| Bob Hope Classic Opened Wednesday |
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 Hope Classic Wednesday Tee OffWednesday, January 20, 2010 Celebrity Field at SilverRock Resort La Quinta, California Story and photos by Pat Krause For more Pat Krause of the Bob Hope Classic Opening, click here. Wednesday, Jan . 20, the Bob Hope Classic started out without rain at the Celebrity Field at SilverRock Resort in La Quinta near Palm Springs, Calif. Tuesday was a practice day, but it rained hard. The celebrities and amateurs along with the pros were hoping they could get through Wednesday with out getting wet. The morning was cool but dry, however as the day progressed the wind grew cold. If you hadn’t brought along a warm jacket or wind pants, you would get pretty cool. Many of the fans that braved the weather on Wednesday afternoon wore hooded sweatshirts or heavy jackets. I even saw gloves on a few ladies later in the day. Fans were excited to see all the celebrities in the field. Some of the fans were brave enough to ask for autographs. Hope Classic caps could be seen thru out the crowd with an autograph or two. Another item that was used for Autographs was the pairings sheets as they were readily available at the course.  Some top athletes in the celebrity fields were NFL players Derek Anderson, Bo Jackson Sterling Sharpe, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, Emmitt Smith and Frank Wycheck. Other athletes were Evan Longoria, Jeremy Roenick, Toby Dawson, Greg Maddux and Olympian Bruce Jenner. These are all some of the top names in their fields. Actors Michael Pena, Jeffrey Donovan, Ron Perlman, Alfonso Ribeiro, Kurt Russell, Patrick Warburton, Kevin Nealon, Kyle MacLachlan, Craig T. Nelson, Oliver Hudson, Bruce McGill, William DeVane and Celebrity host John O’Hurley. Actress Stephanie Szostak even played in the celebrity field. Comedians Gary Valentine and Ron White along with long-time Bob Hope Classic emcee Tom Dreesen were also on the field. If you are a musical fan, you would know the names of these musicians — Steve Azar, Robbie Krieger of The Doors, Tommy Thayer from KISS, Don Felder from the Eagles and Shock Rocker Alice Cooper. A first was Dr. Phil McGraw and there is even adventurer Burt Rutan. It was very diverse group of celebrities. Fans identified with many of these great names.Thursday was not played because of rain because the golf courses were unplayable with so much water on the course. This was the first time in 30 years that happened. Friday, the pros braved the rain and got in a full round. The groundskeepers did an excellent job getting the courses ready for play. Some areas had a foot of water that had to be pumped out to make it playable. They had to keep ahead of the water even as the pros played on Friday. The weekend looks good to finish the tournament. For more Pat Krause of the Bob Hope Classic Opening, click here. For more about the Bob Hope Classic, click here. For more about the SilverRock Resort, click here. |
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