He Earned This Tour of Duty : Golf: Club pro Todd Yoshitake had a chance to compete against PGA’s best at last week’s L.A. Open.

ALHAMBRA —  Alhambra Municipal Golf Course boasts about having the first triple-tiered driving range in the nation, but it has another attraction--a club professional who actually has played in a PGA Tour event.

Proving his first appearance wasn’t a fluke, Todd Yoshitake of Hacienda Heights took time out from his teaching duties to play in last week’s Nissan L.A. Open at the Riviera Country Club.

Yoshitake, whose only other tour appearance was at the Open in 1986, had a two-day total of 151. He missed the cut by 10 strokes.

Still, Yoshitake was pleased with his performance and will continue to work to become a tour regular.

“It was a good, positive experience,” said Yoshitake, who also played golf at Montebello High and Loyola Marymount. “It lets me know where my game is at and what I have to work on for tournaments for the rest of the year.”

In order to play in the Open, Yoshitake was one of 230 golfers to compete in a one-day qualifying tournament sponsored by the PGA Southern California Assn.

Yoshitake shot a 67 on the North Course at the Los Serranos Country Club in Chino on Feb. 24. He had the second-lowest score among the four qualifiers.

“The first time I qualified for the Open, I felt like I won a tournament,” Yoshitake said. “When I qualified this time, my goal was to keep going in the tournament and make the cut.”

On the first day of the Open, Yoshitake had three birdies, four bogeys, two double-bogeys and finished with a disappointing five-over par 76. Yoshitake improved his score to four-over par 75 on the second day. He had three birdies and seven bogeys.

“I hit the ball (off the tee) as well as I did when I shot 67,” Yoshitake said. “I would have a good hole and then a bad hole. My short game kind of let me down when I needed to save par. I didn’t pitch and putt nearly as well as I expected to.”

On Friday, Yoshitake began his second round on the back nine, and when he arrived at the 10th hole a crowd of about 2,000 people formed to follow Tiger Woods, the 16-year-old who became the youngest player to compete in a tour event.

Yoshitake, who played in a threesome two groups ahead of Woods, enjoyed the added attention.

“I thought they were there to see me,” Yoshitake said jokingly. “It was exciting. I’ve never played before a large crowd like that.”

While continuing to work as a golf instructor, Yoshitake, 33, also will play on the Ben Hogan Tour and in other PGA mini-tours. He will try to qualify for the U.S. Open, to be held June 18-21 at Pebble Beach. He also will make his fifth attempt to earn his tour playing card at a qualifying school, which will be held in December in Palm Springs.

“Age is not a big factor in golf,” Yoshitake said. “It’s not like you play great golf at 18 and be done with your career at 20.”

Until he qualifies for the tour, Yoshitake is happy to take his game to a new level, even when it is just the third tier at the Alhambra driving range.