Mar 26, 2008

Kribel clinging to pro golf dreams

Former Stanford star back in Bay Area for a Nationwide Tour tournament

By John Reid / Daily News Staff Writer

Former Stanford All-American golfer Joel Kribel is counting on some home cooking at the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship at The Course of Wente Vineyards. The Nationwide Tour event, in its third year, runs April 3-6. The course, with a distance of 7,185 yards, is rated the toughest on the tour.

Kribel, who prepped at nearby Amador Valley High in Pleasanton, worked through a serious back injury last year, a difficult task for any golfer.

"Last year, I didn't play much at all. I played AT&T early in the year and my back went out on Saturday," said Kribel, a Stanford grad of 1999. "I took four or five weeks off and tried to get back for (the Wente) event. I played at Wente and my back went out again. I decided to take some time off after that. Unfortunately for a golfer, backs are a really tough thing. I've spent numerous hours working this past offseason. For the first time in years, I feel a lot better."

Kribel said he's not ready to quit his dreams of playing consistently on the PGA Tour.

"I'll stick with it as long as I feel like I have what it takes," Kribel said. "I don't feel like I have played anywhere near my ability level the last few years. Now that I'm healthier, there is still a lot of need for me to improve. The key for me is just to start playing better, and things will fall into place from there. I have fallen into so many bad habits trying to play through my back injury."

Kribel will be one of the local favorites at Wente, a course designed by longtime PGA pro Greg Norman, an accomplished wine producer. Others confirmed to play at Wente include Jeff Brehaut of Los Altos, Hunter Haas, Gary Hallberg, David Gossett, 2006 Wente winner Tripp Isenhour, Daniel Summerhays, Steve Pate and Spencer Levin. Colt Knost, who won the national amateur title last summer at San Francisco's Olympic, has been given a sponsor's exemption to play at Wente. Modesto's Matt Bettencourt also received an exemption to play.

"This course is a fabulous test," Bettencourt said. "No. 1 is the toughest hole. There really aren't any easy holes."

No. 1 at Wente is rated by golfers as the hardest hole on the Nationwide Tour. It's a 485-yard par-4 with an elevated tee of 100 feet above the landing area. The opening hole offers dramatic views of the route that runs alongside rows of cabernet vineyard on the left. It's the only hole on the course without any bunkers.

Omar Uresti, who stands all of 5-foot-6, is the defending champion.

For more tournament information, go to www.winecountrychampionship.com.



E-mail John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com.