Columnist Jeff Haney: Senior rookie Lendzion weathering storm on tour

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2000 | 10:25 a.m.

Victoria Sun is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Her golf column appears Wednesday. Reach her at 259-4078 or victoria@vegas.com

Wind and dust storms normally are pet peeves for golfers.

For Senior PGA Tour rookie Bob Lendzion, they turned out to be a blessing.

Lendzion, 51, is about to play in his fourth event of the year, the LiquidGolf.com Invitational in Sarasota, Fla., this weekend.

Were it not for some nasty weather in Tucson, Ariz., last November at the Senior PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament, Lendzion might have been playing his third consecutive year on the European Senior PGA Tour instead.

The part-time Las Vegas resident (his mother and father moved here 25 years ago) made it to the final stage of Q-School at Tucson National Golf Club when things took a turn for the worse.

Lendzion had a solid first two days and felt he was going to make the qualifying mark. But on the third day, he hit a shot into the lake on the 18th hole for a double-bogey.

"With that shot, I went from making it to being a shot outside," Lendzion said. "So I knew the fourth day I had to have a really good round."

The next day a terrible windstorm kicked up dust and minimized visibility. As it turned out, it worked to Lendzion's advantage because he was used to playing under difficult conditions in Europe.

"It was so windy and dusty you couldn't see anything," he said. "I ended up shooting a 73 which would have never been good enough on a normal day. But because of the weather I snuck in.

"I wasn't cautious because I kept thinking 'I gotta go for it.' I never got nervous because I never thought I'd make it. I tried to make birdies and was disappointed when I made par. Everyone else was trying to make par and ended up with a bogey."

His cavalier strategy paid off.

Lendzion not only earned his tour card the hard way, he ended up finishing eighth, nabbing the last fully exempt card.

"I got the last good one," he said with relief. "I basically went into shock because I didn't think my score was good enough.

"I was in disbelief."

Lendzion opened the season by finishing in a tie for 17th place at the Royal Carribean Classic, earning $17,050.

It has been his best showing so far, but he hopes to get better as the season goes along or he'll be packing his bags and heading back to Europe.

"The first goal anybody has is to stay out here," he said. "I have to finish in the top 30.

"Being around the best players, you feel like if you don't improve, you're wasting your time."

* EXPANDED RADIO SHOW: The 19th Hole golf show broadcast on 1460-AM Wednesdays at 1 p.m. will also be picked up by KDWN 720-AM starting March 5. Dennis Silvers will be co-hosting the show in its second time slot of the week with PGA teaching professional Rich Fite. For the first month the show will air on Sundays from 9 to 10 p.m. Then starting April 2, the show can be heard from 8 to 10 p.m.

* JUNIOR WINNER: Jonathan Turac, a freshman at Clark High School, won the Thunderbird Junior Invitational over the weekend at the Papago Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. Turac competed in the boys' 13-14 division. The Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association and Filipino Golfers of Las Vegas member shot an opening-round 77 followed by a 74.

* UPCOMING TOURNAMENT: The Desert Challenge will be held at the Primm Valley Golf Resort & Casino March 8-12 on The Lakes and Desert courses. The format for the first two days will be two-person best ball. Handicap adjustments will be made after the first two days of play. The third day will consist of a foursome selected by a blind draw.

The Desert Challenge package includes four night's accommodations at Primm Valley Resort, three rounds of golf, a welcome cocktail reception, a pairings party before the final round and The Desert Challenge amenity package. The cost is $590.00 (double occupancy), $690.00 (single occupancy), or $295.00 for nongolfing guests. For information, contact Golf Tours Inc., at 1-888-200-0525.

* HOLE IN ONE: Elsie Brown recorded an ace last month on the Cloud Nine course at Angel Park Golf Club. Brown used a 7-wood from 115 yards out on hole No. 3.