First-time club use was a charm for Slutzky at 18

Richard Dunn

With the pressure on, while playing the exciting par-5 dogleg left

finishing hole at Santa Ana Country Club, Olivia Slutzky of Big

Canyon Country Club pulled a new club out of her bag -- a 54-degree

wedge from 70 yards -- and promptly set up a thrilling birdie putt

Wednesday in Tea Cup Classic VI, eventually won by Marianne Towersey

of the host club.

While men are always tempted to try for the green in two at Santa

Ana’s famous 18th hole, women play it differently, and Slutzky needed

another miraculous shot to set up a birdie attempt and try to tie

Towersey and force a playoff.

“I hadn’t hit it all day ... it was the first time I pulled it

out,” Slutzky said of the wedge, which she played on the suggestion

of her caddie, Jerome Valentin, a Big Canyon caddie and Canadian Tour

player.

When Slutzky lofted her third shot to within four feet of the flag

on the 18th green, the gallery went wild, realizing what a birdie

would do to the finish of Tea Cup Classic VI.

“Last year, Marianne and I were actually tied going to 18 (in Tea

Cup Classic V at Newport Beach Country Club). Marianne made birdie

and I made par,” said Slutzky, who finished third last year and

placed second this year in a tight race.

Slutzky, however, has no idea when or if she will return to the

game golf. She and her husband, Alan, are expecting their first child

in April 2003, when Big Canyon hosts its women’s club championship,

and even after that Slutzky said she isn’t sure about her future in

golf. “If it was the end, this was a great way to finish,” she said.

Slutzky, the first pregnant player in Tea Cup Classic history,

carded four birdies in the day’s most heart-stopping round, which

included five bogeys and a double. No matter what the golf future

holds for Slutzky, 34, she will always be remembered in Tea Cup

Classic lore.

* Slutzky’s tee shot at the 159-yard par-3 No. 17 nearly fell in

for a hole-in-one, which would have earned her one of the four prizes

sponsored by Fletcher Jones Motorcars -- a trip to PGA Village in

Florida. Slutzky’s shot settled one inch from the cup. “She almost

won that vacation,” her husband quipped. “I was packing my bags.”

* On the par-3 141-yard No. 6, any hole-in-one would have

resulted in winning a Mercedes-Benz M Class Sports Utility Vehicle

(worth $42,000).

“Get in there!” Towersey yelled after her tee shot landed just

inches to the right of the flag, leaving her with a 6-foot birdie

attempt (which she missed).

* Defending Tea Cup Classic champion Debbie Albright of Newport

Beach Country Club suffered a triple bogey at the par-3 No. 6, but

her luck got no better on the next hole, when a putt for par lipped

out.

Albright posted five straights 6s on her scorecard, including a

triple, double and double on 6, 7 and 8, to unfortunately take her

out of contention. Albright kept a smile throughout the round and

showed why the ladies of the Tea Cup Classic have so much class.

* After Towersey’s thrilling 11-foot birdie putt at 18 to clinch

the championship of Tea Cup Classic VI, a tough uphill right-to-left

breaker with Slutzky eyeballing a 4-foot birdie putt to force a

possible playoff, Santa Ana Country Club Director of Golf Mike Reehl

-- the rules official for Tea Cup Classic VI -- walked off the green

and quipped: “How about that! We know how to make them finish, huh?”

* The NFL Alumni’s 24th annual Charity Golf Classic, which

features many former NFL players with local ties, including

Irrelevant Week founder Paul Salata, is Sept. 23 at the newly

remodeled Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park.

The event, which is scheduled to include Rich Saul, Marlin

McKeever, Paul McDonald, Mark Boyer and Hoby Brenner, among others,

will be in memory of Irv Kaze, who served on the executive board of

the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the NFL Alumni.

The tournament will benefit various youth charities, including the

Los Angeles Council of Boy Scouts of America. NFL Alumni who will

captain foursomes include NFL Hall of Fame members, players, coaches

and referees. Details: (310) 787-1573 or (562) 461-8714.

* Pelican Hill Golf Club had both of its resort courses ranked in

the country’s top 100 in the September issue of Golf Magazine. The

magazine’s biennial list ranked the Ocean South course 53rd and the

Ocean North course 91st, while Pebble Beach topped the list, followed

by Pacific Dunes (Bandon, Ore.), Bethpage Black (Farmingdale, N.Y.),

Pinehurst No. 2 and TPC at Sawgrass Stadium course (Ponte Vedra

Beach, Fla.).

* Pelican Hill will host the 13th annual Bob Hope & Dr. Howard

House Golf Tournament Sept. 16, and, according to the event’s

beneficiary, $45,000 was raised within 15 minutes in an underwriting

party last Friday for The Orange County Associates of the House Ear

Institute.

Honorees at the underwriting dinner included internationally known

Dr. House and entertainer Phyllis Diller, and tournament director

Gloria Osbrink said she expects a full field of 144 golfers. Details:

(949) 643-9260 or (714) 293-3974.

* RICHARD DUNN’S golf column appears every Thursday.