Golf column, Twice as nice for Thanksgiving

Folks here are fashionably late, so it’s no wonder ticket sales for

the Diners Club Matches -- featuring the inaugural Newport Beach

appearance of Jack Nicklaus -- are just now starting to escalate.

“We’re doing twice as many ticket sales (this week) as we did a week

ago, so it’s very encouraging,” tournament director Gary Pollard said

Wednesday.

The Diners Club Matches, Dec. 11-12 at Pelican Hill Golf Club, will be

limited to about 10,000 tickets to establish a more up close and personal

feel for fans, Pollard added.

Further, tournament officials announced it has started selling

single-day tickets -- $45 for the Diners Club Celebrity Pro-Am on Dec. 10

and $65 each day for play Dec. 11-12, which will be televised by ABC.

Three-day passes are $125.

All tickets include transportation from designated parking lots

located at either Newport Coast Drive and San Joaquin Hills Road or on

Center Drive near Fashion Island.

“In order to accommodate the parking needs of the spectators, we

strongly encourage the patrons to purchase their tickets in advance so we

can adequately plan for the shuttle service between the lots and Pelican

Hill Golf Club,” Pollard said.

Tickets are on sale at all ETM locations in select Vons and Pavilions

stores, by calling 888-ETM-TIXS or the tournament office at (949)

759-5175.

Pelican Hill will be open to the public for play through Dec. 8, which

means golfers have a chance to play the course in made-for-TV condition.

“An awful lot of golfers like to play the course the day after the

tournament, because it’s in the same condition as when the pros played

it,” Pollard said. “But you can’t get the course in tournament condition

overnight. It takes a long period of time. It’s in tournament shape two

or three weeks before the tournament.”

On Dec. 9, the first day of the pro-am for amateurs, Steve Pate of the

PGA Tour will give a free youth clinic at the Pelican Hill practice

center from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Glenn Deck Golf Academy at Pelican Hill will be offering free golf

tips at the Pelican Hill Golf Club Holiday Kiosk stand at Fashion Island

Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Deck and other teaching professionals from the academy will be there

to assist with one’s game. They will answer questions and offer advice on

the short game, the full game, golf equipment, Christmas golf ideas and

ways to improve the golf swing.

Gift certificates for golf schools, lessons and merchandise at Pelican

Hill will be available for purchase. Information on all of the

instructional programs offered at the academy will also be available.

Details: (949) 759-5102.

Newport Beach Country Club head pro Paul Hahn and reigning women’s

club champion Debbie Albright won the recent Southern California PGA

Pro-Lady Club Championship at Candlewood Country Club in Whittier,

shooting a five-under-par 65 to win by a stroke. Hahn claimed $900.

Albright, who has won four straight NBCC titles, has played in all

three Tea Cup Classics.

Santa Ana Country Club head pro Mike Reehl and longtime women’s SACC

champion Marianne Towersey tied for third in the SCPGA Lady-Pro event,

firing a two-under 68 (Reehl earned $546).

Towersey played 53 holes of competitive golf on Aug. 13, finishing as runner-up in the Southern California Women’s Match-Play Championship,

then winning her second consecutive Tea Cup Classic (at Mesa Verde

Country Club). It is regarded as the greatest golf feat of 1999 -- and

perhaps the entire decade.

Jerry Anderson, president of Newport Beach Country Club, will receive

his award as the 1999 Southern California PGA Golf Professional of the

Year on Dec. 5 at Yorba Linda Country Club during the section’s annual

meeting.

Anderson, a member of the SCPGA Hall of Fame and Daily Pilot Sports

Hall of Fame, also won the section’s top honor in 1985.

Angels pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa, a Newport Beach resident, has

applied for membership at Mesa Verde Country Club, where pictures of

candidates hang on a wall.

Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club will host a pre-holiday tent sale Dec.

4-5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with savings of 20% to 60% on all brands of

clubs and merchandise.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.