Golf: Saltus adds spice to Canadian Tour

Richard Dunn

Along with some blowup rounds, Bryan Saltus of Costa Mesa had

occasional brushes with greatness on golf courses last summer on the

Canadian Tour.

But the 30-year-old surfer from Newport Harbor High, who enjoyed a big

spring 2001 playing mini-tour events in California before heading north,

also became a fan favorite and media darling -- as sort of this hip,

anti-establishment golfer with a friendly smile.

Canadians fell in love with his unusual character and personality on

the golf course, as the Canadian Tour rookie chatted with greenside fans

and provided good copy for golf-starving sports columnists from Vancouver

to Ottawa.

“People like the way I act out there, but it’s normal for me,” Saltus

told the Canadian press. “I’m the only guy out here who’s legally

insane.”

Saltus’ laid back attitude was apparently a breath of fresh air for

the tour. Prior to leaving for Canada in June, underwriting and

sponsoring his own show as an independent, unlike many professional

golfers who wear store emblems and company logos.

Saltus, the perfect guy for those offbeat golf magazines popping up,

spiced up the $150,000 Telus Vancouver Open at lush Point Grey Golf and

Country Club, where he entered the final round tied for second at

10-under-par.

“Saltus will be the story today,” Kent Gilchrist wrote in the

(Vancouver) Province. “A small clutch of fans already has gravitated to

him because he smiles, talks and mingles with the crowd better than

anyone else.”

Saltus, a former Big Canyon Country Club caddie, whose home course is

Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club, told me before he left for Canada that

“some big things are going to happen up there.” And he was right.

Saltus, with his “self-taught caddie’s swing,” wore purple-flowered

shirts and baggy pants, with his shaggy hair (over his ears) often jammed

up under a Lakers cap.

Unlike most players at the tournaments who stay at a hotel or with a

billet, Saltus would camp close to the courses with his girlfriend and

caddie, Amy Connor.

“And at night, he doesn’t go into town to check out the night life,

but rather he returns to Eagle Creek to hang with the wildlife. He says

the fishing in the ponds and lakes on the course is terrific,” wrote Don

Brennan in the Ottawa Sun during the Eagle Creek Classic, where Saltus

was in contention at 8-under through two rounds.

“I caught 20 bass,” Saltus said. “My friend caught a four-pound pike.

I’m from California, I’d never seen a pike. I jumped in the water and

grabbed it.”

And then there’s his choice of music. During interviews, Saltus said

he attended 153 Grateful Dead concerts with a bunch of Doobie Brothers,

and kept a diary on each show.

“I followed them all over the south,” Saltus said. “I saw them in

Vegas 13 times, at Madison Square Garden ... it’s the biggest thing

that’s ever happened to me, sharing that experience with all those

hippies. I only wish I was older, so I could have enjoyed it longer.”

Before the Canadian Tour stop and Saltus’ newfound fame, the Deadhead

sizzled in California, winning the San Francisco Open and a $20,000

first-place check in early May, after taking third at the Tommy Bahama

Newport Beach Open in April at Newport Beach Country Club.

In the three-round San Francisco Open at Palo Alto Municipal Golf

Club, Saltus shot a blazing 67-68-65--200, tying a course record on the

final day and winning by four shots.

When he entered the final round at Vancouver one stroke off the lead,

Saltus was asked how he’d play being in the final group on Sunday. He

said: “The last big tournament I won was the San Francisco Open and I set

the course record on Sunday ... better watch out guys.”

Saltus, who did not set the course record and win that day, has drawn

some looks from his peers, including Roger Tambellini, one of the few

Canadian Tour players who know him.

“He’s different,” Tambellini said. “But he’s different in a good way.

And he can play.”

In his first year on the Canadian Tour, Saltus finished 77th on the

money list ($8,362), but created quite a stir in the galleries and

newspapers.

Saltus, who unfortunately won’t be eligible for the Toshiba Senior

Classic until 2021, qualified for the Canadian Tour with a 7-under total

in five rounds, finishing tied for fifth out of 140 players at Kamloops,

British Columbia.

Mark Les and Mark Harding shot 13-under to win the Flight A gross

title in the Costa Mesa Member/Member Championship at Costa Mesa Golf &

Country Club.

Les and Harding dethroned Scott Kuhns, the five-time men’s club

champion at Costa Mesa, and Andy Horner in the tournament played at the

Los Lagos and Mesa Linda courses.

The format was a partner scramble over the first nine holes, and a

better-ball the next nine at Mesa Linda, then a better-ball of partners

over the next nine holes on the second day, followed by an aggregate

format over the last nine.

Other champions included Vito Vento and Jay Berndt (Flight A net),

Mike Zangger and Jack Saenz (Flight B gross), Roberto Jara and Wilis

Navarro (Flight B net), Nacho Espinoza and Tom Ringman (Flight C gross),

and Jim Hennekam and Leigh Hughes (Flight C net).

Les also won longest drive (310 yards) on the 16th hole at Los Lagos.

“It was especially gratifying for my partner and I to have come out on

top this time,” Les said of the title.

LPGA member Judy Carls is hosting the Costa Mesa Junior Golf clinic

beginning Tuesday at Costa Mesa.

The four-week program includes instruction in full swing, putting,

short game and course management. Classes are from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

A cost of $50 includes range balls, equipment, course play and

instruction by Carls and Joan Reedy. Details: (714) 846-6798.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.