Toshiba Senior Classic Golf: ‘Doc’ one up for Ed

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - Don’t be confused by the spelling of Ed Dougherty’s

last name (it’s pronounced DOCK-er-tee).

And don’t be puzzled if Dougherty’s victory here in Newport Beach has

nothing to do with the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country

Club.

The Senior PGA Tour standout who’s into Lionel toy trains and old

Gottlieb pinball machines said “it’s nice to come back to places where

you’re always treated right.”

Dougherty was referring to his win at Newport Beach almost two decades

ago, when he captured the 1983 Crosby Southern Pro-Am (later called the

Newport Classic), a two-day mini-tour event that served for many years as

a place for golfers to play after missing the cut at the old Crosby

National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach.

“We came up from San Diego that year,” Dougherty said. “They gave us a

place to play. For those who were stuck on the West Coast -- and I live

on the East Coast -- it was really nice.”

Dougherty, whose nickname is “Doc,” enjoyed his finest season in

professional golf last year, winning over $1.3 million and finishing 13th

on the Senior Tour money list, his third straight top-31 finish.

“I made more money last year than I ever dreamed of making,” Dougherty

said. “In fact, I made more money last year than I made in my entire PGA

Tour career (by $7,000). The Senior Tour is the best thing that has

happened to me.”

While Dougherty is rarely mentioned among tournament favorites, he

went wire-to-wire to win last year’s TD Waterhouse Championship and tied

a Senior Tour record for the lowest 54-hole score in relation to par with

22-under 194 at Tiffany Greens in Kansas City, Mo.

Dougherty started out as a club pro from 1969 to 1975, then played on

the PGA Tour. He returned as a club pro from 1983 through ‘87, and was

named as the PGA of America’s Club Professional of the Year in 1985 after

winning the National Club Professional Championship.

He hurt his back in 1988 and returned as a club pro for one more year

in ‘89, before getting his PGA Tour card back.

At age 47, Dougherty won the 1995 Deposit Guaranty Classic, his first

and only PGA Tour victory. The win made Dougherty the oldest first-time

winner on tour since John Barnum won the 1962 Cajun Classic at age 51.

On the Senior Tour, Dougherty, relishing like never before in his

career, also won the 2000 Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic in Minnesota.

Off the course, Dougherty is a serious model train enthusiast who has

a vast collection of Lionel trains and usually makes it a point to visit

train stores in cities while on tour. He also refurbishes old pinball

machines.

Dougherty, who served a tour of duty in Vietnam, returned from

Southeast Asia and took up golf seriously at Fort Lewis, Wash., when he

wasn’t allowed to play baseball.