Look who’s coming to dinner!

The large white tents that line fairways and surround greens at

key locations on the golf course at Newport Beach Country Club for

the Toshiba Senior Classic are filled during tournament week by

sponsors, guests, schmoozers and hobnobbers.

Each of the corporate villas and hospitality skyboxes are catered

by the Hyatt Newporter and equipped to host extravagant affairs.

At a seminar for event sponsors earlier this week, tournament

director Jeff Purser pointed out some benefits to company

decision-makers about the investments they have made and how to get

the biggest bang out of their sponsorship bucks.

Among the ideas Purser suggested was hosting early-morning company

meetings in the tents, or perhaps a dinner party or business mixer

after the day’s golf rounds. Tournament officials will include lights

in the tent, upon request, while the shuttle service from the club to

the designated nearby parking lots continues until 7:30 p.m. each

night.

Purser added that if you wanted to invite a Champions Tour

professional to your tent for dinner, it could be arranged for the

right price. When asked what the going rate is for a pro to come to

your corporate villa and impress your guests and clients, Purser

started to say it would be different for each golfer. But then when I

asked about Lee Trevino, Purser said: “I’ll be honest with you.

You’re not going to get Lee Trevino out there to do that.”

Purser then added: “Then again, maybe if you’re Dave Stockton, and

if you have really good wine -- and we have a good (vintage) here --

maybe (the cost) is nothing. I’m sure there are guys who would do it

for 15 or 20 minutes and there might not be a cost -- depending on

how they played that day, of course. There are guys like Bruce

Fleisher and Gil Morgan who are just great guys ... I’ll go out and

recruit. I’ll do that for you.”

Toshiba week is March 17-24.

*

It should be an interesting challenge this year for players on the

former Senior PGA Tour to live up to the expectations as the newly

named PGA Champions Tour is ready for a full-force launch of its “Fan

Features” program in 2003.

Last year, the new fan-friendly initiatives were more difficult

for some than others. These are professional golfers asked to jump

through a few hoops and shine in public relations. They’re not all

cut out for the job.

The Toshiba Senior Classic last year enjoyed great success with

the Q & A session it held after the Saturday round with fans and Chi

Chi Rodriguez and Fuzzy Zoeller, who were miked up and sitting

together high on a scaffolding near the first tee.

This year, Purser announced that Gary McCord and John Jacobs will

entertain the crowd after the first round in a Q & A session with

fans, while Rodriguez and Zoeller will repeat their stage feat after

the second round.

*

While the Toshiba Classic has been pushed back on the tour

calendar to the middle of March instead of early in the month, the

threat of rain is always on Purser’s mind. After all, the tournament

only gets one shot every year, and weather seems to have played a

factor every year, either in the pro-am rounds or competitive play.

“We haven’t had good weather on Thursday in three years,” Purser

quipped, referring to the difficult scramble tournament officials

endured -- led by tournament co-chairman Jake Rohrer -- during

Thursday pro-am rounds.

The final round of the 2000 event was completely lost because of

inclement weather. Allen Doyle was declared the winner after 36

holes.

*

Katie Albright of Corona del Mar High fired a two-round 176 to

finish in the top five recently in the Shandin Hills Junior Shootout

on the Junior Amateur Golf Scholars Tour at the par-72 Shandin Hills

Golf Club in San Bernardino.

She is the daughter of seven-time defending Newport Beach Country

Club women’s club champion Debbie Albright, the 2001 Tea Cup Classic

champion.

*

Pelican Hill Golf Club plans to refurbish all 125 bunkers on its

two resort courses this winter, an effort that will enhance the

appearances of the bunkers while preserving the original Tom Fazio

design.

“Refurbishing bunkers is required during the lifetime of any golf

course. However, many courses fail to do so because of the cost and

loss of play,” Pelican Hill General Manager Hansjoerg Maissen said.

“These are two of the finest golf courses in the country and we will

continue to treat them as such.”