Time to shoot better than par

Once again, the numbers from the PGA Champions Tour’s Toshiba Senior

Classic are impressive.

The first is winner Tom Purtzer’s opening round 60, which set a

new tournament record. The second is 80,000, the approximate number

of people who came to see the three-day tournament, drawn no doubt by

the allure of Jack Nicklaus’ first trip to the Toshiba.

The third, and perhaps most important one, is 1 million -- as in

the more than $1 million the tournament raised for Hoag Memorial

Hospital Presbyterian for the fifth consecutive year.

Year in and year out, Toshiba is the most charitable event on the

PGA Champions Tour, with Hoag the main beneficiary. It’s become

almost a given that the event will break the seven-figure mark.

And there’s the rub. A million-dollar total is now the expected,

the routine, from the tournament. It’s, shall we say, now par for the

course.

Now is time for tournament organizer to begin shooting for better

than par. Next year, a shade above $1 million shouldn’t be the goal

-- $1.5 million should be. An increase of $500 per entry for the

Classic Pro-Am could bring in about $100,000, for instance. Along

with the annual breakfast, perhaps there is time in the week for a

dinner event that would spark a new stream of money. The

possibilities from an enormous silent auction are staggering. It may

take some creativity, plus care not to tap out sources, but,

certainly, Toshiba officials could sink a perfect idea or two.

After all, they have a terrific product to push on donors. The

Senior Classic is among the biggest sporting events to come to come

to Orange County’s coast, up there with the U.S. Open of Surfing in

Huntington Beach.

The setting at the Newport Beach Country Club could hardly be more

inviting. Spectators are treated well by staff and the army of

volunteers. And every year, there is high excitement during the

tournament, whether record-setting rounds, Golden Bear sightings or

first-time players like the club’s head pro Paul Hahn.

That all must add up to $1.5 million, right?