Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Bits and Pieces from the Classic

by: Frank Carpano

• From all indications the addition of women to the field was a success. The team of Natalie Gulbis and Jilu Inkster had the biggest spectator gallery each day. After the event I asked tournament co-host Brad Faxon if the women would be back. He sounded optimistic that they would be back

• Tournament organizers arranged to have a sky jumping team (The Red Bull parachuting team) drop in at the awards ceremony. 2 guys came flying in over the 18th green and appeared to come close to the golfers sitting around the green before landing on the 18th fairway. Many of the golfers scattered as the guys parachuted in. It was scary and funny at same time. Apparently the plane had been circling for quite some time. If the tournament went to a playoff, they would have cancelled the jump. Always something different at the Charity Classic.

• The volunteers are the backbone of this 3 day event. There are over a thousand who serve in different capacities. They are the friendliest, happiest bunch of people I have ever met working at a sporting event. And they actually had to pay to be there. Each person has to purchase their CVS shirt and hat . But they get fed everyday and get a pass to watch the event when they aren’t working.

• CVS President and CEO Tom Ryan promised that the contribution to charity from this year’s event will at least meet if not exceed last year’s contribution. Last year CVS distributed $1.6 million dollars to local charities.

• Our location for our early evening live reports was right next to the 15th green at Rhode Island Country Club. That’s the hole that runs along the road nearest Narragansett Bay. Cars are always driving by and depending on the timing, and who is driving by there is a good chance that you’ll get a shoutout t happened tonight during the commercial break just before the 6pm sports segment.  I heard a car pull up and somebody yell my name a couple of times. Since I was so close to going on the air, I didn’t want to look up. But the person was persistent. I looked up to discover a familiar face smiling at me. It was a playful Brad Faxon who was heading home and wanted to know when I was going to be on TV. Not sure if he was trying to crack me up or just wanted to say hi.

• At 6pm, about 3 hours after the conclusion of the event, the golf Channel had wrapped up all it’s cables and many of the signs directing spectators around the course had been removed. It won’t be long before the luxury suites roll on to the next site.

 

It’s Official!

by Frank Carpano

final scores from the CVS Caremark Charity Classic

Here are the final scores from the 2007 CVS Caremark Charity Classic

Team                           round 1         round 2         total             under par

Cink/Henry                       60               62           122                 -20   $250,000

Faxon/Johnson                   60               63           123                 -19   $175,000

DiMarco/Villegas                 61               64           125               -17   $130,000

Quigley/Quigley                 63               62           125               -17   $130,000

Price/Clark                     63                 63           126                 -16   $115,000

Toms/Immelman                 65               63           128                 -14   $110,000

Andrade/Trevino                 66               64           130                 -12   $102,000

Jacobsen/Ohair                   67               63           130                 -12   $102,000

Gulbis/Inkster                   66               67           133                 -9     $95,000

Choi/Parnevik                   68               68           136                 -6   $90,000

Total purse is $1.3 million

Coming up tonight on NBC 10:

at 5pm:  We profile the 2007 CVS Caremark Charity Classic Volunteer of the Year

at 6pm: A story about Legend Lett Trevino’s visit to Barrington

Coming up later on the blog: final notes from the event
Cink/Henry

Crowd Pleasers

by Frank Carpano

update from the CVS Caremark Charity Classic

The addition of a team of women appears to be a hit. The largest spectator gallery the last 2 days has been the one following Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis.

 

CVS Golf Gala

by Frank Carpano

Monday night the scene shifted to Newport for the CVS Caremark Charity Classic Gala.
This is the first year it was held in Newport. Usually it is held at the Rhode Island Convention Center.
The site was Marble House, one of the spectacular mansions on Bellevue Avenue.

1200 invited guests were treated to a wonderful evening of food, drink and entertainment.
When we arrived guests were directed to a parking area at a beach club on Ocean Drive. Buses transported us to the entrance of the Marble House.

We entered through the main hallway of the mansion and proceeded to the backyard where most of the guests gathered prior to dinner.

Soon after we were directed to a huge tent for dinner. Dinner under a tent? It’s not what you think. The tent was huge,
big enough for the 1200 guests, a dance floor and stage.

Here’s the menu for dinner

Local Farmers Green Sald with Candied Pecans and Goat Cheese - Freshly Baked Artisan Bread with Sweet Butter - Seared Fitel Mignon with marsala Demi-Glace - Shrimp Scallop Brochette with local Summer Snap Beans and Chive Mashed Potatoes - Classic Key Lime Pie and Chocolate Truffle Torte with seasonal berry coulis.

Dinner was followed by a speaking program. Once again I had the honor to open the program as the emcee.
CVS President and CEO Tom Ryan followed, he introduced tournament co-hosts Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon.
All the golfers were there. They each sat at a different table of sponsors. The only golfer other than Billy and Brad to speak was Lee Trevino. He paid tribute to Billy and Brad and their efforts putting together the tournament

Seated at tables around me were Billy Andrade, Juli Inkster, Nick Price and Lee Trevino. Price sat with Tom Ryan. Also joining Ryan at his table were NFL Hall of Famer Roger Staubach, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Governor Don Carcieri.

The annual live auction is always a highlight of the evening. And last night was no exception. There were only 6 items.
My favorite was a Masters tournament package. It included (for 4 guests), 2 day badges for the Masters, a house with chef and ground transportation. It also included a foursome at Sage Valley, the premier private club in the Augusta area.  It was auctioned off for $50,000! They added a 7th item at the end of the auction and raised a total of $635,000. And it all goes to charity! What is better than that.

Kool and the Gang came on stage and got everybody dancing until it was time to leave.

A great night had by all

Monday, June 18, 2007

CVS Caremark Charity Classic - End Of Round 1

By Frank Carpano

Play just concluded at Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington.

After Round 1, Brad Faxon and Masters champion Zach Johnson share the lead. They are tied at 11-under par with the team of Stewart Cink and J.J. Hendry.

The team of Chris DiMarco and Camilo Villegas are one stroke back.

The women’s team of Natalie Gulbis and Juli Inkster is six strokes off the lead along with the team of Billy Andrade and Lee Trevino
The leaderboard:
Faxon/Johnson         -11
Cink/Henry             -11
Dimarco/Villegas       -10
Price/Clark             -9
Quigley/Quigley         -8
Toms/Immelman         -6
Gulbis/Inkster           -5
Andrade/Trevino         -5
Ohair/Jacobsen         -4
Choi/Parnevik           -3

CVS Caremark Charity

by Frank Carpano

The 9th annual CVS Caremark Charity Classic got underway today under sunny skies here in Barrington. If it’s one thing people have learned about this event, it’s that you need to book your vacation the week of the Classic! The weather is always fantastic.

The day began at 9:00 am with the introduction of the players. I have had the honor of handling those duties each year. And I can’t help to be amazed at the collection of players we get here each year. Can you believe that this event has hosted the best in the world! And this year is no exception. Starting with Masters Champ Zach Johnson.

The first hour of the event is reserved for a clinic. It’s a great way to get to know more about the players and their game.
Not only have the tournament co-hosts (Billy Andrade+Brad Faxon) gathered a group of great golfers, they have a great group of personalities. And the players got to let their hair down a little this morning

The Barrington boys made a splash this morning, when they arrived dressed in pink! Not many guys could pull that off, but Brett and Dana Quigley can.

One of the loudest receptions was for the first womens team to compete in this event. Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis have broken the gender barrier and are competing for the over 1.3 million dollars in prize money.

Golf legend Lee Trevino is here for the first time. He’s one of those guys who you’d love to spend hours listening to his stories.

Peter Jacobsen capped the clinic off with his imitations of some of golf’s greatest. I always find it interesting to see the reaction of the people he imitates who are sitting a few feet away. In the past, Tom Kite, Arnold Palmer and Craig Stadler
have been treated (if that’s the right word) to the honor. Today ist was Lee Trevino’s turn. It was hilarious, and I think Trevino laughed the hardest.

Here’s the scoop on tournament results. the first number after the names is how many under par the team is and the second number is how many holes they have played.

Faxon/Johnson     -4       6
DiMarco/Villegas   -5       8
Cink/Henry         -4       8
Quigley/Quigley     -3       7
Toms/Immelman   -2       5
Price/Clark         -2     5
Gulbis/Inkster       -1       4
Andrade/Trevino     E     5
Jacobsen/OHair       E     4
Choi/Parnevik       E     9

NBC 10’s Joe Kayata and I will be reporting from the tournament tonight starting at 5pm on NBC 10.

Joe was rudely interupted on the golf course gathering material for a story. It was actually a very funny encounter that you will see tonight at 6 on NBC 10.

I’ll blog again once play is completed today. And also offer any updates if there are any other interesting developments

Questions? Hit the comment button!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Welcome to my blog - Extra Point

By Frank Carpano

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my blog.

This has been a long time coming.

In the past I’ve blogged from the Olympics (Salt Lake City and Torino) and most recently from the 2007 Big East Basketball championship. Alot of people checked it out, so that was the motivation to find a way to do it on a permanent basis.

It’s taken a few months to make it happen, but we are finally in business.

Yes, it means more work for me. But, the time limitations of our nightly sports reports on NBC 10 makes this an excellent outlet to share all the other “stuff”.
That’s where the name comes from, “Extra Point”.

I’ve got some ideas of how we can use this to better inform you. I’ll be sharing that in blogs to come. For now I’m going to keep it simple.

One great think about the blog is that it gives you a way to communicate with me.

That means if you don’t like what I have to say (on the air or in the blog), or want to offer your opinion, you can hit the “COMMENT” button and we’re connected.

I also hope that you’ll be emailing tidbits and story ideas. We certainly haven’t cornered the market on ideas.

Thanks for reading this and let the blogging begin!