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For the good of the game

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Driving force

Toshiba executive Mark Simons sees the tournament in Newport Beach as a way to strengthen community ties.

BY CHRISTI WHITTEMOREPublished: March, 2009

Mark Simons says golf builds solid relationships.
Mark Simons sees golf as more than a game. He plays socially to spend quality time with other people, and professionally he uses the game as a community platform.

Simons is president and chief executive officer of Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., a division of the title sponsor of the Toshiba Classic.

“Mark is a tremendous supporter of the tournament and its charities,” said Jeff Purser, the tournament’s executive director. “He sees the Toshiba Classic first and foremost as a community-based and community-building event. Mark’s in it for all the right reasons.”

Those reasons have evolved since the tournament first showcased Newport Beach Country Club in 1996.

“The first year, we wanted to demonstrate that we could bring a premier, professional golf event to Orange County,” Simons said.

As the tournament grew — in participation, ticket sales and reputation —Toshiba and Simons raised the bar. They set out to make the event a more substantial thread in the fabric of Orange County, home to 1,500 Toshiba employees and their families.

For the past 11 years, the tournament has benefited Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and 44 other charities, raising more than $11 million to date. That return has made the Toshiba Classic the charitable leader on the Champions Tour.
In 2004, the tournament added a junior golf component, and this year 20 local high school teams will compete for a chance to win Toshiba laptop computers for their schools. The tournament also sponsors an academic scholarship program for high school seniors that has awarded more than $137,000 over the past seven years.

The Toshiba Classic also has been an effective means for raising Toshiba’s profile. Simons, who lives in Mission Viejo, said he’s always pleased to see Toshiba Classic caps on area residents “six, eight, nine months later.”

“This isn’t just a golf tournament,” he  said of the March 2-8 event that includes practice rounds, pro-ams, a breakfast with 2008 champion Bernhard Langer and a junior clinic. “It’s a vital part of the community.”

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