Toshiba Senior Classic: Field of dreams

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - It’s a fan-friendly, loosey-goosey sort of pro-am

golf tournament, a hit-and-giggle event that represents opening day of

the Toshiba Senior Classic, Orange County’s only PGA event.

As members of the Senior PGA Tour begin to stroll into town today and

inspect the golf course at Newport Beach Country Club, greenside fans and

gallery folk will enjoy an up-close and personal perspective of the

celebrities and senior tour golfers playing in the Celebrity Pro-Am. A

shotgun start is scheduled for 12:45 p.m.

While amateurs play with celebrities and senior tour pros, today’s event

typically marks the best opportunity for fans to see and talk to some of

the highlighted guests.

February 25, 2000 Gene Littler, at 69 the second-oldest player in this

week’s Toshiba field behind 70-year-old legend Arnold Palmer (who arrives

later in the week), is among the senior tour pros in today’s pro-am.

Butch Baird and stogie-smoking Walter Morgan are also in the field.

With the Orangewood Children’s Home, represented by former Angel third

baseman Doug DeCinces, and the Deacon Jones Foundation as the primary

beneficiaries of today’s pro-am, fans can also expect to see former major

league baseball players and NFL football stars.

Jones, part of the Rams’ Fearsome Foursome and a member of the Pro

Football Hall of Fame, will make Newport Beach look more like Canton,

Ohio.

Last year, Junior Seau of the San Diego Chargers played in the pro-am,

while Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman played two years ago when local

sports agent Leigh Steinberg was affiliated with the Celebrity Pro-Am on

the Monday of Toshiba week.

Jones, DeCinces, Ann Meyers Drysdale and former major league pitcher Jim

Abbott are the confirmed celebrities in today’s pro-am, tournament

publicist Chris Premer said.

“The Monday Celebrity Pro-Am is a little more loose (than the Toshiba

Senior Classic Pro-Ams on Wednesday and Thursday),” Toshiba Classic

tournament director Jeff Purser said.

Today’s event kicks off a week of activities, capped by the Senior PGA

Tour competition Friday through Sunday with live coverage by ESPN and

$1.3 million at stake.

“(Today) is probably by far the best in terms of people hanging loose and

seeing celebrities and seeing the pros play with the amateurs,” Newport

Beach Country Club head professional Paul Hahn said. “It’s a little

looser. (Amateurs) who come in Wednesday and Thursday, who play in the

two-day pro-am, are a little more serious.

“That’s not to say fans can’t come out and watch on Wednesday and

Thursday and be a part of it. But the amateurs that elect to play in

those pro-ams seem to be a little more serious. They want to play well.

There’s not a lot of horsing around type stuff, like they do at the AT&T;

(National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach).”

Abbott, a Newport Beach Country Club member and Corona del Mar resident,

has been taking golf lessons from Hahn since January.

Abbott, whose baseball career is apparently over, played for the

Milwaukee Brewers last season and Chicago White Sox in 1998, after making

a comeback.

His best year came with the Angels in 1991, when he posted an 18-11

record with a 2.89 earned-run average in 243 innings, after the Angels

selected him No. 1 in the June 1988 draft out of the University of

Michigan.

The Golden Spikes Award winner and former U.S. Olympian went straight to

the majors in 1989. Abbott was born without a right hand, well-chronicled

in his career.

But, just as Abbott was so efficient transferring the baseball and glove

with his left hand and fielding his position on the mound, he swings a

golf club extremely well, Hahn said.

Abbott, who plays to a 14 handicap, pitched a no-hitter for the New York

Yankees on Sept. 4, 1993, against Cleveland.

The Angels traded their fans’ beloved hero to New York on Dec. 6, 1992,

then got him back in a trade with the White Sox in July 1995. But Abbott never regained his ’91 form and retired shortly thereafter, before making

a comeback.

After today’s pro-am, Toshiba week continues Tuesday with a Community

Breakfast presented by Deloitte & Touche at 7:30 a.m. at the Newport

Beach Marriott. Defending Toshiba Classic champion Gary McCord is the

featured speaker.

Further, the annual Toshiba Classic Junior Clinic will be Tuesday at 4

p.m. at the driving range, hosted by a senior tour player.

This year will include a special performance by Dennis Walters, a

handicapped golfer who has risen to prominence through several national

television appearances, utilizing a custom golf cart to perform trick

shots.

Walters’ inspiration message about overcoming adversity will be shared

with dozens of youngsters. The Junior Clinic is free and lunch is

provided by the tournament.

The Toshiba Classic Pro-Am is Wednesday and Thursday, then the first

round of the senior tour competition is Friday, followed by play on

Saturday and Sunday.