TOSHIBA CLASSIC NOTEBOOK:

NEWPORT BEACH — For Sandy Lyle, age 50 is just a good a time to be a baby as any.

Lyle turned 50 Feb. 9 to become eligible to play on the Champions Tour, and he’s making his debut with the Toshiba Classic.

The British golfer was first eligible for the ACE Group Classic, but this weekend’s action will be his first in about three months. His last competitive tournament was the Volvo Masters at Valderrama Golf Club in Adalucia, Spain, which he said he finished about 18 over par.

“I suppose I’ve been counting the days and the weeks getting ready for this event that’s happening this week,” Lyle said. “I haven’t been very competitive as far as Europe in the last I’ve played. I haven’t been doing anything exciting to get excited about. So I’m looking forward to having a full week of golf. That’s the thing I’m going to be enjoying.”

Lyle won six times on the PGA tour from 1985-1988, and his last win was at the 1992 Volvo Masters on the European Tour. He wasn’t really sure what he’d do if he won, but said he’d be happy with a top-15 finish.

“In my mind — I haven’t won since the early 90’s, ’91, ’92 — it’s been quite a dry experience for many years. How I’m going to handle it, if that chance arises? I don’t know right now. It’s a bit like starting all over again.”

Like Fred Funk, who is also new to the Toshiba Classic, Lyle thought the course provided some holes where he could make birdie. The trick would be handling the greens, which will likely get faster as the weather gets drier.

“This is one of those courses that kind of looks easy ... but plays very tricky,” Lyle said. “It’s not a course to take too lightly. It’s nice that they’ve got some par-fives you can reach in two, maybe do some damage on the scoreboard there and making birdies and having some fun — that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

The first time Lyle showed up at Newport Beach Country Club, he ran into Lee Trevino as he was parking his car.

“It was just like old times,” Lyle said. “It was like no time had changed. So I’ve actually spent a lot of time with these players. It’s like coming back to an old school that you’re used to. I probably feel more at home playing here than my own tour in Europe right now. I feel like a complete stranger out there.”

Good vibrations

When you’re talking about a tour that’s designed to help talented golfers ease into their silver years, talk of aching bones and muscles eventually comes up.

Even Lyle mentioned he couldn’t do some of the things he’d done in his younger days.

Now, there’s a space-age contraption that at least one Champions Tour member, Chip Beck, swears by.

Representatives for the Power Plate were camped out beside the driving range Wednesday afternoon, using words like “acceleration training” and “colloidal fluid.”

But really, what does this thing do?

At its simplest, the Power Plate is a vibrating platform you stand on while you work out, or stretch, or warm up. It sort of helps shake your body into shape by vibrating 20 to 30 times per second.

Originally designed to help Russian cosmonauts avoid losing bone mass and muscle mass, the technology now works to help athletes train more efficiently.

“When you get on the plate, this causes your fast twitch muscle fibers to fire between 20 and 50 times a second in order to stabilize your body,” said trainer Andy Clay. “The benefits are improved circulation, improved muscle tone, improved flexibility and range of motion, injury reduction, and you can warm up in the fraction of the time.”

It’s possible you could get a similar affect by standing near a train track as a locomotive’s approaching, but the plate’s probably a safer bet.

Go left

Brian Dubia, a 25-year old Special Olympics golfer, got some sound advice Wednesday from pro Morris Hatalsky in the middle of his round with amateurs Dave Wooten, Jerry Johnson, and Greg Finney.

“He said to keep my weight on my left side of my body,” said Dubia, who said he hit his best shot of the day with his 3-wood on the 18th hole.

Dubia, a grocery bagger at Gelson’s in Dana Point, was able to play in the pro-am after a close family friend, David Horowitz, paid the $7,000 necessary to participate. His father, Chris, was his caddy. The proceeds from the pro-am go toward a fund for the Hoag Hospital Foundation.

Hatalsky, Dubia, Wooten, Johnson, and Finney shot 59 to close out the first day of play.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.