By. John K. Abendroth, PGA
The Fortinet PGA Tour event will be played at the Silverado Resort and Spa; in Napa Sept 15-18 2022, just a small part of great memories of golf at Silverado.
The tournament kicks off the PGA-Tour season now and it was great to see Max Homa win in 2021 for the 2022 season having played his college golf just 41 miles away at Cal Berkeley and ended up with a huge year finishing in the top-10 in tour standings.
Personally I have wonderful memories at Silverado as both a player and radio broadcaster. In 1974 the PGA-Tour qualifying tournament held 4-rounds there then 4-rounds in Palm Springs and I made it through to play on tour in 1975. In 1975 my Father was able to watch me play in the Kaiser International where I was on the leader board through 9-holes but did not make the cut.
In about 1967 I recall going to Silverado in its early days, as a 15-year old it was a fun adventure with my friend David McCook who was old enough to drive his Dads 1964 red Mustang for our trip.
A unique part of the Silverado history are the PGA-Tour champions who lived there, Mark Lye, Rod Funseth, Jim Weichers and Johnny Miller who would become a part owner for several years and bring professional golf back with what is now the Fortinet Championship.
My radio partner Mitch Juricich and my self did remote broadcasts for 20+ years at Silverado and one lasting memory was very special. Arnold Palmer is playing in the TransAmerica Senior and he comes in to the Grill for breakfast on Saturday. The young hostess did not know who he was and said, it would be a 45-minute wait. We suggested to Arnie he go to the buffet and sit at our 6-foot table with our radio gear, he says, "Oh...is that ok?"
Mid-way through his meal I ask if we can put him on the air, he spends 30-minutes with and we had a great conversation.
For over 50-years I've got great memories of Silverado and the golf events there, Max Homa the defending champion will remember his victory and many of you likely have memories there as well.
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