COURSE REVIEWS

Nicklaus Dominates Opening
Round of Diners Club Matches

By Bob Buttitta,
GolfCalifornia.com Course Reviewer

NEWPORT COAST, Calif. - Jack Nicklaus turned back the clock during Saturday's semi-final match of the 1999 Diners Club Matches at Pelican Hill Golf Resort. Teaming with fellow PGA legend Tom Watson against the team of Allen Doyle and Dana Quigley, Nicklaus started his round with three straight birdies, putting his team 3-up before their opponents had a chance to get loosened up.

Nicklaus made par over the next few holes before catching fire again. He made birdie on the par 4, 430-yard seventh hole and followed that with an eagle at the par-5, 528-yard eighth hole, putting he and Watson 4-up at the turn - and for all intent the match was over.

Doyle and Quigley reduced the deficit with a birdie on No. 10, but Watson and Nicklaus made birdies on 11 and 13 them up by five. The two teams halved 14, giving Nicklaus and Watson a 5 & 4 victory, and sending them into the finals against Bruce Fleisher and David Graham, who defeated defending senior division champions Gil Morgan and Jay Sigel 3 & 2.

The Diners Club Matches features 12, two-player teams, from the PGA, LPGA and Senior PGA tours competing in a match play, team format. Players only compete against members of their same tour, by the end of Sunday; three championship teams will be crowned. This is the first year they have been played at Pelican Hill, a resort course located in Newport Beach, California.

	Calcavecchia

In the PGA matches, Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia defeated the team of Skip Kendall and Chris Perry 2 & 1, putting them in the finals against defending PGA division champions Steve Elkington and Jeff Maggert. Elkington and Maggert defeated Mark Wiebe and Steve Pate 3 & 1.

As for the LPGA title match, it will pit Karrie Webb and Kelly Robbins against defending champions Julie Inkster and Dottie Pepper. Webb and Robbins defeated Annika Sorenstam and Lorie Kane 3 & 1, while Inkster and Pepper defeated Kelli Kuehne and Laura Davies 1 up.

Davies was a last minute substitution for Nancy Lopez, who was forced to withdraw earlier in the week because of family obligations.

While most of Saturday's semi-final matches proved entertaining, there was little doubt that the story of the day was Nicklaus. The Golden Bear flirted with a 29 for the front nine and exhibited the kind of shot making and clutch putting that made him the game's greatest player.

After taking care of their opponents in 14 holes, Nicklaus and Watson decided to play the final four holes as practice in preparation for the finals. Over those last four holes, Nicklaus made an eagle and a birdie, giving him an unofficial 62 for the day.

"That's probably the lowest score I've shot in 25 years," Nicklaus said. "We set out to win and that's what we did. I bet Tom never picked up so many 8-foot putts. I was knocking the flag down all day. We're both looking forward to tomorrow."

Nicklaus and Watson are now 4-0 as teammates over the years and as playing partners they have never had a match go beyond 16 holes. News of Nicklaus' awesome performance created a buzz around the course. Watson said as a playing partner, it was fun to watch Nicklaus spin his magic.

"I was basically along for the ride," Watson said. "He (Nicklaus) played just beautifully. He out drove me on almost every hole and his iron play was superb. When you're playing with someone who is playing like Jack did today you just sit back and pat him on the back, not too hard, and keep telling him `Atta Boy.'"

	Jack Nicklaus

Nearly a year removed from hip replacement surgery, Nicklaus said he's excited to be playing. "I haven't played much, so it's fun for me to be out here competing," Nicklaus said. "Unlike many years when the late season events can be a drain to play in, it's fun for me this year because I have played so little in the last year."

Thanks to a rigorous rehab program, Nicklaus said he feels stronger than he has in years. "For years my hip wouldn't allow me to get out of my way," Nicklaus said. "Now that it can, I'm almost having to relearn my swing. It's coming along and if I stay healthy, I hope to play a lot more this year."

Unlike Watson and Nicklaus who cruised to victory, Couples and Calcavecchia were actually two down with six holes to play after Perry made a birdie putt on 12 and Couples failed to sink a similar birdie putt.

At that point, the two players said they agreed they needed to make something happen over the next few holes if they were going to win the match and Calcavecchia did. On 13, he hit a wedge shot from 68 yards to within 2 feet to make birdie and cut the deficit to one.

• Diners Club Matches preview • Pelican Hill Golf Club review • Past GolfCalifornia.com course reviews

On 14, he hit an 8-iron from 140 yards to within two feet of the cup, leading to another birdie and tying the match. Calcavecchia then made a third consecutive birdie at 15 to put the team up 1 and he and Couples never surrendered the lead. Fittingly, Calcavecchia finished the job on 17, sinking a 12-foot eagle putt for the win.

"It took some late flash to win" Calcavecchia said. "Fred got us off to a fast start, birdying the first two and four of the first seven. After that we certainly weren't doing bad, then we just couldn't do anything for four or five holes."

Couples said Pelican's greens are so fast that there are a lot of putts that they needed to be careful on. He also said he feels he and Calcavecchia make a good pairing.

"I think we team up great," Couples said. "We will have to play very, very well tomorrow (to win.). I really think it will be a really good match."

Elkington and Maggert also feel Sunday's finals will be a shoot-out. Even though they were a combined 9-under for the day, the two players agreed it will take an even better effort than that to beat Couples and Calcavecchia.

"We're looking forward to tomorrow," Elkington said. "Mark is a great player and maybe we can stop Freddie from winning every tournament he plays in the off season. "

Elkington got his team off to a fast start with an eagle at the par 5, 511-yard first hole and followed that with a birdie on 3, putting them 2 up after three holes.

"From there it went back and forth the rest of the way," Elkington said. "I don't want to say it was a boring match the rest of the way, we just held them away from us the rest of the way.

"We play well together because our combination works well. Jeff is a straight hitter and I pretty much know he'll be down the middle so I went out and bought a new driver this week that I could hit a long way. I'm swinging out of my shoes."

Maggert said the key to victory Saturday was staying out of trouble. "We were steady all day and really got into virtually no trouble," Maggert said. "We were both in pretty much every hole and most times we both were putting for birdie."

	Fred Couples

The LPGA final features probably the tour's top four players, led by Webb whose scoring average of just over 69 was the lowest average ever produced on the LPGA tour for an entire season.

Webb said a key to Saturday's win was some long distance putts that found their way into the cup. That included a 35-footer by Webb on 14, a putt that put them 2-up with four to play.

"We were fortunate to do the right things at the right time," Robbins said. "Once you make a couple of 30 footers, the other team starts to feel it as well."

Inkster and Pepper probably wouldn't mind it coming down to a putting contest. Despite having to win their match on the final hole, both players said they were putting the ball well all day.

"We're both rolling the ball so well, if we get two balls to every green, we'll make bucket-loads of putts," Pepper said.

Inkster said it will take a great effort to beat Webb and Robbins. "Karrie is probably the best player in the world right now and Kelly is playing as well," Inkster said. "We've got our work cut out for us. We'll need to make more birdies to win."

Terry Jastrow, president of Jack Nicklaus Productions, the company operates the event, said they were happy with both the first day's action and the championship match-ups.

	Pelican Hill

"Pelican Hill looked fabulous on camera," Jastrow said. "It worked really well. And we could not ask for much more in the finals. We have the four top players on the LPGA tour in the finals, Couples and Calcavecchia against the defending champions of Elkington and Maggert and Nicklaus and Watson. We're very pleased."

Sunday's matches can be seen live on ABC starting at 1 p.m. PST.