On Golden Hahn

In seven days, Newport Beach Country Club head golf professional Paul Hahn will get his shot in the spotlight, on his home course, near his fondest admirers and well-wishers.

The members at NBCC, along with others gathered in the galleries, will get a chance to see Hahn, 50, tee off in the 10th annual Toshiba Senior Classic that begins March 19.

The former San Jose State golfer received a sponsor’s exemption from tournament director Jeff Purser to play in the Champions Tour event, a stage he knows quite well from being the head pro here since 1995.

Hahn isn’t trying to impress anybody, just go out and have a good time.

“I’m with the best and I’ll be nervous, are you kidding me?” Hahn said in February when he returned from a ski trip with his family to Sun Valley, Idaho.

Hahn turned 50 Feb. 11 and has been spending a bit more time on his own game of late in addition to the hours he puts into teaching.

The first few days he began practicing after returning from skiing was a bit painful.

“I hit a bucket of balls and my wrist hurt,” Hahn said. “Going from ski poles to a golf club is a different motion. It won’t take me long [to get reacquainted with golf].”

To prepare for the rigors of tournament golf, Hahn, along with colleague Bruce Cooper, competed in a three-day, stroke-play Southern California PGA section event at the PGA of Southern California Golf Club in Beaumont late last month.

Now comes a different test.

Hahn is not looking at the tournament as a chance to take the spotlight away from the professionals.

“It is going to be a tough gig, playing in front of the members, but aside from that, I am out to have fun,” he said. “I’m not out there to get a job on the senior tour. I want to enjoy this and look back on it as a great opportunity.”

Mesa Verde head pro Tom Sargent, who has played alongside Hahn during the Jones Cup, a one-day tournament that pits the men’s club champion from each of the four private clubs in Newport-Mesa with a member of that club’s golf staff, was very candid when discussing Hahn’s upcoming rounds and also realizes the differences between a tour player and club professional.

“I hope he doesn’t throw up on himself,” Sargent said. “He’ll have fun.

“It is hard for a club pro to compete with those guys when you have a real job like Paul.”

Each golfer plays all three rounds and there is no cut, meaning Hahn will get the chance to crack jokes with a variety of tour players and experience tour golf, at least for three days.

Hahn has seen greats walk the NBCC fairways before. Now, he’ll get to be part of the parade.

“The circus is coming to town,” Hahn said.

FOR THE RECORD
Bruce Hooper, an assistant pro at Newport Beach Country Club, was the colleague Paul Hahn played with at the SCGA golf course in Beaumont.
Hooper was misidentified in Friday’s edition.