Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

From Freepedia

The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic is a PGA Tour golf tournament played each January in California's Coachella Valley. It is part of the Tour's early season West Coast Swing and is also well known for its celebrity pro-am.

Founded as the Palm Springs Golf Classic in 1960, the tournament's format is unique among PGA Tour events, being played over five days and four different courses. The founding courses played were the Thunderbird in Rancho Mirage, the Tamarisk in Rancho Mirage as well, the Bermuda Dunes Country Club in Bermuda Dunes and the Indian Wells Country Club in Indian Wells. The first tournament was won by Arnold Palmer with a final score of 338, or 22 under par. The record would stand for the next twenty years.

The tradition of choosing the tournament's "Classic Girls" from among the area's collegiates began in those early years, with the earliest tournaments having a celebrity dubbed "Classic Queen." The earliest titleholders included Debbie Reynolds, Jane Powell and Jill St. John. The queens of the 1970s included Barbara Eden and Lynda Carter.

The Classic's biggest draw, both then and now, was the celebrity pro-am competition which attracted some of the era's biggest celebrities. According to the BHCC official website, those celebrities included:

Bing Crosby
Burt Lancaster
Kirk Douglas
Phil Harris
Desi Arnaz (one of the founders of the aforementioned Indian Wells Country Club)
Ray Bolger
Hoagy Carmichael
Dwight Eisenhower (the first US President to play in the pro-am)

Bob Hope, who was possibly Hollywood's greatest golfer, added his name to the tournament in 1965 and became the Classic's Chairman of the Board.

The 1970s saw stars like Frank Sinatra make their debuts. Gerald Ford played his first pro-am in 1977, making him the second former president to play in the tournament.

Today, the Bermuda Dunes, Indian Wells and the La Quinta Resort and Club serve as the three main host courses on a rotating basis. The Eldorado and Tamarisk rotate in as the fourth course.

History was made at the tournament in 1995 when the pro-am team of Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Bob Hope and defending champion Scott Hoch teed up for the tournament's opening round. The event marked the first time a sitting president - Clinton - had played during a PGA tour event and perhaps the first time three presidents had ever played together.

In 2005 the prize fund was $4.7 million.