Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club’s Mary...

Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club’s Mary Beth Arnold reached the

quarterfinals while Kyle Wilson advanced through three rounds of the

ReMax World Long Drive championships, which concluded Saturday at the

Palms Golf Club in Mesquite, Nev.

Arnold, a teaching pro at Costa Mesa, boomed her longest drive of

the competition -- a 279-yard blast -- in winning her opening-round

bracket of eight golfers in the women’s division.

She averaged 273.75 for her four drives, which included a 273-yard

blast in the seventh round. Arnold finished tied for fifth among nine

golfers in the concluding round.

Sally Dee claimed the women’s individual championship with a drive

of 287 yards, 17 1/2 feet.

Wilson, a starter at Costa Mesa, reached the fourth round of the

open division in the double-elimination format.

The 30-year-old Costa Mesa resident averaged 387.6 yards for his

three scoring drives, including winning a third-round bracket with a

400-yard hit, 24 more yards than the closest competitor.

Four of the eight golfers in Wilson’s first-round bracket cleared

409 yards or more.

David Mobley won the open division title with a 377-yard final

round blast.

The long-drive competitions will continue for Wilson, though. The

former Estancia High and Long Beach State pitcher will test his

driver at the American Long Drive Association finals in January.

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Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club is offering private instruction

using video and computer swing analysis. Thirty-minute lessons are

available for $40 along with three- ($100) and five-lesson ($175)

packages.

Beginning group classes are also available for $75. The classes

meet once a week at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Call (714) 743-2466 for information on either instruction type.

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Hale Irwin, a two-time Toshiba Senior Classic champion, captured

the Champions Tour’s 2004 Charles Schwab Cup and its $1 million top

prize Sunday by 39 points over Craig Stadler for the closest race in

the four-year history of the event.

Irwin, a 1992 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, became the first

two-time winner of the Cup along with Allen Doyle, the 2000 Toshiba

Senior Classic champion, and Tom Watson, with his victory at Sonoma.