Golf: A unique breed on the Senior Tour

Richard Dunn

On Friday, Ben Crenshaw will turn 50 and become a rookie on the

Senior PGA Tour this year along with Fuzzy Zoeller, Tom Purtzer and Wayne

Levi.

But Crenshaw, the 1995 Masters champion, isn’t like most golfers in

the 50-and-over crowd.

While Crenshaw is thrilled with the opportunity to extend his career

and play for million-dollar purses on the senior circuit, his priorities

are still with young kids at home.

Instead of dealing with weddings and grandchildren, like many on the

Senior Tour, Crenshaw, who didn’t become a father until age 35, will have

to juggle golf and school plays.

“I suppose the only way I’m different than a lot of fellas when they

hit the Senior Tour is that their families are out of the house,”

Crenshaw said Wednesday in a national conference call. “It’s you and your

wife and you’re able to travel and you’re able to play a lot of golf.”

Crenshaw will make his Senior Tour debut at the first full-field

event, the Royal Caribbean Classic, Feb. 1 at Key Biscayne, Fla. He has

also committed to the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country

Club March 4-10.

After stepping away from the PGA Tour the last few years, Crenshaw is

ready to devote himself to golf on a full-time basis, while still

focusing on a young family.

“I’d like to play every (tournament this year),” said Crenshaw, who,

like Zoeller, Purtzer and Levi, is exempt based on all-time earnings

(over $7 million).

“Because I’ve been away from it for so long, I really think that what

happens is that, you know, you feel like the kid in a candy store. You

want to just have fun at this stage and you want to play good golf, no

question, but what I have to balance is my family.

“I’ve got three young daughters that are really going to be tugging at

my heart. My gosh, they are 14 (Katherine), 10 (Claire) and almost four

(Anna). So I’m in a little different situation.”

Crenshaw has played the golf course at Newport Beach “several times,”

according to club president Jerry Anderson.

Nick Sherman of Newport Beach shot 80-76--156 and finished tied for

third in the season-opening Junior Amateur Golf Scholars Tour New Year

event last week at Green River Golf Club in Corona.

Zack Rabonvich (Newport Coast), Ben Tilsen (Corona del Mar) and Peter

Wilday (CdM) also competed.

The JAGS Tour, a year-round tour for boys and girls 13-18, specializes

in 36-hole tournaments with no cuts for players who maintain a ‘B’

average in school. Details: (562) 493-8416 or (714) 952-3316.

In one of the final Southern California PGA events of 2001, Mesa Verde

Country Club cleaned up by finishing tied for first in the Metropolitan

Chapter Pro-Peddler at Coto de Caza in early December.

The event featured a “peddler,” or golf manufacturer representative,

in each group.

In the scramble format, Mesa Verde assistant professionals Jeremy

Clevenger, Geoff Cochrane and Jason Amorde (along with Lakewood pro David

Stephens) teamed with amateur Chris Beck of Cleveland Golf to card a 55.

The pros won $225 each.

On Monday, Clevenger, Amorde and Mesa Verde head pro Tom Sargent will

play in the year’s first SCPGA event at Dove Canyon.

Cochrane has been hired at Santa Ana Country Club as a first assistant

under Director of Golf Mike Reehl.

Staff members at Mesa Verde are operating comfortably these days in

their temporary trailer facility at the driving range, while the club

undergoes a yearlong, $7-million face lift.

Mesa Verde’s original clubhouse was built in 1959.

The architectural firm hired to complete the project, Colorado-based

Marsh & Associates, is the same company that designed the clubhouse and

locker room facilities at The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe.

“It’s a hot new club ... and I understand (the clubhouse) is very

elaborate. It’s $250,000 to join (The Bridges),” Sargent said.

The Mesa Verde remodeling project, scheduled to be completed in

December 2002, will encompass the locker rooms, dining and bar areas and

pro shop. “It’s going to be pretty nice,” Sargent added.

The United States Golf Association has been in contact with Mesa Verde

about hosting a U.S. championship in the future.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.