One last round for Rohrer

S.J. CAHN

One big piece of news Monday kicked off the Toshiba Senior Classic.

Jake Rohrer, who has been a co-chairman of the annual PGA

Champions Tour event for eight years, is retiring after this year’s

event, ending 25 years of involvement in charitable golf tournaments

benefiting Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

His work stretches back to the old Crosby Southern Pro-Am and

includes ties with Taco Bell before taking on Toshiba as the event’s

title sponsor.

“It’s been an amazing run,” he said, adding fond thoughts of the

professionals and fellow officials and saving more than a few words

of praise for all the volunteers who help the event raise $1 million

each year for Hoag and other local charities.

“The Taco Bell years were amazing,” he said. “It really took a

step from a local event to an almost national event.”

Back when the event was unattached to any professional stop, pros

had to be recruited to play, Rohrer recalled. For a time, PGA

officials allowed organizers for the then-Newport Classic Pro-Am to

come to the professional qualifying school to hand out information.

It was the only tournament afforded that honor.

Since then, the Toshiba Senior Classic under Rohrer and Jeff

Purser’s leadership has notched even bigger honors: recognition as

the Champions Tour charity of the year and being the only tournament

to raise $1 million in a single year more than once.

For those who’ve missed the count, it’s at five years in a row.

This year should make it six.

Those numbers -- the event has raised $6.7 million -- are a far

cry from Rohrer’s first-year aspirations. Back then, in late 1997,

tournament organizers had just six months to put on the inaugural

Toshiba Senior Classic.

“Our hope had been to break even,” he said. “Well, we made

$600,000.”

There’s been no looking back since. Rohrer isn’t looking back yet,

either.

“We have one more tournament to do,” he said.

That tournament got underway Monday with the kickoff Monday

Pro-Am, a looser though still competitive counterpart to the two-day

Classic Pro-Am scheduled Wednesday and Thursday.

Twenty teams took part, and none managed the course -- and the

wind, which blew in all directions during the day -- better than the

foursome of Chris Barnes, Mark Tomaszewski, Bill Gaudreau and Dan

Maida. Paired with Newport Beach Country Club Head Pro Paul Hahn,

they shot a net 54 to win.

In second with a 56 were Gerry Leggitt, Jerry Villars, Ben

Rosenberg and Jeff Miers. They were paired with pro Mark Johnson.

Third was Mark Simons, Kevin Murai, Jeff DiRado and Steven Miller.

With pro Joe Inman, they shot a 57.