Bibb Sees Woods Destroy Record

One of the most interested observers in the gallery watching Tiger Woods tear up Big Canyon Country Club last Monday was Danny Bibb, a member of the club.

Bibb held the course record. “I do for another half hour,” Bibb said before Woods teed off on the par-five 16th hole during his first round of the Pacific 10 Conference Men’s Golf Championships. “It was 66.”

Woods, a sophomore from Stanford, was in the process of making a mockery of that number, and when he made a 10-foot eagle putt on 16 to go 10 under par, Bibb was among those cheering the loudest. “Boy is he pumped now,” Bibb said. “Ten under par. Unbelievable.”

Woods wound up shooting 11-under-par 61 and then later in the day, shot 65, again beating the former record.

We caught up with Bibb again during the second round: Woods was 18 under par for the day. “He’s doing it again,” Bibb said. “He can’t do that. This is one of the great performances in golf, period. I mean this is a pretty tough golf course.

“It’s just hard to fathom.”

Bibb, who shared the record with two others--Big Canyon member Alan Drobka and club professional Ted Norby--said among PGA Tour professionals who have played the course for the first time, only Peter Jacobson shot better than 70. Bibb said he shot 67. “Those guys all shoot 72 or 74,” he said. “It’s not an easy golf course.”

Bibb, a member since 1977 who has been the club champion “half a dozen” times, helped Corona del Mar High to the 1967 Southern Section team golf title and went on to play for UC Irvine.

*

Add Tiger: Woods, who has been an honorary member of Big Canyon for four years, said he had shot 66 on the course previously, “just messing around with friends,” but never brought it to the attention of the pro shop. “I didn’t break it,” he said, “there was no reason to tell anyone.”

*

Add Pac-10: The conference championships were sponsored by Cubic Balance, a Rancho Santa Margarita-based golf club-making company whose president is Lawrence Igarashi.

Igarashi’s son, Jaycy, is a junior on USC’s golf team, which hosted the event. Jaycy narrowly missed qualifying for the Trojans’ top six, USC Coach Kurt Schuette said.

Jaycy Igarashi was a standout player at Laguna Hills High.

*

Anaheim alterations: Anaheim Hills recently completed a renovation of the par-five 12th, one of the most cursed holes in Orange County.

The hole, which is a dogleg left and severely uphill, used to be so steep that approach shots that didn’t reach the green, often rolled well back down the hill.

But under the direction of architect Fred Bliss, things have changed. The green has been enlarged and includes a third tier.

A series of terraced landing areas have also been added in front of the green to prevent the ball from rolling back.

Anaheim is also in the process of making some changes at Dad Miller. A sand trap is being added to the right side of the third hole to help frame the green of the otherwise bland-looking par four.

There will also be major changes on the par-three seventh and par-five eighth. The seventh will be shortened from a maximum of 215 to 185 yards.

The eighth tee is being moved back to where the seventh green was and the hole will change from about 445 to 485 yards, making it a much more difficult par five that includes a challenging tee shot.

*

The Hills are alive: Coyote Hills, the long awaited course in Fullerton, is opening May 21. The dramatic layout features several outstanding elevated tee shots.

The course is short (6,510 yards from the back tees) and par is 70. There are no par fives on the front side but two on the back.

It will cost $55 Monday to Thursday and $80 Friday to Sunday and holidays. For early birds, it will cost $45 before 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday.

American Golf is managing the course, which had its private grand opening April 29. Payne Stewart, who is the course’s PGA consultant, was on hand to give a clinic in strong Santa Ana winds.

There is also a large practice area that includes a range, putting green, sand traps and places to practice hitting uphill and downhill shots.

“We don’t have this nice a practice facility at some tour stops,” Stewart said. “The golf course was designed with the amateurs in mind.”

*

Notes

The Metro Chapter of the SCPGA is sponsoring a golf school June 12 at Pelican Hill. The price is $250 and includes instruction on woods, irons, short game, club fitting, video analysis, a lecture by a sports psychologist, lunch and 18 holes of golf at Pelican Hill. Proceeds will benefit the SCPGA’s junior golf program. For more information, call Steve LaBarge (714) 990-0201 or Glenn Deck (714) 759-5115. . . . Entries are being accepted for the Irvine Golf Championship, June 1-2 at Rancho San Joaquin Golf Club. The tournament fee is $150 for men’s divisions, which will play 36 holes, and $80 for women and senior divisions, which will play 18. Registration deadline is May 16. For more information call (714) 724-6615. . . . Robert Teeter of Orange scored a 14 (par 32) to win the overall and senior men’s division title at the Toyota Golf Skill Challenge at Los Coyotes Country Club last month. The event, the second stop of an 11-city tour, tested eight skills, from long drive to putting. Teeter, 52 and a former teammate of Hale Irwin on the University of Colorado golf team, advances to the national finals in Phoenix.

The Orange County Golf Notebook runs monthly. Readers are encouraged to submit items. Call (714) 966-5904, fax 966-5663 or e-mail Martin.B[email protected]