BRYCE ALDERTON
With Monday's U.S. Open sectional qualifying come and gone, Newport
Beach's contingent will take what they learned and fight on for the
rest of the year.
Don DuBois and Stan Watkins missed qualifying for the U.S. Open
championship at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, N.C., June 16-19, but
still gained knowledge from their 36-hole outings Monday at El
Caballero Country Club.
Watkins teaches at the Golf Lab, an indoor practice facility in
Costa Mesa owned by Corona del Mar resident Eric Woods, while DuBois
is an executive vice president for a title insurance company who has
competed in two U.S. Opens -- in 1986 and 1989.
DuBois, a member at Big Canyon Country Club, shot 7-over-par
(75-74 -- 149) in the 36-hole sectional round, finishing in a
three-way tie for 29th at El Caballero, while Watkins ended 11-over
(78-75 -- 153). Only four golfers out of 68 qualified for the U.S.
Open. Nick Jones of Los Angeles earned medalist honors at 3-under
(67-72 -- 139).
El Caballero, from what I hear, is a stern test with slick greens
and penalizing rough that offers as stern a test as there is to reach
one of golf's toughest exams.
"I got off to a rough start in the morning and had to play catch
up," said DuBois, who qualified for both the U.S. Mid-Amateur and
U.S. Amateur in 2003. "The pins were in tough spots and the greens
were bordering on ... they were almost too severe. You had a six-foot
putt and if you missed, it would roll 10 feet by. But I flat out
didn't get it done. I had three bad holes [two double bogeys and a
triple bogey] and a couple other mistakes.
"There were some sloppy mistakes and those mistakes revolved
around my swing. My ball striking wasn't where I wanted it."
Watkins echoed similar sentiments about El Caballero.
"The greens were much faster than what I saw Wednesday [June 1,
when he played a practice round]," Watkins said. "I was worried about
my tee shots coming in, but that wasn't where I faltered as much as
on the greens. You had to play defensively out there. You tried to
keep it below the hole. It definitely got tougher and faster as the
wind picked up. It's a great golf course, though."
But DuBois, the 1980 Arizona state amateur champion, won't have to
wait long for his next competitive tournament.
He is scheduled to play in the California Golf Association
championship June 20-25 at Poppy Hills Golf Club and Pebble Beach
Golf Links.
DuBois is also exempt into the Southern California Amateur July
8-10 at Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Rancho Santa Margarita.
