Golf: Pelican Hill says goodbye to Hyundai Matches

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT COAST - The Pacific Ocean backdrops with sailboats made for

great television “beauty shots” during the Hyundai Team Matches at

Pelican Hill Golf Club.

But the made-for-television event, which features teams from the PGA,

Senior PGA and LPGA tours and is shown live on ABC Sports, is not

returning this year to the Newport Coast resort course owned by the

Irvine Co.

Organizers of the December event in golf’s so-called silly season have

been informed by the Irvine Co. that their request to return to Pelican

Hill has been denied.

Terry Jastrow, an award-winning television producer and president of

the company that operates the event, was unavailable for comment

Thursday.

But Gary Pollard, tournament director of the Team Matches since the

event moved to Pelican Hill in 1999, said he doesn’t know where the golf

tournament will be played in December.

“We liked the experience at Pelican Hill,” said Pollard, who lives in

Newport Coast. “I’m a tournament director. I run golf tournaments. I

don’t choose where it’s going to be played ... I’d like to have the event

where it’s going to be well-received by the title sponsor, by the course

and by the television viewing audience.”Bobby Heath, Pelican Hill’s

Director of Golf, said the club will entertain offers from Gaylord Event

Television (formerly Jack Nicklaus Productions), which produces the

event, in the future. But this year’s schedule was too full and the club

wanted to go in another direction.

“They did want to have it here again this year,” Heath said of the

event producers, “but we just felt our golf course was filling up and we

had other events that time of year.”

One event, the Fazio Cup, will be played at Pelican Hill in November

on the West Coast for the first time. It is named after golf course

architect Tom Fazio, who designed both the Ocean South and Ocean North

courses at Pelican Hill.

The Diners Club Matches were played at Pelican Hill in December 1999,

then the event changed title sponsors in 2000.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus, who won the Senior PGA Tour portion of the

event with Tom Watson the last two years, was among the tournament

headliners.

A Hyundai official did not return a reporter’s phone call Thursday.

“As Bobby said, in looking at the calendar this year for what we

wanted to host and what we wanted to pass on, (the Hyundai Team Matches)

was one we didn’t feel we could do again this year,” Irvine Co. official

Jennifer Smith said. “We want to pursue similar opportunities and

continue going forward.”

Heath said the decision to pull the plug on the Team Matches had “more

to do with timing and strategic planning in terms of where the golf

course should go from here ... we had it for two years. It was a great

run. And we felt we accomplished some things, like exposure and

(television) air time. Maybe it’s just time to look at some other

things.”

The Palm Springs area is a likely candidate to host the event, which

was launched by Jastrow and Nicklaus at PGA West in La Quinta. The 2001

event is scheduled for Dec. 8-9, according to the PGA Tour.

As soon as last December’s event ended at Pelican Hill, there was wide

speculation that the Team Matches would move to another site. Pelican

Hill was criticized as unfriendly to spectators because of steep hills

and long walks throughout the layout, but Jastrow loved the location for

television.

On the golf course, however, the small galleries did nothing to

enhance the television viewer’s experience. Ticket sales for the event

were low from the beginning.

Organizers had hoped to draw 10,000 fans at Pelican Hill in December

for the three-day event (including a Friday pro-am), but they only got

about half that.

The decision to return to Pelican Hill following disappointing

attendance figures in 1999 was based largely on the idea of lower ticket

prices and an on-course shuttle to help fans get around the golf course.

But on-site signage for the shuttle service was confusing and fans

continued to struggle getting around the golf course, which is designed

for golf carts. In fact, anyone playing Pelican Hill is required to ride

in a cart.

On the final day of the 2000 event with blue skies overhead, heavy

drama played out on the Ocean North Course in the championship matches of

all three tours, capped by another victory for the Golden Bear. Two

matches extended the live telecast more than an hour.