Columnist Peter Benton: LPGA event needs help from local volunteers

Peter Benton

Wednesday, April 2, 2003 | 9:11 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

Ever dreamed of rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous? Well, here's your opportunity to do so.

Volunteer coordinator Kathy Williamson is looking for energetic people to work at the LPGA Takefuji Classic April 14-19 at the Las Vegas Country Club.

The $1.1 million, 54-hole tournament, which is being played in Las Vegas for the first time, has attracted the top women golfers in the world, including Annika Sorenstam, who won an incredible 13 times last year.

Volunteers needed are:

Walking scorers: To walk with a group of players and record the score and stats. of each contestant. A knowledge of golf is essential and days required are Wednesday through Saturday.

Television helpers: To assist the TV crews on course by spotting balls and/or carrying sound equipment. Days needed are Thursday through Saturday.

Media center: Assist LPGA media reps and members of the press. Days, Monday through Saturday.

Standard bearers: To walk with the professionals for 18 holes carrying a sign displaying the names and scores of the professionals.

Also required are volunteers for parking, gallery control, admissions/will call, greens reporters, locker room attendants and child-care helpers.

Interested parties can contact Williamson at the tournament office, 898-4653 for full information.

Fifty years ago, Ben Hogan completed one of golf's greatest feats when he became the first player to win three professional majors in the same season: The 1953 Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open.

To celebrate this accomplishment and his exceptional career, the World Golf Hall of Fame last Tuesday unveiled Hogan's Historic Season: A Golden Anniversary Tribute.

The exhibit features memorabilia from '53 when Hogan won five of the six four-round tournaments he entered that year -- the three majors plus the Colonial and the Pan-American.

Other career mementos featured in this exhibit include golf clubs, rare photographs and many personal items from the Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was a member for many years.

Adding a personal local flavor is the fact that the piped music into the permanent Ben Hogan Room is the voice of Las Vegas' own singer/golfer, Don Cherry.

It appears that one of Hogan's favorite things to do was listen to tapes of Cherry's songs. His personal assistant said he used to sit looking out the window listening, day-dreaming and thoroughly enjoying these relaxing and melodious tunes.

Cherry, by the way, can be visited on his website at www.doncherry.us