Golf: Toshiba Classic a social scene?

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - It isn’t only about golf.

For some in the gallery today through Sunday at the Toshiba Senior

Classic at Newport Beach Country Club, watching golf is the last thing on

their minds.

“What’s nice about this site is that it seems to be a social thing to

do,” Senior PGA Tour veteran Al Geiberger said Thursday.

“There’s not a lot of housing developments here on the golf course and

it’s easy access (for fans) to get around. You can go across the course

and walk across at least six fairways.”

Geiberger, who played the course in the 1950s when it was called

Irvine Coast Country Club, said playing at Newport Beach is a nice change

of pace from the newer courses with housing developments.

“I think (the Senior Tour) is lucky to have this site,” Geiberger

added. “Socially, people like to come out to it.”

Geiberger said the Newport crowd is a good mix of devoted golfers and

general socialites. He said the fan-friendly layout is ideal for a golf

tournament.

“It’s nothing like we played (Thursday) at Strawberry Farms (in the

Georgia-Pacific Super Seniors Pro-Am), or Pelican Hill,” Geiberger said.

“You can’t put a tournament there (at Pelican Hill). I guess it worked

for television (for the Hyundai Team Matches in December), but that’s

about it.”

According to Jeff Purser, Toshiba Senior Classic tournament director,

the event will “most likely” move next year to Week 10 on the calendar, a

week later than the past three years, including this year, when the

Senior Tour event occupied Week 9.

Senior Tour pro Ed Dougherty made a hole-in-one Thursday in the

Toshiba Classic Pro-Am on the par-3 hole No. 4. Amateurs Jim Morris, Mac

Nease, Jim Rice and Don Portell witnessed the ace.

No player has finished second at the Toshiba Classic more than once.

In fact, the only Toshiba reigning champion to finish in the top 10

the following year was inaugural winner George Archer, who went on to

finish tied for sixth in 1996.

Don’t be alarmed by noticing the heightened police presence at this

weekend’s Toshiba Senior Classic. The tournament isn’t buffeting itself

for a crime wave, it’s merely expanding its charitable platform.

Security at this year’s event will be handled by the Explorer Scouts

of Orange County, a group of youngsters age 14 to 21 who volunteer their

time with local police departments.

The Explorer Scouts provide support at special events throughout the

county and earn donations toward the program in exchange for their

efforts.

The Explorers will receive a major five-figure donation for a week’s

work at the Toshiba Classic, considered the “biggest donation to the

Explorer Scouts from a single event that I can remember,” said Newport

Beach Police Department Sergeant Trent Harris, who has served as the

city’s Explorer advisor for 18 years.

Harris will join Costa Mesa Police Department Sergeant Dave Walker

(the city’s Explorer advisor) in leading the effort at the tournament.

About 100 Explorers are expected to contribute during the week.