Alan Blondin on golf: Another spectacular cast expected for Hootie event

ALAN BLONDIN ON GOLF

Based on late player additions and ticket sales to the 14th annual Hootie & The Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am on April 14 at Barefoot Resort's Dye Club, the tournament shows no signs of slowing down.

The event will feature several notable first-time participants, and spectator tickets won't be available on the day of the event for the first time.

LPGA stars Annika Sorenstam and Laura Davies committed as newcomers in February, and more recent first-time commitments include Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, former major leaguers Chuck Finley, Ken Griffey Sr. and Mickey Tettleton, former Pittsburgh Steeler Kordell Stewart, pop singer Samantha Cole and actor Jackie Flynn, who has been featured in several Farrelly brothers comedies.

"I think it's important to keep the event alive and fresh," tournament director Paul Graham said. "We want to make sure we have stalwarts that come back every year. They're our friends and we love them and we always want them back. Then you always want to spice the tournament up."

The event is scheduled to have its mainstays such as John Daly, Dan Marino, Jim McMahon, George Rogers, Sterling Sharp, Stuart Scott and Edwin McCain.

Other expected participants include South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier, former NFL players Gale Sayers, Bernie Kosar and Vencie Glenn, former L.A. Dodger Eric Karros and NFL announcer Paul Maguire.

Other professional golfers scheduled to participate include the entertaining and quirky Woody Austin, Chris DiMarco, Myrtle Beach resident and former CCU star Dustin Johnson, fellow PGA Tour rookies Steve Marino and Kevin Streelman, Clemson alum D.J. Trahan, and legends Lee Elder and Jim Thorpe. Amateur foursomes at $5,000 per player have been sold out for some time.

Graham expects tickets to be sold out in the next few days. The event has sold its maximum of about 6,000 tickets in each of the past couple years, but it hasn't sold out a week before the tournament. Children 12 and younger can still enter with a ticketed adult. The remaining tickets can be purchased at the House of Blues or Barefoot Resort pro shops, or by calling the HOB at 843-272-3000. Gates open at 8:30 a.m., a celebrity long drive contest is at 9:15 a.m. and a shotgun start is at 10:30 a.m. For late updates on participants go to www.hootiegolf.com.

Tarheel deal on hold

A deal that was expected to be completed by February and was going to infuse money into the purses of the Charlotte-based Tarheel Tour has yet to be completed, but it isn't expected to affect the tour's 2008 schedule.

Tarheel Tour president and director David Siegel announced a pending acquisition of the tour by the Tour Players Golf Group (TPGG) of Roswell, Ga., in late December.

"We'll see what happens. I don't think there has been any resolution yet," Siegel said. "We had agreed in principle we were going to merge with them or they were going to acquire us, and we haven't advanced past that point."

Tour Players Golf Group president Ron Charron referred questions regarding the deal to Siegel. The TPGG, which provides funding to 14 aspiring touring pros, including some on the Tarheel, NGA Hooters and Nationwide tours, sponsored the Tarheel's $250,000 TPGG Classic in Okatie in late March. Both Siegel and Charron said they and the players were very happy with the tournament, but Charron's further involvement in the tour is in question. Galivants Ferry native Michael Maness is among the tour's members.

Tarheel events last year, when the tour had a working agreement to accept overflow players from the Grand Strand-based Hooters Tour, averaged more than 100 players and purses generally between $80,000 and $110,000. The Tarheel Tour, in its seventh season, is now in competition with the Hooters Tour's Carolina Series, which began a 19-event schedule this month.

"Whether they're going to buy the tour or not buy the tour, we're going to be running the events exactly the way we were planning to run them," Siegel said. "The only possible difference is money could be added to the purses, but the minimum purses will remain the same."

Charron said he still has large companies interested in investing in the Tarheel Tour to provide $250,000 purses if a deal comes to fruition. Regular Hooters Tour events have $200,000 purses. "There seems to be a niche between the Hooters (purses) and the Nationwide," Charron said. "Maybe we can fit in there. But that's all theory right now."

Boyd contends in Europe

Bob Boyd of Wilmington, N.C., continued to make a strong recovery from two bouts with leukemia in the past couple years with an eighth-place finish in last week's Azores Senior Open, his second event on the European Seniors Tour this year.

Boyd shot a 1-over-par 71-72-74-217 to earn the equivalent of more than $14,400 and played in the final threesome on Sunday after entering the final round tied for third. Boyd, who won a European Senior Tour event in Spain as a tour rookie in 2005 before his cancer diagnosis, tied for 16th in his first tournament in Europe this year, the DMG Barbados Open in early March. His next big event is the Senior PGA Championship May 22-25 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

"I played in the last group on Sunday and what a treat. It was really good to feel the excitement once again," Boyd wrote on his blog. "I feel if I can continue to improve my overall health and game I can once again contend for a European Senior Tour title. ... I am so lucky and blessed to be able to not only do what I love to do, but to enjoy and be competitive at the same time."

Verizon tickets scarce

Verizon Heritage tournament director Steve Wilmot expects the tournament, being played April 17-20 at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, will sell out for a third consecutive year. He said at the current rate of sales, there will be no badges for sale at the tournament.

As in previous years, phone orders were cut off Friday (April 4), though tournament badges are still available online at www.verizonheritage.com. Tickets are also being sold at the tournament office in the parking lot of the Harbour Town Golf Links inside Sea Pines Resort from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Will Call, located in The Sea Pines Resort Welcome Center parking lot, will be selling tournament badges, if still available, beginning next Saturday. Call 1-800-234-1107 or 843-671-2448 for more information.

Grande Dunes demo days

A pair of demo days will take place at the Grande Dunes Resort Course from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on a pair of Saturdays in April, in conjunction with the PGA of America's free fitting and trade-in month.

A Callaway demo day will be April 12, and a TaylorMade demo day featuring the company's Tour Burner products will take place April 27. Pros from the Grande Dunes staff and manufacturers sales representatives will be present at both events to provide free 15-minute club fittings. Anyone making a purchase or order at the events will receive a free round at Grande Dunes with three guests at $55 per player, though restrictions may apply.

Grande Dunes may attract another company for another demo day this month.

ETV showcases golf

South Carolina Educational Television's half-hour "The Big Picture" program at 7:30 p.m. Thursday will explore the role golf plays in South Carolina's tourism industry and economy. The owners of Myrtle Beach National Co., and Don Wizeman of the Myrtle Beach Golf Association were interviewed for the program.

ONLINE | To view Blondin's Q&A Forum 'Ask Al,' go to MyrtleBeachOnline.com.

Courtesy of ALAN BLONDIN (843-626-0284). Read more at The Sun News.