Eaks to return to Newport

Richard Dunn

Fuzzy Zoeller might have been the biggest name to play in the Toshiba

Senior Classic Monday Pro-Am, but it was R.W. Eaks, a longtime friend

of Newport Beach Country Club, making the biggest news about 45 miles

inland.

Eaks, the back-to-back champion of the former Newport Classic

Pro-Am in 1995-96, shot 67 and tied for second in the Toshiba Senior

Classic Monday open qualifier at Goose Creek Golf Club in Mira Loma.

The top three finishers qualified for the 54-hole PGA Champions Tour

event Friday through Sunday at Newport Beach Country Club.

Rafael Navarro of West Palm Beach, Fla., shot 65 to earn medalist

honors Monday, while Tommy Thomas of Lynbrook, N.Y., and Eaks, of

Scottsdale, Ariz., each carded 67.

Last year, as a rookie on the senior tour (for golfers 50 and

over), Eaks shattered the driving distance record when he averaged

295.1 yards per drive in 2002. John Jacobs held the previous record,

at 290.7 yards in 1997.

The former Newport Classic, which was held from 1975 to ’97 at

Newport Beach Country Club and called the Crosby Southern Pro-Am for

the first 11 years, served as a unique two-day mini-tour event for 23

years and played host to several future PGA Tour stars. Only Clark

Dennis (1992-93) and Eaks (1995-96) won back-to-back Newport Classic

titles.

Volunteers and organizers of the event transferred their efforts,

under the auspices of Hoag Hospital, to the Toshiba Senior Classic

six years ago.

It will be the first time Eaks has played in the Toshiba Senior

Classic and mark his first Newport Beach appearance since 1997, the

final year of the Newport Classic Pro-Am.

*

Kent Berg of Newport Beach won the Fuzzy Zoeller Lottery through a

tournament promotion and Roger Dunn Golf Shops and played nine holes

with the Champions Tour’s Mr. Personality in the Monday Pro-Am. Berg

also played nine holes with Larry Ziegler.

Each ticket in the lottery was $10, and no more than 2,000 tickets

were sold. One Monday Pro-Am spot is valued at $2,750. All proceeds

of the raffle benefit the tournament’s lead charity, Hoag Hospital.

“When [a tournament official] called me on Friday to tell me I’d

won, I thought they were kidding,” Berg said Monday, after playing

nine with Zoeller and then switching pros. “This is something very

special. I’ve been going here every year to this tournament and now I

get to play in it, and with Fuzzy and Larry Ziegler, it’s like

winning the lottery twice.”

Berg, who owns a 24 handicap, was one of two winners who received

the full complement of amenities from the Monday Pro-Am: full

hospitality during the day, breakfast and an awards ceremony, 18

holes of golf, a custom executive golf gift package, two weeklong

clubhouse badges and 10 tournament tickets.

Berg, Craig McCallister (the other lottery winner), John Phipps

and Steve Carfagno, Roger Dunn Golf Shop Santa Ana store manager,

played with Zoeller and Ziegler.

*

The winds were so strong on the golf course Monday at Newport

Beach Country Club that officials were forced to remove the giant

Toshiba banner on the top of the title sponsor’s skybox on the 18th

green.

“It’s like a sail up there,” one crew member said. “[The banner]

was starting to push the tent backward.”

*

Newport Beach Country Club head pro Paul Hahn, 49, will be

eligible for (and is expected to receive) a sponsor’s exemption into

next year’s Toshiba Senior Classic.

“I’m nervous already,” said Hahn, who will turn 50 on Feb. 11,

2004.

Next year is also the 50th anniversary of Newport Beach Country

Club.

*

The Toshiba Senior Classic Happy Hour lineup has been confirmed.

Gary McCord and Jacobs will appear Friday in a live interactive Q&A;

session after the first round, starting at approximately 5 p.m.,

while Chi Chi Rodriguez and Zoeller will return for the Saturday

stint.

The lively format will feature questions from the audience. It

will be hosted on a stage adjacent to the clubhouse, in front of the

practice putting green.

“We were the first event on the PGA Champions Tour to test out

these Q&A; sessions last year, and they were tremendously successful

[with Zoeller and Rodriguez],” Toshiba Senior Classic Tournament

Director Jeff Purser said. “This year’s lineup is perfect. We didn’t

choose Gary McCord, John Jacobs, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Fuzzy Zoeller

by accident. These are some of the best personalities on the tour,

and I’m sure everybody in attendance will understand why.”

*

There have been some classic speakers in past years, such as Gary

Player, Tom Watson and McCord, but “Gentle Ben” could be the best

ever.

Two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw will be this morning’s

keynote speaker at the Toshiba Senior Classic Community Breakfast at

the Newport Beach Marriott at 7:30 a.m. Tickets are $100 per person.

Crenshaw, who won 19 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1984 and

1995 Masters, will also compete in the Toshiba Senior Classic. In

1999, Crenshaw captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team to the greatest

comeback in event history. He is also one of golf’s noted historians.

*

Players in the Monday Pro-Am could not use golf carts because of

last weekend’s rainstorm and were forced to walk. Those in today’s

practice round, as well as those playing in today’s special media

pro-am (only two groups), will also be without golf carts.

Golf carts will reportedly be allowed back on the course Wednesday

in the Toshiba Senior Classic Pro-Am.