Golf: Ochoa grazed Mesa Verde only last summer

Richard Dunn

Lorena Ochoa is what the LPGA Tour is looking for, and, if she does

what many predict she’ll do, folks at Mesa Verde Country Club will always

be able to say, “I knew her when ...”

It’s always exciting to see golf visitors to the Newport-Mesa

community go on to big things, and Ochoa, of Mexico, is the latest case.

A sophomore at the University of Arizona, Ochoa captured her

mind-boggling seventh straight championship, an NCAA record, last weekend

at the PING/Arizona State Invitational.

What Ochoa is doing on the NCAA women’s golf scene is nothing short of

Tigeresque. In fact, it’s even better. She has won every collegiate

tournament she has entered this season, and, after Sunday’s win at ASU,

she lowered her stroke average to 69.65, well below her record-setting

mark of 71.33 last year as a freshman.

“She’s better than Tiger was ... at least her record’s better than

Tiger’s, but, of course, she’s not playing the same competition,” Mesa

Verde head golf professional Tom Sargent said Wednesday.

“She’s 7 for 7 and wants to win every tournament she enters this year.

She wants to go 10 for 10.”

Widely considered the best collegiate player in the country, and maybe

ever, Ochoa now has 11 championships in her brief collegiate career,

tying her with Nancy Lopez (University of Tulsa) for third on the

all-time NCAA list for individual medalist honors.

Last summer, Ochoa was a joy to meet and interview during the Girls

Junior America’s Cup Team Matches at Mesa Verde, which was won by the

host Southern California Section.

Ochoa, playing for defending champion Mexico, was articulate and

interesting and will go a long way on the LPGA Tour and throughout her

career on the international women’s golf landscape.

After the LPGA Tour’s Player Summit, it should be interesting to see

any changes coming forth from its players, who were told by Commissioner

Ty Votaw to do a better job of marketing themselves, among other things.

He said that one of the ways to accomplish that was to improve their

appearance and to be more fan-friendly.

“We have to do more to sell ourselves off the golf course,” Votaw

said.

Once Mesa Verde completes its $7-million clubhouse remodeling project,

the venerable Costa Mesa club will be a hot ticket for LPGA Tour

officials to pursue as a possible host site of an event.

Meanwhile, members at Mesa Verde are enjoying an excellent temporary

facility alongside the driving range, which has been shortened to

accommodate the well-manicured and colorful trailer complex that includes

a golf shop, bistro, card room and administration building, among other

facilities.

“It’s an awesome temporary facility,” Sargent said.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.