4B • Sunday, april 14, 2013 • www.gwinnettdailypoSt.com

greater gwinnett championship

By Ben BeitzelStaff writerben.beitzel@

gwinnettdailypost,com

Before tom watson hung up the phone during a Q&a with media about his commitment to play in the greater gwinnett cham-pionship, the eight-time major champion winner wanted to ask his own question.

“are the azaleas and dogwoods going to be in bloom?” watson asked.

at 63 years old, watson hasn’t lost either his love of golf or his competitive drive. it was just four years ago that at the age of 59 he took duluth resident Stewart cink into a playoff in the British open, nearly becoming the oldest major champion winner.

now watson plays many weeks on the champions tour, mixing in the occa-sional pga event. with the masters the week before and another champions tour stop following the in-augural week in gwinnett, watson is keeping a busy schedule through the early part of the golf season. He doesn’t play often, but when he does, he prefers to string events together.

“i pretty much know my body,” watson said. “the real question is how will my body respond to that. the main thing is to keep my energy up. you never know what will happen … you can go from the penthouse to the outhouse

and back again.”His plan is to play in the

masters, gwinnett, Savan-nah and woodland, texas, take a week off and then play in the Senior pga championship.

“that’s a lot of concen-trated golf for an old guy like me,” watson said, “but i have played a limited schedule the last 20-25 years of my career.”

it’s the concentration he’s hoping will create bet-ter results.

Before the masters, the last event watson played in was in mid-april. He finished fifth at 10-under

par in the champions tour event. the fifth-place finish was the best in two seasons for watson, who had just two top-10s in six cham-pions events last year. He made a pair of cuts in three pga events in 2012.

“i like to play in a row like that because when you don’t play, your game gets a little ratty around the edges,” watson said. “i’m trying to win. that’s what i am doing out here.”

and with the gwinnett date immediately after the masters and right before another georgia event the following week, it fits nice-

ly into watson’s schedule, limiting travel wear on his body and keeping him in similar climate and playing conditions.

“we are fortunate the people in gwinnett stepped up to the plate and spon-sored a tournament for us,” watson said.

and though no one was brave enough to promise azaleas and dogwoods, they are signatures of the masters and the weather only gets better headed toward summer.

“i truly am looking forward to coming down to play,” watson said.

concentrated effortwatson including gwinnett in busy spring schedule

REUTERS/Phil NobleFormer Masters champion Tom Watson hits his tee shot on the fourth hole during a practice round Tuesday in Augusta. Watson is playing the Greater Gwinnett Championship this week at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth.

• What: Champions Tour’s Greater Gwinnett Cham-pionship• When: Monday-Sunday• Where: TPC at Sugarloaf• More information: www.greatergwinnettchampion-ship.com and www.tpcsugarloaf.com

EVENT SCHEDULEMonday

• Practice rounds (closed to the public)Tuesday

• Practice rounds (closed to the public)Wednesday

• Championship Pro-Am, morning tee times begin at 7:15 a.m.; afternoon tee times begin at 12:15 p.m.

Thursday• Championship Pro-Am, morning tee times begin at 7:15 a.m.; afternoon tee times begin at 12:15 p.m.

Friday• First round, tee times begin at 11:05 a.m.• Golf Channel coverage, 12:30-2:30 p.m.

Saturday• Second round, tee times begin at 11:05 a.m.• Golf Channel coverage, 3-6 p.m.• Kids Day activities, 1-4 p.m.

Sunday, April 21• Final round, tee times begin at 11:05 a.m.• Golf Channel coverage, 3-6 p.m.

ON-COURSE INFORMATION• Public seating bleachers will be available on holes No. 1, 16, and 18 and concessions, vendors and expo tents are behind the 18th green.• The following is a closer look at the concessions offerings:

18th holeDave & Buster’s (Thursday-Sunday)Jim N’ Nicks (Friday-Sunday)

16th holeChick-fil-A (Friday-Saturday)Proof of the Pudding (Sunday)

10th holeHerschel’s Famous 34 (Friday-Sunday)

1st hole fairwayHappy Belly Curbside Kitchen (Friday-Sunday)

NOTE: Additional concession stands will be at No. 5 green, No. 8 green and No. 13 green

DIRECTIONS/PARKINGAll parking is located at the Gwinnett Center at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. Complimentary shuttles will take spectators to and from the TPC at Sugarloaf.Shuttle times to/from TPC at Sugarloaf:• Wednesday: 6 a.m.-8:30 p.m.• Thursday: 6 a.m.-8:30 p.m.• Friday: 9:30 a.m.-1 hour after last putt• Saturday: 9:30 a.m.-1 hour after last putt• Sunday: 9:30 a.m.-1 hour after last putt

IF YOU GO

www.gwinnettdailypost.com • sunday, april 14, 2013 • 5B

greater gwinnett championship

TICKETSChildren 16-and-under will

receive free grounds admis-sion with a ticketed adult. All children over the age of two will need a pass for any hospitality area.

All tickets purchased April 1 or after will be available at Will Call, which is at the Arena at Gwinnett Center Box Office, with the following pick-up times:• Wednesday-Thursday: 6 a.m.-5 p.m.• Friday-Sunday: 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

The following tickets are available for the event:• Grounds admission: Access to tournament grounds and all public areasCost: $25 for one-day pass, $60 for weekly badge (Wednesday-Sunday)• Clubhouse admission: Ac-cess to tournament grounds and clubhouse, where food and beverages can be purchased in air-conditioned environmentCost: $50 for one-day pass, $100 for weekly badge (Wednesday-Sunday)• Champions Club admis-sion (Sold out): Admission to open-air club on 18th fairway with lunch buffet, snacks and open bar

Cost: $250 for one-day pass (Friday-Sunday only)

CHARITYThe inaugural Greater Gwin-nett Championship will bene-fit several local charities. The list of beneficiaries, focusing this year on healthcare and education, include:• Gwinnett Children’s Shelter• Gwinnett Technical College• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta• Georgia Gwinnett College• Gwinnett County Public Schools Foundation

IF YOU GO

By David FriedlanderStaff Writer

david.friedlander@ gwinnettdailypost.com

When the Greater Gwinnett Championship tees off Friday morning, it will be a homecom-ing of sorts.

But while the Champions Tour event marks the return of a profes-sional tournament to TPC Sugar-loaf, it will be a literal homecom-ing for one of the participants.

James Ma-son has always relished a chance to come home to metro Atlanta to play competitive golf, and the 62-year-old duluth native will get to share in the pro golf’s return to Gwinnett County.

“I’m excited as a kid at christmas,” the 1968 duluth High School graduate said. “I’m still living my dream. … I just enjoy playing golf.”

Playing golf is something he has done quite well for several

decades as both a teaching and playing professional, including a four-year stint as the club pro at Jimmy Mozley’s Golf Center in Lawrenceville in the late 1990s.

And he more than made his as a player, with three wins at the Georgia PGA Championship and having qualified for three of golf’s four major championships — the 1977 masters, the 1978 u.s. open and the 1997 pga Championship.

No matter what else he does in his career, mason is content that he has made the most of his ability.

“at 45, i got pretty good from teaching at Jimmy mozley’s, and I parlayed that into a pretty good run,” said mason, now the teach-ing professional at the Orchard golf club in clarksville. “i think 1997 was one of my best years. i qualified for the pga, and that was the year Davis Love (III) won it. I won the Polo Classic (on the PGA Georgia Tour) and the Georgia PGA Championship (for the first time). I think the biggest highlight i’ve had was winning on the Champions Tour

(at the 2002 nFl golf classic in clifton, n.J.) and almost win-ning two years ago at Hickory, n.c. (at the 2011 greater Hickory classic).”

along the way, he’s gotten a chance to meet and play along-side some of the game’s great-est players, something he still appreciates and does not take for granted.

“I got to play with Arnold palmer once or twice,” mason recalled. “I’m still in awe of all of them. It’s like teeing off on the first hole at The Masters the first time. it’s just unbelievable.”

With his appearance at the Greater Gwinnett Champion-ship, mason will once again be playing alongside some of golf’s biggest names, including former majors winners like tom watson, larry nelson, Ben crenshaw, larry mize, sandy lyle or Hale irwin, among others.

Because he’s played spar-ingly on the Champions Tour in recent years — this will be his first event of 2013, and he played in just seven tourna-ments last year, with the best result being a tie for 13th at the

Insperity Championship at The woodlands, texas, last may — he will be playing next weekend at TPC Sugarloaf on a sponsor’s exemption.

“i attribute that to bad play,” Mason joked. “But I fell very fortunate to get a sponsor’s exemption, which i’m very grateful for.”

as grateful as mason is, and as much as he enjoys playing, he still retains his competitive streak.

He’s made six previous ap-pearances in the Atlanta’s old pga tour stop, the last three of which came at TPC Sugarloaf at what became known as the AT&T Classic.

And though he never made the cut in any of his previous appearances, his scores got pro-gressively better each time out.

so, with this scores headed in the right direction, his goal is to still be playing by the time the weekend is over.

“at the age of 62, i may have another (good weekend) left in me,” mason said. “i just hope i can go out and play and just see what happens.”

Mason hopes for happy return

James Mason

A look at the full field for the first Greater Gwinnett Championship Champions Tour Event, which is this week in Duluth:

Michael AllenTommy Armour IIIAndy BeanJay Don BlakeMark BrooksOlin Browne

Bart BryantBrad BryantMark CalcavecchiaRoger ChapmanBobby ClampettRuss CochranJohn CookBen CrenshawJoe DaleyAllen DoyleSteve ElkingtonBrad FaxonBruce FleisherDan Forsman

David FrostFred FunkBob GilderBill GlassonMike GoodesJay HaasGary HallbergScott HochJohn HustonHale IrwinPeter JacobsenTom JenkinsGene JonesTom Kite

Bernhard Langer Tom LehmanWayne LeviChie-Hsiang LinSteve LoweryChien Soon LuSandy LyleAndrew MageeJames MasonMark McNultyRocco MediateLarry Mize Gil MorganMark Mouland

Larry NelsonAndy NorthMark O’MearaSteve PateCorey PavinTom Pernice Jr.Kenny PerryTom PurtzerLoren RobertsJim RutledgeGene SauersPeter SeniorScott SimpsonJoey Sindelar

Jeff SlumanRod SpittleCraig StadlerCurtis StrangeHal SuttonJim ThorpeEsteban ToledoKirk TriplettBob Tway Duffy WaldorfTom WatsonD.A. WeibringMark WiebeWillie Wood

THE FIELD