Sponsors of Frys.com Open have bigger plans for PGA Tour tournament
The Frys.com Open has moved around like a military family, starting in Las Vegas before spending the past two years in Scottsdale, Ariz. This year's version tees off today at the tranquil CordeValle Golf Club, set in the golden rolling hills of San Martin.
But if the Fry's Electronics' founders have their way, the tournament will move again: to their ultraexclusive club dubbed "The Institute" in Morgan Hill.
"We're happy to be part of the Fall Series," said Ian Knight, director of the Frys.com Open. "We're the first full-field PGA tournament in the Silicon Valley, but the long-term effort is to have an event that's in the FedEx Cup series and played at the Institute."
The Institute has just 12 members, all Fry's executives. The Frys.com Open could move to the Institute within three years. The biggest holdup is completing the clubhouse.
"You could play a world-class golf tournament there tomorrow," Knight said. "It can play over 8,000 yards off the back tees. It really is built to host a premier international golf tournament. It's the Fry family's jewel. They view it as their gift to Northern California. They don't want to open it until they have everything perfect."
Several golfers in the field played the Institute on Tuesday in a corporate outing, including defending champion Troy Matteson.
"The greens were just unbelievable," Matteson said. "I haven't seen greens like that in a long time. They said they had them up to 15 (on the stimp meter). It's a course that gets 250 rounds a year. It would be unique to play something like that."
For now, though. the Frys.com Open is at CordeValle -- the 500-member club that includes Fry's founders John Fry, Randy Fry, Dave Fry and Kathy Kolder.
Matteson played the 7,368-yard, par-71 course on Media Day and was impressed.
"You're not going to get a course like CordeValle very much on Tour," he said. "It's neat how it's tucked in the hills, and you can't see anything outside the valley. You feel like you're in a different little world."
This is the PGA Tour's first regular stop in the Bay Area since 1980, when the Kaiser Open at Silverado in Napa moved to Virginia.
"They have a purse size that gets everyone's attention, especially in the Fall Series," said Matteson, who won $900,000 last year. "I think they have a very strong commitment. They're doing all the right things to get themselves a spot in the main go of the season."
Both of Matteson's PGA Tour wins have come in the Frys.com Open -- in 2006 at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas and last year at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale.
A year ago Matteson made a three-way playoff with Jamie Lovemark and Rickie Fowler. Matteson won the playoff with a birdie on the second hole.
This week's field includes 50 PGA Tour winners, nine major champions (John Daly, Ben Curtis, David Duval, Todd Hamilton, Justin Leonard, Tom Lehman, Lee Janzen, Shaun Micheel and Trevor Immelman) and three players who have shot 59.
n Live Oak High grad John Ellis, 30, was medalist with a bogey-free, 7-under 65 in the Monday qualifier at Bayonet Golf Course in Seaside. Other locals in the field: St. Francis and Stanford alum Joseph Bramlett; San Jose State alum Isaac Weintraub; and Monterey's Chris Marin.
Tournament pairings on Scoreboard Page
