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GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
Top Five
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Welcome to the first edition of the Top Five, a weekly look at five points of interest from both the professional and local golf scenes. This will be updated every Monday, so come back often and let me know what you think. The next two weeks are always two of the most anticipated for Southland golfers and golf fans – the Champions Tour comes to Orange County for the Toshiba Classic, then heads to northern Los Angeles County for the AT&T Champions Classic. That’s a great starting point for the inaugural list: 1. These guys are still good. As if on cue as the PGA Tour concludes the West Coast Swing, the senior circuit arrives for what is one of the most heralded non-major events in the schedule. A stellar field has again assembled at Newport Beach Country Club. Last year's playoff participants Jay Haas and Bernhard Langer have enjoyed solid starts in ’09, as Langer, the defending Toshiba champion and reigning Player of the Year, won the year’s first tournament in Hawaii. Haas, the Champions Tour’s top ’08 performer in the eyes of the Golf Writers Association of America, finished third there. There have been four playoffs in the last 11 years at the Toshiba, and their combined length of 30 holes is pretty staggering. The shortest of the bunch was San Gabriel native Gary McCord’s five-hole triumph in 1999, while ’97 champ Bob Murphy and ’01 winner Jose Maria Canizares each needed another nine. That’s a lot of golf on a layout where tricky greens can easily make long days seem even longer. McCord and Mark Johnson (Helendale native) are the only locals to have won the Toshiba in its 14-year history. If you haven’t been, it’s a lot of fun. The players are fan-friendly, the course is beautiful and there are also cool events like the Wells Fargo Junior Clinic immediately following competition on Saturday. And, I hate to shamelessly promote myself, but I’ll be participating in the Shot From the Top contest tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. I’m a bit nervous about the prospect of hitting a ball from the top of the 16-story Newport Beach Marriott (in front of what will probably be the most people I’ve ever hit a ball in front of), but I’ve been working on my swing and hope I can help one local high school win the most laptops. I really hope I don’t shank it, either. Click here if you want to learn more about the Toshiba, including buying tickets online. And check back Wednesday to find out if I ended up shanking it (keep your fingers crossed until then). 2. PGA Tour locals to watch. In case you’ve shielded yourself from civilization and all forms of communication in the last two weeks, you probably know that Cypress native Tiger Woods is playing on the PGA Tour again. Thanks, Tiger – your return fostered one of the funniest golf commercials I can remember. But, as was the case for the final three days of the Match Play Championship, golf continues its previous Tiger-less reality for this week’s Honda Classic in West Palm Beach, Fl. PGA National is one of the toughest tracks on Tour. In the two years the Honda Classic has called the course home, the winning score has been five-under par each time and only a combined 26 players have finished in red numbers. I’ll be keeping an eye on these three locals: John Mallinger. The Long Beach resident will look to jumpstart his season at an event where he finished tied for seventh in ’08. Charley Hoffman. Can Poway’s Hoffman keep his hot streak alive? Only three of his 20 rounds in '09 have been over par. Rocco Mediate. The current Brentwood resident and long-time Floridian returns to familiar stomping grounds. 3. Play golf, Southern California. Just because it’s probably going to rain again pretty soon doesn’t mean it’s time to hesitate about making golf a part of your schedule. The weather was beautiful around the Southland this weekend, and with an extra hour of sunlight coming this Sunday, 'tis the season once again. 4. Casual golf days by the SCGA. Speaking of the season, the Southern California Golf Association continues to give back to the golf community with a full slate of Casual Golf Days for 2009. These non-competitive outings are held regularly at some of the most sought-after public and private tracks and are open to SCGA members and non-members. The rounds are usually in the morning and feature reduced green fees. The first one was held last Thursday at Arroyo Trabuco in Mission Viejo, and March includes rounds at Murrieta's Bear Creek Golf Club (Monday, March 9), TPC at Valencia (Monday, March 16) and San Jacinto's Country Club at Soboba Springs (Monday, March 23). "This is the first year there’s really a full, complete roster of events," said Katie Denbo, the editor and publisher of the SCGA's FORE Magazine. "By signing up, you get a casual atmosphere to play golf, and it’s completely organized." To learn more about Casual Golf Days and to sign up, visit the SCGA's website. 5. More shameless self-promotion. Maybe I don’t really hate doing this. This Thursday will be the debut of Miller Time, a weekly radio show focusing on golf in Southern California and featuring different guests from all golf fields. It will be broadcast live and shows can be downloaded as a podcast anytime. |
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