Celebrity event keeps on rolling

The Professional Golf Association Tour's loss was celebrity golf's gain.

When the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and Caesars Tahoe (now MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa) began pursuing an annual professional golf tournament following the 1985 U.S. Senior Open at Edgewood Tahoe, they started by inquiring about a PGA event.

But before a PGA deal could be negotiated, Caesars Tahoe gambled on the innovative concept of Jim Karvellas, creator and co-founder of the Celebrity Golf Association.

Karvellas, a former New York Knicks radio man, kicked around the celebrity golf idea for five years before a major television network finally took a chance.

"He was a pioneer as far as this," said former hockey player Dan Quinn, a four-time champion. "He didn't want it to be AT&T (Pebble Beach National Pro-Am); he wanted it to be golf. His idea in 1990 was we had a lot of guys who were active and at the top of their game and some of the best ever in (Michael) Jordan, (John) Elway and (Dan) Marino. It was very creative, and here we are 18 years later."

NBC sealed celebrity golf's star-studded future by providing a stage for the first Celebrity Golf Championship July 12-15 in 1990 at Edgewood. Little did they know that the Lake Tahoe event would spawn two celebrity golf tours.

NBC took a chance on the event since it was seeking programming to fill a void after losing Major League Baseball to another network.

Celebrity golf was a novel concept that lacked only the financial security a major sponsor could provide. Without a title sponsor and Caesars Tahoe serving as the host hotel for players, organizers were indecisive on the tournament's name. Some called it the Caesars Tahoe Celebrity Golf Championship, while others referred to it as the NBC Celebrity Golf Classic at Lake Tahoe.

"It came together relatively quickly," said Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports, who was involved with the celebrity championship from day one. "At the time, we weren't renting properties. We wanted something to grow and build, and if they were successful, they couldn't be taken away from us."

When the dealing was done, NBC controlled 50 percent of the championship and Karvellas and Michael Trager of Sports Marketing and Television International the other 50 percent. The Karvellas-NBC partnership, however, didn't survive the decade. Karvellas and NBC reportedly didn't agree on the appeal celebrity golf had in other markets. Eventually a deal was worked out that gave Karvellas rights to 10 other CGA events while NBC gained total control of the Lake Tahoe tournament. Celebrity golf further divided when a group of players formed the Celebrity Players Tour in the early 1990s.

Participating in that historic first year at Edgewood Tahoe were Marino, Jordan, Elway, Jack Wagner, Vince Van Patten, Lawrence Taylor, Mike Schmidt, Kenny Rogers, Randy Quaid, Jim Rice, Joe Namath, John Havlicek, Bob Cousy, Ernie Banks, Rick Barry and Danny Ainge.

"It may interest you to know that every celebrity in this (July) field is here without being paid an appearance fee," said Karvellas, who died last year. "They are here at Caesars Tahoe this week, because they believe in the concept, they love the game of golf, and they like to compete. I shall be forever indebted to them for that."

Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien, a Super Bowl MVP, won the inaugural event with a 5-over-par total.

"Winning the CGA has got to rank as one of the biggest thrills of my life," Rypien said.

Even critical NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller was impressed with the first celebrity event.

"The thing that surprises me about the CGA players is the quality of play in the tournament, as well as how seriously they take the tournament," Miller said.

Former Detroit Pistons' bad boy Bill Laimbeer helped the tournament become more visible in its second year due to his own debacle. On the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Rick Rhoden, Laimbeer agonizingly wedged five consecutive shots into the drink guarding the 18th hole. He wanted to concede the hole, but tournament officials made him hole out. The pond has been known as Lake Laimbeer ever since.

In 1992, Quinn brought more respectability to the tournament by posting the first three-round winning score under par.

However, red-numbered golf scores were only part of the story in 1992. The event welcomed its first title sponsor, American Isuzu Motors, aboard. The relationship lasted through 1998.

Quinn's 213 record total stood for only a season as Rhoden began to dominate the tour. Rhoden won every odd-numbered year from 1991 through 1999.

When Rhoden's dominance subsided for a year, Hall of Fame football player Dick Anderson and NFL journeyman quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver squeezed out victories in 1994 and 1996, respectively.

In 1998, the tournament crowned its most storied champion as Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux won the event by one shot by sinking a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

In 1997, Charles Barkley, the 1993 NBA MVP, splashed four shots into the water on No. 11 and took a disastrous 15 on the par-4 hole.

Engelbert Humperdinck fired a 34-over-par 106 in 1994, and college football coach Lou Holtz didn't get fired after shooting a 103 in 1991.

Tahoe's first representative in the tournament, Jonny Moseley, carded rounds of 103, 106 and 98 to finish at 307, 95 strokes behind Lemieux in 1998.

While Barkley's embarrassment has come on the tee, 1993 runner-up Johnny Bench unfolded on the greens. The Hall of Fame catcher six-putted from 12 feet on the sixth green during the 1996 event.

Some of the best shots have come from the winners on the final day. Tolliver holed a pitching wedge from 65 yards out to birdie the 15th hole en route to victory.

Quinn rolled in a 60-foot birdie putt on No. 17 during the 1992 final round to edge Rhoden and Dick Anderson by one shot.

"To this day, that putt on No. 17 going in and just the whole feeling of winning is probably the greatest thing I've ever had," Quinn said.

Following the departure of Isuzu in 1998, a cloud of uncertainty enveloped the championship. Many townspeople wondered if NBC would move the event elsewhere. While NBC was searching for a new title sponsor, the Stateline casinos formed an alliance to save the event.

Fortunately, American Century Investments kept the players' favorite event in place with a multi-year agreement with NBC Sports, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and Harrah's Lake Tahoe. ACI has since agreed with LTVA and Harrah's to hold the championship through 2010.

The players couldn't be more pleased.

"It's fun to play golf on television; it's fun to be in contention. You know that whole competitive edge and competitive spirit, it's great. You're not only amongst some athletes atop their business, but they are also really great guys who are all friends. This is our major, our Augusta," said entertainer Jack Wagner, who broke through for his first win in 2006.

NBC Sports, which televises the final two rounds, determines who makes up the 80-player field and annually tries to freshen the entry list.

"NBC tries to get different people in there every year and they keep it vibrant," said Phil Weidinger, whose business, Weidinger Public Relations, has promoted the event since 1992. "They've taken advantage of inviting the hot names out there and really try to include a lot more entertainment celebrities. That's what draws spectators."

The tournament keeps evolving. The prize purse has grown from $400,000 to $600,000 - the largest in celebrity golf. The winner's share has also increased, rising from $75,000 to $125,000.

With the same stars winning year after year and others struggling to put the ball in the hole, NBC decided to switch from stroke play to Stableford scoring in 2003.

Since the advent of Stableford scoring, there have been five different champions.

This week, the old Caesars Tahoe Celebrity Golf Championship turns 19. The 54-hole tournament continues to draw one of sports' most star-studded fields, including Charles Barkley, Mario Lemieux, Jordan, John Elway, Lawrence Taylor, Brett Hull, Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger, Jerry Rice, Ray Romano, Emmitt Smith, Mike Schmidt, Bode Miller and Jason Kidd.

"You can't really match the celebrities and entertainers that you will see in Lake Tahoe," said Marino, a NFL Hall of Fame QB. "From that standpoint, it makes coming to Lake Tahoe really enjoyable."