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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
July 28, 2011
I applaud
the vision of all the decision makers involved in renaming the
Nationwide Tour’s Chattanooga Classic the Children’s Hospital
Classic.
For the
tournament, which hasn’t been able to pin down that one
well-heeled corporate benefactor, the benefit is to be able to
interact with the many businesses that deal with Erlanger on a
regular basis and also represent the worthiest of causes. For the
Children’s Hospital, the affiliation with the PGA Tour is a public
relations boon.
“It’s a
win-win for both sides,” said Doug Fisher, Erlanger’s
vice-president for government and corporate affairs. “If this
tournament doesn’t raise a dime for the benefit of Children’s
Hospital—which we hope that it does—but if it doesn’t, just the
affiliation with the PGA Tour and this organization [Friends of
the Festival, which manages the tournament]. … These are the right
people to be affiliated with.
“The
marketing opportunity to get our name out there is worth thousands
of dollars. If you look across the country and you talk to the
tour, they will tell you very quickly that some of the most
successful events are either affiliated with adult hospitals,
cancer centers, or children’s hospitals, with children’s hospitals
perhaps the most successful.”
The
tournament and the Children’s Hospital both have messages to send.
The October date isn’t ideal because it competes with football,
but a Nationwide event offers golf fans a chance to see future PGA
Tour stars. Twenty-four players who participated in the 2010
Chattanooga Classic earned their 2011 tour cards. And of the
tour’s four rookie winners in 2011, three of them—Gary Woodland
(Transitions Championship), Brendan Steele (Valero Texas Open) and
Keegan Bradley (Byron Nelson)—played in Chattanooga last season.
Erlanger’s
hope is that more and more people will become aware of the
Children’s Hospital and its wealth of services.
“Erlanger is
the only [children’s] hospital in the region,” Fisher said. “It’s
a safety net provider hospital, which means we take all,
regardless of your ability to pay.
“One of the
messages that I hope people will start to hear and understand—not
that we’re saying anything against St. Jude’s, for instance—but
most people don’t realize we have all the same protocols right
here in Chattanooga, Tenn. The only thing we don’t do here in
Chattanooga is bone marrow transplant. There’s not anything we
don’t do. It’s an amazing place, and hopefully this partnership
brings even more attention to the mission that goes on there, and
what we’re trying to do.”
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Chattanooga’s Brooke Pancake, about to enter her senior season at
Alabama, has had a good week. Last Saturday, she battled with
Vanderbilt signee Kendall Martindale for the Tennessee Women’s
Open title, losing out by a stroke. And this week comes news that
she’s earned the prestigious Edith Cummings Munson Golf Award.
The award
goes to the student-athlete who is an upperclassman as well as an
NGCA All-American Scholar and a NGCA All-American. If more than
one student-athlete qualifies, the one with the highest GPA
receives the award. Pancake had no problems with tiebreakers; she
carries a 4.0 GPA as a marketing major.
Last season
Pancake earned first-team NGCA and Golfweek All-America
honors and was also chosen a first-team Academic All-America. In
three seasons, she’s compiled a school-record 73.27 career scoring
average and has racked up 15 top-10 finishes and 23 rounds of par
or better. She won her first tournament last season—the Tar Heel
Invitational, where she shot 11-under-par 205. Pancake is a
two-time SEC Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a
three-time All-SEC pick.
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The summer
is going away all too quickly, but some important state and
national amateur tournaments remain on the calendar.
The Honors
Course jumps back into the USGA’s rotation Sept. 10-15 when it
plays host to the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. This will be the
fourth USGA event at the Pete Dye masterpiece, which previously
hosted the 1991 U.S. Amateur, the 1994 Curtis Cup, and the 2005
U.S. Mid-Amateur. It’ll be interesting to see how the country’s
top women’s amateurs (50 and above) will fare against a course
that always presents a stern challenge, regardless of the caliber
of players.
I’m looking
forward to seeing if University of Memphis senior Jonathan Fly can
continue his domination of state golf. No less an expert than
Tennessee Golf Hall of Famer Tim Jackson told me recently that Fly
is “by far the best player in the state right now.” If Fly wins
the Tennessee Amateur, which will be played Aug. 2-5 at Jackson’s
home club Colonial Country Club (South) in Cordova, he’ll
definitely have put together one of the most impressive runs in
recent history.
Fly won the
Amateur a year ago, and last spring he also claimed the Tennessee
Open at Brentwood Country Club.
Council Fire
will play host to the Tennessee Senior Amateur on Aug. 16-18.
Chattanooga amateur legend Lew Oehmig won that tournament so
often—from 1969 to 1973—it was discontinued until 1980. No player
since has dominated like that, but it’s going to be interesting in
a couple of years if Jackson and Danny Green decide to renew their
20-plus year rivalry on the senior circuit.
Council Fire
has hosted its share of tournaments since it opened, including the
PGA Tour’s 1992 Chattanooga Classic, three Tennessee PGA
Championships and the Tennessee Mid-Amateur.
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