COURSE REVIEWS
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| Pelican Hill |
Nicklaus/Watson
Pairing Highlights
Diners Club Matches
By Bob Buttitta,
GolfCalifornia.com Course Reviewer
NEWPORT COAST, Calif. - Their head-to-head battles are some of the most memorable duels in PGA history but on Dec. 10-12, golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson will compete not as rivals but as teammates in the 1999 Diners Club Matches.
The two-day event features eight players from each of the three professional tours matched in a team play format. Players only compete against players from "their" tour, meaning three champions will be crowned on Sunday, Dec. 12.
In addition to Watson and Nicklaus, other notables slated to compete are 1999 Skins Game champion Fred Couples who will team with Mark Calcavecchia, defending Diners Club champions Steve Elkington and Jeff Maggert, LPGA Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lopez who will team with rising star Kelli Kuehne, and LPGA stars Juli Inkster, Dottie Pepper and Karrie Webb.
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| Fred Couples |
Fans are not the only ones looking forward to seeing Nicklaus and Watson team up. Both players said they are looking forward to putting their collective skills together.
"Tom and I have played a lot of golf together as competitors against each other but we have also played a lot of golf together as partners in Ryder Cup competition," Nicklaus said. "We've had a ball, we've enjoyed it. We've had fun.
"When we had the opportunity to play here this year at the Diners Club Matches, I know Tom doesn't play a lot of golf normally this time of year, but he accepted my invitation to play and I appreciate it very much. I know we will have a lot of fun and it will be a nice event."
Watson said he remembered Ryder Cup matches they played when most experts felt when they were paired together they had a 2 up advantage before they got to the first tee. "As old as we're getting I don't think we have that advantage any more," Watson said. "We're going to have to play our butts off.
While both admitted that they plan to enjoy the experience of playing together, they enter the event with one thing on their mind.
"Anytime you play, you want to win," Nicklaus said. "I certainly don't want to play poorly for Tom and Tom doesn't want to play poorly for me. We both want to win. I don't think we have the records we have if we didn't want to win and I don't care when you tee it up.
Watson echoed Nicklaus' thoughts. "We played some pretty good practice rounds together too as partners with some money on the line against some of the best players," Watson said. "We're grinding out there. We're not giving an inch."
Played first in 1993, the Diners Club Matches return after a one-year absence that resulted from a schedule conflict with the President's Cup competition. However, this is the first professional tournament ever held at Pelican Hill Golf Club, a club that features two Tom Fazio designed courses and is regarded as one of the finest golf complexes in Southern California.
Terry Jastrow, president of Jack Nicklaus Productions, the company putting on the tournament, said when they developed the idea for the Diners Club Matches, the course they had in mind was Pelican Hill.
But back then the golf course was still in its infancy. The Ocean south
course had been open for three years, and the Ocean north course was
only a year old, and not ready for a big time tournament. With some
age now under its belt, all those involved feel that Pelican Hill is
ready to be unveiled to the golfing world.
"Bringing the Diners Club Matches to Pelican Hill is a winning combination," said Jastrow,. "Pelican Hill sits up on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Having done a number of events from Pebble Beach I'm reminded of its proximity to the ocean.
"Pelican Hill is sort of Southern California's version of Pebble in terms of its proximity to the ocean. Pairing some of golf's greatest with the spectacular environment that Pelican Hill and Newport Beach has to offer will bring light to an otherwise hidden gem."
Tournament director Gary Pollard said because no event of this magnitude has ever been held at Pelican Hill, the job of preparing the site has been monumental.
"This is the first year for everything from catering to parking," Pollard said. "We want this to be a first class event so we've worked hard to ensure that every person that comes to see the event walks away having had a terrific experience.
"It's been a huge amount of work but the Rob (Ford), Pelican Hill's director of golf, and his entire staff have been a pleasure to work with. We feel we're ready."
When they decided to hold the event at Pelican, it was decided that they would limit ticket sale to approximately 14,000 to try and create an intimate atmosphere for the fans taking in the event.
Pollard thought they would sellout the event quickly but as of Nov. 29, they had only sold around 6,000 tickets. Pollard said he feels there are several reasons for the slow advanced ticket sales.
"It's the middle of the holiday season, so a lot of people don't want to commit to something that far in advance," Pollard said. "Southern California also has a reputation for being very laid back and waiting until the last minute to get involved and I think we're seeing that here.
"We're very confident as the event draws closer that ticket sales will pick up. However, we have changed some things to generate sales, namely we are now offering single day tickets instead of the three-day pass we originally were only offering."
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Bringing the Diners Club Matches to Pelican Hill is a winning combination. |
Besides the scenic beauty of Pelican Hill has to offer, organizers of the event felt a new site would offer increased corporate participation. Pollard has brought in mobile skyboxes that look like single-room apartments, instead of the canvas corporate tent. He also created a "Fairway Club," a social area between the 14th and 16th greens, which offers participants unlimited food and drink for $125 a day.
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"We have limited local sponsors, in fact we're still looking for more," Pollard said. "The problem is that we started too late and most companies had already completed their budgets for this year by the time we approached them.
"We have a lot of companies interested for next year, so if the event is back here next year I think we will have a much stronger showing."
Whether the event comes back will be determined by how it is received this year. Organizers know that television numbers should be strong, but they need to see support from local fans in order to ensure its return.
For those associated with Pelican Hill, they feel the exposure that this event will provide can do nothing but help in their efforts to draw golfers from around the country to Orange County.
"We have pretty much saturated this county as far as players," Ford told the Orange County Register. "Everyone who lives around here, knows about Pelican Hill. We want this to be a destination resort for the rest of the country. I think that through this tournament we can achieve that."
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| Mark Calcavecchia |
When: Dec. 10 - 12, 1999
Where: Pelican Hill Golf Club, Newport Coast, California
Playing Field: PGA Tour players - Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia, Steve Pate and Mark Wiebe, Chris Perry and Skip Kendall, Steve Elkington and Jeff Maggert...LPGA Tour players - Juli Inkster and Dottie Pepper, Karrie Webb and Kelli Robbins, Nancy Lopez and Kelli Kuehne, Annika Sorenstam and Lorie Kane...Senior PGA Tour players - Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, Bruce Fleisher and David Graham, Allen Doyle and Dana Quigley, Gil Morgan and Jay Sigel
Prize Money
Total Purse: $1.2 million
1st - $200,000/team
2nd - $100,000/team
3rd - $60,000/team
Tickets: Three-Day Pass: $125; Friday $45; Saturday-Sunday $65.
Tickets can be obtained through ETM machines located at selected Von's
Pavillion stores or at their web site at ETM.com or by calling 888-ETM-TIXS
or 949-759-5175. They will also be sold on site as long as tickets last.
TV: Live coverage Dec. 11 & 12
Information: (949) 759-5175
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