Golf: Centennial Museum at SACC worth a look

Richard Dunn

If you enjoy golf history, museums, or nostalgic photographs of the

Newport Harbor area, and you know a Santa Ana Country Club member, now is

a good time to knock on their door.

Otherwise, you’ll have no chance of viewing the Centennial Museum,

which opened Tuesday at the private Santa Ana Heights-based equity club

for Saturday’s Centennial Celebration.

The museum, which will remain open through Monday, is beautifully

orchestrated and designed, while providing an interesting journey through

the club’s 100-year history.

Among the highlights, while working undercover:

-- A black and white photo of Ben Hogan playing golf at Santa Ana

Country Club, circa 1942.

During World War II, Hogan and Joe DiMaggio, both stationed at nearby

Santa Ana Army Air Base, played golf at Santa Ana Country Club, while Sam

Snead, stationed at Camp Pendleton, would occasionally travel north to

play Hogan at SACC.

-- Minutes of the first meeting of the incorporators and members at

Santa Ana Country Club, dated April 12, 1923.

-- A wall dedicated to Marianne Cox (now Towersey) and her junior

career at SACC, which, at age 16, included a stunning match-play victory

in the 67th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship over future LPGA Hall of

Famer JoAnne Gunderson Carner, 2 and 1, at Annandale Golf Club. Carner

was 28.

The Los Angeles Times referred to Cox as “a pigtailed blond 11th

grader at Corona del Mar High.”

-- The 1978 photo of Dennis Paulson as the club’s junior champion is

priceless with his thick blond locks.

-- A map, during a time when the club was called Orange County Country

Club and located at the Castaways (1912 to 1923), which reads: “Newport

Harbor. California’s All Year Yacht and Recreation Resort.

Newport-Balboa. Pleasure Port of the Pacific.”

The Santa Ana Country Club Centennial Celebration will include

multiple gourmet buffet stations and high-energy music inside, with a

more relaxed traditional sound outside by the Brenda Lynne Orchestra.

The evening will include fireworks and a birthday cake worthy of 100

years.

The first stop at the celebration is through the Santiago Room,

commemorating the Santiago Golf Club from 1901 to 1912 at Peters Canyon.

The site was remote and rugged with holes made of tin cans, hazards were

the rocks and desert creatures, and the fairways were made of earth and

weeds.

Party-goers will take a trip back in time, while testing their skills

on putting greens made of sand.

The next stop is the Castaways (1912 to 1923), where club pioneers

relocated to a more picturesque area above McFadden’s Landing (now the

Upper Newport Bay). The golf course was accessible by boat, sort of, with

a vigorous climb from the beach up steep cliffs along the Back Bay.

Finally, there’s the Newport Room (1923 to present), representing the

club’s move to its present site, while undergoing another name change.

The club moved its golf course from the Castaways, for irrigation

purposes, to Santa Ana Heights on Newport Boulevard, when courses in

California were converting to grass fairways and greens. The club paid

$71,000 for the property and renamed itself Santa Ana Country Club.

Capping an extraordinary summer on the junior golf circuit was Costa

Mesa’s Jason Cassidy (Estancia High), who enjoyed three consecutive

runner-up finishes in his age bracket (boys 16-18) in his final three

outings.

Cassidy, who won the Long Beach Crosby junior tournament earlier, shot

74 in a Southern California PGA event at Thunderbird Country Club in

Rancho Mirage; 74 in an SCPGA event at Marbella Country Club in San Juan

Capistrano; and 76-73--149 in the Junior Amateur Golf Scholars Tour at

Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club.

Cassidy, a junior at Estancia, has qualified for the SCPGA Metro Tour

Tournament of Champions at Newport Beach Country Club Dec. 17 with his

victory at Long Beach.

The brother combination of Ryan Knapp, 10, and Jake Knapp, 7, also had

a hot summer. Both won age-group titles at Mesa Verde Country Club.

Ryan placed in the top 30 at the Junior World Golf Tournament in San

Diego and won two SCPGA events.

Proceeds of the third annual Tee Off for Technology Golf Classic, Oct.

15 at Santa Ana Country Club, will support technology for the students at

Newport Harbor High School. Details: Contact Rowland Day at (714)

429-2909.

The 12th annual Bob Hope/Dr. Howard House Golf Tournament, played

Monday at Pelican Hill Golf Club and hosted by the Orange County

Associates of the House Ear Institute, raised between $50,000 and

$80,000, according to tournament director Ron Osbrink.

“Most of the people who support (the tournament) are from the Newport

Beach area,” Osbrink said.

Hope, the legendary entertainer, was not in attendance, but Osbrink

said four celebrities, including Mickey Jones and James Bentley, provided

plenty of laughs for the post-golf audience at the awards dinner.

Winning low gross in the scramble format with 57 was the team of Dave

Godber, Jim Thompson, Rick Streelman and Tom Smith, while the winning low

net team consisted of Carlo Biscaro, Maxine Cooper, K. Matsutsuyo and Lee

Francis.

The low net runners-up were Ray Osbrink, Richard Motske, Michael Davis

and Kevin Priestly. In a “mixed” flight with three ladies and one

gentleman, Sandy Munro, Pam Munro, Gwynn Sharpe and Jeff Sharpe shot a

low-gross 62.

The House Ear Institute is a world-renowned private, nonprofit

research and education center with a mission to improve the quality of

life for those with ear disease, hearing loss, balance and related

disorders.

Hope is a longtime friend and supporter of the House Ear Institute,

which was founded by Dr. House in 1946.

For details on next year’s event, call (949) 499-2826.

Pelican Hill, owned by the Irvine Co., has signed nearly 800 members

to its 10-year anniversary program of special benefits and privileges.

Membership in the 10th Anniversary Club is available to anyone for a

fee of $50 and offers a variety of benefits, including: $150 green fees

on Sunday; 20% off range balls and merchandise in the golf shop;

invitations to special events for club members; membership in Southern

California Golf Association for handicap posting services; and a

commemorative bag tag. Details: (949) 760-0707.

The High Priority Golf Tournament, which benefits the organization

supporting those with breast cancer, is Oct. 9 at Oak Creek Golf Club.

Details: (949) 494-5855.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.