Stars show off at TPC

Former greats pass along wisdom and skill at Rex pro-am

RALEIGH -- It's not often that 10 major champions tee off on a Monday, but that was the case at the TPC at Wakefield Plantation.

The reason was the Rex Hospital Open Grand Champions Pro-Am, which featured 17 former PGA Tour and Champions Tour winners, including Billy Casper, Doug Ford and Gene Littler.

Each former pro was part of a five-person team in a Texas scramble, best-ball format. The group with Orville Moody won with a score of 18-under 53. It is one of four events per year for the Grand Champions, former champs in their 70s and 80s who are no longer exempt on the Champions Tour.

"These are the things that made the tour, really, when I started in the '50s," said Ford, who won the 1955 PGA Championship and the 1957 Masters. "A lot of these pro-ams evolved into the tournaments. It's a good vehicle for [the sport]."

Players flew in from around the country to compete in the event and see their old colleagues and rivals. Most groups rarely took the former pros' drives, but the stars often displayed the most reliable short games. Many also were quick to offer advice and stories about their playing days to their amateur partners.

"The one thing you want to do is make sure your playing partners enjoy themselves," said Lee Elder, the first African-American to play in the Masters. "That's what this is all about and what we're about -- to help them out ... and to really make sure they enjoy themselves."

Many of the Grand Champions began their careers when even notable tournaments had four-figure purses, a vast disparity even from the $450,000 purse of the Rex Hospital Open, the Nationwide Tour event that starts Thursday at Wakefield Plantation.

"In our day, you would make more money gambling on the Mondays and Tuesdays than in the tournaments," Ford said.

The stars showed they have plenty of skill left and -- based on the experience of Wakefield resident Randy Smith, who played with Billy Maxwell -- talent for making their partners feel at home.

"He's a down-to-earth guy, the epitome of what you would hope to see in a man that led golf to what it is today," Smith said. "Anytime you're playing with a man with the history that he has, you want to make your best impression, so you feel nervous. ... But this has been great fun for me."

Organizers also announced Monday that Henry Zaytoun, a recent graduate of Ravenscroft, will be given a sponsor's exemption to the Nationwide Tour event. Zaytoun, who will play at UNC in the fall, was tied for the lead of the Pro-Junior Invitational when it was rained out Sunday.