In the mid-1990s CVS Pharmacy came riding to the rescue and saved the long-time PGA Tour stop at Pleasant Valley Country Club, taking over as the main sponsor for the tournament.
It proved to be a short-lived marriage. Tour commissioner Tim Finchem pulled the plug on the tournament after the 1998 event, leaving southern New England golf fans holding the bag (one without golf clubs).
That prompted Rhode Island tour pros Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade to come up with something to fill the void.
Faxon and Andrade spoke with CVS chairman and CEO Tom Ryan and proposed holding a special two-day event at their home course, Rhode Island Country Club.
The “unofficial” tournament would copy the very popular “Fred Meyer Classic”, hosted each year in Portland, Oregon, by Peter Jacobsen.
The idea was to pair two pros for a best-ball event, have some fun, give fans their golf fix and raise money for local charities.
It was also only supposed to be around for a couple of years, until The Tour got its act back together and returned, which it did when the TPC Boston Club was completed several years ago and the Deutsche Bank Championship took up residence.
But the CVS Charity (now CVS/Caremark) Classic was so popular with both fans and players and raised so much money for charity ($12 million in 10 years), that it now enters its 11th year.
Several years ago the long-time pro at RICC, Fred Bruno, was moved to tears when he watched Jack Nicklaus walking up the 18th fairway.
“I never thought I’d ever see him here,” said Bruno, who retired shortly thereafter.
Over the first 10 years of this tournament their have been many famous hims who have played at RICC; Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Greg Norman and Tom Kite. Over the past couple of years some famous hers have been added to the mix.
Two years ago Faxon and Andrade tweaked things by inviting ladies to participate and it has expanded.
This year they’ve added a new wrinkle. Ladies and men will be paired together as teams which should make the 11th annual CVS/Caremark Charity Classic even more fun than ever before.
Including female pros proved to be a shot in the arm for the $1.55-million event.
When this year’s tournament is contested (June 21 to 23), at least four ladies will be in the field; blonde bombshells Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel, volatile Helen Alfredsson and Hall of Famer Juli Inkster.
Unlike in the past when the women were teamed together, this year each will be paired with a male pro, making at least four of the 10 partnerships mixed teams.
Faxon will partner with Inkster, Andrade with Sweden’s Alfredsson, Davis Love III with Pressel, and Jacobsen, whose company operates the event, with Gulbis.
“This should be great for our tournament,” said Faxon at the annual kick off press conference.”
“You want to keep freshening it up,” said Ryan. “When we had the two women, Natalie and Juli, the first time, it was overwhelming. They were terrific. They’re great ambassadors of golf. The reaction from the fans was great.”
Faxon and Andrade also hoped to lure popular LPGA stars Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie and now retired Annika Sorenstam to play, but Sorenstam is pregnant and Creamer and Wie had scheduling conflicts. There was still some hope that Creamer might be added to the field.
Other participants scheduled to participate include defending champions Camilo Villegas and Bubba Watson along with defending British Open champion Todd Hamilton as well as Anthony Kim, Nick Price, Retief Goosen and the always popular team of Dana and Brett Quigley.
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