Four-day 72-hole Pro-Am makes the Classic different than any other event; Many amateurs say personal relationships they develop with pros are the highlight
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Between the up-close-and-personal interaction with top professional golfers, the excitement of playing alongside some of the biggest stars of stage and screen and the opportunity to log four rounds of golf on a different world-class golf course each day, there’s nothing quite like participating as an amateur in the PGA TOUR’s Bob Hope Classic.
And those who have done it year after year aren’t shy to boast about the unique and exciting experiences they’ve collected through the years.
“There’s not much you can say bad about the whole event,” said Ron Scott, 67, a retired business owner from Dillsburg, Pa. “It’s a wonderfully unique and rewarding experience.”
Scott plans to play for a ninth consecutive year in the 52nd Bob Hope Classic, scheduled for Jan. 17-23, 2011 at four La Quinta golf courses. One of the most tradition-rich tournaments on the PGA TOUR, the Classic features 128 professionals and 384 amateur contestants, including a stellar list of celebrities.
There is no other tournament on the PGA TOUR quite like the Bob Hope Classic, which affords amateur players closer access to the professionals than perhaps any other sporting event. Each amateur threesome plays with a different professional each of the four days, and rotates through each of the four tournament courses – La Quinta Country Club, SilverRock Resort and the Palmer and Nicklaus Private courses at PGA West. While the pros compete for the low cumulative score like they do every other week on the PGA TOUR (though they play five rounds, with the fifth round made up of professionals only), the amateurs compete alongside them in a best-ball format, with the pros’ daily score counting toward their own.
Many of the amateur players say they relish the experience of getting to know the professionals. M-K Zordani, one of the few female amateurs in the field each year, has been somewhat of a good-luck charm for the pros. She played with Stewart Cink in 2008, and a year later, he won his first major championship at the British Open. In 2009, she played a day with Lucas Glover, and he won his first major, the U.S. Open, five months later. She also played with Dustin Johnson in 2009, though her luck ran out when Johnson famously fell short at the 2010 PGA Championship. Regardless, she said she has developed personal relationships with each of them, and as the golf season progresses, she communicates with many of the professionals she has played with as she keeps tabs on their results.
“They’re great guys, and they respect the fact that I take my golf seriously,” said Zordani, a retired Chicago-based lawyer. “Throughout the year, as they do well in tournaments, I text them or they’ll text me. I texted Lucas when he won the Open, and he told me he felt like he was going to vomit on the 17th tee box! Of all the great things that the Hope offers, it’s just the relationships you make with people.”
Amateur players are placed in groups randomly, with one A-level player, one B-level player and one C-level player in each group. About a third of them end up playing in the celebrity rotation each year. Naturally, the crowds flock to whichever course the celebrities are playing each day, and thus the amateurs in those groups get the added excitement of playing in front of large galleries.
For Bill Morton-Smith, 62, a retired physician who now runs a trust company in Santa Barbara, one year that meant playing in a group sandwiched between a foursome that included three star Atlanta Braves pitchers (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz) and another that included basketball legend Michael Jordan and PGA TOUR fan-favorite Fred Couples. Morton-Smith admitted to feeling the pressure as the crowds for those two groups spilled over to his foursome.
“There were huge galleries,” Morton-Smith recalled. “If you were off the green by about 25 feet and had to pitch on, you’d have this little one-foot area to hit through. You’d say to yourself, ‘I hope I don’t shank this and pull a Gerald Ford and hit it at somebody’s head!’ You had to be playing pretty well.”
Morton-Smith estimates he has played in the Bob Hope Classic 20 times, and Zordani said she’s played about 10 times. Among the many things they love about the tournament are the family connections it fosters. Every year, Zordani’s sister, Andrea Belzberg, caddies for her at the Classic. Morton-Smith remembers watching his father play in the Classic many years ago, when the celebrity field included names like Willie Mays and Glen Campbell. This year, he will pass on his playing spot to his son, Timothy, and will caddy for the 27-year-old first-time amateur participant.
Victor LoBue, 69, has played in the Classic for 40 years. His late father, also named Victor, played in the tournament 41 times (winning three times), with many of those years overlapping. An Indian Wells resident and a long-time Bob Hope Classic board member, the younger LoBue cherishes the family connections and the traditions built throughout his time being involved with the Classic.
He recalls playing with legends like Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Ray Floyd and Nick Price, among many other greats of the game. Perhaps the memory that stands out most for him was a remarkable shot made by one of his professional playing partners, who got up and down for par from the roof of the old clubhouse at La Quinta Country Club.
Three-time PGA TOUR winner Gary Hallberg was LoBue’s professional partner that day – sometime in the mid 1980s – and when Hallberg’s approach shot into the par-4 16th hole sailed long, it bounced high off a cart path and settled on the clubhouse roof, which at the time was not out of bounds. Hallberg climbed up on top of the building, chipped on and calmly sank his putt for par.
“It was a pretty incredible par,” LoBue said with a laugh. “These guys hit great shots all the time, but that one really stands out.”
Off the course, the fun doesn’t stop. Amateur players rave about the pairings party, the Friday night party during which the many celebrity players entertain and the various other social events that make the week of the Bob Hope Classic so memorable.
“It’s a whale of a night – great food and drink and some of the best music you could imagine from some of the top performers around,” Scott said of the Friday night party. “It’s become the highlight of the whole tournament for everybody.”
More exciting moments and memories are in store for golf fans at the 2011 Bob Hope Classic as Bill Haas seeks to defend his title. Practice rounds for the $5 million Classic will be conducted at all four courses Monday, Jan. 17 and Tuesday, Jan. 18. Tournament play begins Wednesday, Jan. 19 and concludes Sunday, Jan. 23 at the Palmer Private at PGA West.
The Classic’s website, www.bobhopeclassic.com, is one of many platforms by which fans can more easily gain information about, and purchase tickets for the 2011 Classic. Fans can follow pre-tournament and tournament-week action on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/BobHopeClassic) and on Twitter (@bobhopeclassic). Fans can catch up on Classic news, see exclusive celebrity photos and quotes, and enter a variety of contests for the chance to win Bob Hope Classic tickets and other tournament prizes.
In 51 years, the Classic has donated nearly $49 million to charities throughout the Coachella Valley. For more information, go to www.bobhopeclassic.com or call 1.888.MRBHOPE (672.4673).
Contact:
Toby Zwikel
(818) 462-5599
Pat Bennett
(760) 346-8184
