Hope's Diamond

The old Palm Springs Golf Classic blossomed once a golf-obsessed comedian got serious about helping

February 7, 2003

By Bob Verdi

Golf World

"We played all the time, together when he'd let me," Dolores said. "And we've been playing since. I only beat him one time. In Vienna, Austria, where he shot 76 and I shot 75. I never let him forget it. People ask Bob how we've stayed happily married for almost 70 years, and he says because he's only been home for three weeks. He says he had to work that hard to pay for his golf."
-- Dolores Hope

GW
What if Bob Hope had said no? Where would this tournament be? Would it be? Where would the PGA Tour be? Above all, where would Yogi Berra have played last week?

"Thank goodness we don't have to answer those questions," said Ernie Dunlevie, 85, a close friend of Hope's, and one of the civic leaders who approached the legendary entertainer many years ago about lending his name to a golf event here. Oh, there was the existing Palm Springs Golf Classic. But visionaries like Dunlevie, a pallbearer at Clark Gable's funeral, knew show biz and wanted to take things to another level. Besides, there already was a tournament attached to Bing Crosby, a crony of Hope's.

"So we did our deal with Bob, and it was on an airplane," recalled Dunlevie. "He agreed to let us use his name and his likeness, and in 1965, the Palm Springs Golf Classic became the Bob Hope Desert Classic. Bob's only stipulation was that he didn't have to attend one committee meeting. And he still hasn't. But here's how big he was: Our TV rights before were $50,000; when he came aboard, we made one phone call, and the money was doubled."

What is now known as the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic was staged last week here in the glitzy and sunsplashed -- a record 92 degrees Friday -- Coachella Valley. It was the 44th edition of the only PGA Tour stop that extends to 90 holes over four courses (the Las Vegas Invitational is also 90 holes, but uses three courses). A good time was had by all, but not as good a time as when the man himself was around. Bob Hope is home in Toluca Lake, near Los Angeles. He will be 100 on May 29.

"Bob is not doing well," said John Curci, 90, a veteran on the Hope Classic Board of Directors, as is Dunlevie. "I talk to his wife, Dolores, often. Bob is basically bedridden, with three different teams of two nurses taking care of him on eight-hour shifts. He is comfortable, and he does get a massage every day. We asked Dolores to come down here to be part of the winner's presentation Sunday, but she said she wants to be with Bob as much as possible and does not leave the house for more than an hour at a time."

The cover of the Classic program this year pictured Samuel L. Jackson and Justin Timberlake -- two celebrities who played last year but didn't return -- and defending champion Phil Mickelson, who bucked tradition by not playing in the celebrity rotation that used to include Hope. Without naming names, Peter Jacobsen said the Hope Classic and this week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (formerly the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am) should be a mandatory PGA Tour stop for all players who don't quite get it. "They need to learn what makes the PGA Tour click," Jacobsen said. "For example, the sponsors and supporters like Bob Hope. A lot of people are born on third base and think they hit a triple. Bob Hope hit a home run on his own."
(More: GolfDigest.com)
2003 © Golf World.

Dan