Columnist Dean Juipe: Senior Tour eyes celebrity event here

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, April 9, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

This being early April and this being Las Vegas, tradition has it that the PGA Senior Tour is about to hit town for an annual event that has 16 years' of memories attached to it.

But as anniversaries go, this one is pretty solemn.

There will be no Senior Tour stop in Las Vegas this year and whether you're indifferent to it or disheartened by it, it's clearly a loss for a community that markets itself as a world-class destination for golf enthusiasts.

"It's been different for us in the office, that's for sure," said Charlie Baron, who managed the Senior Tour event here and still manages the PGA Tour event that stops here every fall. "But look at the history of sports in Las Vegas."

His inference is easy to ascertain: Las Vegas is a hard sell, and seeing the Senior Tour drift away only adds to the lengthy list of sports that have come and gone in the city.

But while lamenting the lack of a Senior tournament here this year, Baron is hopeful it can be resurrected in an ensuing year with an altered format. He said discussions have been held toward initiating a Senior Tour event in Las Vegas that would place a heavy accent on the participation of celebrity amateurs, such as the PGA Tour does with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am every January in Southern California.

It would be Bill Murray and Joe Pesci et al for the senior set.

"The players like the city and the (Senior) tour would love to come back to Vegas," Baron said. "It's something we've been talking about for about nine months, and all of those conversations have been geared to a tournament with a celebrity tie-in.

"And we know that's doable because Vegas is such a great celebrity city."

Interestingly, Baron adds that such an event would not be played on either of the TPC courses in Summerlin and that "the right course" -- i.e., one a little easier to navigate -- would have to be found elsewhere in the valley.

Of course the Senior Tour has issues well beyond Las Vegas and has five fewer events on its 2002 schedule than it did in 2001. Another five events on this year's sked are still seeking title sponsors.

Additionally, Cadillac recently ended a 12-year association with the tour which included hosting hospitality tents for customers, providing courtesy cars for select players and purchasing TV ads.

"The tour doesn't have the star power it once did," Baron said of the circuit's decline. "And the newer guys, like Ben Crenshaw and Fuzzy (Zoeller) haven't been playing that well.

"Factor in the economy and it's a 'soft' time for sports marketing."

Las Vegas' absence on the Senior Tour this year is the direct result of Tru-Green Chemlawn pulling its sponsorship, which it had provided the previous four years. Prior to that, General Tire was a sponsor of the Senior tournament here.

"We can't do anything until we find a title sponsor," Baron said of the first-and-foremost necessity of locating a sub for Tru-Green before any other plans can be formulated.

I hope something emerges. Las Vegas is down to one significant golf event a year after once hosting three on an annual basis, and that's a loss that's beneath our reputation and stature.

Golf is big business here and the Senior Tour should always be part of that equation.