Clinic at Augusta Followed by One Locally

Tiger Woods reached the pinnacle of the golf world last weekend with his historic victory at the Masters, but Saturday he intends to show that he hasn’t forgotten where he came from.

Woods, who became the first golfer to hold all four modern major tournament titles at the same time when he won at Augusta, will return to his roots to conduct a junior clinic at El Dorado Park Golf Course in Long Beach.

The event, part of a series of four junior clinics to be conducted by the Tiger Woods Foundation this year, is by invitation only and is not open to the public.

“Through the game of golf, I’ve learned about discipline, honesty and integrity,” Woods said. “I want to share as much of this as I can to help today’s kids reach for their dreams, whatever those dreams may be.”

Patrick Barry, spokesman for the event, said Woods selected Long Beach as a site because he grew up in nearby Cypress and played much of his early golf at the par-three Heartwell Golf Course in Long Beach.

“It’s a nice homecoming for Tiger,” Barry said. “This was one of the closest courses to him during his boyhood.”

Woods will work one-on-one with each of 25 pre-selected players before beginning the main exhibition for 2,500 mostly disadvantaged kids.

He plans to discuss the rules and etiquette of the game, delivering a motivational address on the principles that have helped shape his career, and then will offer a demonstration of golf shots.

After a question-and-answer session, Woods will attempt to make a 190-yard hole-in-one. If he succeeds, the Tiger Woods Foundation will receive a $1-million donation.

“It’s a real treat for the kids to see Tiger,” Barry said. “Especially here where he started.”

The day will end with a dinner and auction, where Woods will recognize Sean Washington with the foundation’s Local Hero Award. Washington is the creator of an after-school program titled Preparing for a Degree, a program designed to improve study habits, time management and self-reliance.

CHA-CHING

When Woods picked up his $1,008,000 check for winning the Masters, it marked the fifth time in his career he had won $1 million or more in a single event.

Not bad, considering the PGA Tour has given out only 10 such checks.

NEXT?

Woods plans to take the next three weeks off and will return for the Byron Nelson Classic in Texas May 10-13.

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW?

The LPGA Tour Office Depot Hosted by Amy Alcott beginning today at Wilshire Country Club is the first LPGA Tour event in Los Angeles since Rancho Park held the event in 1989. The tour has stopped in Glendale, Buena Park and Simi Valley since then, but has avoided L.A.

Don’t get used to it. The LPGA has a one-year agreement with Wilshire, and is looking into other courses.

“I’m pretty much focused on what will happen up to this Saturday,” said tournament director Laurie Peterson. “After that, I’ll start thinking about next year.”

City of Hope, which brought the tournament here from South Carolina, has a three-year agreement to hold the tournament in the Los Angeles area.

A DIFFERENT LOOK

Wilshire is an unusual stop on the tour for two reasons: It ends Saturday and has a par-three finishing hole.

The Saturday finish is required so the club’s annual Easter egg hunt will not be disrupted.

“Easter is a big family day here,” Peterson said. “The club was gracious enough to let us play here, so we tried to accommodate them.”

The par-three 18th is a result of a course reconfiguration designed to give fans and those in corporate tents a better view. The Wilshire members end on a par four, but there isn’t room for tents and bleachers around that green, so it has become the 17th.

The par-three 18th, the only par-three finishing hole on tour this year, is the 10th hole for members.

WATCH WHAT YOU SAY

Amy Alcott, the tournament host for the Office Depot, will wear a microphone for ESPN during the tournament. This will be the first time ESPN has so equipped an LPGA Tour player.

LIKE TAKING CANDIE

USC sophomore Candie Kung isn’t saying so, but all indications are that she will turn professional after the NCAA championships next month.

“I don’t know yet,” Kung said. “I’m still thinking about it.”

Kung, who has a sponsor’s exemption for the Office Depot, certainly appears ready.

Ranked third in the nation, she has finished out of the top four only once in eight college tournaments this year. She won the Pacific 10 Conference title as a freshman and will defend that title April 23-25 at Arizona.

What’s more, Kung, a graduate of Fountain Valley High, already has a place to play as a pro. She gained full exemption on the Futures Tour by placing sixth in the tour qualifying school in November.

The top three finishers on the final Futures Tour money list earn an exemption on the LPGA for next year.

SENIOR SLAM?

Hale Irwin has won a Senior PGA Tour-record 30 tournaments, including six major championships, but one senior tour major championship has eluded him: the Countrywide Tradition.

He gets another chance at it this week when the senior tour visits the Desert Mountain Cochise Course in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Irwin, the senior tour’s all-time leading money winner, has finished second, 13th, fourth, 20th and 37th in his five attempts at the Tradition. In 17 attempts at the other three majors, Irwin has won all three at least once and finished out of the top five only three times.

“Winning [the Tradition] would have some added meaning,” Irwin said. “This would be my most opportune time. Though I’d like to think I have a few more years left, the window of opportunity is not getting any wider.”

Should he win, Irwin would become the second player to win a career senior slam. Jack Nicklaus is the only player to win all four senior majors.

ALOHA

The senior tour announced that the Turtle Bay Championship at Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu in Hawaii will replace the EMC Kaanapali Classic Oct. 5-7.

It is the first senior tour event on Oahu since 1992. The Kaanapali Classic had been played on Maui since 1987.

VICTORIA REOPENS

Southern California golfers tired of paying triple-digit green fees at seemingly every new course that opens got somewhat of a reprieve when the Links at Victoria opened in Carson April 1 sporting green fees of $20 on weekdays and $25 on weekends.

The 6,742-yard course is a renovated version of the old Victoria Golf Course that occupied the same land. It has been shut down for nearly two years while L.A. County and Arnold Palmer Golf made nearly $7 million in improvements.

“It’s a totally different course now,” said Craig Kessler, president of the Public Links Golf Assn. of Southern California. “If you ever saw what was there before, it was pretty much the worst course in L.A. County.”

Tee times: (310) 323-6981.

COUNTY APPROVES COURSE

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has granted approval to begin planning a new course on a closed landfill on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The next steps are designing the course, negotiating the terms and clearing environmental agencies. If all goes according to plan, it would be the first county- or city-owned course built in L.A. County since El Cariso in 1970.

Green fees would be about the same as other county courses, Kessler said.

“The county has made a commitment to keep it as affordable as possible.”

LOST CANYONS OPENS

NEW 18

Lost Canyons Golf Club in Simi Valley will open its second 18, the Shadow Course, Saturday.

The Pete-Dye design is tighter and less forgiving than the Sky Course, which opened Nov. 3. Green fees are $115-$135. Tee times: (805) 522-4653.

SHELL LINEUP SET

Arnold Palmer defeated Nicklaus March 26 at the King and the Bear in St. Augustine, Fla., to kick off the 2001 season of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.

The rest of the lineup, scheduled to air in October on ESPN, will feature matches between Ryder Cup captains Curtis Strange and Sam Torrance; Sergio Garcia vs. Phil Mickelson; Nicklaus vs. Isao Aoki; Craig Stadler vs. Shigeki Maruyama; and the first head-to-head match between Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb.

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TIGER TRACKS

Comparing Tiger Woods’ results this year to his results through the same number of tournaments last year:

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2001 Category 2000 8 Tournaments 8 3 Wins 3 $3,263,857 Money $3,397,331 5 Top 5 7 6 Top 10 7 68.8 Scoring avg. 69.1 32 Rounds played 28 25 Rounds under par 24 0 Cuts missed 0

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