Monday, June 18, 2007

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!