10-11-06

CPTour has strong SLO County connection

Former Poly golfer, grad Zack King has a pro tournaments lined up for the next 12 months

Former Cal Poly golfer Zack King is taking the university's "learn by doing" mantra to the next level in starting the California Players Tour.
After graduation in 2004, King turned professional, and worked at his craft in the California mini tours.
He played in 13 events, winning five of them, but at the end of the year found himself just breaking even when expenses were factored in.
That wasn't right, he reasoned, and so King started thinking.
"I kind of got my thoughts together as to what would be a good venture as a tour," he said.
The CPTour is offering 12 events starting Oct. 22 at River Ridge Golf Course in Ventura County. The tour is aimed at helping young professionals prepare themselves for more advanced tours -- and earn some money.
With full fields, King said purses will reach up to $50,000 -- and offer amateurs a chance to see how their game stacks up against players at the pro level.
The two-day stroke events will have amateurs compete without a handicap against professionals, something other mini tours don't offer, according to King.
"They don't give the amateur the experience they need to better understand how they will perform when they get out there" on the pro circuits, he said.
Three of the 12 CPTour events are scheduled in San Luis Obispo County, with Cypress Ridge Golf Course hosting Nov. 19-21, Hunter Ranch the site for the Dec. 17-19 event and Monarch Dunes Golf Course the location for the tour stop May 20-22 next year.
Competing amateurs must have an index of 4.4 or better and will be paid in scrip that can be used toward tour fees or redeemable at golf shops where the tour plays.
King, who at Poly majored at recreation with a special events management emphasis, is an apprentice in the PGA program and an assistant pro at the Ojai Valley Inn.
"Running events isn't foreign to me," said King, who was the No. 2 man on Cal Poly's 2003-04 golf team and had 15 top-20 finishes in tournaments during his Poly career.
King has been preparing for the tour's start for about 18 months, but said it has been pretty much a one-person effort, with some additional marketing assistance.
"The tour will strive to give players the same big-time feel as larger tours," according to its promotional brochure. The tour "is set up with the golfers needs in mind so that a golfer will be able to start and sustain a career playing competitive golf."
Tounaments are scheduled for Mondays and Tuesdays, he said, so that players can compete in the CPTour and then move onto other weekend events if they desire.
"It could be a warm-up tour for later in the week," he said.
King said amenities will include live scoring, caddy bibs, at least three scoreboards so players can check their positions, on-course photographers and crystal trophies for tournament winners.
He is also working to secures sponsors for the tournaments and a title sponsor. No sponsor contracts, however, have been secures at this point.
The tour has been promoted through an e-mail web base, brochures that have been on display at courses in Ventura, Santa Barbara and san Luis Obispo counties and through the tour's website at www.calplayerstour.com.
For the River Ridge event, signups are being taken until Oct. 18. Tour membership fees are $55 for the season, with separate tournament entry fees for each event.
Membership so far is about 60 players, King said, and he expects 30 to 40 players to compete in the initial tournament. With that field, King said the top three finishers should pick up checks for more that $1,000 and first place will earn between $2,000 and $3,000.

-- Larry Mauter