Great One has great expectations for his new tournament  PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator The Great One has now joined the ranks of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and, yes, even Justin Timberlake, by hosting a professional golf tournament, the brand-new Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic, which will debut on the Nationwide Tour in 2008. But if you ask him, he's not even the greatest golfer in his own family.  Janet Jones Gretzky is a multiple winner of celebrity golf events. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
That honor belongs to wife Janet Jones Gretzky, two-time celebrity winner of the Nationwide Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am at the Cliffs and twice a winner at the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational. "It's really starting to tick me off," joked Wayne Gretzky. The proud hubby actually anxiously kept track of his wife's scores at the Nationwide Tour's celebrity pro-am in Greenville, S.C., racing to the media center for her score updates on the front nine before joining her gallery on the back nine. Gretzky's experiences at the Nationwide Tour's annual pro-am led him to host his own event. Good friend Mike Collins is heavily involved with the South Carolina tournament and Canadian Gretzky, a three-time participant, saw potential for a similar event in his home country. "They put together an outstanding event down there that is a cross between helping young guys on the Nationwide Tour who are trying to make it to the PGA TOUR and it's a great stepping stone for those guys," Gretzky said. "[The tournament also] offers a tremendous amount of financial help in raising money for charitable foundations in the area." That's the first tournament host benefit that Gretzky mentions -- the positive effect the tournament will have on his own Wayne Gretzky Foundation. Similar to The First Tee in golf, which brings the sport to children who may not be able to afford it, Gretzky's foundation provides hockey equipment and ice time to kids who couldn't otherwise play. They also donate money toward girl's hockey as well as inline hockey programs and sled hockey for children who can't skate. "The organization is built around encouraging kids to participate in sport of hockey," he said. "We are planning on expanding it and this tournament will help us with that. We'd really like to get involved with helping kids who need financial aid and medical expenses." Plus, the fact of the matter is, Gretzky simply loves golf. He's a 29-year golf veteran and a 16-handicapper who got it into the single digits before his Phoenix Coyotes coaching duties cut into his time on the links. He and his wife, who boasts a 25 handicap, still practice often at their home course at the Country Club of Scottsdale. Gretzky hopes to bring celebrities and fellow National Hockey League players to the tournament. Ford, the title sponsor of the event and long-time supporter of the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, has donated a car to the celebrity winner and the amateur winner, something Gretzky hopes will encourage participation. What Gretzky won't be bringing to the tournament, however, is experience from his time on the ice. As he jokes, about the only thing golf and hockey have in common are "frustration." "It's completely different. They are both a tremendous thinking man's game, but in the game of golf the patience has to be so unique. I'm sure at the pro level it's played instinctively by great golfers," he said. "When I played hockey, I found that I didn't have to think a lot,but in golf there's always something you need to do mechanically. "I've been lucky to know Cristie Kerr and Freddie Couples. They've been able to show me everything that I do wrong in the golf swing." Hockey rules in Canada, but golf is quickly rivaling the sport in sheer fandom. Even Gretzky experiences the thrills and chills that come from an up-close-and-personal encounter with the PGA TOUR. "[I played the 2003 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am] and it was the most amazing week of my life. Each and every person dreams of being in final group on Sunday," he said. "I'm not that good, but we ended up being in final group on Sunday because of my partner Mike Weir. Mike and Davis Love III were battling for it and we snuck into the final pairing because Mike was playing so good." Gretzky is a friend of Weir's through their association with the Wayne Gretzky & Friends charity tournament. Though it might be accurate to call Weir the "Wayne Gretzky" of golf based on his ability to inspire legions of Canadians, Gretzky himself called Weir the "Tiger Woods" of Canada for generating golf interest in his home country the way Woods has throughout the world. From former PLAYERS Championship winner and Canadian Stephen Ames, plus the nine Nationwide Tour members in 2007 who hailed from the Great White North and the recent exposure from The Presidents Cup, Gretzky sees signs of even better things to come in Canadian golf. One young golfer, David Hearn, grew up just five blocks from the Gretzky home in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and has met the family on occasion. Naturally, he's a big hockey fan and called Gretzky the "best player in the world" when he was a kid. "I know how much Canadians love the sport of golf and Wayne hosting event will only bring more attention and the right kind of attention to golf and the Nationwide Tour," Hearn said. "Every week on the Nationwide Tour we have to play really well to compete and it's getting tougher and tougher to win," added Hearn, a 2004 winner at the Alberta Classic, the last tournament held in Canada on the Nationwide Tour. "It's just become a great proving ground and great stepping stone." Fellow Canadian and former Nationwide Tour member Jon Mills is PGA TOUR-bound in 2008 after finishing inside THE 25 this season, but he's a little sad that he'll miss out on Gretzky's new event. "I kinda wish they had had that tournament this year," Mills, an avid Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins fan, said. "If it worked out [with my PGA TOUR schedule], that'd be awesome to get up there and play it." Mills would have to have a free week June 23-29 to trek it up to Canada for the new tournament at The Georgian Bay Club and the Raven Golf Club at Lora Bay, about 150 km west of Toronto. As for Hearn, he expects to be there when he returns to the Nationwide Tour next season. Gretzky, however, said he would love to see Hearn but hopes his fellow Brantford native makes it to the PGA TOUR before then. "The only way I could do that (make the PGA TOUR) is to win three times (on the Nationwide Tour) and, even if I did that, I still might try to find a way to play in it," Hearn said with a laugh. So, provided Hearn's still on the Nationwide Tour at that point, Gretzky has a tip for him or any other Nationwide Tour member. Play with Gretzky's wife. "My wife played the first two years [of the BMW tournament] with Ryan Hietala then she played with Jeff Quinney," Gretzky said. Both players went on to the PGA TOUR the following season. In 2007, she brought friend Darren Angel to play and Angel recently advanced to the final stage of q-school. "They might be lining up wanting to play with her." After all, Gretzky may be the tournament host but he knows who wears the winning golf knickers in the family. |
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