The scenery was picture postcard Sunday. The weather was ordered by the Sonoma Chamber of Commerce. The immaculate golf course just elevated Jason Goss to the PGA’s Groundskeeper of the Year. Tournament staff members were applauded as if they were responsible for the first moon landing. John Cook won with a tournament record 22-under. And, most importantly, the golfers loved it because 27 of the 28 shot under par.
Yep, what a perfect time to say goodbye to the Sonoma Golf Club.
“We’re spoiled coming here,” said Loren Roberts, who won the Schwab Cup for the season points title.
Yes, one had to keep reminding oneself the Charles Schwab Cup Championship is not returning here for an eighth year, for the compliments flowed like champagne in the clubhouse of a World Series champion.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” said Mike Stevens, president of the Champions Tour.
The Champions Tour will play the next two years at Harding Park in San Francisco, and I wondered what Harding has that the Sonoma Golf Club doesn’t.
“We absolutely love the golf course,” Roberts said. “I don’t think we play on a golf course that’s in better condition than this one. It’s pristine. It’s perfect. It’s beautiful. It’s a great place to play.”
In 2003, the PGA cobbled a deal with the folks at Harding. Upgrade the course to a PGA-standard and you’ll get five events. Harding did. Two of those events already have been played and two are the 2010 and the 2011 Schwab. One event is left. It could be three more years — if the PGA doesn’t schedule anything else for Harding — before Sonoma could re-enter the loop.
Fearful, the Sonoma folks are, that the memories of here will fade, especially when the competition is a global city, San Francisco. The fears are well-founded but several factors must be considered before a full-scale depression ensues.
The golfers on the Champions are 50 and older. Many of them played on the regular Tour, which means they have toured this country over-and-over, will have seen San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and the restaurants. They have taken the cable cars up to the stars.
Golfers 50 and over are like human beings 50 and over. Many have found a rhythm and a stability in their life. They have family, mortgages, roots. They have seen the world. They have been single. Painting the town doesn’t hold the same allure it once did.
So howling in San Francisco at 30 gives way to Sonoma at 50 with a nice, quiet dinner with friends at The General’s Daughter.
Golfers 50 and over are like other human beings 50 and over. They like warm weather. They move to it, in fact. I am convinced that’s the only reasons Arizona is a state. San Francisco, however, is many things but warm is not one of them. Fifty-two year old bones like Cook’s welcome a day without an overcoat.
“We love it here,” Cook said.
The next two years will test what kind of imprint the Sonoma Golf Club made on the PGA. Right now, of course, the memories are fresh. The tournament just ended. The season is over. Nothing comes up next week to replace it.
Right now it’s all balloons and seashells around here and how could it not be? No one misses the cut at the Schwab. No one has to fight traffic to get to a hotel or a restaurant. No one has to explain “the weather was lovely” to anyone who asks. Yes, this is a business and word-of-mouth counts a lot in business.
That’s why Stevens heard some boos in the award ceremony presentations late Sunday afternoon.
“This is bittersweet,” Stevens said into a microphone from the 18th green, facing the crowd, “because next year we move to Harding Park.”
That statement was immediately greeted with strong boos, at least strong boos measured by golfing standards. In a moment of angst, golf fans — honoring the sport’s tradition of civility at all costs — will remain silent as opposed to vocalizing disgust. So what they did Sunday was tantamount to a Philadelphia boo-bird lighting it up. Stevens quickly tried to speak past that response.
“I hope you leave the welcome mat out,” Stevens said, “because we would really love to come back.”
How much would Stevens and the PGA love to come back? Well, it can’t be ignored that attendance was down this year. The official count wasn’t known Sunday afternoon, but a good estimate was 25,000 for the four tournament days. The PGA was preferring a 40,000 count.
“It’s the economy,” Stevens said. “We have been seeing this everywhere we go. We would come back here in a heartbeat.”
It’s going to take more than a heartbeat. It’s going to take a collective memory and desire to make it happen. It’s going to take Sonoma County folks, those who own things, to pony up some bucks. Mostly, it’s going to be the job of everyone who wants the Schwab back here to repeat, over and over, the very thing that will keep the idea alive for the next three years.
Repeat after me.
The 2009 Schwab was a great finishing hole.
For more on North Bay sports go to Bob Padecky’s blog at padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com
Yep, what a perfect time to say goodbye to the Sonoma Golf Club.
“We’re spoiled coming here,” said Loren Roberts, who won the Schwab Cup for the season points title.
Yes, one had to keep reminding oneself the Charles Schwab Cup Championship is not returning here for an eighth year, for the compliments flowed like champagne in the clubhouse of a World Series champion.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” said Mike Stevens, president of the Champions Tour.
The Champions Tour will play the next two years at Harding Park in San Francisco, and I wondered what Harding has that the Sonoma Golf Club doesn’t.
“We absolutely love the golf course,” Roberts said. “I don’t think we play on a golf course that’s in better condition than this one. It’s pristine. It’s perfect. It’s beautiful. It’s a great place to play.”
In 2003, the PGA cobbled a deal with the folks at Harding. Upgrade the course to a PGA-standard and you’ll get five events. Harding did. Two of those events already have been played and two are the 2010 and the 2011 Schwab. One event is left. It could be three more years — if the PGA doesn’t schedule anything else for Harding — before Sonoma could re-enter the loop.
Fearful, the Sonoma folks are, that the memories of here will fade, especially when the competition is a global city, San Francisco. The fears are well-founded but several factors must be considered before a full-scale depression ensues.
The golfers on the Champions are 50 and older. Many of them played on the regular Tour, which means they have toured this country over-and-over, will have seen San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and the restaurants. They have taken the cable cars up to the stars.
Golfers 50 and over are like human beings 50 and over. Many have found a rhythm and a stability in their life. They have family, mortgages, roots. They have seen the world. They have been single. Painting the town doesn’t hold the same allure it once did.
So howling in San Francisco at 30 gives way to Sonoma at 50 with a nice, quiet dinner with friends at The General’s Daughter.
Golfers 50 and over are like other human beings 50 and over. They like warm weather. They move to it, in fact. I am convinced that’s the only reasons Arizona is a state. San Francisco, however, is many things but warm is not one of them. Fifty-two year old bones like Cook’s welcome a day without an overcoat.
“We love it here,” Cook said.
The next two years will test what kind of imprint the Sonoma Golf Club made on the PGA. Right now, of course, the memories are fresh. The tournament just ended. The season is over. Nothing comes up next week to replace it.
Right now it’s all balloons and seashells around here and how could it not be? No one misses the cut at the Schwab. No one has to fight traffic to get to a hotel or a restaurant. No one has to explain “the weather was lovely” to anyone who asks. Yes, this is a business and word-of-mouth counts a lot in business.
That’s why Stevens heard some boos in the award ceremony presentations late Sunday afternoon.
“This is bittersweet,” Stevens said into a microphone from the 18th green, facing the crowd, “because next year we move to Harding Park.”
That statement was immediately greeted with strong boos, at least strong boos measured by golfing standards. In a moment of angst, golf fans — honoring the sport’s tradition of civility at all costs — will remain silent as opposed to vocalizing disgust. So what they did Sunday was tantamount to a Philadelphia boo-bird lighting it up. Stevens quickly tried to speak past that response.
“I hope you leave the welcome mat out,” Stevens said, “because we would really love to come back.”
How much would Stevens and the PGA love to come back? Well, it can’t be ignored that attendance was down this year. The official count wasn’t known Sunday afternoon, but a good estimate was 25,000 for the four tournament days. The PGA was preferring a 40,000 count.
“It’s the economy,” Stevens said. “We have been seeing this everywhere we go. We would come back here in a heartbeat.”
It’s going to take more than a heartbeat. It’s going to take a collective memory and desire to make it happen. It’s going to take Sonoma County folks, those who own things, to pony up some bucks. Mostly, it’s going to be the job of everyone who wants the Schwab back here to repeat, over and over, the very thing that will keep the idea alive for the next three years.
Repeat after me.
The 2009 Schwab was a great finishing hole.
For more on North Bay sports go to Bob Padecky’s blog at padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com
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