Dan Rorbach, Darryl Jones and Mark Neal may just have the best job on the golf course during the Cologuard Classic at Tucson Omni National Resort.
They man the practice range — making sure the cards for each player practicing are displayed prominently, keeping everything neat and making sure the golfers are happy.
It’s an important job that typically goes to Tucson Conquistadores who have put in their time.
Rorbach, Jones and Neal have earned it.
Rorbach was the chairman of 1999 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open, while Jones was president of the Conquistadores in 1990. All three have done everything during their time.
Neal, who was a UA receiver on the 1971-73 teams, remembers volunteering and seeing Tucson businessman Jim Click on parking duties. More than once, he’d wonder: “where’s my job going to be if Jim Click is telling people where to park?”
During Neal’s “rookie year” with the Conquistadores in 1990, the tournament was split between Tucson Omni National and Starr Pass. He spent most of his time walking and collecting water jugs.
“I was a worker — they got to watch golf — I was always out there working,” said Neal, who still looks like he could play at receiver. “They were finishing the last two or three holes and I’m walking collecting water jugs — every day, every night. I’m walking down the side of the road and everybody’s cheering. I’ve got nothing left after a week and it was the last day and I was tired. It was really gratifying.”
Not everything goes as planned. That same year, Robert Gamez won. Jones presented him with the trophy, and called him Gomez.
“The funny part is there must have been 5,000 people and when he said Gomez, they all said Gamez,” Neal said, laughing.
Glen Day flips his club after missing the 18th hole during the Cologuard Classic hosted at the Omni Tucson National Resort, on Feb. 28, 2020.
“I had a hard time living that one down. He was here last year, and I reminded him of that — he remembered.”
Rorbach can spot golfers a mile away. He turned the lights on at Dove Mountain for Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson one year when they arrived before sunrise to hit balls at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
But Friday, “I goofed up and made a big mistake,” he said.
“I walked up to one guy — I couldn’t tell who he was under his hat. His caddy walks up and he’s looking at me, the player is looking at me and I said, ‘Excuse me, who is this? So, I can get a sign.’ He says, ‘Hale Irwin.’ Oh, of course you are,” he said. “It’s embarrassing, you’re supposed to know golf.”
Straight down the middle
Andrew Wright, 15, and Nathan Romero, 16, hit their tee shots right down the middle of the fairway on the first hole — just like the professional golfers who would take aim from the same spot less than 30 minutes later.
“(We practiced) before we teed off and yesterday a little,” Wright said.
Members of the First Tee of Tucson program, Wright and Romero were selected to hit the first shot during the Cologuard Classic’s opening ceremonies Friday morning. They joined Steve Stratigouleas, a colon cancer survivor from the Colon Cancer Coalition.
“I felt like it was an incredible opportunity — just the First Tee and the Conquistadores and everything they do is truly amazing,” Romero said.
“(The First Tee) doesn’t only teach us golf skills, it teaches us every day (life) skills.”
What’s next for these celebrity golfers? Back to school. Wright goes to Cholla High School and Romero to Marana High School.
How pairings are done
Ever wondered how golfers get paired up for Round 1, when there are no scores to dictate when and with whom they play?
There’s a process, and it involves a computer, PGA Tour Champions and the Golf Channel.
First, each golfer is placed into a category — 1, 2 or 3. Ones are Hall of Famers and players who have won a major in the last five years. Threes are golfers who have never won on the PGA Tour. Twos fall somewhere in between.
The computer determines the groups, typically putting as many ones together as possible. Then Golf Channel comes back with who they want for their storylines.
“Four out of the last five groups that Golf Channel requests are those that will put on the best show possible,” said Brian Claar, the Champions Tour’s vice president for rules competition and administration.
“They have a reason and unless two or three (golfers) played together the prior week, usually the marquee groups play in the first round and Golf Channel has a hand in it. If we put all the good golfers in three or four groups, it’s easier for fans to follow.”
If Claar’s name sounds familiar, it should. He was the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 1986 and tied for second place at the 1991 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Football, soccer and then golf
When Jay Feely retired, he returned to two games he loves — soccer and golf. On Thursday, Feely — a longtime NFL kicker — participated in the Cologuard Classic’s Jose Cuervo Pro-Am.
Last week he was on the soccer pitch, coaching the Gilbert Christian High School girls soccer team to a 1-0 win over Sahuarita in the Class 3A state title game.
Glen Day chips his ball out of a bunker during the Cologuard Classic hosted at the Omni Tucson National Resort, on Feb. 28, 2020.
Feely said the win was bittersweet: His daughter, Lexi, already had graduated from Gilbert Christian.
“A couple years in a row you get your hearts broken,” Feely said, who is also a football analyst for CBS. “All year we were able to talk about finish — that was our mantra all year. Finish every practice, every drill, every game. Finish the season and so we kind of built that through the year. And you know, our girls did everything I asked them to do which was awesome.”
Feely has also started coaching his son, Jace, in golf — a game he picked up as a freshman year at Michigan, along with two of his football teammates Tom Brady and Brian Greise. They worked at university’s golf course so they could play for free after, with the loser of their matches buying Olive Garden.
“That was big back then — all-you-can-eat breadsticks and salad. That was big for a college student,” Feely laughed. “I fell in love with the game. (It’s) very similar to kicking; so many parallels.
“The best book I ever read for kicking was Bob Rotella’s book ‘Golf was not a game of perfect.’ I took a lot of his principles, my rookie year and I just applied that to kicking. (Former Michigan football coach) Lloyd Carr actually gave me that book. So many things – you focus on the process, not the product, about the implications of what you’re doing. you’re not thinking.
“You’re in the moment. You can’t allow failure to impact you going forward. There are just so many parallels.”
