Making some green while on the greens

Michael Theriault stood next to a golf cart and waited to take his tee shot on the 10th green at the Newport Beach Country Club.

Theriault was one of several businessmen who had the pleasure of taking part in the Toshiba Classic Pro-Am on Wednesday in which regular golfers are teamed up with PGA professionals.

And like many of his counterparts on the course, Theriault, who flew out from Illinois for the tournament, confirmed that for him golf is just as much about business as it is pleasure.

“It’s part of my business big-time,” said Theriault, the owner of B2B Computer Products.

“I joined Medinah just to take my customers golfing,” he said, pointing to the logo of the famous country club on his red polo shirt.

Ira Garbutt, who owns Newport Beach-based Certified Financial Group Inc. and is the volunteer chairman of the tournament, also testified about golf’s importance in business.

“Golf is the best friend-making machine you can have,” Garbutt said. “Once you get to know people, you ask about their business. I take clients out, and I take people who refer me business out. It’s a great way to start, maintain and improve friendships.”

David Parker, a retired investor and one of eight partners who owns the Strawberry Farms Golf Club in Irvine, said he plays golf for business at least once a week.

“Golf is such a great vetting process,” he said. “In golf, it’s a game of integrity and honor. You can determine the integrity of a person by the way they play golf.”

Nick Givogri, the regional sales manager of Merrill Lynch, was busy entertaining clients Wednesday, offering them a chance to get a free chipping lesson from a pro.

He agreed that golf is a good way to find business partners.

“Our business is all built on relationships. People come to us because they trust us,” he said. “Golf is an opportunity for us to get to know people and find out if they have a mutual interest.”

Werner Escher, an executive with South Coast Plaza, said the high-end shopping center will team up with Bvlgari jewelers for a third-straight year and host important clients in a skybox on the 15th green.

“I think South Coast Plaza management has always been interested in the community, and any way we can support Hoag, we’re going to do that,” he said.

Escher, who specializes in international clients, said golf tends to be the preferred activity.

“We do a lot of business with the Japanese, and they love golf,” Escher said. “We’ve played every golf course in Orange County, some of them twice. That has been important to us. A lot of the day-to-day business is just reconfirming with current customers. Golf is a nice way to do that.”

MULTIMEDIA

See video from the first day of the Toshiba Classic Pro-Am by clicking here. For a collection of photos from the tournament, click here.