Golf: Ready for Toshiba Classic fashion show?

Richard Dunn

Ask tournament director Jeff Purser about a recent Sports

Illustrated poll that ranked the Toshiba Senior Classic as the fifth-best

stop on the Senior PGA Tour and, if you know Purser, you won’t be

surprised at his response.

“It upset me, because No. 5 was too low,” said Purser, who turned

around the event at Newport Beach Country Club after the Hoag Hospital

Foundation, the managing operator, hired him six months before the 1998

event.

In four years under Purser’s direction, the tournament has raised over

$3.4 million, while achieving myriad charitable milestones, such as

becoming the first event to reach $1 million in a single year.

The Sports Illustrated Top-10 list of the best stops on the Senior

Tour (out of 38 official money events) ranked the Bruno’s Memorial

Classic at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., as No. 1.

According to SI: “After the Talladega 500, the Bruno’s Memorial is the

city’s biggest annual sports event now that the Alabama-Auburn football

game has left town. Huge crowds, endless perks, heavy media coverage.”

While the Toshiba Classic is ranked ahead of two major championships

(the Ford Senior Players Championship and the Countrywide Tradition), the

article suggested that the No. 2-ranked 3M Championship outside

Minneapolis was the tour’s top charitable tournament.

The Toshiba Classic, however, is the only Senior Tour event to donate

more than $1 million to charity in back-to-back years (2000-01).

In addition to being the most philanthropic stop on tour, the Toshiba

Classic features an ideal seniors golf course, great hotels and

restaurants, easy airport access and the royal treatment at every corner

from the dedicated Hoag staff and volunteers.

Furthermore, the action on the greens has been unmatched with three

playoffs in five years, including two nine-hole sudden-death playoffs.

After its No. 5 ranking, the SI article said: “Players say, only

half-facetiously, that they need a top-five finish to cover their wives’

shopping at nearby Fashion Island Mall.”

Quipped Purser: “Fashion Island is a wonderful place, but it’s not the

reason people come out here. Players come here because they like the golf

course, the surroundings and the services we provide. They’re well taken

care of because of this tournament staff. We do everything right for

them, absolutely everything right, and I’m proud of it. But (a No. 5

ranking) upset me ... I’m competitive. I always want to be No. 1. If they

do it again, they better have us at No. 1.”

Once tainted by lawsuits, a bankruptcy, a public controversy over a

$25,000 food and beverage invoice and no money for charity, the Toshiba

Classic was become the envy of the Senior Tour.

For information or tickets: (949) 660-1001.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.