Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz playing TPC Scottsdale for PGA Champions card
Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz is among the 78 golfers who earned a spot in the final stage of qualifying for the PGA Tour Champions.
Smoltz, 55, will be vying for one of five cards to be handed out at the end of the week at TPC Scottsdale's Champions Course.
Smoltz won 213 games over a 21-year career as a pitcher. In three previous attempts at Q school, he hasn't finished better than tied for 54th in the first stage.
Smoltz won a World Series with the Atlanta Braves in 1995. He won the National League Cy Young award in 1996. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
He hasn't competed on PGA Tour Champions since 2021 but has played in nine events overall. He was in the field for the 2018 U.S. Senior Open.
Other notables at TPC Scottsdale this week include Jonathan Kaye, who won two PGA Tour events, including the 2004 FBR Open at the TPC Scottsdale's Stadium Course; NBC/Golf Channel reporter Notah Begay III, former Arizona State golfer Todd Demsey and Shaun Micheel (whose lone PGA Tour win was the 2003 PGA Championship), Ted Purdy of Tucson, 54-year-old amateur Bryan Hoops of Scottsdale and 72-year-old Dick Mast, who's played in 360 PGA Tour events and another 191 Champions events without a win. He does have four victories on the Korn Ferry Tour, the most recent in 1999. He got in the field at the last minute after Andrew Marshall withdrew.
The first tee times are Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. Smoltz is playing alongside Daniel Chopra and Jason Bohn at 8:52 a.m. off the first tee. The event concludes Friday, and admission is free.
Jon Rahm finalist for PGA Tour Player of Year
Amid rumors that he's pondering a defection to LIV Golf, Jon Rahm was named one of five finalists for PGA Tour Player of the Year on Monday.
Rahm led the PGA Tour with four wins, which included a major and two Signature Events at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Genesis Invitational. He made 18 of 20 cuts and had 10 top-10 finishes. Rahm was third in scoring average at 69.037.
Rahm, who has made $51.5 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour, is rumored to be offered as much as $600 million to make the jump to the breakaway LIV Golf League. Rahm has spoken out against the circuit several times, notably in February of 2022 at the Genesis when he said, "I am officially declaring my fealty to the PGA Tour."
The Player of the Year award will be announced in January at The Sentry, the PGA Tour's 2024 season opener where Rahm is the defending champion.
Arizona's first fully lit course sells out 1st weekend
First opened nearly 65 years ago, the Rolling Hills Golf Course in Tempe just underwent a massive overhaul to become the first fully lit, 18-hole golf course in the state.
Located just two miles from Arizona State and next door to the Phoenix Zoo, the venue is now called Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills, with tee times available from morning until well past sunset. In fact, golfers can play the course under the lights as late as 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.
A par-63 layout during the day, the golf course becomes an all-par-3, par-54 venue at night, with clearly marked artificial turf tee boxes for use during the late hours.
“The lights are a game changer for golf in the Phoenix area,” Grass Clippings CEO Jake Hoselton said. “Our location is conducive to slipping in 18 holes of golf on the way home from work, enjoying a golf date night, or meeting up with friends for golf and a beverage.”
The course held a preview night on Thursday and had a “turn on the lights” celebration before opening up the tee sheet for night golf starting on Friday. The nighttime slots were all sold out over the first weekend.
Scott Hebert, formerly the assistant golf course superintendent at TPC Scottsdale, home of the WM Phoenix Open, is now the greenskeeper at Grass Clippings. Golf fans may recognize him, as he always has his dog Rye nearby. Those two patrolled the grounds at the Stadium Course ahead of the PGA Tour event to ensure the course there was tip-top for the pros. His title now is the director of agronomy at Grass Clippings.
There are close to 80 LED lights on the Grass Clippings course, which has nighttime yardages from about 100 to close to 200 yards. The topography provides multiple elevation changes, and the design has several elevated tee boxes. At night, there are great views of Tempe and downtown Phoenix along with airplanes descending into Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
Just off the first tee box is a lawn area with a food truck and a beer garden. There’s also a 15,000-square-foot practice putting green with several severe undulations.
The work at the course is far from complete, however. The original clubhouse is still in use, but a full-blown renovation is on the schedule for that. When it’s complete, there will be a new Mexican food restaurant, a patio bar and a refurbished golf shop. Coming in 2024: a hilltop bar near the eighth hole, an activity lawn for live music, markets and events.
Grass Clippings was founded in 2018 in Phoenix. In March of 2023, the company signed a 30-year deal with the City of Tempe to renovate and revitalize the 93-acre, city-owned course.
Rates during the week are $45 during the day but go to $78 after 6 p.m. On the weekends, it’s $65 during the day and $89 at night.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hall of Famer John Smoltz playing in Scottsdale for golf tour spot
