Notebook

Howell, Oklahoma State Rule
Ride 'em, Cowboys

Four years ago, when he was a skinny high school junior playing
in the third round of the U.S. Amateur, Charles Howell came up
against the best 20-year-old golfer in the country. Howell lost
to Tiger Woods 3 and 1 that day, but he learned a valuable
lesson: "I learned that it takes a lot to be the best and that I
had to do something to set myself apart if I wanted to be the
best."

Last week, at the NCAA Championships in Opelika, Ala., Howell,
now a junior at Oklahoma State, set himself apart in spectacular
fashion. He not only won the individual title--and in the process
led the Cowboys to the team championship--but also obliterated the
scoring record by six strokes.

Howell's feats were spread around Grand National's Lake Course
like a legend. Did you hear that Howell drove the 277-yard, par-4
16th? Did you see the two-iron Howell hit from 260 yards to 10
feet at number 7? In the end, Howell's 23-under-par 265 gave him
an eight-shot win over Houston's Chris Morris.

Howell's most important strokes, though, were his final two in
regulation, when he got up and down for par to force a playoff
against Georgia Tech for the team title. (The Cowboys' and the
Yellow Jackets' scores of 36-under 1,116 also broke the NCAA
record of 34 under set by UNLV in '98.) Oklahoma State won it on
the first extra hole, playing the hole in one under while Tech
was one over, making Howell the first individual champ since
Mickelson in '90 to also be on the winning team. "The performance
that he put on here for four days was surreal," said coach Mike
Holder, whose teams have won eight national championships during
his 27-year career at the school.

Howell's personality belies his aggressiveness on the course. His
father is a doctor and his mother is a nurse in Augusta, and he
is as polite as kids come--all yes, sirs, and no, sirs. He doesn't
smoke or drink, but he does wear braces and attends church every
Sunday. He is a terror, though, once he tees it up. If one shot
last week characterizes the way the 5'10", 155-pound Howell
plays, it came at the 16th hole during last Friday's round.

Holding a one-shot lead over Texas sophomore David Gossett,
Howell tried to drive the green. Many players had gone for the
green during the first two rounds, when the wind was helping, but
on Friday when the hole was playing into the fan, no one else
tried the 272-yard carry over Saugahatchee Lake. Howell's ball
sailed 275 yards and wound up five feet from the flag. The others
in Howell's group--Gossett, the reigning U.S. Amateur champ, and
Georgia Tech's Matt Kuchar, who won that title in '97--didn't have
the Stratas to go for it and laid up. After Howell sank the eagle
putt and then birdied 17 and parred 18 to conclude a round of 63,
his lead was never again threatened. Gossett tied for third and
Kuchar, playing in his final college tournament, finished 20th.

Unlike Gossett, who is expected to turn pro after next month's
British Open, Howell will return to school to complete his
business degree and attempt to become the first repeat NCAA
champion since Mickelson (1989-90). As Howell told the starter on
the 1st hole before the final round, "You get me for one more
year." --Gene Menez

New Course Compromise
Pebble Project Back on Track

It looks as if Pebble Beach may finally get another championship
course. The Pebble Beach Company first applied for building
permits in 1992, but regulatory delays and fierce opposition from
environmentalists have stalled the project. A breakthrough was
made in recent weeks with the help of Clint Eastwood, who last
July became a managing partner of the Pebble Beach Company for
the $820 million deal. The company agreed to a compromise in
which it would drop plans to sell 316 residential lots around the
course in exchange for permission to add a total of 125 rooms to
the Lodge at Pebble Beach and the Inn at Spanish Bay.

At a meeting scheduled for June 6 of the Monterey County Board of
Supervisors, the Pebble Beach Company was to ask that an
initiative on the new proposal be included on November's ballot,
the first step in a lengthy regulatory process. Key local
politicians indicated that if the public supports the project,
they will as well.

The proposed course, already designed by Tom Fazio, would begin
at the equestrian center adjacent to Pebble's driving range. The
holes would meander through dense stands of Monterey pines in the
direction of Spyglass Hill Golf Course before plunging toward the
Pacific, offering sweeping vistas of the ocean. The course would
play to a par of 70 at about 6,900 yards.

The big loser could be Poppy Hills, a pedestrian layout and one
of three courses used for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
since 1991. As to whether the proposed course, which could be
open for play in 2003, would bump Poppy from the tournament, one
Pebble Beach Company executive says, "That's a no-brainer."
--Alan Shipnuck

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID WALBERG Howell (bottom row, third from right) led Oklahoma State to its ninth NCAA title.

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BINDER

COLOR PHOTO: DAN PEARCE

COLOR PHOTO: RODDEN'S INC.

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK The scenic 15th hole at Cypress Point.

JAIME'S TOP 10

It takes talent to win on any course, but some tracks are better
suited for the creative golfer than for the more conservative
plodder. A creative player (Seve Ballesteros, Ben Crenshaw and
Phil Mickelson fall into this category) is a gambler who can
create a shot for any situation. A plodder (a guy like Hale
Irwin, Larry Nelson or Curtis Strange) plays from point to point
and relies on a basic set of shots. The best players can employ
either style, depending on the situation. Here are the best
Talent Courses in the world, places where golf is more art than
science.

1. Augusta National
Augusta rewards length like no other championship venue, but the
approaches demand precise distance control. Conjuring up just
the right shots around the swervy, superfast greens is an
extreme test of touch and dexterity.

2. St. Andrews
The Old Course was the inspiration for Augusta. The wide
fairways encourage aggressive driving, but there is no standard
shot for getting out of the deep bunkers, and negotiating the
humpy greens demands improvisation.

3. Pebble Beach
This course requires more imagination and shotmaking than any
other U.S. Open venue. The tiny, extremely firm greens receive
only pure shots. Only the most dexterous can fashion the little
shots that will be needed next week.

4. Pinehurst No. 2
Last year's Open leader board speaks volumes. Pinehurst requires
a greater variety of short-game shots and more hand-eye
coordination than any other place on earth.

5. Shinnecock Hills
The monster par-4s call for the most revealing shot in golf--a
long iron to a firm, windswept green.

6. Sand Hills
This modern classic in the high plains of Nebraska was built for
shotmaking. The lack of trees and the wind make it a links
course in the heartland.

7. Riviera
The holes fit the eye and define the required shot. No wonder
Fred Couples, the master shot shaper, loves this place.

8. Winged Foot
Some think of the West Course as the typical tree-lined U.S.
Open layout, but A.W. Tillinghast's finest work leaves more room
to maneuver than the other Eastern classics.

9. Royal Dornoch
This ancient jewel in northern Scotland is too remote and too
short (6,514 yards) to host the British Open, but top golfers
make a pilgrimage there anyway to test their short-iron and
fairway wedge games.

10. Cypress Point
Some of the short par-4s, like the skinny 9th, tempt the
talented to pull out all the stops, and the famous par-3 16th
separates the exceptional player from the others.

Plodders' Top 10:

1. Pine Valley
Yes, it's stunning and reasonably roomy, but it's too severe.

2. Oakmont
The deep rough discourages shotmaking.

3. Carnoustie
Point-to-point plodders ruled last year's British Open.

4. TPC at Sawgrass
What do you call a place where Hal Sutton has an advantage over
Tiger Woods?

5. Bellerive
A charmless slog that asks for one straight shot after another,
which is why the 1965 Open and the '92 PGA were duds.

6. Medinah
Too many holes look alike.

7. Hazeltine
I find it difficult to
remember any of the holes, save for the picturesque 16th.

8. Butler National
One of the best-conditioned courses ever to hold a Tour event,
the Western Open, but it produced uninspiring winners.

9. Valderrama
Caters to singles hitters, which explains why the less talented
Europeans defeated the U.S. in the '97 Ryder Cup.

10. PGA National
The '87 PGA, won by Nelson, was the most stultifying major in
recent memory. Water everywhere makes risk-taking taboo.

Trust Me

If any player can break 280 (four under), he will win the U.S.
Open now that the USGA has had second thoughts about cutting the
rough at Pebble Beach down to a relatively short three inches.
Pebble's greens promise to be the firmest in Open history, and
holding those tiny surfaces will be a challenge from the fairway.
From the rough? Forgetaboutit.

Threesomes
What do these players have in common?

--Johnny Miller
--Jack Nicklaus
--Tom Weiskopf

They share the U.S. Open scoring record of 63.

Feedback
Which player is most apt to win his first major at Pebble Beach:
David Duval, Phil Mickelson or Colin Montgomerie?

Duval .........16%
Mickelson .....72%
Montgomerie ...12%

--Based on 5,189 responses to our informal survey

Next question: Is the Tour right or wrong to appeal the Casey
Martin decision to the Supreme Court? Vote at golfplus.cnnsi.com.

Thesaurus

SYNONYMS for HITTING BEHIND THE BALL
Chili dip, chowder, chubby, drop kick, fat city, husky, ladle,
large curd, Porky Oliver, scuff, sludge, stick it in the ground,
Yasser Arafat.

Numbers

Drive for show and putt for dough? Not on the PGA Tour. Here's
how the Tour leaders in putting and total driving rank on the
money list.

Earnings

Driving

1. Tiger Woods 1
2. David Duval 9
3. Robert Allenby 14
4. Hal Sutton 2

Putting

1. Rick Fehr 96
2. Jim Carter 22
3. Ernie Els 8
4. Mark O'Meara 91

Faces

Kevin Na, Diamond Bar, Calif.
Kevin, 16, won the Scott Robertson Memorial, a junior
invitational, at Roanoke (Va.) Country Club. Kevin shot a
four-under 209 to beat Hunter Mahan, the reigning U.S. Junior
champ, by two. Eight days later Kevin tied for second at the
AJGA Thunderbird Invitational in Scottsdale, Ariz., five shots
behind the winner, Chan Song Wongluekiet.

Fred Rowland, Leawood, Kans.
Rowland, 61, an insurance executive, won his second Kansas
Senior Amateur by one with a six-over 148. The '95 Kansas Senior
champ, Rowland has qualified at least once for every USGA event
for which he has been eligible, except the U.S. Open. He has
played in five Senior Amateurs, two Senior Opens, a Mid-Amateur,
an Amateur and a Junior Amateur.

Becky Robertson, Roswell, N.Mex.
Robertson, 48, led Goddard High to its fourth consecutive AAA
girls' title and the Rockets' 10th state championship in her 12
seasons as coach. She is the mother of two golf pros: Jo Jo, 24,
the 1995 and '97 U.S. Women's Public Links champ and an
assistant at Spring River Golf Course in Roswell; and Greg, 25,
who plays on the Canadian tour.

Submit Faces candidates to golfplus.cnnsi.com/faces.