ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 15, 1997 TAG: 9701150045
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
FROM HANGING ROCK to the Bob Hope Classic is a big step. Just ask Chip Sullivan.
Just a few months ago at Salem's Hanging Rock Golf Club, he was giving lessons to 20-handicappers, taking tee times over the phone, selling sleeves of golf balls and hustling up an occasional chili dog on the grill.
Now he's playing practice rounds with John Daly, talking to his agent on a cellular phone, getting more free Titleists than he can hit, and driving a brand new courtesy car every week.
For Chip Sullivan, former club professional turned PGA Tour pro, life literally has been turned upside down.
``It's like some kind of surreal experience, like some kind of big dream world,'' Sullivan said. ``Really, it's hard to fathom. At times, I look around at where I'm at and I still have a hard time believing this is really happening.''
Reality sets in today. At 12:32 EST at Bermuda Dunes Golf Club in Indian Wells, Calif., Sullivan tees it up in his first PGA Tour event - the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. (Television coverage begins at 2 p.m. Friday on TNT cable.)
``I'm definitely going to be nervous,'' said Sullivan, speaking via phone from his California motel room Sunday night.
``I think anybody would be in my shoes. Shoot, one day I'm teaching at Hanging Rock, and the next I'm in front of the biggest names in golf. Here you're playing against a bunch of guys in the dog pound - hey, we all weren't really doing anything special - and now you're playing with the big kahunas.''
Sullivan, a 32-year-old Louisiana native who has lived in Roanoke since 1993, was the only club pro to earn his '97 PGA Tour playing card in the circuit's December qualifying tournament. Sullivan shot 7-under-par 353 for the 90-hole grind to beat all but two of the 49 players who won '97 playing privileges.
``I kind of feel like I stole something,'' Sullivan said. ``I can see how somebody might say, `You don't deserve it, you haven't been on the Nike Tour, you haven't been staying in Motel 6 for 10 years grinding on the mini-tours.''
Whether he slipped in the back door or not is a moot point now. Sullivan has a ticket and he's in the show. It's up to him to take advantage of a ``once-in-a-lifetime'' situation.
``My first goal is to get back to staying focused,'' said Sullivan. ``I did such a great job of that at Q-school. Obviously, the goal after that is to make the top 125 on the money list.''
In order to retain his card past '97, Sullivan must finish among the tour's top 125 money-winners. The odds aren't great. Just 15 of 42 Q-school graduates from the class of '95 made the top 125 last year.
``It's going to be tough,'' said Sullivan, ``but, hey, this is the chance you always wanted. This is what I've been waiting for ever since I picked up that first stick as a kid. I'm going to give it my best shot and see what happens.''
Sullivan arrived in southern California last Thursday after getting in some limited post-holiday practice in Louisiana.
``I had some terrible weather to practice - rain, cold, ice, sleet. I'm a little rusty. I'm not hitting the ball as well as tour school, but, hopefully, it'll come around soon.''
Sullivan was joined in California on Friday by his wife, Kari, and his father-in-law, Tom Hall, who will be his caddy the first couple weeks on tour.
On Saturday, Sullivan was putting on the practice green at La Quinta - one of the four different Palm Springs courses used in the Hope's unique 90-hole format - when a deep voice bellowed ``Hey, Chipper.''
``I turned around and, lo and behold, it's John Daly,'' Sullivan said. ``We played against each other in college when I was at Ole Miss. We talked a little bit and the next thing I know he's invited me to play a practice round with him.
``That made me feel good. I think that will help me out come [today].''
Hall, who is playing hooky from his job as a Roanoke elementary school principal for a few weeks, might be having more fun than his son-in-law.
``I'm having the time of my life,'' said Hall, who caddied for both players in the practice round. ``John had us cracking up all day long with jokes and stuff. Then I look around and see people like Vince Gill and Amy Grant. This is something else, I'm telling you.''
Hall, who authored a course-record 62 last summer at Countryside, doesn't have to tee the ball up today, though. Sullivan does. He is paired with another obscure pro - ``I can't recall his name'' - and two amateur partners today in the opening round of the 90-hole event played over four different California desert courses.
``I'm sure it's going to be quite a nerve-racking experience,'' Sullivan said. "I'm kind of glad I'm not playing with a Tom Watson or somebody.''
Sullivan, who recently hired Richmond-based agent David Maraghy to handle some of his off-course affairs, will wear a shirt with a Hanging Rock logo on its left sleeve.
``I think the first [tournament] will be the toughest one. There are a million people here, you have to fight through crowds just to hit a shot.
``But's let's tee it up and see what happens. I want to do good for myself, I want to do good for all the folks back in Roanoke.
``But let me tell you, this scene is a little different than being back home on the range.''
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