Golf: Newport Beach Open bringing out the best in people

Richard Dunn

Part of the beauty of the Newport Beach Open is that it reminds

some locals of the former Crosby Southern Pro-Am, later called the

Newport Classic Pro-Am.

The idea of a mini-tour event is to attract professional golfers.

Organizers of the old Crosby clambake were so adept at recruiting

players, they were later rewarded indirectly with a Senior PGA Tour

event.

While the seventh annual Newport Beach Open is still in a growth

stage, the event featured veteran pros like Fred Stamey and Ray Carrasco.

For players like Stamey, the event is ideal with a $10,000 purse,

while being played on an old-style layout at Newport Beach Country Club.

And the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, the tournament organizer,

could not have ordered better weather Monday.

“This is a first-class event. I wish there were more tournaments like

this out there for guys like me,” said 43-year-old Stamey, after

finishing tied for first place with Mike Fergin at 4-under 67, then

losing in a three-hole playoff.

While the event appears to have all the amenities for the golf pro

looking to pocket a grand or two for a day’s work over 18 holes, it is

still coming up short in the player recruitment department. Only 18

played in the pro field.

The event was also open to amateurs in the morning round with

handicaps under 12, as well as other amateurs and corporate foursomes in

the afternoon with an estimated 200 golfers participating.

Stamey’s playoff record the past year dropped to 0-3 following

Monday’s extra three holes.

Stamey, who lives in Boise, Idaho and Palm Desert in the winter, is

second on the Golden State Tour money list in 2001, but is still waiting

to capture a title in a playoff.

On the last playoff hole Monday, Stamey’s birdie attempt from 24 feet

lipped out, giving Fergin a free run with a 10-footer, which he drained

for the win.

In February, Stamey lost in a Golden State Tour playoff at Oak Valley,

and last summer at Long Beach lost in another playoff when the winner

pitched in for eagle and Stamey missed a three-foot putt for birdie.

Part of the beauty of the event is that it brings out players like

Carrasco, a Toshiba Senior Classic regular and member of the European

Senior Tour, and Stamey.

“I’m a bachelor, so I can travel all over to play golf,” Stamey said.

“From May to September, I become a nomad. I go everywhere.”

Chris Veitch, the reigning men’s club champion at Santa Ana Country

Club, won low gross for amateurs at the Newport Beach Open, shooting

even-par 71.

Newport Beach’s Mike Giddings won low net (69), while Boyd Martin of

Santa Ana Country Club was second low net (71).

Veitch, who played in the inaugural Jones Cup last summer, will miss

this year’s men’s club championship at Santa Ana because of his

daughter’s wedding May 5.

“For Chris, family always comes first,” his wife, Irene, said

Wednesday. “He missed golf tournaments a lot in the past and was not even

able to play in Santa Ana Country Club championships for years because he

was doing Indian Guides and things like that. He’s just been free the

years he has started winning.”

Veitch, who played in a golf tournament Wednesday in Los Angeles and

was unavailable for comment, is a four-time Santa Ana club champion who

has won three straight.

“I practiced a lot until about age 30, then work and family took over,

but for some reason I’ve been able to hold onto (a consistent game),”

Veitch, 47, said in July. “(I’ve been able to win tournaments) even with

a minimal amount of practice and minimal amount of playing. I don’t know

why.”

Veitch won 1998 and ’99 Newport Beach Open amateur titles, then did

not play in 2000.

Seems like Veitch wins whenever he shows up.

Costa Mesa pro Bryan Saltus, who captured the first Golden State Tour

event he entered this year at Western Hills Country Club, finished tied

for third at 3-under 68 in the Newport Beach Open. Costa Mesa pro Darren

Ernst also tied for third.

Rich Saul, the former All-Pro center for the Rams, is hosting the 19th

annual Childhelp USA Celebrity Golf Classic May 16 at Pelican Hill Golf

Club.

The Orange County Chapter of Childhelp USA, based in Newport Beach, is

expecting a full field of golfers and proceeds to net approximately

$150,000. Childhelp USA was founded in 1959 and is dedicated to the

treatment, prevention and research of child abuse and neglect. Details:

(949) 589-2770.

The Costa Mesa-based Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is

hosting its Links to the Cure Golf Tournament May 3 at Coyote Hills Golf

Course in Fullerton. Details: (714) 957-9157.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.