
DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710100993

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                      LENGTH:  122 lines

AMATEURS PONY UP BIG BUCKS TO PLAY WITH PROS MICHELOB PRO-AM IS SO POPULAR THERE IS A WAITING LIST OF MORE THAN 50.

How much money would you pay to play a round of golf with a touring professional on a top-notch course? Is $500 too much? Would $1,000 leave your spouse screaming?

Try $3,500. That's what some 200 golfers forked out on average Wednesday to play in the Michelob Classic's Pro-Am tournament at Kingsmill.

That's about $195 per hole, with no possibility of winning prize money or a snazzy door prize, like a car or a trip or something. The award for lowest score among the 54 teams was a trophy.

Sound nutty? Consider that there were 50 to 60 people on a waiting list trying to get into the event.

If ever there was proof that golf is a rich man's sport, here it is.

There is a lot of money flying around these well-coiffed fairways this week, the latest stop on the PGA Tour. Corporate sponsors drive the Michelob Classic, which raises enough cash in one week to distribute $1.5 million to golf pros and another $250,000 or so to local charities, hospitals and schools, including Old Dominion University and The Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters.

It adds up quickly. To rent a hospitality tent, for example, with tables, linens, food credits, waiters and a closed-circuit TV, a company must pay as much as $54,000.

For 20 seats in the shaded ``skybox'' behind the 18th green, with ceiling fans and a picture-perfect view of the James River, it costs $19,000. And next door, in the ``executive skybox,'' with fresh flowers, a stocked bar, a gourmet buffet and playing privileges in the pro-am, a company pays $34,750, according to a tournament brochure.

``The Championship provides a great opportunity for hosting friends, valued customers, prospective clients or for rewarding and recognizing business or social associates,'' the glossy brochures reads.

Among corporate sponsors, Anheuser-Busch leads the way. Indeed, many of the players in Wednesday's pro-am were here as guests of the mega-brewer, their entry fees covered as a perk for either working, buying or contracting with the beer conglomerate.

``Oh yeah, it's very nice,'' John Goessling, a Williamsburg bottle-maker for Anheuser-Busch, said of his pre-paid round of VIP golf. ``This is my third year out here, and I just love it. It's a real treat.''

Goessling was playing with pro Duffy Waldorf and was more nervous than speaking before a corporate board meeting.

Asked if he expected Waldorf to help improve his game, Goessling rolled his eyes: ``There's no improving my game.''

Pro-ams are not only an opportunity to rub elbows with famous golfers, they also are a time to do a little business. What better venue to discuss a possible contract than five hours on a scenic golf course, with no place to escape?

John Coleman flew to Williamsburg from Dublin, Ireland, for the event. The commercial director for Guinness Beer smiled when asked if the outing was intended for fun or business.

``It's mostly a social setting,'' Coleman said, ``but I never say no to a business conversation.''

This was his first pro-am tournament in America, and he described the intensity and anxiety among the participants as ``absolutely overwhelming.''

But Coleman did not seem too uptight. ``The loser serves the others Michelob tonight,'' he said with an Irish grin.

Invitations to the pro-am go out almost a year in advance, sent to all participants since the event began. There are 200 spots; this year, they were all taken by February, said Johnnie Bender, executive director of the Michelob Classic.

``It's always one of our most popular events,'' Bender said. ``You take people who have a love of golf and give them an outing that's good for business, and you've got a winner.''

Pro-ams are not always as popular with the pros. After all, their amateur partners are often slow playing, chatty and not exactly good for their games. Spending five hours in the hot sun while watching a guy hack ball after ball into trouble is not the most productive way to spend a day on the PGA Tour.

``I tell you what,'' said S. Tien Wong, CEO of Unitel, a telecommunications company in Tyson's Corner, ``if I was a pro, I wouldn't want to watch my swing all day.''

But most pros grin and bear it. Some even seem to relish the comraderie, posing for pictures and high-fiving with partners. And none can be found who would turn down the $1,800 cash prize for low score of the day - which Tom Kite and Russ Cochran split.

``I've got no complaints,'' said rookie pro Stewart Cink. ``You meet a lot of different people, a lot of people who can help you out.''

Fuzzy Zoeller, one of tour's most playful players, even wandered into the deep brush Wednesday to help find his partner's woefully lost ball, shanked off the first tee.

``Hey, he's having more trouble than me,'' Zoeller said. ``You got to give the guy a break.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Ron Burniske of Virginia Beach...

Photos

BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Lee Babb of Guam, above, blasts out of a sand trap during

Wednesday's pro-am at Kingsmill. At right, Mark Young of Mobile,

Ala., shakes hands with pro Billy Andrade, far right, after their

round.

Map

Graphic

AT A GLANCE

What: The Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, 72-hole golf