Bates' career is intertwined with Tour's history
By Dave Lagarde, PGATOUR.com Correspondent
BRIDGEPORT, W. Va. -- The Nationwide Tour will mark a momentous occasion in its 19-year history Thursday morning when the first round of the Nationwide Tour Players Cup begins at Pete Dye Golf Club.
The event, scheduled for 72 holes at the 7,308-yard, par-72 Dye designed track cut out of the verdant rolling hills in north central West Virginia, will feature the Tour's first $1 million purse, with a record $180,000 going to its champion.
Since 553 tournaments were staged before it reached this financial high water mark, the kickoff practically begs for something special, an opening ceremony filled, if you will, with the same sort of pomp and circumstance that surrounded the official launch of the Tour on Feb. 2, 1990 in Bakersfield, Calif. On that meaningful day, Ben Hogan, who lent his name to the Tour for the first three seasons, struck the first tee ball and with it, a long journey that includes visits to six foreign countries as well as an annual crisscrossing of the United States began.
If all was right in this world now commonly referred to in marketing terms as the PGA TOUR'S 'Proving Ground,' one of the Tour's originals should wallop Thursday's first unofficial shot into early morning air. And Ben Bates just happens to be available. Trouble is he's scheduled to tee off in the afternoon wave at 1:10 as a contestant not an honorary starter.
Make no mistake, Bates is a beauty. He is as much of a fixture here as the faucet on your washstand. But don't take my word for it. Chew on these numbers.
Bates, 47, has played in 366 Nationwide Tour events. That's 66 percent for those of you scoring at home.
He has made 212 cuts, a Tour record.
He is the only man alive who has played more than 1,000 competitive rounds.
So it figures that Bates was there in Bakersfield -- "I was old back then,'' Bates said -- on opening day, eyeing Hogan's still graceful and efficient swing. He was there when Nike replaced Ben Hogan as sponsor. Ditto when Buy.com took over for Nike and when Nationwide took the Tour and ran with it, taking it to new heights as it approaches its 20th anniversary.
Ask Bates for his fondest memory and his mind races back to Feb. 2, 1990.
"There was electricity in the air,'' Bates recalled. "It marked a new beginning for so many of us. If you remember if you missed out at (PGA TOUR) Qualifying School, you were headed to the J.C. Goosie Tour. That was our only option.
"Everyone was really juiced. We were playing for nice purses back then. And there were five spots offered to the five top players on the (season-ending) money list. It was a great big deal.''
Obviously when the conversation turns to the Nationwide, Bates is on its side. He has the ability to speak from the heart about the Tour with a deep-seated knowledge few men possess. He has watched it grow to the point where he staunchly believes it is second only to the PGA TOUR, where he played for four of his 24 professional seasons, in quality. So he is quick to its defense when someone mistakes it for golf's minor league.
"That's the one thing that bothers me most,'' he said. "I don't think people really understand. This is not a developmental Tour. I don't know how much more most of these guys can develop.''
Bates is just as juiced today as he was more than 18 years ago. And he couldn't be happier to see a seven-figure purse on the Nationwide Tour, one that will be matched at The Tour Championship in November.
"This purse is a real eye-opener to me,'' he said. "It tells me that it's here to stay. Just watch a (PGA TOUR) event on TV nowadays. With the exception of about five players, just about everyone has come through here. And I'm talking about most of the best players in the world.''
That kind of perspective is what makes Bates so appealing to the rank-and-file on the Nationwide Tour, despite the fact that he is old enough to be the father of many players. He's laid-back and folksy, friendly and engaging and quick with a quip to boot.
"I think Ben is probably the nicest and funniest guy I've ever met,'' said Jerry Foltz, a Nationwide Tour veteran who now works for Golf Channel.
You'd find few who would argue.
To Bates, the most endearing aspect of the Tour is the people who pass through, many of whom point to the camaraderie that exists as the thing they'll miss most when they move up to golf's highest level.
"There are no egos out here,'' he said. "The level of respect here is palpable. There's no jealousy. Players actually pull for other players.''
The unpretentious Bates is high up in the pull-for category. There's a simple reason according to Craig Bowden.
"I've never heard anyone who has something bad to say about Ben,'' he said. "He's a real character.''
And wouldn't it be something if this real-life character, who says the friendships he has made along the way are his real reward of his profession, would catch lightning in a bottle here this week? If for no other reason than that $180,000 first prize would represent more than he has made in any one of his 15 full seasons on the Tour.
And Bates would leave them laughing at the awards ceremony.
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