THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407070683
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
The computer age has arrived at Kingsmill Golf Club this week in the form of the Michelob/PGA Tour 19th Hole.
OK, so it's an obvious advertising tool designed to thrust the name of one of Anheuser-Busch's main products into the limelight.
But it's not just a billboard sitting across the lake from the 18th green.
For anyone wanting to partake in electronic gadgets and gizmos tied into the PGA Tour, this trailer offers its share, ranging from six Sega Genesis PGA Tour II games to an IBM Scoring System display with up-to-date scores for the tournament.
``You can also get (video) golf tips from such players as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer,'' said 19th Hole director Steve Weinhold. ``We have scoreboards and statistics at your fingertips on laptop computers.''
And for anyone willing to take the Michelob ``Challenge,'' the trailer has on hand Cobra irons that are used on its ``golf simulator,'' a large-screen target that projects a hole and then measures your shot.
The simulator has 13 courses programmed. This week, it will be set for the par-3 14th hole at Harbour Town. Anyone coming within five feet of the pin will win a gift.
If you don't stick it close enough and want to know why, the trailer's ``swing analyzer'' can tell you what went wrong.
The 19th Hole made its debut at The Players Championship in March and is making at Kingsmill its 12th of 30 stops this season. The tent is traveling the PGA Tour at a cost of approximately $600,000, but entry is free to the public.
Weinhold is happy with the tent's location. Patrons standing on the trailer's veranda have a bird's-eye view of the 18th green and a ``Rain Room,'' one of two misting tents used to cool off tournament patrons, is just a few yards away.
``We've been averaging 1,000 patrons a day at other events,'' Weinhold said. ``But we could be in for a bigger week this time.'' ILLUSTRATION: PAUL AIKEN/Staff
While Tour players battle the heat and contours of Kingsmill Golf
Club, ``19th Hole'' patrons will be trying video golf.
by CNB