Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 35

TUCSON, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 1979 PAGE ONE lake with their tee shot if they at the new Silverbell Golf Course Course I must shoot directly over a ready caused $228,000 damage. The City Council was left pondering whether to quit construction or pay for the repairs. It decided to relocate four holes that were washed out and set an opening date for November 1978. Other delays, including poor weather this spring, forced two more postponements. Early this year, Valencia and his city maintenance crew had problems with ground settling, which produced potholes.

No sooner did they cover up the holes when the depressions reappeared. Settlement is still causing a few minor problems, but "we're going to stay right on top of them and hopefully it will stop," said Jim Ron-. stadt, city parks director. And Tuesday, four days before the opening, a water line was broken during the building of a cart path. "The course will be ready," Valencia says.

"My crew has worked very hard in getting this ready. They've worked continuously since last winter. I'm very pleased' and proud of the course. I hope the public feels the same way." The yardage from regular tees is 3,126 on the front nine and 3,076 on the back for a total of 6,202. Yardage from the championship tees is 3,326 on the front and 3,349 on the back, totaling 6,675.

There are four par-3s, four par-53 and 10 par-4s. If J. Players By SUE HILL The Arizona Dally Star Don't tell Victor Valencia that the new Silverbell Golf Course won't be ready for tomorrow's grand opening at 11 a.m. Valencia, golf course administrator for the city, has weathered several problems ill preparing the par-72 18-hole city course for the big day and he's adamant that nothing, not even a last-minute break in a water line, will stop the festivities. Several local dignitaries will be present for the opening ceremonies, including Tucson Mayor Lew Murphy and Tucson Vice Mayor Cheri Cross.

The course will open to the public at noon. It is located at 3600 N. Silverbell, just north of the Tucson Police Academy. "I sure wouldn't want to tell him it's not going to be ready," said Gene Janes, a starter at Randolph Municipal golf course. "I liken this to the opening of the North Course at Randolph for the Tucson Open.

Three days before it was going to start you didn't think anything was going to be ready, and then all of a sudden everything fell into place." Since ground was broken in November of 1976, it almost seems like somebody was trying to tell the city something. On Oct. 9, 1977 the Santa Cruz River, which borders the course, flooded and verbellG is finally 4 plan to hit the green on No. Silverbell has nine from a layman's point of Marr said. "There are an awful lot of doglegs.

There's also a problem with transportation between greens and tees, particularly from the eighth green to the ninth tee where golfers have to go around a lake. "But we want to see how the golfers are going to play the course before we make any changes. Probably after about a month we'll see where the problems are and then we'll take corrective action." Blancas feels No. 9, a 173-yard, par-3 hole, is one of the better holes on the course. Traps are located to the left, right and in back of the green and a lake sits between the tee and green.

"What's going to make it interesting is the wind," Blancas said. "If the wind is Portland Aa AlMAArA iu 5 weep By DANNY WHITE The Arizona Dally Star The Tucson Toros continued their slide into oblivion last night. Tucson dropped its third consecutive game to the Portland Beavers by a 10-3 score before 2,339 bewildered fans at Hi Corbett Field. The Toros begin a five-game series tonight with the Pacific Coast League Southern Division leading Gulls in Salt Lake City. Larry McCall, who is 3-0 against the Gulls and 9-7 overall, will start for Tucson.

After a series in Ogden, the Toros return home next Friday to begin a three-game series with Salt Lake. The Toros, who have lost five of their last six games, have dug themselves a hole they may never recover from. They are 9 games behind the Gulls, who beat Phoenix 9 lakes and eight doglegs in its coming from the north, it's going to be a very tough hole." zv "It's an excellent course for a municipal course," Blancas continued. "There are a lot of potential birdie holes. The good golfer could become frustrated by not shooting the low numbers he thinks he should.

There are also a lot of good possibilities for pin placements." Blancas feels Silverbell will be more fun than the North Course at Randolph. "The golfers will probably play this course faster, since there isn't much rough or any mature trees right now. Plus, there are a lot of mounds which golfers can use as land markers to find their balls. The greens are pretty soft, too. They will hold.

Star MM by ham nmirt layout "There's also more room for margin of error here than at Randolph. You can get' away with a lot more shots at Silverbell and the more shots you can get away with the better your score will be." A double-wide trailor will serve as tem- porary quarters for the pro shop and snack bar. The clubhouse is currently under con- struction and is scheduled to be completed by January 1980. The driving range and practice green will also open tomorrow. Blancas will be available for however he has not been feeling well, and probably will not start offering Instruction for at least a month.

I ic 3sr tea "When you play good, you can't figure it out and sometimes when you play bad you can't figure it out. This series is almost I forgotten as far as I am concerned. We will go out tomorrow with business as Donnelly said. Whatever the reason for the team's current slump, last night it blew another first-inning lead. After Portland took a 1-0 lead in its had of the first, the Toros came right back with two of their own.

Mike Hart singled and LaRue Washington, who walked, scored on Danny Duran's fielder's choice. From there it was all Portland, which sent Toro starter Don Kainer to the show-i ers after 33 innings. The only excitement for the Toro fans following the first inning occurred in the third when Gonzales; slammed his fourth homer of the season over the right-field wall. But Skorek and Jeff Reddan combined to led the Smashers to the first-game vie- jj tory. 1 Errant kill shots proved to be Seattle's; downfall in the second same as meson- won 12-7.

The third game was tied 9-9 an error by Tucson's Jay Hanseth and a trill DoMan not a CAattta a tumnrti nt bulge. v. Tiircnn rlncpri tn marpin tn nne hut Rigg's block of kill attempt by Shewman won the game, The Sky never led in the fourth game, though they did tie the match 8-8. With its victory Seattlerlinched a spot in the IVA I playoffs where they will join division eti- ers Denver and Santa Barbara. against Sky iP Free-throw champ back I routs Toros, 10-3 7 AfArlAA MAMAA AAMlAA for play The course is dotted with nine lakes, all of which come into play on at least one hole.

Sand traps flank all of the greens, but there are no fairway bunkers. It's also a course that Lon Hinkle would love to play. Hinkle created a stir at this year's U.S. Open professional golf tournament when he found a shortcut on a dogleg by playing down an adjoining fairway. Silverbell has eight holes that dogleg either right or left.

On four of them, a quick look may tempt golfers to cut the corner and drive down a parallel fairway. Well, city officials didn't plant any 25-foot spruce trees, as did the United States Golf Association to thwart Hinkle, but they did plant out-of-bounds stakes for the safety of golfers. The interior boundaries force golfers to play the course as it was designed by Jack Snyder. Homero Blancas, who has left the PGA Tour after 13 years to become head pro of the new course, takes exception to the excessive number of doglegs. "Doglegs should fit the terrain.

They shouldn't make one just to make one," he said. Jim Marr, golf course coordinator for the city, agrees. "There are some design deficiencies in my estimation, but that's Tom Foust of individual he is. Although his fame has spread across the nation, he remains low-keyed and humble. He is a gentle man and so polite he almost makes you nervous.

He's not big at 5-f eet-7, but his upper body is muscular. He conditions himself for 24-hour marathons by doing 700 pushups a day. His 13,355 baskets are the most ever made during a 24-hour period. He has shot many exhibitions against NBA players and when asked who are the best at the line, he almost immediately mentions Bill Sharman and Rick Barry. He was once called out of the audience to shoot against Barry on the Mike Douglas television show.

As soon as St. Martin made his first shot Barry recognized him and knew he had been set up. "Get that guy out of here," Barry told Douglas as St. Martin made 10 in a row to win the competition. But a man known more for his abil- ity in the front office than his heroics on the floor is St.

Martin's toughest competition. "Jerry Colangelo (general manager of the Phoenix Suns) is a real good shooter," St. Martin says. "I have shot against him twice at halftime of Suns' games. He beat me the first time, but I was ready for him the second time." St.

Martin is an honorary member of the Suns. At Park Mall this weekend hell give all comers a chance to beat him and will award basketballs to those who do. He doesn't have to pay off very often. i ee-gcu I 8-5 last night, and are tied with the Giants for last place in the division. At this point in the first half of the season, the Toros were 6'fc games in front in the Southern Division with a 23-13 record, almost the opposite of their present mark, 15-21.

The team has undergone many changes since May and the pitching staff has not been overpowering of late. In the Portland series, the Beavers got 48 hits during the three games. And a porous defense hasn't helped the pitchers much. While playing Portland, Tucson committed five errors, including three last night, and was guilty of numerous mental mistakes. Manager Rich Donnelly isn't too concerned about his team's showing, at least publicly.

loss at Denver. Short a hitter-blocker, the Smashers. "called up" Rigg to be their fourth attacker. But Dave Shackel, who started the match, was ineffective last night and the rookie from Pepperdine University was summoned by player-coach Ed Skorek. Rigg made 14 of 30 kills with six errors and had eight stuff blocks.

"This is the most I've played all season," he said after receiving congratulations from his teammates. "I'm glad I did well. They finally gave me a chance." Tucson, which maintained its hold on second place in the Continental Division fe the loss, led 44 In the tirst game. What does a dairy farmer do on his vacation? If the dairy farmer also happensto be the world champion at shooting a basketball through a hoop, he comes to to make free throws in a shopping center mall. Ted St.

Martin, 44-year-old manager of a dairy farm in Jacksonville, who is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for making 2,036 free throws in a row, wowed a crowd at Park Mall in January. Jim Hays, manager of the shopping center, was so impressed he invited him back. But before St. Martin begins taking on all comers at Park Mall at 1 p.rrf. today, he took time yesterday to make Scoreboard American League Yankees 2, Angels 0 Red Sox 6' Indians 7, Twins 2 Orioles 12, Mariners 1 Blue Jays 8, Rangers 4 Tigers 5, Brewers 2 Royals 6, Sox 1 National League Reds 9, Pirates 7 Cubs 9, Mets 2 Cardinals 6, Braves 2 Dodgers 6, Astros 5 -k- Giants 6, Padres 2 Stories, Page 2E.

a trip to the YMCA's Triangle Ranch Camp near Oracle. Although his shooting wasn't up to world-record standards on the breezy, outdoor court, the kids, many of them sponsored by readers of The Arizona Daily Star who contribute to the Sportsmen's Fund, were impressed. "I know you," said a youngster who couldn't have been more than 9. "Your first world record came in 1972 when you made 200 in a row." right, thank you for remembering," replied the soft-spoken St. Martin, shaking the boy's hand.

St. Martin has a world record pending of 100 baskets in a five-minute pe-riod. The best he could do yesterday was 63, but the kids didn't seem to mind. What they liked was the tips on shooting he gave them. Each of the 80 boys arid girls in camp had the opportunity to go to the line and shoot a few under the expert's watchful eye.

Later they will have their own competition to see who wins one of the eight basketballs he left for them. St. Martin has one of the best shows going. So good in fact, that his weekends are booked through October. It's getting to the point that his job at the dairy is getting in the way of his basket shooting and vice versa.

He has a couple of deals in the works that may take him off the farm. One is with Budweiser which would pit him against the pros during halftime of National Basketball Association television games of the week next year. His success is due largely to the type Rookie passes test By BOB MORAN The Arizona Dally Star Rookie Mark Rigg has been waiting two months for a chance to show the world he was up to International Volleyball Association competition. And last night he did, much to the dismay of the struggling Tucson Sky. Rigg, subbing for injured Bernie Hite, came off the bench to help Seattle defeat the Sky 3-1 at Catalina High School.

Game scores were 12-6, 7-12, 12-10 and 12-9. Hite, who was selected to play in tonight's IVA all-star match in San Jose, strain his back in Wednesday night's 3-2.