Brodie, Snead Join Lineup For Pro Classic
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback John Brodie and J.C. Snead, an eight-time winner on the regular PGA Tour, are among the top names that have been added to the field of Senior PGA Tour professionals scheduled to compete in the 1997 Pro Classic.
Event director and promoter Toby Steward made the announcement Wednesday afternoon at a press conference cleverly staged in the parking lot of Tidyman’s new Latah Creek supermarket, just across U.S. Highway 195 from The Creek at Qualchan Golf Course.
This year’s fourth annual Pro Classic will be held July 20-21 at Qualchan, and Tidy man’s has signed on as the main sponsor of the Classic’s main event a six-hole shoot-out that could feature as many as 17 Senior PGA Tour members.
The headliner at this year’s Classic will be Lee Trevino. But the addition of Brodie, Snead, former U.S. Open champion Tony Jacklin, Bruce Devlin, Gibby Gilbert and Bobby Nichols makes the field the most intriguing to date.
“Of all the players on the list, almost half of them are new players that we didn’t have here at the Pro Classic last year,” Steward said, “so we’ve got a lot of new blood coming to the event this year.”
Technically, there probably isn’t any “new blood” among a group of golfers over the age of 50, but Steward was not about to let a minor technicality mute his trumpeting the accomplishments of the 15 pros already committed to compete.
“It’s the strongest field we’ve ever had at the Pro Classic,” Steward said.
Rick Acton, Butch Baird, Don Bies, Homero Blancas, Bob Brue, Ken Still, DeWitt Weaver and Larry Ziegler have scheduled return appearances.
Steward said he has already committed between $180,000 and $210,000 in appearance fees to bring the pros to Spokane. He said he might have to sign two more to fill out the largest pro-am scramble field in the event’s history.
The scramble, which will be held Monday, June 21, prior to the Tidyman’s Shootout, has been “over-booked,” according to Steward.
“This is the first year that we have not been able to have the general public sign up,” he explained. “The support has been such that it’s going to be basically sponsors-only (playing in the pro-am).”
In addition, Steward said the sale of $20 gallery tickets for Monday’s schedule of events - which also includes solo clinics by Trevino and Brue, along with a clinic for kids - will be limited to 4,000. He added that almost half that number has been sold and that he does not expect to have any tickets available at the gate.
Sunday’s schedule will feature the Avista Advantage Junior Championship; the Yamaha Invitational, in which area club professionals will compete for an $8,000 purse; and the Savin Championship for amateurs.
Ticketed spectators will be shuttled from the parking lot of Tidyman’s to the Qualchan clubhouse - a 5-minute trip - via three Spokane Transit Authority buses on the day of the pro-am and Shootout.
The six holes that will be played during the Shootout are Nos. 10, 11, 12, 16, 17 and 18.
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