DUFFY'S RIGHT AT HOME; NO PGA PRO KNOWS VALENCIA BETTER THAN WALDORF.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Daily News Staff Writer

No more Hogan's Alley - at least not for this year's Nissan Open.

How about Duffy's Place?

When the Nissan (formerly Los Angeles Open) was shifted, for this year only, from Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades to Valencia Country Club in the Santa Clarita Valley, no PGA Tour player was happier than Duffy Waldorf.

This week, Waldorf can literally walk to work.

Waldorf, 35, a 12-year tour veteran who starred at Taft High and UCLA, lives five minutes from the Robert Trent Jones-designed Valencia course, where he holds honorary membership and plays often.

The familiarity puts him in a distinct minority among his fellow touring pros and also could give him a distinct advantage when Nissan play opens Thursday on a course that has been shortened to par-71 and 6,967 yards.

``I do have a big advantage,'' he said. ``That course (requires) quite a bit of local knowledge on the greens, knowing where to position the ball because the greens are pretty sloping and pretty fast. So getting yourself below the hole is going to be important to making birdies.''

Waldorf might not know how to play historic Riviera as well as Ben Hogan did while earning that Westside course the nickname of Hogan's Alley during the 1940s. But Waldorf knows a lot more about Valencia than any other PGA Tour player - few of whom have ever played the 29-year-old course before this week.

Defending champion Nick Faldo, asked about Valencia after his Nissan win last year, thought it was ``up the road'' from Riviera. It is - about 45 miles up, north of the barrancas and eucalyptus of Pacific Palisades and two or three roller-coaster rides east of Magic Mountain.

Former U.S. Open and Masters champion Fuzzy Zoeller had only heard about Valencia, but had an idea what to expect because of its designer's reputation:

``I understand they have some roly-poly-type greens,'' Zoeller said. ``Robert Trent Jones did it? So I know what I'm looking at.''

But does he really? Or do any of the visiting tour pros know Valencia well enough yet?

Probably not, but Waldorf can help out - the same way he tried to help pitch Valencia to his PGA Tour brethren when there was some initial concern after the switch that they might bypass the substitute Nissan site.

Judging from this week's field - 12 of the tour's current top-25 players are on hand, including No. 1 Tiger Woods - Waldorf's lobbying helped draw some players to Valencia. He's convinced they'll all find a lot to like there.

``I think they're going to love the conditions,'' Waldorf said. ``The greens are going to be some of the best they play all year. To me, we always found it to be not too hard a driving course - it's approaching the greens and the putting that's going to be the toughest part.

``Positioning your ball below the hole, I think, is the key out here to getting good putts. Even if the greens are slow for here, they still will be fast.''

Waldorf, who has a best of 65 at Valencia, says he can't stress enough the importance of putting from below the cup on the course's large and undulating greens:

``I've had a lot of times when I'm looking at 20- or 30-footers uphill here and they're much easier than 10-footers downhill.''

He says the course can favor long hitters - but only if they can follow good drives with accurate approach shots.

``I think you can have an advantage if you can drive the ball long and reasonably straight,'' Waldorf said. ``It's not a course that takes driver out of your hands - you can hit driver on most holes out there.''

Like all the touring pros, Waldorf worries about rain - which washed out Sunday's Nissan Celebrity-Am and earlier reduced two West Coast tournaments to 54 holes.

But if weather forecasts hold up, the Nissan should be rain-free, giving the pros a chance to fully appreciate a course Waldorf says will be one of the best they play this year.

``It's a great track,'' he said. `It's got length, quite a bit of water, it's well-bunkered and there's plenty of pin placements - the greens are big and you can hide the pins out there.''

And, of course, it's close to Casa Waldorf.

``It will be great for me,'' he said, ``(the Nissan) always is. I enjoy playing Riviera, but to be able to play my home course and be only five minutes away is going to be even more special.''

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PHOTO Duffy Waldorf, a former Taft High and UCLA standout, lives five minutes from Valencia Country Club and plays there often.

Associated Press