TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

The Bob Hope Classic has been around since 1961, but over the last two years the golf tournament had been operating without a title sponsor when longtime affiliate Chrysler ended its sponsorship.

Enter Humana, Inc. and the William J. Clinton Foundation who have partnered to bring the iconic golf tournament back to its once famed luster and to bring health and well-being to the forefront. And with it a few changes to the old format and some stability as the PGA Tour and the Desert Classic Charities have reached an eight-year agreement with Humana and the Clinton Foundation.

The iconic desert golf tournament has been a Mecca for celebrities and PGA Tour players to get together in pro-am fashion. Along the way, more than $50 million has been donated to the Eisenhower Medical Center and other local charities in the Coachella Valley. But for 2012, there will be changes.

First, the old format of three amateurs and a pro has been changed to one amateur and one pro and each of the amateurs will be paired with a different pro in each of the three pro-am days. That gives the amateurs (mostly celebrities) an opportunity to play with six different pros over the three days with the pros playing alone during the final round.

That's right. It adds up to the traditional 72 holes, down from the old grueling 90-hole (5 rounds) format of the past. It's what the PGA Tour players reiterated to Tournament Director Larry Thiel through his informal Q and A's with the players. Hopefully, they will respond by playing, and the event will attract many of the top players. But as Thiel pointed out Tuesday, there were 24 tournaments won by players in the field last year!

Also, instead of four golf courses being used in the rota, there will now be three. The pros and the amateurs will play one round each at the aforementioned Palmer Private Course, the Nicklaus Private Course and the La Quinta Country Club. The final round will then be at the Palmer like it has been for a while now.

The tournament will run Jan.19-22 and will offer a purse of $5.6 million with just over $1 million to the winner along with the new Bob Hope Trophy, Humana's way of honoring the legacy of Bob Hope and his role as the long-time tournament host. Last year, Jonathan Vegas won in a playoff over 2010 winner Bill Haas and Gary Woodland.

This year, the Humana Challenge will offer two pro-am tournaments in which the general public can play. On Monday, Jan.16, there will be a "Bob Hope Legacy Pro-Am" at the Palmer Course. Entry is $4,000. On Wednesday, Jan.18, "The Couples Challenge Pro-Am" will be played on the Nicklaus Course. It's the first of its kind on the PGA Tour and couples can enter for $6,000.

If you are interested in securing a pro-am berth and would like to find out more information, call Cameron Smith at 760-346-8302.

Humana and the Clinton Foundation are both geared towards healthy lifestyle changes and Humana's goal is to promote the changes into a fun-filled environment. In fact, its motto is making "Fun Things Healthy and Healthy Things Fun".

The Clinton Foundation has been around for over 10 years and connects people to the tools, ideas and opportunities they need to build stronger, healthier futures.

There will be many interactive opportunities for those in attendance during the tournament and Humana will debut its Humana Well Being Tour that will embark upon a nationwide tour after the tournament. It features, among other things, its Humana Walkit Program in which people can sign-up for the program (it's free) and receive a pedometer and you can track your results online. We received one on Tuesday and I walked over 3,500 steps and that was with a cart!

Tickets for the tournament can be obtained at the gate or online (with a discount) in advance. Daily tickets are $25, valid one day only for Thursday-Sunday. A Clubhouse Badge is $175 and is valid all week at any course. If you plan on staying more than just a day, you might want to get your reservations in now.

SCGA Tournament of Champions

D.J. Fernando from Bakersfield CC and Steve Roodzant of Seven Oaks CC each shot 1-over 72s and tied for third place in the Championship Flight of the SCGA Tournament of Club Champions at Newport Beach CC on Monday.

The tournament was won by Scott Almquist from Coto De Caza who shot a 1-under 70.

Bakersfield's other participants were Cleto Navarro of the Kern County Fireman's GA (T-31), James Dean Phillips of Haggerty-North Kern (T-69), John Sayre from the Kern Valley Men's GC (T-102) and Shawn Hawley from Horse Thief (T-118).

At Seacliff CC in Huntington Beach, Mike Duey from the Kern River was the low finishing local player in the Senior's Division with a T-47 finish. Robert Gibson of Sundale CC (T-67) and Gary Hallstrom of Seven Oaks CC (T-76) were the others.

The net flights of the T of C will be played this Monday at two different sites.

Chip Shots

* All I have to say about Tiger Woods winning this past week in the Chevron Challenge at Sherwood CC in Thousand Oaks is it is about time! I hope it's a preview of things to come for 2012!

* Interested in a lifetime membership to all current and future Trump National Golf Courses? The membership is up for auction on charitybuzz.com. But if your wallet isn't a bit thick, don't bother. The current bid is over $60K. The package is valued at over $350K and proceeds will benefit the Alonzo Mourning Charities through the Donald J. Trump Foundation. The bidding will continue through Dec.19. Currently there are eight Trump National Golf Courses with plans to build more and the winner of the auction will be a member all of the courses!

* Next week the final five in the Pro Shop Golf "Performance of the Year" presented by Tee to Green.

Tee to Green appears weekly at Bakersfield.com. You can reach Gautney at rgautney@bak.rr.com.