Families, pros and stars line the green

Danette Goulet

Only handfuls of spectators showed up for the Celebrity Pro-am in Newport

Beach on Monday, yet it was quite the family affair.

Whether they were there to watch the pros or to star gaze, the love of

the game was something the families shared.

Don Lavoie attended the event with his wife, Penny, who is an avid

golfer; and her mother, Martha Blackburn, who taught her daughter the

game.

“She’s the reason we started golfing,” said Penny Lavoie, pointing at her

mother.

“I started when I was 36 -- that was 40 years ago,” Blackburn said. “I

was fortunate enough to play in a woman’s pro-am years ago.”

Monday’s specialty round kicked off the Toshiba Senior Classic, with 21

teams made up of professional golfers, famous athletes and local

amateurs.

Although crowds are expected to number into the thousands by the weekend,

there was plenty of room in the stands at this first event. Several

groups of about a dozen people lined the golf course.

The Lavoie family trio sat at the first hole, enjoying the easy

camaraderie between the golfers and spectators that, they said, is only

found at senior tournaments.

“The first tee is exciting, because you can see the players interact with

people,” Don Lavoie said. “This is where most of the action is the first

day. Later in the week it follows the point leader.”

For 4-year-old Christopher Weinberger, the excitement was everywhere.

“I like it because there’s golfers and I like golf,” Christopher said. “I

play golf and [so do] my dad and my brother and my mother.”

His father, Robert Weinberger, who had picked up his son from school and

headed straight to the Newport Beach Country Club, brought the boy to his

first golf tournament.

“My favorite part is when you put the tee in and the ball on it and then

do it,” Christopher said.

Like the pint-size athlete, most of the spectators were golfers

themselves.

“You see some great golf being played, and you’re just burning inside

because you want to play yourself,” said Steve Csigi, who is in town for

two months visiting his daughter.

“You get a few tips here and there. I’ve been playing golf for 60 years.

It’s fun, real fun,” Csigi added.

If they weren’t watching the tournament with their families, they were

watching relatives at play.

Vikki Scott was out with two girlfriends to watch her celebrity husband,

Mike Scott, who used to pitch for the Houston Astros and in 1986 won a Cy

Young Award -- pro baseball’s top pitching honor.

“It’s just being out in the fresh air,” Vikki Scott said. “It’s fun

following people you know, or even staying at one hole and watching them

all come by.”