Toshiba beckons Newport’s Hahn

BRYCE ALDERTON

In a sense, Newport Beach Country Club head golf professional Paul

Hahn will get to live out a dream he had when he was in his early

teens: play in a professional tour event.

Though he won’t be swinging alongside Tiger Woods or Ernie Els,

Hahn will compete against the best the senior tour has to offer.

Hahn received a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Toshiba Senior

Classic March 15-21, held at his home course. Hahn turns 50 February

11, making him eligible for the Champions Tour event.

Hahn, the head pro at NBCC since 1995 -- the year the first

Toshiba Senior Classic was held at Costa Mesa’s Mesa Verde Country

Club -- has seen the event evolve from one that had the reputation of

not attracting top players to one that now boasts a prominent field

of 78, one he eagerly will be a part of.

“All I did as a kid was golf, it was my passion,” Hahn said. “I’m

not a tour-quality player by any means. Playing golf in this arena is

totally different than anything I’ve ever done.”

And on a larger scale than anything he has done, golf-wise.

“Hopefully, it will be fun for his family and for the members,”

said tournament director Jeff Purser, who gave Hahn one of two

sponsor’s exemptions.

“I hope he has some fun with it and hope he plays well,” Purser

said. “This should be a great lifetime experience for him.”

Hahn attended San Jose State University on a golf scholarship, but

separated his shoulder in his junior year.

“That set me back a little bit and my game never got back to the

point where I felt I could play with better players,” Hahn said.

Well, now Hahn will get that chance come March.

“A lot of the guys [from junior golf ] went to the tour and senior

tour,” Hahn said. “They elected to go one way and I another. I love

what I do. I get to interact with the members and I love teaching.

Being a tour player is not something I see myself doing.”

Hahn is taking a laid-back approach to the tournament.

He also knows he is lucky.

“Not having to qualify for this is huge,” Hahn said. “To be able

to tee it up is anybody’s dream.”

He knows the golf course is a different realm than the range.

“I need to get golf course smart again,” Hahn said. “I don’t play

much golf anymore so I need to get accustomed to being on the course,

hitting different shots and get the feel of the swing on the course.

You can’t be out there afraid to hit it crooked. You’ve got to have

enough confidence to go out and play.”

Most of Hahn’s time will be spent refining his chipping and

putting.

“I’ve been a good iron player off the tee, so I need to make putts

and chips when needed,” he said. “If that doesn’t work, I’ll find a

swing for four hours at a time. That is all I need.”

Hahn has also been busy at home since Sept. 2, when wife Marlene

gave birth to their first child, daughter Hailey Marie.

“I’m going to have fun and not take myself seriously,” Hahn said.

“It wouldn’t be fun to grind over putts and agonize over bad shots.

Those things are going to happen.”