The National Golf League is set to tee off August 5
It’s been compared to a cross between the Ryder Cup matches and
a regular PGA Tour event
– and it’s coming to Ridgemark Country Club in Hollister on Aug.
5. That’s when the National Golf League kicks off its 2006
season.
The National Golf League is set to tee off August 5
It’s been compared to a cross between the Ryder Cup matches and a regular PGA Tour event – and it’s coming to Ridgemark Country Club in Hollister on Aug. 5. That’s when the National Golf League kicks off its 2006 season.
Founded a year ago by Bob Aube of Davis, the long-term vision of the new league is to have professional golf teams from all over the country that compete just as teams from the NFL, NBA or MLB do each season.
“I would like to see this event at Ridgemark and the league evolve just like any other sports team that represents a community or area,” said Hollister’s Bob Henderson, who owns the league’s Silicon Valley Driver’s team, which is made up of some of the top players and professionals from Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito Counties. “I want to see the people support it, cheer for the teams and get autographs, where the players become celebrities.”
Currently the league includes six teams from Northern California and six more from Southern California, which were added this season.
Next year the league hopes to expand into the Midwest and Florida. By then, the hope is for the league to be marketed well enough and up and running to the point that it becomes attractive to major big ticket sponsors. As that happens, purses will increase dramatically, which will help the league pull in high-profile players with both PGA and Champions Tour experience.
“Right now we’re trying to get the word out,” Henderson said. “The seeds are being planted. The biggest hurdle is marketing and promotion and getting the word out so that people understand what the National Golf League is all about. We’re a start-up that’s on somewhat of a shoestring budget right now but we know that is we can get the people to come out and give it a look, whether they love golf or sports in general, they’ll love it.”
Each match puts two teams against each other. Each team is made up of six players, which equates to three two-man teams. In all, 27 holes are played.
The first nine holes are played as a best ball format. The second nine is played as an alternate shot and the final nine holes are played under a scramble format. Teams earn 1 point for each hole that they win. There are no carryovers.
What makes the league attractive to its fans is that it’s more up close and personal than any Tour event. Fans can rent golf carts of their own and drive around in them to watch the action. There are also no ropes and the pros are encouraged to regularly interact with the galleries and sign autographs during the round. Spectators are also allowed to walk the fairways with the pros.
Last season, the winning teams at each event split a $1,000 purse with the top team at the end of the year splitting a $12,000 purse.
This season the purses have doubled with the top team now splitting $2,400 as they vie for the top year-end prize of $24,000.
All of the teams in the league are made up of scratch amateur players and professionals only. Most have had mini tour experience and some have also competed on both the Champions and PGA Tour.
The top player currently on the local Silicon Valley Drivers team is John Ellis. A graduate of Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill and Gavilan College, Ellis has played in the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and has a great deal of experience on the Canadian PGA Tour as well.
Gilroy’s Darryl Donovan, who plays out of Corde Valle in San Martin, has won several Northern California Professional Golfers’ Association events.
Marc Lawless of Aptos also plays for the Drivers and is one of the top players on the statewide Spanos Golf Tour.
Ridgemark’s Director of Instruction, Mitch Thomas, plays for the Drivers and will be competing in the league’s season opener there.
Thomas is currently the No. 1 player in the NCPGA Assistant Pro Division. He also holds the course record (63) at San Juan Oaks and is hoping to compete on the Champions Tour in the coming years.
While all of the players in the league have the ability to fire a sub-par round every time they tee it up, Henderson knows that another hurdle is to be able to bring in household names to the league.
“It’s not realistic to try and pull in a PGA Tour player and get them to compete in an NGL event,” he said. “A more realistic thing would be to get someone from the Senior Tour that lives in the area or a retired player from the PGA to come out. That would help us tremendously. Last year, Rick Barry (NBA Hall of Fame) came out and played in some events. He’s not a pro but everyone wanted to see him. A guy like Roger Maltbie, who lives in Los Gatos, is retired but is a big name. He would be perfect for this.”
One hurdle that the league was able to clear this season was its ability to reach an agreement with Comcast Sports Net in the Bay Area to televise some of the league’s events.
World Long-Drive Senior Champion Eric Jones will also be at the Ridgemark event, where he is expected to compete and give a trick shot clinic.
“They told him he couldn’t do the long drive demonstration on the driving range there because his shots would fly into the condos on the other side,” Henderson said. “But he will be on the course and should be able to drive some of the par 4s.”
For more information on the upcoming event at Ridgemark, go to the league’s website at www.nationalgolfleague.com.
