Brian Sumpter — Record-Bee sports editor
BUCKINGHAM — If this were the Kennedy Space Center, the 11th annual Pepsi Celebrity Quarterback Golf Shootout would be on the launching pad awaiting liftoff.
Come to think of it, there will be plenty of golf balls lifting off from the tees at Buckingham Golf and Country Club early Saturday morning when the Shootout blasts off under blue skies and hopefully not-to-hot conditions.
“It”s usually cooler here than in Lakeport,” Buckingham Golf and Country Club PGA professional Mark Wotherspoon said on Thursday at Buckingham, where a nice breeze had indeed made it a very nice spot to be as other areas around Lake County baked in the high 90s.
Wotherspoon and fellow Buckingam PGA pro Ted Mattila are all set — and so is Buckingham — to accommodate 18 former NFL stars and the thousands of fans who will flock to Buckingham to catch a glimpse of their former heroes, and perhaps even get an autograph or two.
“After 11 years of doing this, this is about as easy as it has ever felt,” Wotherspoon said of course preparations for this year”s tournament. “This is Ted”s fifth Shootout, so we all know what we”re doing.”
“It almost runs itself,” added Mattila, a big Rams fans who will be on hand to see one of that organization”s best ever players, Hall of Famer Deacon Jones, who is taking part in this year”s event.
Wotherspoon, a big fan of the Silver and Black (as in Oakland Raiders), will have plenty of his boyhood heroes on hand as well, including Kenny Stabler and Daryle Lamonica.
Buckingham began preparing for the Shootout last week and the final touches were added earlier this week. The course is indeed ready to go and looking better than ever.
“Last year we had a warm stretch right before the Shootout and that really hurt, especially the greens,” Wotherspoon said.
To make sure the fairways and greens are in tip-top shape this time, Wotherspoon said Buckingham”s staff has been watering and fertilizing with a vengeance since May.
“The greens are in great shape compared to last year,” Wotherspoon said. “The course is in the best shape it”s been in years.”
While the Shootout isn”t a highly competitive event, a few of the NFL stars can really play … and some are just downright dangerous.
The lowest handicap in this year”s field is Jerry Rice at 0.4.
“He”s nearly a scratch golfer,” Wotherspoon said.
Former 49ers receiver Mike Wilson, owner of four Super Bowl rings, is a 5-handicapper, and the Shootout field also has two 6-handicappers — Lamonica and former 49ers great Dwight Clark.
The three worst handicaps belong to former San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints running back Chuck Muncie (33), former 49ers and Raiders running back Roger Craig (33), and former 49ers quarterback John Paye (32).
As for this year”s Hall of Fame contingent, former Raiders wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff is a 12-handicapper, and Jones, a member of the Rams” Fearsome Foursome defensive line, is a 16-handicapper.
The morning flight on Saturday tees off at 8:30 a.m. and the afternoon flight tees off at approximately noon.
Shootout gallery tickets are available by calling Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa at 1-800-660-LAKE.
