Golf: Doyle is NBCC’s biggest fan

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - In a tournament where just about anything and

everything is possible, one constant has established the past three years

at the Toshiba Senior Classic.

Allen Doyle is going to be in the hunt.

Doyle, last year’s champion, saw his reign come to an end Sunday night

when Jose Maria Canizares won a nine-hole playoff from Dr. Gil Morgan,

finished in third place with a 10-under-par, 203, one shot off the

leaders.

“I played great on the back nine, but I tanked the front nine,” Doyle

admitted. “You can’t shoot as badly as I did on the front and expect to

compete. I was very fortunate to have a strong back nine and was able to

come back.”

That’s the understatement of the tournament. Doyle played the front

nine at 3-over for all three rounds, while scorching the back nine at

13-under.

Doyle double bogeyed the sixth hole, but regrouped and birdied six of

the next seven holes, including five in a row from holes nine through 13.

It’s a course where you don’t have to kill the ball every time,” Doyle

said. “It’s a very classic-style course, which I really enjoy playing.”

The scores would back up Doyle’s love for the course. He is the only

golfer in tournament history to shoot every round under 70. “The course

was in great shape today and I love playing here,” he said.

In 1999, Doyle shot a 9-under, 204, and ended the tournament in a

four-way tie with Gary McCord, Al Geiberger and John Jacobs. McCord won

the tournament, but Doyle’s 68-68-68 showed his mastery of the course.

Doyle backed up 1999’s performance by winning the Toshiba, shooting a

two-round total of 69-67, 136. The final round was washed out, giving

Doyle the championship.

This year, Doyle was 5-under after two rounds, shooting a 68-69, but

was seven shots behind leader Terry Mauney and six behind Bob Gilder.

One factor in Doyle’s favor was the weather. “I think my game is

stronger than most when the weather isn’t quite as good,” Doyle said.

“Any time I can drive it on to the fairway and roll the ball well on the

greens, I feel like I can compete. (Sunday), with the wind blowing, I

just focused on keeping it in the fairways and hitting the greens.”

According to Doyle, players have stopped playing in abnormal weather

and it’s something he can take advantage of. “It all comes down to

execution,” he said. “We’re all big, big, boys out here. We’ve just got

to deal with it.”

One thing 14-year-old Brittany Donlon has to deal with after Sunday’s

round is a shiner to her right eye, thanks to an errant fairway shot from

Jim Ahern.

“We were standing behind the 15th green when I saw the ball bounce in

front of me,” Donlon said. “I just closed my eyes and it hit me just

under my eye.”

Ahern, quick to repair damage control, autographed a golf ball for

Donlon. “He also gave me a big hug, which was nice,” Donlon said. “He’s a

very nice man.”

According to Sergeant Trent Harris of the Newport Beach Police

Department, the tournament crowds performed like the weather, better than

expected.

“The whole weekend went very well,” Harris said. “We had no major

problems on Sunday and everything went much better than I expected it

would. The golfers out here treated the kids great and I think the fans

returned the favor back to the golfers.”

In terms of overall course condition, most of the golfers walked away

with rave remarks.

“With all the rain, the course played very, very nice all weekend

long,” runner-up Dr. Gil Morgan said before his nine-hole playoff began.

“There wasn’t a tremendous amount of moisture on the course and I’m sure

the lift, clean and place rule helped some scores out on Friday.”

Bob Charles, a Toshiba Senior Classic competitor for six years is a

big fan of the course, just not the calendar.

“We’re playing here at the wrong time of the year,” he said with a

smile. “It’s a great course, but the weather is lousy. “The fairways

played very well and the greens held well.”

With the 1-2 finish of Jose Maria Canizares and Morgan, that means the

Toshiba Senior Classic has had seven different winners and seven

different runners-up. “It’s just the tremendous talent of golfers at this

tournament,” tournament volunteer and former Orange Coast College golf

coach Gordie Fitzel said. “When there’s a field of this caliber, it’s

hard to stay on top.”