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Tredway fantasy nearing its fruition By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN As a young boy and budding golfer, Andrew Tredway used to walk the beaches below the bluffs of historic Pebble Beach Golf Links in Monterey, Calif. "I thought about me playing here one day," says Tredway, "and how exciting that would be." Well, that day is coming Aug. 15 when the 22-year-old Ashland golfer opens play in the U.S. Amateur. "My grandma lives three or four miles from Pebble Beach," says Tredway. "I would walk from her house, down to the beach and walk up the cliff to Pebble Beach at the eighth hole. "I'd climb up the hill just off No. 8 and look at the holes," he says. "I know every hole on the course, even though I haven't played it. I've either seen them, in person or on television, or seen pictures and read about them in magazines." Tredway, who won medalist honors in a U.S. Amateur sectional qualifying tournament last Tuesday at the OGA Members course in Woodburn with a 9-under-par 135 score for 36 holes, has made some amazing strides in recent years. The former Ashland High star will probably go into his senior season as the the University of Oregon's No. 2 player. He finished ninth in the Pac-10 finals last spring at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle after standing in second place, just two shots out of the lead, entering the final round. He shot a 6-under-par 66 in the second round. Tredway is back on another hot streak. Hitting an assortment of uncanny short-iron shots, he scored a 7-under-par 65 in the final round. "I felt that was what it was going to take to get in," he says of his seven-birdie, no-bogey round. "I could have shot quite a bit lower. I missed some birdie putts under 10 feet that I felt I could have made." Tredway feels he will especially be ready for the par-4 eighth hole at Pebble Beach despite its difficulty. "It's one of the toughest holes in the world," says Tredway. "You have to hit your drive over the ocean, and then you hit your second shot over it again. It will take about a 5-iron, if you hit a good drive." Tredway hopes he can keep his iron game hot, as it was in the final round of the qualifying tournament. "The course was playing short, but you still have to hit good iron shots in and make the putts," says Tredway. "I hadn't been hitting it that well until the last round. I didn't even hit it very well in the first round. "But I knew what I had to do to qualify," says Tredway. "I went out aggressively and started hitting it close (to the pins)." Eagle Point Golf Course is losing another golf course management expert. Shirley Clustka, assistant general manager for nearly four years, has resigned to pursue other golf interests. "I've been thinking about it for a while," says Clustka, who will spend August in the San Francisco Bay Area doing projects for current Eagle Point owner Robert Trent Jones. "This was a great experience for me because I got in on the ground floor of building a course and managing it." During the last year, Eagle Point has lost some talented golf people, including former head professional Brian Sackett, assistant pro Starla Riddle and Golf Director Steve Elbe. Sooner or later, the course will need to start replacing these people in order to maintain a quality golf facility. Currently, there are no professionals on staff. Jones won't be the majority owner of the course for much longer. Sources say Chris Galpin and business partners are about to finish a deal with Jones to become majority owners of the development project and the course. "(Galpin and Jones) are very close to an agreement," says Angie Torano, daughter of Galpin, who works in the business office. Torano says Eagle Point will eventually have a golf professional, or two, and perhaps a Director of Golf. "We have some exciting things coming up," says Torano. "It's taking time, but things will be happening and we're excited for the golf course and the development." Jonathan Jones made a hole-in-one on the 163-yard seventh hole at Stewart Meadows Golf Course Wednesday. He used a driver. Jones, according to Stewart Meadows officials, is preparing for the Special Olympics state tourney. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.