GOLF:

I remember years ago asking a Champions Tour golfer what he thought of Newport Beach Country Club’s golf course and he patronizingly said, “It’s a nice little course, but looks kind of easy.”

He proceeded to go out and shoot 78, thus rewarding Mr. Pompous with a little Karma backhand, OC-style.

Though there have been professionals who have tamed Newport Beach, Hale Irwin’s final-round 62 in 1998 to defeat a stunned Hubert Green by a stroke at the Toshiba Classic, a majority of the golfers come to the course with a healthy respect for the “nice, little course.”

This course has always been one of my favorite to play, though I have always enjoyed William Bell designs.

Other golf course architects have added their touches in the renovations the club has commissioned through the years.

The first was Harry Rainville in 1973. The local golf course designer, who built the two courses at Mile Square Golf Course in Fountain Valley worked on the course.

The man who has done the most work though is Ted Robinson. His design firm, located in Laguna Beach, first worked on the course in 1985. He came back in 1998 and 1999 to do more work, specifically on the No. 3, 4 and 5 holes.

Robinson returned again the following year to rebuild the tee boxes on No. 3 and No. 6, added a fairway bunker on No. 6 and redesigned the greenside bunker on the famous 17th hole.

That could be one of the most picturesque par threes in Orange County. The elevated tee boxes look out over a lake and a two-tiered green that has seen its share of history. This is the hole that kept Irwin’s ball from rolling into the lake with the assistance of a well-placed sand trap rake.

It also was where two Toshiba Classic marathon playoffs ended. The first was Bob Murphy’s 1997 victory after nine holes when he canned an 80-foot putt to defeat Jay Sigel.

Jose Maria Canizares also ended a nine-hole playoff on this hole when he rolled in a 21-foot putt to defeat Gil Morgan in the 2001 tournament.

The greens at this course have rewarded some but have penalized many more.

As most of the participants in the Jones Cup are keenly aware of as they prepare for the tournament Tuesday.

The course may look like a pushover, but it is anything but.

The tricky greens and kikuyu rough make certain this course will keep golfers honest.

NBCC is typical of Bell’s work. The pines and palms that line the fairways demand accuracy. Stray just a little off the fairway and chances are you are going to pay for it.

The greens are equally as punitive if there is a mental lapse. The breaks are subtle, but the nuances of the putting surfaces are definitely intriguing.

It doesn’t take a tour player long to figure them out, but in the early days of the Toshiba Classic it used to befuddle some of the players.

Of course you could do what Gary McCord did one year on the first hole and leave the putter in the bag.

He and I were playing a little nine-hole exhibition one year before the tournament and on the first hole McCord has about 100 yards to the green.

Golf Channel was following McCord filming a feature on how to play the course. He is talking and playing and his commentary is running in typical McCord shtick when he pauses long enough to hit his shot to the blind flag on the elevated green.

So of course McCord holes out his shot for an eagle and looks at the Golf Channel camera and says, “That ladies and gentlemen, is how you play this hole. Thank you very much.”

If only Newport Beach Country Club was that easy.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays.