Stevens said there have been comparisons of the Champions Tour to NASCAR, using the players the way NASCAR uses its drivers to interact with the fans. Though nobody will confuse Baltimore Country Club this week with Daytona International Speedway, the Champions Tour is trying to find its niche again.
Nearly three decades after it started, Stevens is pleased with where it is headed.
"Today's 50 is not the same as yesterday's 50," Stevens said. "I think the players still want to be competitive. When I first came onto this tour two years ago, what I had heard from what the players who were on the tour and the players who were coming on, they want to play on great golf courses like they do like Baltimore Country Club."
SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
What: Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship
When: Today through Sunday with first round Thursday
Where: Baltimore Country Club at Five Farms (East Course), Timonium
Purse: $2.6 million ($390,000 to the winner)
Format: 78 professionals, 72-hole stroke-play event with no cut
Defending champion: Loren Roberts; defeated Tom Watson by six strokes.
TV: Thursday and Friday, 1:30-4 p.m. on Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday, 4-6 p.m., chs. 11, 4
Schedule: Today, practice round, 9 a.m.; tomorrow, pro-am, 7:20 a.m. and noon tee times (gates open at 7); Thursday and Friday, first tee time 7:30 a.m. (gates open at 7); Saturday, first tee time 8:45 a.m. (gates open at 8); Sunday, first tee time 8:30 a.m. (gates open at 8)
Tickets: $10 in advance, $15 at gate for today and tomorrow's practice/pro-am rounds; $22 in advance, $27 at gate for Thursday-Sunday rounds
Parking: Located on Shawan Road in Hunt Valley, just west of Interstate 83
Directions to general parking: I-83 to Exit 20B, merge onto Shawan Road West and follow signs
Information: ceseniorplayers.com
