ORANGE COUNTY GOLF NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : How Tiger Woods Plans to Spend Summer Vacation

By MARTIN BECK

July 15, 1992 12 AM PT

Although Tiger Woods failed to qualify for American golf’s biggest event--the U.S. Open--last month, he has plenty of other “majors” to keep him occupied.

Woods, the 16-year-old phenom from Cypress, has a summer schedule that rivals a professional’s on the PGA Tour. By the end of August, Woods will have played in tournaments in Roswell, Ga; San Diego; Boston; Dublin, Ohio; Dallas; Pinehurst, N.C.; Daufuskie Island, S.C., and either Dublin, Ohio, or Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

That’s eight tournaments in seven weeks and then, at the request of the mayor of Seattle, Woods will visit that city to give a clinic for local youths.

After the clinic, he’ll get a breather: a fishing trip before starting his junior year at Western High School in Anaheim.

Woods travels with his father Earl, leaving his mother, Kultida, little time to see the pair.

“Except to pack and unpack when they’re home,” she says.

This week, the Woods’ have taken residence in the Holiday Inn in Roswell. Tiger played the second of four rounds of the Rolex Tournament of Champions--one of the “junior majors”--today at Horseshoe Bend Country Club.

After the Rolex, they will return to Cypress for a couple of nights and then move on to San Diego, where Tiger will go after his seventh title at the Optimist Junior World Championship at Torrey Pines. No other golfer has won more than four titles at the tournament, which is billed as the largest junior event in the world. Woods has won the title the past four years and is the only player in tournament history to receive an exemption from qualifying.

The day after finishing in San Diego, Woods will fly to Boston to defend his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.

Any chance for burnout?

Not likely. Woods is accustomed to this sort of schedule and says he thrives on it. The longest stay at home is five days, a pit stop his father insisted on.

“This time I forced him to take a break,” Earl said.

But make no mistake, the rare time Tiger spends at home is devoted to rest.

“I do absolutely nothing,” Woods said. “I usually don’t even leave my room.”

Friends occasionally call to see if he would like to go do something. Woods says: No, thanks.

“The summer I have is very challenging and I focus very hard, so I need all the rest I can get,” Woods said.

After the U.S. Junior Amateur, Woods will play in the American Junior Golf Assn. Championship in Dallas, Aug. 4-7. Next, it’s the Insurance Youth Classic at Pinehurst, Aug. 15-18, and the Canon Cup--an East vs. West junior team competition--at Daufuskie Island, Aug. 21-23.

Then if he has won the U.S. Junior Amateur, he’ll play in the U.S. Amateur--he missed the cut last year--in Dublin; if not, he’ll play in the PGA Junior Championship in Palm Beach Gardens.

Add Tiger: Although he has previously said he would like to attend Stanford after high school, Woods says he hasn’t made any decisions he would like to make public.

But he does know where he would like to live after college: Florida.

Not only are there plenty of golf courses in the state, Woods said, but it’s on the East Coast and that’s important for someone who spends so much time traveling by airplane.

“When you fly (from the) west you always lose time,” Woods said. “That’s tough on your body especially on a 16-year-old body, and I’m sick of that.”

Tee time in Anaheim: The automated telephone system to make reservations on the Anaheim Hills and Dad Miller golf courses received an upgrade Tuesday.

Previously, the system searched for the next available time after the caller’s choice. The new system will allow callers to secure a time before or after the choice.

Golfers are able to make reservations seven days in advance, 24-hours a day through the free service, which is accessed by calling 748-8900.

Hole of the week: It’s hard to imagine there are many par-three holes on public or private courses in Orange County more challenging than No. 15 at the San Clemente Golf Course.

The hole measures 196 yards from the back tee and 172 from the regular tee, but in both cases it’s a mid to long iron or maybe even a wood for most players to reach the the green.

The problem is there’s no place to bail out with the tee shot. It’s all carry over a chasm. Most shots right of the green are out of bounds, anything left or long is down a steep hill that leaves the player with a blind second shot.

But, on the fair side, the green is mostly flat.