Terrific Tuesday

S.J. CAHN

Tuesday at the Toshiba Senior Classic provided this piece of useless

until you desperately need it information: A golf ball hit from 162

feet above you is nearly impossible to see.

Of two dozen or so balls hit off the roof of the Newport Beach

Marriott to the 2nd green at the Newport Beach Country Club, I

managed to see just one, and it just briefly. It just so happened to

be hit by Daily Pilot sports reporter Bryce Alderton. He was one of

the four lucky media guys who were 16 stories up with a quartet of

pros enjoying what will have to go down as one of the tournament’s

highlights this year.

New for 2005, the closest to the pin contest from the hotel’s roof

brought together pros Fuzzy Zoeller, Mark Lye, Gary McCord and David

Feherty. Zoeller won the $2,000 charitable donation from the Marriott

(the other three still walked off with $1,000 ones) with a 56-degree

wedge shot from about 118 yards that ended up just 4 feet, 2 inches

from the hole.

Down on the ground, the contest brought together about 100 curious

viewers who braved the hot sun and white, 1.68-inch screaming

projectiles. Invisible ones, at that.

To play it safe, after each shot, a voice would blare from

tournament co-chair Jake Rohrer’s walkie-talkie, the crowd’s only

hint at where the ball was headed.

“Dead center, looks good,” was comforting. “Back left,” wasn’t.

The crowd, once Feherty proved he could hit the green fairly

reliably, relaxed a bit, though after each shot there was a palatable

preparation to move, fast, if necessary. And once the crowd loosened

up, the typical golf course banter and commentary followed.

A brief sampling:

“There’s got to be side bets.” (As Feherty prepared to hit.)

“They’re zeroing in on it. They’ve got it dialed.” (After

Feherty’s second shot, closer to the pin than the first.)

“That is, I’d say, 13 feet.” (Lye’s shot measured 14 feet 3

inches.)

“Where’d it go?” (Said to Gary McCord’s first shot, hit

left-handed by the right-hander.)

“He better go back to broadcasting.” (Said to McCord’s second

shot, this time hit right-handed.)

“Now we might stand a little light-footed, Fuzzy’s hitting.” (As

Zoeller prepared to swing.)

“We’re out of here.” (Said, with a sense of urgency, when it was

announced the media finally would hit.)

And perhaps the best summation of the event:

“What’s amazing is this is grown men doing this.”

“And grown men watching.”

***

When the golfers at the Daily Pilot first heard about the top of

the hotel contest, talk in the office was what kind of divots the

balls would leave. (It followed, admittedly, initial talk about just

how dangerous an errant shot might prove to be.)

Turned out, in part because the greens are so hard for the

tournament, the divots weren’t the deep gouges we expected.

“They’re just like regular ball marks,” said Bob Kendall, the

tournament’s course repair coordinator, as he fixed the green

following the show.

The deepest one, in fact, didn’t look much worse than an

especially high approach shot, which was what they were. Maybe the

hole was half an inch.

Kendall, regardless of the holes’ depth, was out between the time

the pros and the media hit, using a seven-pronged super divot tool.

(I heard after he was beyond earshot that his father had invented

it.)

It looks a lot like a Garden Claw gardening tool, with a small

spiked tip on the end of a steel pole. In it are, essentially, seven

automated divot tools that can be clamped together with a simple

grasp of the thing’s handle.

Two quick clicks and the divots were gone. It looked far easier

than bending over with your typical tool, but a lot harder to carry

in your bag.

***

At Tuesday’s Toshiba Breakfast with the Champions, tournament

co-chair Hank Adler told the crowd gathered that he expected a record

fundraising profit this year, which means once again the tournament

will raise more than a $1 million for Hoag Memorial Hospital

Presbyterian.

It was easy to see on Tuesday how the Toshiba organizers keep

meeting and beating their amazing charitable track record: They come

up with fresh ideas to keep the tournament exciting. They definitely

outdo themselves.

Last year, they were lucky to have Jack Nicklaus playing. This

year, they introduced the closest to the pin contest, which I suspect

will be a mainstay if the Marriott, once its $63-million makeover is

done in December, can again accommodate the rooftop revelry.

Where they might have peaked, though, is with the breakfast. Short

of getting Arnold Palmer and Nicklaus together, I can’t imagine a

more popular draw than Feherty and McCord.

But that’s why they’re running the show, and I’m just reporting on

it.