Toshiba Senior Classic sets Senior PGA Tour charitable record

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH -- Despite the cancellation of the final round on Sunday of

the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club, Hoag Hospital,

the operating charity of the event, came out a huge winner.

Charitable proceeds from this year’s Senior PGA Tour event eclipsed the

$1-million mark, tournament officials announced, as the sixth annual

event shattered the tour record for the largest donation in a single

year.

“Even this weather could not put a damper on the charitable mission of

the Toshiba Senior Classic,” said tournament co-chairman Jake Rohrer, a

longtime Hoag volunteer.

The Toshiba Classic, which became the first tournament in the 21-year

history of the Senior PGA Tour to surpass $1 million in charitable

contributions, topped the previous senior tour record of $938,000 set

last year by the Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic, played at Bunker Hills

Golf Club in Coon Rapids, Minn., outside Minneapolis.

“If we had good weather, I think we really would’ve set the bar high for

the future,” added Rohrer, who was largely responsible for operating the

hospital’s mini-tour event, the Newport Classic Pro-Am, for several

years, before the Senior PGA Tour invited Hoag to take over the

then-struggling Toshiba event in May 1997.

“We are ecstatic to announce that we have made a million dollars for

charity,” Toshiba co-chairman Hank Adler said.

The funds will go toward supporting the hospital’s special centers,

including Orthopedic Services, Women’s Services, the Hoag Heart Institute

and the Hoag Cancer Center.

After postcard-type weather, most of the week, for the pro-ams and a

first-round tournament-record crowd on Friday (an estimated 15,000) --

mainly because of the Newport Beach debut of Arnold Palmer -- the event

had a less-than-ideal turnout on Saturday because of rain and Sunday’s

final round was canceled because of heavy rain in the morning and gusts

up to 39 knots.

But the event turned a large profit because of corporate sponsorships and

pro-ams rounds.

“Our sponsors have supported us for three years in a manner that is

unparalleled on tour,” tournament director Jeff Purser said on Sunday.

“We will recognize this support with some type of gesture, not yet

determined, to show our appreciation of their continued support.”

In three years, since Hoag Hospital has been the Toshiba Classic’s

operating charity, the event has raised more than $2.5 million.