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Just about everything Payne Stewart achieved as a professional golfer happened a long way from here. Barring his three Skins Game wins in La Quinta from 1991 to 1993, Stewart never won in Southern California. But the 11-time PGA Tour winner and three-time major champion did leave his mark. He worked with noted golf course architect Cal Olson on Coyote Hills Golf Course, a picturesque track set in the hills north of Cal State Fullerton. It was the only course Stewart ever consulted on and the first one in Orange County that a PGA Tour player ever helped out with. As such, it’s the one physical manifestation of his ideas on golf course design. And now, 11 years after that course opened, and nine years after Stewart’s tragic death in a plane crash, there’ll be a physical monument to Stewart’s life and work at the course: a 6-foot, 5-inch, 700-pound bronze sculpture that will be dedicated February 12. World-renowned sculptor Zeno Frudakis, a Pennsylvania-born American who is inspired greatly by the classic Greek sculpture of his ancestral homeland, created the piece. Tim Dunlap, who worked at Coyote Hills from its inception until last year, worked closely with Frudakis and Stewart’s widow, Tracy. Both monitored and approved the piece. The current owners of the course, the Kim family, commissioned the $100,000 sculpture after Dunlap approached them with the idea. “Tim Dunlap had the idea after the tragic death of Payne and has been working on the project for the past three years,” said Brian Bode, a regional director for American Golf, which manages Coyote Hills. Dunlap, who now works in Georgia, was inspired by a Frudakis sculpture of Stewart at Pinehurst, which captured his jubilation after winning the 1999 U.S. Open. “Tim thought that Zenos captured the very essence of Payne,” Bode said. “Knowing that Zenos was the right sculptor for the job, Tim wrote to Tracy Stewart to ask for her approval to create the tribute. She was honored and appreciated the idea.” Frudakis and Dunlap pored over hundreds of pictures of Stewart in an effort to find just the right image to capture in this larger-than-life statue. The final result (which can be seen on-line at zenosfrudakis.com/sculptures/wip/PayneStewart.html) perfectly captures Stewart’s dignified, colorful bearing, from his classic argyle tie and knit tam o’shanter cap, to his trademark knickers and the SeeMore putter he used to win the ’99 Open. “This tribute is for the fans of Payne Stewart,” Bode said. “We designed it with the idea of it being something for people to touch and marvel at the likeness up-close. It will be placed outside the clubhouse in prime viewing area for the patrons of Coyote Hills.” The statue is a dramatically striking commemoration of one of the most memorable, and genuinely liked, golfers on the PGA Tour. Stewart’s death was a terrible loss for the game of golf, but this impressive monument is a great gain for local golfers. SG |
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