Golf: Eyes wide open

Richard Dunn

When surfer-turned-golfer Justin Barnett picked up his championship

hardware Monday night at the awards ceremony, he was thrilled to win the

amateur title at the sixth annual Newport Beach Open.

But Barnett, even after his 6-over-par 76 was posted as the winning score

and even after receiving his shiny plaque, still wasn’t sure what he’d

won.

“I thought (the tournament) was just the Tommy Bahama Open,” Barnett

said, referring to the presenting sponsor, unaware of the fact that his

triumph also appointed him Newport Beach city champion for 2000.

Barnett, of Costa Mesa, enjoyed a stellar amateur surfing career and

captured myriad titles for Huntington Beach High in National Scholastic

Surfing Association competition.

But Barnett, 24, had never won a golf tournament. Until Monday at Newport

Beach Country Club.

Barnett, who works in the bag room at Mesa Verde Country Club and aspires

to pass the Player Ability Test this summer and earn his PGA

apprenticeship card, was once the No. 2-rated surfer in Southern

California, according to the NSSA.

“I won a substantial amount of (surfing) tournaments,” Barnett said, “but

those just didn’t feel the same as when I saw my score posted on the

board and realized that I’d won (the Newport Beach Open).

“To tell you the truth, I couldn’t explain how I felt inside when they

posted my score. It was just an absolute great feeling.”

Barnett, a 10 handicap, got serious about golf two years ago and gets

plenty of tips from Mesa Verde assistant pro Jeremy Clevenger.

Barnett, whose goal is to become a teaching pro, sank one birdie in his

winning effort -- on hole No. 1, when he holed out from the right rough

with a pitching wedge.

“That’s the hard way to make birdie,” Barnett said. “I didn’t have any

spectacular shots. I was just cruising along and hitting greens and

fairways for pars. I hit a couple of wayward shots, but somehow I was

able to get up and down. I was able to scramble around.”

Brad Greer made a hole-in-one on the par-3 No. 8 (203 yards) with a

4-iron to earn Shot of the Day honors for professionals, witnessed by

Eric Woods (Newport Beach) and Mike Miles.

While attempting to remain an impartial newspaperman, it must be reported

that Daily Pilot Publisher Tom Johnson, also the tournament chairman, had

the Shot of the Day for low-handicap amateurs who played in the morning

round with the pros.

On the par-4 No. 11, Johnson holed out from the right bunker for a

birdie, clearing a lip 3 1/2-feet high before the ball bounced a couple

of times and rolled into the cup.

Just prior to his sand shot, Johnson quipped, “I stink ... and you can

quote me on that.”

For the Daily Pilot foursome in the afternoon, Director of Promotions

Lana Johnson proved that women who hit straight off the tee can get

around the golf course better than three men going for distance. Johnson,

Tommy Neville, Greg Geissman and yours truly finished the Texas Scramble

at net 54, or 10 strokes off the pace.

One of the most amazing shots Monday was turned in by Joseph Spiegel of

J&S; Automotive in Costa Mesa.

Sitting at his table on the fourth tee box, a par-3 hole over water,

Spiegel spent most of his day watching golfers fire away at the flag 134

yards from the white tees.

Anxious to try it himself, Spiegel was given a club to take a crack at it

by our affable foursome. And, without any warmup swings, Spiegel hit the

green and won closest-to-the-pin honors in our group.

“I’ve been dying to do it all day,” Spiegel said.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.