Golf: Veitch shoots lowest score ever at Santa Ana Country Club

Richard Dunn

SANTA ANA HEIGHTS - Santa Ana Country Club’s Chris Veitch, a

46-year-old Balboa Peninsula resident, shot the lowest score in club

history, a 10-under-par 62, during match play Wednesday in the 52nd

annual Santa Ana Invitational.

Veitch, who played in the inaugural Jones Cup with Santa Ana Director

of Golf and head professional Mike Reehl on July 28, sank five birdies on

the front nine on holes 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7, then started the back nine with

an eagle 3 on the par-5 No. 10, followed by birdies at 11, 14 and 18,

carding a 31 on both sides.

“It was unbelievable ... it was the greatest round in competition (in

club history),� Reehl said of Veitch, who made a 25-foot birdie putt at

18 to finish the first round of match play, which is part of the

invitational.

The Santa Ana Country Club golf committee will decide next week

whether to consider the 62 a course record, because the SACC Invitational

is played from modified tees, between the black and blue tees. It plays

149 yards shorter than the regular black tees.

The course record of 63 is held by three players, all from the black

tees of 6,536 yards.

But one of the course-record holders, Jorge Corral, shot an 8-under 63

in the third round of the 1994 Southern California Amateur at Santa Ana

Country Club, when the par-5 18th hole was changed to a par-4 by SCGA

officials.

Fred Couples of the PGA Tour shot 63 at Santa Ana in a private,

noncompetitive round while playing with a member in 1992, after Couples

won the Masters that year.

John Burckle also shot 63 in noncompetitive play. But Couples and

Burckle shot 9-under 63 when the course played to its usual par 72.

For this week’s SACC Invitational, the yardage (6,387), rating (71.0)

and slope (126) are slightly different than the usual black tees (71.7

rating and 128 slope).

Veitch and his partner, Bill Welch, defeated Mesa Verde Country Club’s

Pete Daley and Farrell Hinkle in the tournament. Welch, Hinkle and Daley,

who won the Jones Cup with Mesa Verde head pro Tom Sargent, all shot 71

in the championship flight.

Even though the round was match play, the players putted everything

out, Reehl said.

Regardless of what the country club golf committee decides, Veitch’s

score of 62 represents the lowest in the history of the oldest golf club

in Orange County.

“It’s pretty phenomenal,� Reehl said of Veitch’s round.

Veitch is a four-time Santa Ana men’s club champion with three

straight titles, including this year.

“I don’t putt lights out and I’m not prone to make a large number of

birdies,� Veitch, who could not be reached Thursday, said prior to the

Jones Cup. “I guess the best part of my game is that I try to make as few

mistakes as possible. I play the golf course. Par’s a good score.�

Veitch, a 15-year member at SACC who captured his first men’s club

championship in 1994, qualified for the California State Amateur at

Pebble Beach his first year playing at Santa Ana in 1985. Since then,

Veitch has qualified for the state amateur four other times.

Veitch won the 1998 and ’99 Newport Beach city amateur titles at the

Newport Beach Open, but did not play in 2000 to defend his championship

at Newport Beach Country Club.