Senior Golf Event Might Be Leaving Newport Beach

NEWPORT BEACH — Those camera shots of the ocean and the coastline that accompanied television coverage of the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club last March would seem to be a thing of the past.

International Sports & Event Marketing, which runs the tournament, is looking for a new site after receiving a letter from the owner of Newport Beach Country Club, saying contract negotiations were over.

At issue is the total of a food and beverage bill sent to ISM. The parties are about $25,000 apart.

Bob Neely, the president of ISM, said he would be willing to open negotiations with International Bay Clubs Inc. again but doesn’t see it as a possibility.

“We’ve been told not to come back,” Neely said. “If they don’t want you, they don’t want you. It’s such a small thing that we asked them to review [the bill], but they didn’t want to address it.”

Neely informed the Senior PGA Tour, Toshiba and other major sponsors of the situation Monday and said all were “very supportive.”

The next order of business is to find a new site for the tournament, which Toshiba has a three-year contract to sponsor. Neely said he hasn’t had any formal talks with others courses but listed several local courses, including Tustin Ranch, Coto de Caza, Dove Canyon and Oak Creek, as ones he will consider.

If moved, it would be the third site in five years for the tournament, which started at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa, then to Newport Beach Country Club for the last two years.

“We aren’t going to take this out of Orange County,” Neely said. “This is just a small glitch. We just want to keep working to make this a world-class golf event.”