Columnist Peter Benton: Red Cross benefit approaching

Peter Benton

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 | 8:55 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

The Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross will stage its fourth annual golf classic -- "Play Like a Pro" -- on April 18 at the TPC in Summerlin.

This tournament, a four-person scramble, still has a few spots available, but early application for these is highly recommended.

On the Sunday evening prior to the tourney, a cocktail reception and silent auction will be held at Sushi Roku in the Forum Shops, Caesars Palace, where John Daly, host of HGTV House Detective and Real TV, will serve as master of ceremonies.

Celebrity guests participating in this year's event include actress Joan Severance (Bird on a Wire), cast members from Thunder from Down Under; former L.A. Raiders running back Napoleon McCallum, the Las Vegas Gladiators and Goddesses, and women's long drive champion Lee Brandon.

Individual entry fee is $400, plus there are still a limited number of hole sponsorships available for $1,500.

Joe Vassallo, 2005 Golf Classic chairman, said pin placements for this year's tourney will be the same as the final day of our last PGA tour Michelin Championship, which should create a terrific challenge for all participants.

Additionally, two new contests will be included during play, where players will have the opportunity to win either a trip to The Masters or a set of PGA tour pro John Daly's clubs and golf bag.

For sponsorship or entry information, please call (702) 791-3311.

It was announced last week by the governing board of the Official World Golf Ranking that Tiger Woods is the recipient of the 2004 Mark H. McCormick Award, the award Woods has won since its inception in 1998.

This is presented annually to the player who holds the number one position on the Official World Golf Ranking for the greatest number of weeks in each calendar year.

Woods held the top position for 35 consecutive weeks last year, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 5. Vijay Singh took over the lead ranking on Sept. 6 and held it for 26 weeks until Woods regained it on March 7 of this year. He relinquished it a couple if weeks ago when Singh again moved ahead of him.

As of March 20 the top 10 in the rankings were: Singh, Woods, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, David Toms, Adam Scott and Stewart Cink.