In DJE's Gallery
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic golf tournament
January 2002

By Sarah Jane Amoroso

The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, January 14-20 in Palm Springs/Palm Desert, California, is played on four different golf courses, Bermuda Dunes Country Club, Tamarisk Country Club, Indian Wells Country Club and the Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA West.

Teams of three amateurs play with a different professional golfer each day. I picked up my Media Credentials at PGA West and headed out to IWCC on Wednesday for David’s 9:10 am tee time. My media credentials allowed me to take photographs on the course. I was allowed to do this because of my job at a newspaper.

I was glad to see Matt Sigloch was acting as David’s caddie again this year. A scratch golfer, Matt can provide David with a lot of tips and pointers. David was listed as an 8 handicap, which means he is a pretty good golfer when he has the time to play. But, during the season when he is shooting, he does not get a lot of time on the golf course.

David’s partners in his threesome were Kyle MacLachlan, of shows such as Twin Peaks and Sex in the City, and the movie Blue Velvet, (none of which I have ever seen, but that is what they said at the first hole each morning when they introduced him); and Fred Frederick, owner of a Chrysler dealership in Maryland. The threesome’s professional partner on Wednesday was Stuart Appleby, an Australian who has done well on the PGA tour in recent years.

David’s foursome teed off on the first hole, then they all came striding down the fairway toward their second shots. I was standing near the ropes as they walked past. David looked over at me, pointed and nodded his head in hello. So, I guess if you follow him around at enough golf tournaments, he remembers you.

David was wearing a Salt Lake City 2002 baseball cap all weekend. I wanted to ask him about it, but did not want to make a pest of myself. Along with the SLC hat, David was wearing some (I think) Oakley wrap-around sunglasses. They were orange and silver with greenish colored lenses. Not the best eyewear for photographs, but… David, as “captain” of his team, was maintaining the team’s scorecard, which meant he spent a lot of time making notes. So… lots of photos of baseball hat, sunglasses, and looking down at the scorecard. Argh!

David didn’t play really well on Wednesday, but his team ended up at about 9 under par for the day. At one point David had hit his 4th or 5th shot, a short iron, way over the green. He did not bother to go over and pick it up before proceeding to the next tee to hit. I walked over to the course marshal and asked if I could pick it up, since David had already left the green while everyone else had putted out. She said I could, and I picked it up just as Matt came through the crowd looking for it. So, I tossed it to him, and told my friend, who I had been planning to give it to, “Sorry… I was going to give it to you, but…” Then Matt turned around (he must have heard me) and tossed her the ball. Needless to say, she was very excited, and later David signed it for her.

On Thursday, David’s foursome, with Jesper Parnevik, was playing at Tamarisk Country Club. Jesper won the BHCC in 2000, but was unable to defend his title in 2001 due to the impending birth of his child.

David spent a lot of time on the driving range before his round on Thursday, and he brought an assistant teaching pro with him to give him even more help than Matt could give. The teaching pro stayed with David all day, but it didn’t seem to help much, unfortunately.

At one point David began complaining of a backache… or maybe it was a headache. Anyway, a spectator overheard, and asked if he would like an Advil. David said, “Do you have one?” with great hopefulness. She did, or she would not have volunteered to provide one! He took the Advil, but I never knew whether it helped or not. His team finished that day at about 8 under par, making them 17 under for the tournament so far.

As we were leaving, my friend asked me to take a picture of her with David. So, as he came off the 18th green, she asked him to pose. I framed the picture, pushed the shutter button, and… Nothing! What a time for my camera’s battery to give out! We promised David we would catch him the next day. I am sure he was worried about it!

I spoke briefly with David on Thursday, and asked him if he was ever going to come back to Pebble Beach, or if the weather had scared him off. He said he was playing this year, if they let him off work. He complained that it is always so cold and wet there. I informed him that it had been really rainy in the previous month, and everything was soggy. He was less than thrilled to hear that.

Then I was talking to Matt, and mentioned that I had played Pebble Beach Golf Links in December. We got through three holes in driving rain and wind. Then the hail started. Finally thunder and lightning came. The play was canceled immediately. David’s first question was, “Did you get your money back?” (It costs $350 to play PBGL.) And I told him, yes, we did receive a refund, but I would have rather finished the round. Matt told us he was playing in a California statewide golf tournament for amateurs. He had made the quarterfinals for Southern California, I think he said. He had to leave immediately after the round on Saturday to return to LA to play in the tournament on Sunday.

We walked through the club house to get to the buses that would return us to the parking lots and our cars, and as we walked back outside, Matt walked up to me and asked what time they were supposed to tee off tomorrow (Friday). I told him I thought it was 9:20, but I wasn’t sure. He asked me to call him and leave the information on his voice mail, since I had my laptop back in my room and could easily retrieve it. Then he hopped in David’s car and they drove off.

Bermuda Dunes Country Club was the location, and Justin Leonard was the pro for Friday’s third round of the BHCC. David again drew an audience around the driving range that morning, this time without his teaching pro. There were a lot of Cathedral City Firefighters and paramedics, and they had a couple of firefighting headgear, which they were having the celebrities sign. Stone Phillips (news anchor), AJ McLean (Backstreet Boys), Justin Timberlake (‘N Sync), Don Sutton (Pitcher), Emmitt Smith (Running Back) and David were just a few of the people who signed the helmets.

Nanci and Stephanie showed up at the driving range that morning. Stephanie asked her dad to get her autographs from AJ and Justin. He got signatures for her on her tournament badge. Hopefully, she got some photos, too.

Later that day, Fred holed the ball from the fairway for an eagle (2 shots under par). There was much excitement from the foursome – many hugs, high fives and handshakes. The team was doing well that day – they ended up 17 under par for the day – doubling their output from the two previous days.

We found out the next day that David’s foursome had tied with another team for the best score of the day at Bermuda Dunes. They were eligible for a prize, but lost in a card-off, which is a comparison of scorecards for the best scores on par 5s, then par 4s, until there is a team that had a better score.

Saturday morning David’s foursome included golfing great Arnold Palmer, with whom David had played on Saturday last year, also. The Palmer Private Course at PGA West is named after its designer. Last year, Mr. Palmer shot a 71, his age. This year he did not do as well.

A little boy and his father had followed David along with a few other people, for the whole 4 days. At one point, the father approached me and asked if I would take a picture of his son with David. I said I would, and flagged down David at the next path between green and tee. I had told the father to pick up his son and pose with him, and as David approached, I said, “David, may I get a photo of you with this young fan?” David came right over, and instead of posing with the father and son, he took the boy from his father and held the youngster himself. The boy was so thrilled, he forgot to ask David for his autograph. So, I told the father I would get a copy of the photo signed if David came up to the AT&T.

Later, the father told me that he gets home from work around 7 every evening and he and his son, whose name is Matt, eat dinner and watch JAG on USA. Matt is 4 years old and won’t miss an episode.

Last year, after the Bob Hope, I sent Matt Sigloch some copies of screen caps of Matt shaking hands with Arnold Palmer. So this year, when I saw Matt and realized they were again playing with Mr. Palmer, I said we would get some photographs this year.

Before the Saturday round was over, I grabbed Matt while there was a delay in play due to a backup on the tee. So they posed for a couple of pictures.

The day ended with a huge throng at the 18th green, waiting for players to come out of the scorer’s tent after turning in their scorecards. Most players walked the gauntlet of fans begging for autographs, but David, Matt, Nanci and Stephanie chose to head in the opposite direction and avoid the crowd. Mr. Palmer came through and was just mobbed with autograph seekers.

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