Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Classic draws a strong field

Wednesday, May 5, 1999 | 11:18 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's golf notebook appears Wednesday. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

He's got most of the top players and the courses are in excellent condition. Now all Charlie Baron needs is for Mother Nature to comply.

Baron, tournament director of next week's 14th annual Las Vegas Senior Classic, is hoping this year's tournament breaks with the recent trend of bad weather that has plagued the Senior PGA Tour event.

Each of the past five Las Vegas Senior Classics has been hampered either by strong winds or thunderstorms -- and sometimes both.

"We've got a lot of good, recognizable names this year and the two golf courses are in good shape," Baron said. "We just need a break with the weather this year."

This year's LVSC will be played two weeks later than the previous tournaments and Baron said that should help.

"Being two weeks later, hopefully we'll be OK," he said. "But if you look at the weather the last two weeks, the weather hasn't been too good on the weekends -- we'd have been in trouble the last two weeks."

The weather issue aside, Baron is confident local golf fans will see some exceptional golf next week at the Tournament Players Club at The Canyons and the TPC at Summerlin.

Eighteen of the top 20 money winners this year on the Senior PGA Tour, including two-time defending champion Hale Irwin, have committed to play in next week's $1.4 million tournament.

"We've got a couple of good stories in that we have the top two players on this year's money list and (22 of) the top 23 from last year's money list," he said. "That's a pretty strong lineup right there.

"Plus, we've got Bob Duval playing, we've got Hale going for a three-peat, and you've got (Las Vegan) Jim Colbert trying to get it going again on his home course."

Other familiar players who have committed to play in Las Vegas include Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Miller Barber, Gay Brewer, Bob Charles and Al Geiberger.

The 14th annual Las Vegas Senior Classic will get under way Monday with an 18-hole qualifying tournament in which 156 non-exempt golfers will be competing for four spots into the 78-player field.

The tournament proper will begin Thursday with half the field alternating between the TPC at The Canyons and the TPC at Summerlin for the first two days. The final two rounds will be played exclusively at the TPC at Summerlin.

* TV TIME: Not only will the final three rounds of the Las Vegas Senior Classic be televised live on ESPN next week, the cable network will show a one-hour taped highlight package next Thursday featuring the UNLV golf team's win in the Golf Digest Collegiate Invitational, held at the Desert Inn Golf Club in March.

The program will air on ESPN (Cox Cable Channel 19) May 13 at 1 p.m.

* STOTTERN NAMED: Former Shadow Creek Golf Club superintendent Riley Stottern has been named to the same position at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas.

Southern Highlands, a new private golf club under construction near Interstate 15 and Lake Mead Drive in southwest Las Vegas, is scheduled to open to members in December.

* CHIP SHOT: According to the Darrell Survey, which monitors equipment used by PGA Tour professionals at each tournament, more players used Softspikes than metal spikes in last month's Greater Greensboro Classic, the first time that's happened in PGA Tour history.

* UPCOMING EVENTS: The PGA Tour is in New Orleans this weekend for the $2.6 million Compaq Classic at English Turn Golf and Country Club. Lee Westwood is the defending champion; ESPN (Thursday and Friday) and ABC (Saturday and Sunday) will televise. ...

The Senior PGA Tour will stage the $1.4 million NationWide Championship this weekend at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta. John Jacobs won last year's tournament; ESPN will televise Friday through Sunday. ...

The LPGA Tour is in Daytona Beach, Fla., this week for the Mercury Titleholders Championship at the LPGA International Champions Course. Danielle Ammaccapane won last year's event; CBS will televise Saturday and Sunday.