SENIOR CLASSIC AT MESA VERDE : SENIOR CLASSIC NOTEBOOK / STEVE KRESAL : Allin’s Great Escape Gives Crowd a Shot to Remember

Golf professionals constantly make shots that amaze spectators and the one Buddy Allin made Friday on No. 18 was no exception.

Allin, who lives in Fullerton, drove the ball to the right of the fairway on the 390-yard finishing hole during the first round of the Toshiba Senior Classic at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa.

Once he got to the ball, he surveyed the difficulties.

The ball was in light rough, but that was the least of his worries.

It was partly under an oleander bush and about 140 yards from the green. There was also a pine tree about 20 yards in front of his ball, that he would have to avoid. Lastly, a lake the protects the green on the left was waiting to swallow his ball if he hooked his shot too much.

His options were to play a punch shot toward the green or chip back out to the fairway and hope to get up and down.

Allin, one under at the time, decided to be aggressive and lined a six-iron shot under the pine. It bounced along the shore of the lake, then onto the green about 10 feet below the hole.

After Allin walked up to the green, several spectators lined up the shot from where his divot was and shook their heads.

He just missed his birdie putt but made par to finish at one-under 69.

“I was just trying to get the ball to the green.” Allin said. “I knew I could play short or go for it. It just bounced up there.”

Allin had five victories on the PGA Tour, two of them in 1974. But this is his first full year on the Senior PGA Tour after finishing third at the tour’s qualifying tournament last fall.

He has earned $58,118 in five events this season with his best finish being a tie for fourth at the FHP Health Care Classic in Ojai two weeks ago.

“I really didn’t play too well today,” Allin said. “I’ve got to go beat balls right now.”

*

Up and down: Tom Weiskopf got to four under after seven holes and spent much of the morning on the leader board. But he faltered on the back nine and finished at two-under 68.

He spoke earlier in the week of his struggles with his driver and it continued to plague him Friday. But at least twice after errant drives, he made outstanding saves.

The first came on No. 11, a 360-yard par four with a large sand trap on the right side. Weiskopf hooked his ball well left into a grass bunker that’s in back of the par-three, 12th hole.

From there, Weiskopf hit a tree with his next shot and was still about 90 yards from the hole. He pitched to above the hole and made the 12-foot putt for par.

Three holes later, his tee shot hit a tree on No. 14 and the ball fell into the rough. He had about 180 yards to the green but his path was blocked by a large eucalyptus tree.

Weiskopf looked at the trees and told the gallery: “Twenty-five or 30 years ago that (shot) would have been no problem. I would have gone right over them.”

After some laughter, Weiskopf hit a low shot that faded around the tree and ran to the back of the green, where he two-putted for par.

*

More local news: Art Schilling, the head professional at Mesa Verde, shot the highest score of the day, a 78.

Schilling, who was given an sponsor’s exemption into the tournament, was three over after 14 holes. But he went five over on the final four holes, including a double bogey on the par-four 17th.

John Brodie and Deane Beman, who received the other two sponsor’s exemptions, had somewhat better days.

Brodie, the former NFL quarterback, shot 74 and Beman, the former PGA commissioner, shot 71.

*

Hole breakdown: The first hole, a 424-yard par four, proved to be the most difficult. There were 32 bogeys and five birdies on the hole.

The 10th, a 467-yard par five, was the easiest. Thirty-six players made birdies and only two made bogeys.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

How Mesa Verde Is Playing

A hole-by-hole look at Mesa Verde Country Club after one round of the Toshiba Senior Classic (posting 78 scores):

DOUBLE TRIPLE NO. PAR AVERAGE EAGLE BIRDIE PAR BOGEY BOGEY BOGEY+ RANK 1 4 4.423 0 5 38 32 3 0 1 2 5 5.000 0 10 58 10 0 0 9 3 3 2.808 0 23 47 8 0 0 16 4 5 4.795 0 22 51 4 1 0 17 5 4 4.192 0 11 42 24 1 0 5 6 4 3.987 0 13 54 10 1 0 11 7 3 3.128 0 8 52 18 0 0 7 8 4 3.923 0 15 55 7 1 0 14 9 3 3.026 0 11 55 11 1 0 8 OUT 35 35.282 0 118 452 124 8 0 10 5 4.410 6 36 34 2 0 0 18 11 4 3.962 0 17 47 14 0 0 13 12 3 2.987 0 12 57 7 2 0 11 13 5 4.821 0 20 53 4 1 0 15 14 4 4.282 0 2 55 18 3 0 2 15 3 3.000 0 8 62 8 0 0 9 16 3 3.244 0 10 40 27 1 0 4 17 4 4.141 0 8 52 17 1 0 6 18 4 4.256 0 6 50 18 4 0 3 IN 35 35.103 6 119 450 115 12 0 TOT. 70 70.385 6 237 902 239 20 0