SAN GABRIEL - Pasadena's Steve Titus is thrilled that this week's 112th Southern California Golf Association Amateur Championship is being held at San Gabriel Country Club.
He knows the course as well as anyone, having been a member there for almost 30 years, but there are other reasons why he takes particular pride in the 72-hole event scheduled Friday through Sunday. Titus not only is president of the SCGA, he also is the club's greens chairman, which means he can set up the course as he sees fit.
San Gabriel Country Club plays to a par of 71 and stretches to just under 6,600 yards, but this week's field of more than 80 players can expect to see a layout featuring narrower fairways, heavier rough and a new, back tee on the par-3 14th hole which now will play 217 yards.
Titus said he had hoped to have new tees built to lengthen the fourth and 13th holes, but there wasn't sufficient time.
"I don't want somebody to shoot 17-under par," Titus, a nine-time champion at San Gabriel, said this week about course preparations.
"If they do under these conditions, then so be it."
It has been a noteworthy time for the SCGA since he was elected president in October, most notably because of a merger between the SCGA and Public Links Golf Association that became effective in early January and the recent establishment of a website for cellphones. The USC graduate admitted he never pictured himself being part of the SCGA hierarchy until he became involved with various committees years ago.
