Golf: Things heating up for Hyundai Matches

Richard Dunn

With better luxury accommodations, improved shuttle transportation

for the gallery and lower ticket prices, organizers of the Hyundai Team

Matches are anticipating a huge attendance increase this weekend at

Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Coast.

Last year, when the made-for-television event was played here for the

first time, following its original years at PGA West in La Quinta and a

one-year hiatus in 1998, the Diners Club Matches played to generally

positive reviews as sunny weather blanketed the coast and Irvine Co.

executives celebrated.

But attendance, according to tournament director Gary Pollard, was at

least 50% lower last year than what was expected.

Pelican Hill looked good on television with the camera shots from a

blimp, but the sparse galleries were a sore spot. Changes were promised

and ultimately made.

In 1999, an estimated 3,500 fans attended on Saturday and 5,500 on

Sunday, Pollard said. But this weekend’s Hyundai Team Matches should blow

those crowd figures out of the Pacific Ocean.

In fact, ticket sales are so “brisk,” Pollard said, that his office

has stopped selling advanced tickets, referring people to Ticketmaster,

instead.

“I don’t know what the numbers are (for advanced ticket sales). You’ll

have to call Ticketmaster,” Pollard said. “But, here in our (Pelican

Hill) office, the phones are ringing off the hook.”

With p.r. spins coming from different angles, it’s clear the event

will have a changed appearance, with the 24 pros playing only the Ocean

North course. Last year, it was held over 14 holes on the Ocean North and

the final four holes on the Ocean South, which forced spectators to make

a long walk from the 14th to the 15th hole.

A shuttle service will also be set up to help galleries get around the

hilly layout.

Furthermore, among the complaints from paying customers last year was

the no access sign at the Pelican Hill Clubhouse Grill and Bar, which was

closed to the public.

This weekend, the doors will be open. For a price. The facility is

available to fans at $45 (for the pro-am Friday), $55 (Saturday) and $60

(Sunday), a cost that does not include food and beverages. It’s a hefty

cover charge, indeed, but that’s what this affluent marketplace demands,

Pollard said.

“It gets you where you want to be, where some people insisted they

wanted to be,” said Pollard, hired to operate the event by the company

formerly known as Jack Nicklaus Productions, now Gaylord Entertainment.

Ticket prices have also been reduced, with single-day passes on the

weekend dropping from $65 to $35 and three-day badges going from $125 to

$65.

Pelican Hill, the high-end daily fee resort facility with two golf

courses, agreed to a one-year contract with Gaylord Entertainment for the

2000 event, which will be shown live on ABC from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday. The Irvine Co. owns Pelican Hill.

Hyundai replaced Diners Club, the original title sponsor, in August.

The Korean car maker is based in Fountain Valley.

The event features four two-player teams from each of the three major

tours competing in three separate tournaments, a total of 24 pros from

the PGA Tour, Senior PGA Tour and LPGA Tour. They will also play in the

Friday Pro-Am.

Defending Senior Tour champions Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson are the

event’s top headliners, while Annika Sorenstam, with partner Lori Kane,

and defending champions Juli Inkster and Dottie Pepper are the ladies’

marquee names. Fred Couples, Tom Lehman and Phil Mickelson head the PGA

Tour list. For tickets, call Ticketmaster at (877) 484-3014.

In the second annual Holiday Invitational Pro-Am Dec. 21 at Newport

Beach Golf Course, tournament director Keith Wyrick, also the

course-record holder at the executive course with a 49, has invited two

dozen senior golf pros to play in the small event that benefits a boy and

a girl with cystic fibrosis.

But Wyrick doesn’t think any of the pros will break his course record

of 10-under-par.

“I’ll put the pins in places where they can’t beat my record,” said

the affable Wyrick, a longtime starter at Newport Beach Golf Course.

Ray Carrasco, an Irvine pro who plays on the European Senior PGA Tour,

has committed to play in the event, Wyrick said. Carrasco has played in

the Toshiba Senior Classic the last four years, the Senior PGA Tour stop

at Newport Beach Country Club.

Hank Woodrome (Fullerton Golf Course), the Southern California PGA

Senior Player of the Year and money leader in 2000, will also tee it up.

In the fund-raiser, golfers will play their own ball on holes one

through six, then play alternate shot on holes seven through 12 and a

scramble on 13 through 18.

To make it more confusing, it’s a shotgun start. Players will need to

adjust accordingly depending on which hole they begin. The tournament’s

great fun and Wyrick always keeps things hopping.

The 2000 Dennis Paulson Junior Invitational Championship, a 36-hole

event with no cut, is Dec. 27-28 at Cypress Golf Club in Los Alamitos.

The event, operated by Junior Amateur Golf Scholars, requires a $125

registration for greens fees, range balls, lunch and awards.

Entries are open to all junior golfers between 13 and 18. Players may

be 18 if attending high school.

Membership in JAGS or 3.0 grade-point average is not required to play

in the invitational. However, JAGS members are given priority status.

Details: (714) 952-3316.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.