Golf: New champion on the rise at Mesa Verde

Richard Dunn

A changing of the guard -- as well as a special parking spot at

Mesa Verde Country Club and automatic entry into the Tea Cup Classic --

appears to be in order at Mesa Verde.

Only something of miracle proportions can stop Akemi Khaiat from

winning the 2002 women’s club championship and ending Denise Woodard’s

club-record streak of six straight titles.

Khaiat, with a 20-stroke lead heading into Friday’s final round, is a

relatively new member at Mesa Verde and apparently a hot golfer.

Mesa Verde’s four-round club championship was scheduled to conclude

Tuesday, but inclement weather last week postponed the event and pushed

back the final round until Friday.

After three rounds in Mesa Verde’s championship flight, Khaiat has

posted an 84-79-79--242, followed by Woodard (93-80-89--262), Sue Jane

Chi (87-90-87--264) and Natalie King (95-90-87--272).

Woodard and King are tied for Mesa Verde’s all-time lead in club

titles with six. King won her championships from 1982 through 1995.

If Khaiat manages to hold on to her lead, she would become eligible

for Tea Cup Classic VI at Santa Ana Country Club this summer (TBA).

The Tea Cup Classic, the women’s portion of the Fletcher Jones

Motorcars/Daily Pilot Club Championship Series, was started by this

sports section in 1997 to crown an annual Daily Pilot women’s club

champion, promote the game in the area and bring the golf community

closer together.

Olivia Slutzky (Big Canyon Country Club) and Marianne Towersey (Santa

Ana) have already qualified for Tea Cup Classic VI.

Defending Tea Cup champion Debbie Albright of Newport Beach Country

Club snapped Towersey’s three-year Tea Cup winning streak in 2001.

Albright will attempt to win her seventh straight Newport Beach title May

17.

Renowned golf course architect Tom Fazio, who directed the dramatic

changes at Augusta National before this year’s Masters, continues to make

a strong imprint in this part of the world.

Fazio, who designed both courses at Pelican Hill Golf Club, is the

architect of Shady Canyon Golf Club, the new layout in rugged terrain on

the cusp of Newport Coast.

The 300-acre course is laid out behind outcroppings of boulders, where

individual homesites start at $700,000. Mark McGwire has already

purchased two lots in the private residential and golf community.

So how will Shady Canyon, which does not have ocean views, stack up

against the best courses in the world?

“We don’t need an ocean because this is as good as any golf course on

the ocean, whether it’s in Scotland, Ireland, or Lynchburg (Va.),” Fazio

said. “Our goal is to produce a course where people will say, ‘This is as

good a golf course as I have ever seen in my life, anywhere.’

“It’s got a great feel and it’s about as different as you can get from

an oceanfront course. It looks like it’s been there forever. That’s the

job, to make it look that way.”

Newport Beach Country Club is hosting a U.S. Open local qualifying for

the third year in a row.

The 102nd U.S. Open Championship is June 13-16 at Bethpage State Park

(Black Course) in Farmingdale, N.Y.

The local qualifying at Newport Beach is 18 holes on May 15, with the

Southern California Golf Association operating the event. Newport Beach

is one of seven Southland courses to be used during qualifying week (May

13-20) by the SCGA.

The Derby at Santa Ana Country Club, a prestigious annual men’s

member/guest event on the SCGA calendar, is May 16-18.

The defending champions are Don Mills and guest Ray Casciari (Yorba

Linda).

The time-honored Derby changes the playing format each round during

the competition.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.