Recallling The Rake

With an inbox stacked pretty high following a career-first holiday

vacation, the first order of business, like the beginning of every

new year, is the planning of Orange County’s only in-season

professional golf tournament -- the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport

Beach Country Club.

We love our special sections around here.

As expected, one of the biggest stories heading into this year’s

Toshiba Classic will be defending champion Hale Irwin and his quest

to make Newport Beach his personal stage again.

Yes, Irwin won last year with a tournament scoring record

(17-under 196), a victory that elevated him to the top of the money

list on the Champions Tour (formerly the Senior PGA Tour) and he

never moved from his position on his way to a career-first $3-million

season.

Irwin might be the only player to win the Toshiba Classic twice,

including shooting a course-record 62 in the final round to win in

1998, but my career-lasting impression of Irwin playing Newport will

always be The Rake.

Technology in today’s golf equipment makes the tiny white golf

ball travel farther and spin quicker, but no rocket scientist or

midnight laboratory madman could cook up the Famous Rake by Irwin.

It was the year Irwin became the all-time leading money winner in

professional golf (since surpassed by Tiger Woods), and the Toshiba

Classic propelled Irwin to another Player of the Year Award,

following his first in 1997, in which the three-time U.S. Open

champion became golf’s first $2 million man for a single season.

At a time B.T. (Before Tiger), Irwin climbed atop the grand game’s

economic pantheon in ’98 to provide the world with one final veteran

on the marquee as the richest player on the course.

The best player on the Senior Tour didn’t need any breaks, but got

on the par-3 17 as his tee shot started rolling off the green and

picked up speed down the steep rough, heading straight for the water.

But bunker rake caught the ball cleanly and stopped it from getting

wet. Irwin, in turn, got up and down for par and birdied 18 for the

course record. What a finish.

Can’t wait for this year’s Toshiba Classic March 21-23. Details:

(949) 660-1001.

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The Newport Beach Country Club ladies club is naming a perpetual

plaque for its most improved player after Dee Dee White, whose 17

career club titles is the most.

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Glenn Deck, Director of Instruction at Pelican Hill Golf Club, has

been named to Golf Magazine’s list of Top 100 Teachers. According to

the publication, the Top 100 Teachers Program has become the most

sought-after award in golf instruction.

Golf Magazine revises its list of Top 100 Teachers every few years

to identify the best golf instructors in the game. This year,

hundreds of candidates were recommended by PGA and LPGA regional

sections, industry leaders and Golf Magazine readers for award

consideration. Deck’s keen understanding of the golf swing and

excellent skills in communicating his knowledge led him to be

included in this elite group.

Golf Magazine features its new list of Top 100 Teachers in the

February 2003 issue, now available on newsstands.

“I love teaching the game of golf, and to be recognized by Golf

Magazine as one of the top instructors is a true career highlight,”

Deck said. “Pelican Hill has given me the opportunity to work with

golfers at one of the most picturesque locations in the United

States. I am very thankful for that.”

At Pelican Hill, Deck works with students in developing sound

fundamentals and incorporates the proper sequence of motion to get

the club on path for consistent shot making. He approaches his

instruction with an understanding that every golfer is different in

physical characteristics and capabilities and that there is not one

“perfect golf swing.” His goal is to develop an individual swing for

each golfer and to teach ways to lower scores on the golf course.

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The new clubhouse facility at Mesa Verde Country Club will

probably open in the first week of February.