Pelican Cup showdown on the horizon

The match isn’t for another two weeks, but the date is already emblazoned on the mind of every varsity player on the Corona del Mar High and Newport Harbor boys’ golf teams.

Rumors are already flying back and forth about who’s doing what, now that Pelican Hill operators are allowing the Battle of the Bay to return to the course after a two-year hiatus when it was closed for renovation.

The Back Bay schools were settling the golf score at Pelican Hill Golf Club for six years before it closed. When Pelican Hill wasn’t available, the teams played nine holes at Santa Ana Country Club and nine at Newport Beach Country Club to decide a winner.

Last year, Newport Harbor won. The year before, it was Coroa del Mar.

Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar will meet at Pelican Hill April 14 for one of the biggest matches of the season.

“The competition with us and Newport is always pretty close,” CdM Coach Mike Starkweather said. “There’s usually only a few strokes difference between our score and Newport’s score when we play them. It makes it really intriguing.”

Both teams have already started angling for this year’s bragging rights.

Friday evening, Newport Harbor sophomore Travis Ruffle was teeing off from the sixth hole of the swanky Ocean South with teammate Erickson Klein. Tad Doolin was playing with a teacher from Newport, and Newport Harbor Coach Scott Tarnow was playing with a friend.

Ruffle estimated the team had been playing at Pelican Hill twice a week for the past month in preparation for the Battle of the Bay.

At $235 a visit, preparation doesn’t come cheap.

Junior golfers (17 or younger) are allowed to play on the course for free after twilight if they’re accompanied by a paying adult.

“It’s right up there with Big Canyon and that’s about it,” Ruffle said of the par-70 course. “It’s one of the toughest courses I’ve played in a long time. I think that’s why we’re out here so much.

“Everybody’s got to get out here to know the course. I don’t know if CdM has been out here, but it’s definitely an advantage that we’ve been out here and played it a few times.”

Corona del Mar junior Camden Nicholson, who has played twice at Pelican Hill this season, said he heard about the Sailors’ many trips to Newport Coast. Nicholson has been sharing the No. 1 spot with senior Taylor Keddington.

While the wind blowing off the Pacific is the most obvious factor that affects the course, the Sea Kings are banking on their putting game to reclaim Back Bay bragging rights, which Harbor won last year. Starkweather has spent more time in the past weeks focusing on the Sea Kings’ short game, and so far it has paid winning dividends. Nicholson estimated he saved three strokes, and his partner Josh Starnes saved two in a close, three-stroke win over Woodbridge last week.

“We’re not worried because we know we’ve got the talent to beat them,” Keddington said. “We’ll see the course. If you see it once, you’ll know how everything works.”

One of the biggest adjustments the Sea Kings will have to make is getting accustomed to the speed of the greens at Pelican. On CdM’s home course at Newport Beach Country Club, even professionals have trouble deciphering the bumps on the poa annua greens.

At Pelican, the grass of choice is hybrid Bermuda. The bumps are gone, but the speed makes the greens just as difficult to play.

“The poa annua tend to be a little bumpier and not as fast,” Nicholson said. “The ones at Pelican are about twice as fast. It takes a little while to get the speed right, but you know the putt’s going to roll how you think it’s going to every time. But the speed is the hardest thing to get down for a little while, because it’s such a big change.”

Unlike the rest of their matches, Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar will be using carts on the course, which they aren’t allowed to walk, Ruffle said.

“The slopes are pretty severe,” Ruffle said. “It’s a pretty big walk up those hills. We’re lucky to be using carts. You have no idea. I don’t know how hot it’s going to be out here, but I’m in pants and it’s pretty warm. It’s going to be nice to not walk in that heat.”

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