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 Celebrity sightings at Lakeside Country Club in Toluca Lake go back to silent picture days, and there's colorful lore regarding a tipsy W. C. Fields battling swans while trying to row a boat from his studio quarters across the water to Lakeside for his daily round of golf. The late Bing Crosby, a founding member of Lakeside, used to joke that Fields would sit by the lake sipping bourbon and practicing his comedy routines. He gave that up, Crosby said, when the geese started hissing at him. I used to play at MountainGate Country Club on the outskirts of Bel-Air. The hillside course has a number of big names that call it their golfing home. I once played with the late Buddy Hackett, and if you thought the comedian's stage act was dirty you should have heard him on the course. I also lost more than a few dollars to Johnny Mathis, one of the most competitive golfers I've known. When Mathis isn't singing or playing at MountainGate, you might find him at Riviera or Sherwood, two other country clubs where he has a membership. STARRY-EYED If you'd like to play with some of the beautiful people, one of the easiest ways is to sign up for a celebrity golf charity event. There are dozens throughout the region each year. Start with shock rocker Alice Cooper, who took up golf more than 20 years ago because he wanted to get addicted to something healthy. Visit alicegolf.com for information on his annual celebrity tournament. Jim Hill, the Channel 2 sports anchor, has a well-attended celebrity tournament each year at Industry Hills to benefit the L.A. Urban League. Hill leans on his days as an NFL defensive back and gets a lot of his football buddies to play, including Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk. The Stan Humphries Celebrity Classic continues to grow each year in San Diego. Some of the past participants include John Elway, Johnny Bench, Bruce Jenner, Marcus Allen and Mario Lemieux. STAR SEARCH There are Internet resources to help you find these events: • Start with charitygolfonline.com, my own searchable database of charity tournaments. • Kintermasterplanner.com is a calendar of fund-raising and special events. The online calendar is updated daily and searches can be narrowed to golf tournaments. • CelebrityGolf.com is a Southland-based site that conducts interviews with famous folks playing at these events. The site also has dozens of golfing celebrity profiles. CELEBRITY TOUR The Celebrity Players Tour (cptgolf.com) is the premier corporate hospitality and entertainment tour in existence. Most celebrity tournaments play best ball or a scramble format, but the CPT has two days of pro-ams and either a 36- or 54-hole low-gross tournament using USGA rules. Fans, ropes, scorers, rules officials, scoreboards, autographs and hospitality tents make it feel like a big-time event. Comedian Tom Dreesen, who holds the record for the most appearances on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, is a founding member. He knows that golfers who pay to play with celebrities want to know that they're "regular guys who love golf." So Dreesen says the CPT demands that the celebrities "show up, schmooze and be entertaining. If you're a prima donna, we don't need you." Dreesen, who plays to a 4 handicap, says CPT participants are required to attend all events, including the pairings party and banquet, and must sit with their playing partners at all functions. Dreesen has seen it all when it comes to celebrity golf, and he's been asked to be the emcee at many events. This year's lineup included the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, AT&T National Pro-Am, Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational and the inaugural Tiger Woods-hosted PGA Tour event in Washington. If you're wondering how some of these celebrity golfers play, Dreesen has witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly. Television star Jack Wagner is "the best of all time," Dreesen said of the celebrity field, while Kenny G "is about as good as you get from the world of music, and [former Dodgers pitcher] Rick Rhoden is the best former professional athlete playing golf." The worst? "Charles Barkley, but he's also one of the most fun," Dreesen said. Other players who are a "hoot to hang with" include Jim McMahon and Mike Eruzione. I'll bet Dreesen, who's been playing golf almost as long as has he's been doing stand-up comedy - and that's pushing 40 years - has a few more humorous golfing stories to tell. Maybe I should call him back and set up a tee time. SG Eric Tracy is also known as The Mulligan Man. He can be reached at eric@themulliganman.com. |
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