Tag: eddie Van Halen

It was the tradition of the old Bob Hope Classic, now the American Express tournament, that the defending champion would play the first round the following year with Bob Hope in what was called the featured group. So it was in 1994, when Tom Kite played the first day with Hope, President Gerald Ford and rock star Eddie Van Halen.

Wait, what? Eddie Van Halen? Playing golf?

The Southern California rocker who reshaped how people play the guitar – and who died this past week at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer – might have seemed like the proverbial fish out of water when he teed up in the 1994 Hope tournament.

The innovative musician was paired for four days with Hope and Ford, neither of whom seemed like they would particularly appreciate Van Halen’s artistry on the guitar on songs like “Panama” or “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love.” In fact, given the conservative image of the PGA Tour, it was possible that a lot of people around the tournament hadn’t even heard of Eddie Van Halen or his band, Van Halen.

But Van Halen’s appearance in the tournament was just the kind of thing that Bob Hope relished in his celebrity pro-am. The guitar god admitted as much.

Found this photo yesterday. pic.twitter.com/E77hl2CQRf

— Wolf Van Halen (@WolfVanHalen) October 12, 2020

“I met Bob Hope over at Lakeside Country Club (in Toluca Lake) about six months ago and he asked me if I wanted to play,” Van Halen told The Desert Sun that first day of the 1994 event. “I had no idea I would be playing with Bob. And President Ford. And Tom Kite.”

That was pure Bob Hope. When Hope was the ring leader of the tournament, he understood that entertaining the gallery was more important than great golf from the 30 or so celebrities who were in the tournament each year. That’s why Hope would invite astronauts and congressmen and senators and red-hot entertainment personalities to his tournament, or even the pairing of Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush in 1995, the two candidates in the previous presidential election.

Hope figured those people would sell tickets and let the gallery have a good time. If Gerald Ford happened to spray a shot into the gallery and knock down a spectator, well, it would make for a great story to promote the event.

Hope wanted to draw a crowd

That was far different than Hope’s friend Bing Crosby, who had his own tournament on the Monterey Peninsula. Crosby took his golf seriously, and wanted celebrities in his tournament who could play to a lower handicap. Hope wanted people in his tournament who would sell tickets or attract television viewers.

And so it was with Van Halen. The image of a long-haired rocker in the tournament not named Alice Cooper had to tickle Hope’s imagination, and indeed it was a front-page story in golf that week.

In theory, the tournament had a handicap limit for amateurs of 18, meaning for the most part the player would shoot around 90 for a round. But exceptions were made for celebrities. Actor Richard Dreyfuss played in the tournament one year right-handed and could barely make contact with the ball. A few years later, Dreyfuss returned playing left-handed.

Van Halen, who became a golf enthusiast and was a member at the celebrity-laden Lakeside Country Club, was not close to an 18 handicap at the 1994 event. In fact, a few people mentioned that Van Halen might have had better luck swinging at the ball with his guitar.

For his part, it didn’t help that Van Halen would have felt more comfortable playing a solo in front of 100,000 people than hitting a driver off the tee in front of a national television audience.

“I’m very nervous,” he told The Desert Sun before his first round at PGA West in La Quinta. “I’m not used to being in front of this many people without a guitar in my hands.”

In addition to Hope, Ford and Kite, Van Halen also played with professionals Peter Jacobsen, Payne Stewart and Fuzzy Zoeller in the four days of the pro-am when the tournament was still a five-day event. But even at the Hope tournament, Van Halen talked about getting more and more into the game.

“I used to be get a six-pack and hang out with the guys,” he said. “But I’m getting more serious about it. I didn’t bring the six-pack this time.”

By the end of the week, fans had flocked to see the rocker play golf, and Van Halen said he had a great time in his one and only appearance in the tournament.

That celebrity era for golf on the PGA Tour is pretty much gone now, and so are Hope and Ford and now Van Halen. But there was a time when an 80-year-old comedian, a former president of the United States and a rock legend could get together for an enjoyable round of golf in the desert.

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