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Wednesday, August 11, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D1 An Oakville Beaver Feature Editor: NORM NELSON 845-3824 (Extension 255) Fax:337-5567 Randy Oka qualifies for U.S. Amateur which kicks off Monday. U.S. Amateur: Nicklaus won it and now Oka will give it a shot By Steve Walker SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER The 1999 U.S. Amateur, consid­ ered by many to be the most presti­ gious amateur golf tournament in the world, takes place August 16-22 in California and Oakville is sending one of its own to compete. Randy Oka, a scratch golfer and a member of the Oakville Golf Club, has qualified for the event which takes place at the spectacular Pebble Beach Golf Club on the Monterey Peninsula. Oka travelled to sectional qualify­ ing in Rochester on July 26th and competed with 131 other golfers over 36 holes for four invitations to the Amateur. The 35-year-old opened with a 69 to lead the field at the halfway mark. He followed that up with a 73 which got him into a playoff with James Smith of Orchard Park, NY and Charley Hoffman of California for the final two spots. On the first sudden death hole, Hoffman made par but Smith bogeyed. Oka hit his second shot 30 feet from the hole and all he needed was two putts to grab the final spot. His first putt came up three feet short. He was still 36 inches away from Pebble Beach. But the calm, cool Oka refused to pull a Jean Van De Velde and his sec­ ond putt found the hole dead center and a trip to California was his. Oka, who graduated from Oakville Trafalgar High School and won a golf scholarship to the University of New Orleans, has enjoyed an impressive amateur career. Along with playing college golf against the likes of Davis Love III, he has competed in several Ontario ama­ teur championships and has won the Oakville Golf Club Championship a record 14 times. His steady all round game has landed him in the 99th Amateur. "It's a great feeling to be able to make it there," said Oka. "I haven't been able to do much work lately. I hope my boss doesn't read this and get mad." It's an added bonus that he not only gets to play the Amateur but on one of the greatest courses in the world ... Pebble Beach. Commented U.S. Amateur tourna­ ment chairman Steve Wille. 'The pro game gets all the atten­ tion but most players in this sport are amateurs playing for the love of the game. This is their championship. Because Pebble Beach is uniquely accessible to all players, it is the per­ fect U.S. Amateur site." It was last held at Pebble Beach in 1961 when a portly Ohio State senior was victorious ... a fellow by the name of Jack Nicklaus. "That's what lured me to try and get there ... to play such an outstand­ ing golf course," said Oka, who was one of close to 8000 people who attempted to qualify. 'To be one of 312 people to make it is a great feeling. But I'm very real­ istic. I feel very fortunate to get this far on my first attempt." The tournament begins with the field of 312 playing 18 holes this Monday and Tuesday at Pebble Beach and the equally impressive Spyglass Hill. From there, the field is cut to the low 64 and the tournament turns to match play over the remaining five days to determine the winner. "If I can play well, I feel I can make the final 64. My goal is to get to that round and see what happens." • / Sportslfeta% REAL SERVICE FROM REAL PEOPLE. TH A T 'S STATE FARM . Juniors bow out of nationals in B.C. A shot at a national title was oh, so close for the Oakville junior Little League all-star team in Coquitlam, B.C., this week. But it fell just out of their grasp on Monday. They lost a key game on Monday, which dropped their record to 3-2, to undefeated B.C. champ Whally, B.C. Still, they weren't out of the running for a spot in Thursday's national championships, but, unfortunately, it was out of their hands. What they needed was an upset by Quebec over host Coquitlam, B.C. which went into the game with a 3-1 record. And it almost happened, said coach Mel Swinton in a brief cell phone call to Oakville on Tuesday morn­ ing, but a late error by Quebec sealed the 5-3 victory for Coquitlam to pro­ duce an all-B.C. championship on Thursday. Oakville's three wins in the round robin portion were against Sydney, Nova Scotia (11 -0), Quebec (12-5) and Alberta (7-4). Their other loss was to Coquitlam (6-3). Oakville Little League hosts Memorial Tourney Oakville's major Little League all-star team, who are the district champions, are hosting the first Adam Fedoruk Memorial Tournament this weekend. The 12-team baseball tournament is spiced up with four American teams and a Windsor team rounding out the remaining teams from Oakville's district. Oakville is in a division with Mexico, NY, Camden NY and Ancaster and will play all their games at River Oaks. Oakville's game times, respectively, are Friday 6 p.m. and Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Other preliminary pool action is taking place in Erindale and High Park. Sunday's championship playoff round is all in Oakville at River Oaks with the semifinals on the go at 9:30 a.m. and noon and the championship game at 3 p.m. Oakville oldtim ers m iss shot a t national championship Oakville hosted the Canadian National Oldtimers' Hardball Championships over the Civic holiday long weekend, bringing together baseball players, 34 years and older, from across the country for four days of competition. Oakville's team had a good beginning to the tournament, winning all three of their round-robin games to move into the playoff round undefeated. The opening game saw Oakville drop Claire, N.S. 10-4, with Carlos Paxiao taking MVP honours for the game. Oakville won game two easily against Kindersley, Sask. by a score of 16-5. Rod Currie picked up MVP honours. Game three was a much closer affair, with Oakville sliding by Hamilton 1-0 with help from game MVP Scott Gadd. Luck would run out for the Oakville squad in the quarterfinal game against Dufferin/Simcoe, when they endured a 9-1 drubbing and were eliminated from the tournament. Tillsonburg went on to win, defeating St. Catharines in the championship game by a score of 5-1. It's Tillsonburg's first title in the seven-year history of the tournament. Other results include Calgary defeating Claire 4-0 to win the consolation round, and Tecumseh over Red Deer, Alta, to win the 45-and-over bracket. Ns win Brampton tourney The Oakville A's Minor Mosquito rep baseball team con­ tinues to roll, winning the Brampton tournament over the Civic Holiday long weekend. The tournament victory is the third such accomplishment for the A's this season, as they captured the titles in Mississauga and Barrie earlier in the season. Oakville eased through the pre­ liminary round, winning their first three games easily. A 14-3 thrash­ ing of Bloordale was followed by solid 8-3 and 7-3 wins over Burlington Blue and the host Brampton Royals, respectively. The A's met Martingrove in their semifinal matchup. The game remained close throughout, with the A's grabbing the lead in the fourth inning and carrying it to a 6- 5 victory. The championship game saw the A's take on Pickering. Oakville dominated, playing a near perfect game in a 5-0 win. The star of the game was pitcher Paul Jurgaitis, who threw a complete game shutout to claim the title. The A's head into the final stretch of their regular season with a league leading 15-3 record. The team is looking toward the all- Ontario finals coming up later this month. Don't trust just anyone to insure your car, see me: Wayne McGill 2345 Wyeooft Rd. #21. Oakville 847-5671 SE A SO N FINALE: the Oakville Little League minor t-ball division had their season ending tournament this past weekend at Trafalgar Park. These two photos feature the Astros in action (they were playing the Expos). In the above photo, Jonathan Del Pozo toss­ es the ball to first baseman Mark Luzar. In the right photo, Dougie Corby takes a swing. By Scott MacArthur SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER It's that time of year again. Glen Abbey Golf Club is gearing up for the annual Bell Canadian Open, to be held Sept. 6-12. And while you have your calendars handy, it's also been confirmed for next year (2000) at the Abbey, from Sept. 4 -10th. Usually, that wouldn't be big news since the Abbey has hosted the Open every year since 1977, save on two occasions (1980 and 1997) when the Royal Montreal played host. But all that changed earlier this year when the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), which is head­ quartered out of Glen Abbey, sold the renowned course to Toronto-based ClubLink. That much publicized deal changed the status of the Abbey from the exclu­ sive home of the Bell Canadian Open to just a frequent host. The terms of the sale ensured that the Abbey would still play host to the Open a minimum of six times over the next 20 years, including four times over the next 10 years (that includes the 1999 and 2000 Opens). The field is starting to take shape even though many big names are fol­ lowing a trend of not signing commit­ ment sheets until shortly before the deadline, which is the preceding Friday. "Guys have sort of taken their cue from Tiger since'he came on the tour," said tournament director Bill Paul. "They're just not committing well in advance, and it's not only here, it's everywhere. They won't commit to showing up until the last minute." Nevertheless, several big names have confirmed their intention to play. The past four defending champions are slated to compete, including defending champion Bill Andrade, who captured the 1998 Bell Canadian Open in a thrilling playoff against unheralded Bob Friend, along with Steve Jones (1997 and 1989), Dudley Hart (1996) and fan favourite and last year's double major winner Mark O'Meara (1995). Some other names include: Carlos Franco, who sits eighth on the money list with more than $1.3 million in earnings and two tour victo­ ries this season; Hal Sutton, who sits 11th on the money list with more than $1.2 million; Jeff Sluman, winner of the 1999 Sony Open; Tom Lehman, a three-time runner-up this year and winner of the 1996 British Open; Jim Furyk, 22nd on the money list and approaching $900,000 in earnings; 1998 U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen; and Canadian tour graduate Steve Strieker who has earned more than $600,000 this season. And last but not least are Vijay 1 Photo by Barrie Erskine Tournament director Bill Paul with the Bell Canadian Open trophy. It's recipient will also take home a cool $380 ,000 (U .S.) Singh who will defend his 1998 PGA Championship this week and Justin Leonard, the 1998 British Open win­ ner who nearly repeated as champion when he lost in a playoff at Carnoustie. The Canadian contingent includes PGA star Mike Weir, Richard Zokol, Dave Barr, Ray Stewart, Glen Hnatiuk, Ashley Chinner and Chris Greenwood. Glen Abbey is in excellent condi­ tion as the August weather has helped it recover from the heat of July. The lack of rain last month combined with the sweltering heat left the course burnt in some places, but it has made a recovery in the last couple of weeks. The Canadian Open Web site, located at www.bell.ca/cdnopen, will provide all up-to-date tournament information, including live footage, player profiles and a day-by-day breakdown featuring start times, updates and photos. t Gearing up lor the Open at Glen Abbey http://www.bell.ca/cdnopen An Oakville Beaver Feature Editor: NORM NELSON 845-3824 (Extension 255) Fax:337-5567 • / Sportslfeta% Oakville Little League hosts Memorial Tourney Ns win Brampton tourney By Scott MacArthur SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER 1 Gearing up lor the Open at Glen Abbey