (74) and Tom Brennan of Mission Viejo Country Club (75).

Open qualifying is Feb. 14 at Los Serranos. The field is already full.

The Nissan Open is Feb. 17-20 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

OFF COURSE

A proposed upscale public golf course in San Juan Capistrano hit a roadblock last month when the city council voted to stop exploring the possibility of building a course on city-owned open space in the hills above Interstate 5.

The city staff recommended against the $20-million project unless an access road other than Camino Las Ramblas was found, and the council accepted the recommendation.

Camino Las Ramblas cuts through a residential neighborhood and some residents had organized to fight against building the course, saying the hills and canyons should be preserved in their current undeveloped state.

Though the city could revisit the issue in the future, City Manager George Scarborough said that is “extremely unlikely.”

Staff writer Martin Beck contributed to this story.