Vince Gill will join actors and area athletes next week at TPC of Tampa Bay.
By BOB HARIG
Published February 14, 2004
There will be more than just senior golfers to watch at next week's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.
As part of the new format for the Champions Tour event at the TPC of Tampa Bay, amateurs will join the pros during actual tournament rounds. And sprinkled among those amateurs will be a few familiar faces not known for their golf expertise.
The tournament announced Friday that award-winning country music singer Vince Gill, actors Chris O'Donnell and Kevin Sorbo, Bucs players Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber will participate. (Also announced were Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella and outfielder Aubrey Huff, but their status was in doubt due to the start of spring training).
The event begins Friday with 72 pros paired with an amateur. While the pros will play their own ball and compete for the $1.6-million purse over 54 holes, there also will be a concurrent best-ball competition with their amateur partners. The top 12 teams after 36 holes advance to Sunday's final round.
"It's not only for golf fans, but now we get to pique the interest of people who are not necessarily golf fans," tournament director Amy Hawk said. "Golf can be entertaining. A lot of these guys are extremely competitive. It's a whole new ballgame. Kevin Sorbo is a heck of a golfer. Seeing them inside the ropes, seeing how they handle pressure different from their own, adds a whole level of interest."
Gill is an excellent golfer, too. The winner of 15 Grammy Awards has a 1-handicap and in 2000 shot a career-low round of 62 in a member-guest tournament.
Hawk said the tournament hoped to have eight to 10 celebrities. "But I don't anticipate us wanting to increase that," she said. "We still have 72 pros and it's their show."
