Jerry Stewart Media

Del Monte Golf Course Tests First Tee Open Field

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:53:02 +0000

She can be had, but she isn’t a pushover either.

While both two-time defending champion Jeff Sluman and Tom Lehman carded 65’s there last year and D.A. Weibring shot a tournament record 64 in 2006, historic Del Monte Golf Course, which is the other course at this weekend’s Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, can still leave players’ scratching their heads.

In the 2009 First Tee Open, only 26 of the 78 Champions Tour professionals shot rounds below 70 on the par-72 layout. Overall, the stroke average last year at Del Monte, which first opened in 1897, was 70.667.

Not too bad for a course that’s over a century old and plays to what could be described as an appetizingly flat 6,357 yards, making it the shortest course used on the Senior circuit.

“The danger at Del Monte is overestimation,” said 2005 First Tee Open winner Hale Irwin. “You look at the course and you think you can overpower it. Thing is, it’s a tricky little course that requires finesse.”

For the pros in this week’s First Tee Open, one of the factors at Del Monte is the learning curve. Many of them just aren’t that familiar with the course.

On the course, pitfalls include bantam greens featuring subtle slopes and a gaggle of bunkers to protect the greens. There are also potential card-wrecking holes No.7 and No.14.

Last year, the par-4 7th (379 yards) gave up only seven birdies and played to a stroke average of 4.192, while the par-3 14^th, which plays to a lengthy 218 yards, allowed only two birdies while playing to a stroke average of 3.205.

“It’s tight and then there are the small but sloped greens,” said Monterey Peninsula native Bobby Clampett, who used to play Del Monte while competing in the annual Monterey City Amateur back in the late 1970’s. “You have to be able to control the spin on your wedges. It’s a fun little golf course.”

“It’s pretty well bunkered and goes up and down and the par-3’s are tough,” 2006 First Tee Open champ Scott Simpson said. “It’s a course you want to make birdies on, but sometimes it can be frustrating.”

If Charles E. Maud, who is credited with designing Del Monte was still around, he’d probably say that’s exactly how he intended it to play.

Monterey Native Mina Harigae Has Another Solid Week on LPGA

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:32:00 +0000

Monterey native Mina Harigae had another solid showing on the LPGA Tour, finishing tied for 24th at last weekend’s CN Canadian Women’s Open. A week ago at the Safeway Classic, the former Stevenson star finished T-8. The back-to-back finishes have pushed Harigae to No.70 on the money list.

Tom Watson, Sandy Tatum Honored at NCPGA Foundation’s ‘The Langley’

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:31:06 +0000

Tom Watson and golf icon Sandy Tatum were honored earlier this week at ‘The Langley: A Tribute to Legends” held at Spanish Bay. ‘The Langley’ helps support the NCPGA Foundation, which is dedicated to enriching the lives and communities of people in Northern California and Northwestern Nevada through golf. Programs include Saving Strokes, which uses golf as a rehabilitative tool for people who have had strokes and junior programs that support youth who may not afford the opportunity to play the game.

“It’s gratifying to be a part of that effort and it’s satisfying to be able to support the worthwhile endeavors of the NCPGA and all their beneficiaries,” Watson said.

In its third year, ‘The Langley’ is named after former longtime Cypress Point Club head pro Jim Langley. Previous honorees include Arnold Palmer and Ken Venturi.

Trends Already Abound at First Tee Open

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:30:07 +0000

While its only in its seventh year, there’s already some trends when it comes to The First Tee Open.

For starters, three of the five different winners of The First Tee Open won in their first tournament appearance. In addition to Craig Stadler, the inaugural 2004 winner, both Scott Simpson (2006) and Jeff Sluman (2008) won their First Tee Open debuts.

In another trend, being the first round leader doesn’t mean much.

In the six-year history of the event, only two first round leaders (Hale Irwin and Jeff Sluman) have gone on to win. Irwin opened with a 6-under 66 at Del Monte in 2005 and Sluman opened with a 7-under 65 at Del Monte last year. Second round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the event four of the six previous years, and the event has never had a wire-to-wire winner.

Finally, every winner of the tournament has carded a final round of 68 or better at Pebble Beach. Sluman is the only player to win with a round over par. Last year, Sluman shot a second round 1-over 73 at Pebble.

Free Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open Set to Tee Off

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:29:16 +0000

What will be a first-time ever admission free Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open at Pebble Beach week kicks off Thursday with the annual Coca-Cola Champions Challenge.

The Challenge, a five-hole competition featuring six Champions Tour players paired with six junior golfers from six different Chapters of The First Tee, tees off tomorrow at 3 p.m. on hole No.1 at Pebble Beach Golf Links, site of the 2010 U.S. Open.

Two weeks ago, the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the group that runs the First Tee Open, announced that admission to this year’s tournament will for the first time be free of charge. The three-day tournament, which features legends of the Champions Tour competing side-by-side with some of the best junior players in the country, will be played Friday and Saturday at Del Monte GC and Pebble Beach with the final round to be held Sunday at Pebble Beach.

“We want to encourage the local community to come out to Pebble Beach and watch some amazing golf,” said Monterey Peninsula Foundation President Steve Worthy. “The Champions Tour players really embrace this tournament and the exceptional young people who make up junior field are inspiring. We hope locals will take advantage of this unique opportunity.”

In the pre-tourney Challenge, six pros team up with six juniors in an alternate shot competition for $40,000 that is donated to designated The First Tee Chapters over Pebble’s old ‘Whiskey Route’ (holes 1,2,3,17 and 18).

Pros slated to compete in the Challenge include two-time defending First Tee Open champ Jeff Sluman, former winners Hale Irwin and Scott Simpson, 5-time AT&T Pro-Am winner Mark O’Meara, John Cook and Champions Tour rookie Mark Calcavecchia.

The First Tee members who will team up with the pros, respectively, include John Louie of Salinas, Cody Tyalor of The First Tee of Dallas, Natalie Bodnar of The First Tee of Tri-Valley, Emily Gilbreth of The First Tee of Houston, Spencer Jones of The First Tee of Cleveland County and Stephanie Carlozzi of The First Tee of Naples/Collier.

While being admission free all week, this year’s First Tee Open also features a new sponsor.

The National Association for Home Care (NAHC) is a non-profit organization that represents the nation’s 25,000 homecare and hospice organizations. NAHC also advocates for the more than two million nurses, therapists, aides and other caregivers employed by such organizations to provide in-home services to some 10 million Americans each year who are infirm, chronically ill, disabled and dying. For more info, please visit www.nahc.org and www.caring.org.

First Tee Open Field Continues to Take Shape

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:32:29 +0000

The field for next week’s Champions Tour Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open at Pebble Beach continues to take shape.

Among those joining the 78-man professional field within the last week include 2010 Senior PGA Championship winner Tom Lehman and 2008 winning Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger. Also getting in via sponsor’s exemptions were eight-time PGA Tour winner Jerry Pate and 1988 Masters champ Sandy Lyle.

Lehman, who finished tied for 14^th at this year’s British Open, was in the hunt at the recent Jeld-Wen Tradition prior to a final round 73.

Azinger, a former AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am winner who’ll be making his First Tee Open debut, has released a book, ‘Cracking the Code’, that details the strategies used for the 2008 Ryder Cup.

The quartet will join fellow Champions Tour members Fred Couples, Tom Kite, Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and two-time defending champion Jeff Sluman, among others, for the three-day tournament (Sept. 3-5) at Del Monte Golf Course and 2010 U.S. Open host Pebble Beach Golf Links.

One of the most unique golf events on the tour, the First Tee Open features 78 pros playing side-by-side with 78 of the best juniors in the nation. Play both Friday and Saturday will be held at both Del Monte and Pebble Beach, with Sunday’s final round to be held at Pebble. For the first time, admission to the event is free this year.

The tournament showcases The First Tee, an initiative of the World Golf Foundation which provides young people of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop life-enhancing values through golf and character education

Fred Funk Arrives at Pebble Beach In Style Again

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:31:43 +0000

Fred Funk, who’s also set to play in The First Tee Open, may want to play Pebble Beach often as he can.

The First Tee Open will mark the fourth straight time that Funk will arrive at Pebble as the current defending champion of a major. In 2008, he came to The First Tee Open as the Jeld-Wen champ. In 2009, he arrived at the FTO as the U.S. Senior Open champ. This year, he played the U.S. Open at Pebble as U.S. Senior Open champ and he recently again won the Jeld-Wen.

The only player on either tour who can match/better Funk’s arriving at Pebble as a major champ streak is Tiger Woods (2000-2003).

Carmel Valley’s Ron Read Helped Facilitate Chambers Bay

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:30:47 +0000

As the site of the U.S. Amateur, Chambers Bay in Washington is garnering a lot of national attention this week.

It was Carmel Valley resident and longtime USGA staffer Ron Read who helped facilitate the course’s arrival into the spotlight.

Read, the USGA’s director of regional affairs for the West Region, coordinated a joint USGA visit to Chambers Bay in 2006 following previous solo trips to the seaside gem.

“I’ve been out and about traveling the West for the USGA for years. It’s always been clear to me that the Northwest would be a great championship site. We already saw that work with the U.S. Women‘s Open at Pumpkin Ridge,” Read said. “Robert Trent Jones II (architect of Chambers Bay) called me and said, ‘I think I have something you’d be interested in. So I raced up there. When I saw it I thought, ‘This really has great potential. It has the architect and the size. It was easy to see that you could build the infrastructure for a major event.”

Following his solo visit, Read returned with among others USGA senior director of rules and competition Mike Davis, USGA executive director David Fay and USGA president Jim Hyler. The team visit resulted in as Read put it, “Instant agreement that this was a special place.”

As for just how special, along with this week’s U.S. Amateur, Chambers Bay has also already been selected to host the 2015 U.S. Open.

“The possibilities for Chambers Bay are endless,” said Read, who‘s attending this week‘s U.S. Amateur. “In 2015, we’ll probably have the biggest U.S. Open crowd ever.”

Monterey’s Mina Harigae Has Best Finish Yet on LPGA Tour

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:29:31 +0000

Monterey native Mina Harigae had her best finish on the LPGA Tour yet, finishing in a tie for 8^th at last weekend’s Safeway Classic at Pumpkin Ridge. Coming into the Classic, Harigae had earned just over $15,000 overall and had never finished higher than a tie for 55^th. Thanks to a Sunday low 66, she’d come in at 5-under 211 (69, 76, 66), earning $32,455. The finish helped push Harigae to No.82 on the LPGA money list. The top 80 players on the money list at the end of the year will have top priority to enter events in 2011.

“It’s just a whole confidence thing,” Harigae told the Portland Tribune.

Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open Offering Free Admission

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:01:13 +0000

Attending this year’s Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open at Pebble Beach will just be a matter of getting there.

On Tuesday, the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the group that runs the Champions Tour event, announced that admission to this year’s seventh annual First Tee Open will for the first time be free of charge. The tournament, which features legends of the Champions Tour competing side-by-side with some of the best junior players in the country, is scheduled for the week of August 31-Sept.5 at Del Monte Golf Course and Pebble Beach Golf Links, site of the 2010 U.S. Open.

The free admission, which is the result of sponsorship money, continues a recent trend on the Champions Tour. Earlier this month, the 3M Championship in Minnesota for the second straight year offered free admission. It was also recently announced that this year’s Senior Player’s Championship, to be held at TPC Potomac outside Washington, D.C. and the season’s last major, will also offer free admission.

“The 3M Championship got a great response so we decided to do the same thing as well,” said Monterey Peninsula Foundation CEO Ollie Nutt.

Among the Champions Tour players who have already confirmed for the tournament include two-time defending champ Jeff Sluman, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, Fred Funk, Hale Irwin, Mark O’Meara and Fuzzy Zoeller.

Among the 78 juniors competing will be local The First Tee of Monterey County members Caroline Belmont, Ian Contreras, John Louie, Drew Nelson and Kyle John.

“The opportunity these young people will receive by participating in the tournament will be something they remember for life,” said The First Tee CEO Joe Louis Barrow, Jr. “The participants selected have proven themselves on the golf course and through demonstrating their understanding of The First Tee Nine Core Values and life skills they have learned at their Chapters. It is an honor for them to participate, and we thank Home Care and Hospice for their involvement in this year’s event.”