Golf: Dollar signs now on same channel

Richard Dunn

Walk into the men’s lounge or clubhouse at any stop on the Senior

PGA Tour and you’re bound to spot players watching another golf

tournament on television.

If not, they’re probably following stocks and bonds and interest rates

on CNBC.

Oh, sure, these guys are good, but the numbered clubs in their bags

aren’t the only important figures for members of the Senior Tour.

“I’d say 50% of the guys who play on the Senior PGA Tour, their lives

are set (financially), and the other 50%, they’re close,” John Jacobs

said at the Las Vegas Senior Classic in April, referring to the large

prize money won by the players, who generally keep close tabs on Wall

Street and reinvest part of their winnings.

With a blending of interests (golf and money), CNBC is the new

cable-network home of the Senior PGA Tour, which means the seventh annual

Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club (Feb. 26 through

March 4) will be moved from ESPN to CNBC.

So, the Senior Tour goes from an all-sports channel to a business

station. CNBC signed a four-year agreement with the tour to televise its

events beginning next week with the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai

Golf Club in Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii.

A sneak preview of the new “Senior PGA Tour on CNBC” will air twice on

the cable network this month -- Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and

Saturday, Jan. 20, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The CNBC special immediately precedes the telecast of the network’s

debut event, the MasterCard Championship, on Jan. 20, when most viewers

will probably watch because of the NFL playoffs this Sunday.

CNBC will broadcast 33 Senior PGA Tour events this year, nine more

than ESPN last year. The agreement also features consistent air times on

weekends (3 p.m. to 5 p.m. for all Saturday and Sunday coverage). Friday

action will be televised by the PAX-TV cable network, which is jointly

owned by PAX Communications and NBC.

Television times on Friday will be 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (tape delayed).

The Toshiba Senior Classic will have six hours of scheduled coverage (it

has been five hours in years past).

The popular 30-minute “Inside the Senior PGA Tour” program will also

move to CNBC. It will be reformatted to serve as a weekly “pregame show”

airing 30 minutes before tournament coverage on Sundays. It will also be

re-aired Sunday nights at 11 p.m. and updated to include in-depth

analysis of Sunday’s action.

Toshiba Senior Classic officials this week announced a new grand total

donated to charity from the 2000 event: $1,011,000, the largest

single-event contribution in Senior PGA Tour history.

Last year, the entire Senior Tour established a charitable record of

$11,587,706 in giving from its 45 events, led by the Toshiba Classic,

which became the first tour stop to reach the $1-million mark in

donations to charity in one year.

The 2000 charitable sum for the Senior Tour topped the previous

standard by nearly $400,000.

“It’s satisfying to play such an important role in the Senior Tour’s

nationwide effort to make a difference,” Toshiba Classic volunteer

co-chairman Hank Adler said. “We’ve seen first hand how meaningful the

charitable efforts are in Orange County, and it’s rewarding to see such a

substantial cumulative effect from all the Senior Tour events.”

Former Canadian Tour player Pat Sharpe (Costa Mesa) has opened his

doors for business as a private golf instructor at the Golf Lab in Costa

Mesa, the new facility owned and operated by former two-time Canadian

Tour money leader Eric Woods (Corona del Mar). Details: (949) 584-9161.

Richard Dunn’s golf column appears every Thursday.