Oakmont Country Club

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Any kind of progress made by the members of the Glendale Community College women's golf team will likely be sufficient. Two weeks ago, the Vaqueros didn't have a full compliment of players to field a lineup. Things have since turned a bit in the Vaqueros' favor. Glendale might have turned in its best effort of the season on Monday, as it received a seven-over-par from Tammy Panich and placed third in a five-team Western State Conference match at scenic Oakmont Country Club.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Chris Starkjohann hasn't played at Oakmont Country Club much throughout his 20-plus years on the tournament trail. One of his appearances at the historic course came in 1987, though, when he lost in a playoff in the Southern California PGA Sectional Professional Championship. Twenty-three years later, that moment hasn't escaped Starkjohann's mind. Starkjohann can add a more favorable memory, however, as he shot a six-under-par 65 on Wednesday to win the sectional crown by four strokes and capture the tournament for the third time in his respectable career.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — With the weather and course conditions a bit more difficult to grasp, Donny Lee figured he would be in for a grind when he prepared to compete in the second round of the Southern California PGA Sectional Professional Championship on Tuesday afternoon at Oakmont Country Club. Lee, an assistant professional at Oakmont, had to remain patient while battling the warmer temperatures, wind and pin placements dotting each of the 18 greens on the historic 88-year-old course.

GLENDALE — The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene. OAKMONT TO HOST PROFESSIONAL TOURNAMENT Oakmont Country Club will play host to the Southern California PGA Section Championship. The event, which will feature 149 players competing for 11 qualifying spots in the 2011 PGA Professional National Championship in Hershey, Pa., will be held Aug. 30 through Sept. 1 at the renovated course. The tournament will consist of a 54-hole stroke play competition and will include Oakmont professional John Milligan and assistant professional Donny Lee . The low 60 shooters and ties after 36 holes will move on to the final round.

W hen Glendale volunteer Shelley Weitzel received a phone call from the nominating committee of the National Charity League in April, she assumed the members of the nonprofit organization wanted her to take back her previous post as vice president of philanthropy. But she soon found out that the committee had bigger plans in mind. Weitzel said she was shocked when the nominating committee instead asked her if she would like to be president-elect of the entire Glendale chapter of the mother-daughter organization.

GLENDALE — For 90 golfers, the road to qualify for the 110th United States Open Championship begins Monday in Glendale. The field, which will include a dozen area residents looking to make their inaugural appearance in the prestigious championship, will take to fabled Oakmont Country Club in hopes of advancing. The local qualifier starts at 7:30 a.m. A solid 18-hole round will move them one step closer to the championship, which will be held June 17-20 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Golf and life lessons became an intertwined theme on Wednesday at scenic Oakmont Country Club. While focusing on tee shots and putts on the recently renovated course, 24 youth golfers from several junior programs paired up with club members during the inaugural Golf, Awareness, Mentoring and Education (GAME) event. The event, conducted by the Southern California Golf Assn. Foundation, provided an opportunity for adults to convey their fervor for golf and their successes in life while playing 18 holes with an assigned youth golfer.

GLENDALE — Much like the course it will call home this season, the Glendale Community College men’s golf team is sporting a brand new look and is refurbished and ready to go for the 2010 season, it’s third since the program was revived in 2008. Coach Greg Osbourne is excited about the team’s return to the course at Oakmont Country Club, as well as the crop of promising new additions that will look to build a foundation for the program. “I did some recruiting this year and we have five No. 1 players from local high schools who have come to Glendale,” Osbourne said.

TODAY The Verdugo Hills Art Assn. meeting will feature award-winning plein-air-style watercolor artist Chris Van Winkle at 7 p.m. at the Citibank Community Room, 235 Honolulu Ave., Montrose. Admission is a $5 donation. Van Winkle will demonstrate a loose approach to scene painting and will show his travel sketchbooks from around the world and how he reconstructs scenes from places he?s visited. His demonstration will include wet-glazes, lifts, negative painting, flat wash and overlays.