Hale Irwin cut back on his competitive schedule considerably this year — he played fewer than 10 events for the first time in his 22 seasons on PGA Tour Champions — but one tournament remains a fixture for him: the PNC Father/Son Challenge.
The former University of Colorado golf and football standout will team with son Steve — a longtime Colorado resident and a member of the CGA Board of Governors — for this weekend’s nationally televised tournament at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla.
This will be the 19th time the Father/Son Challenge has been held — since 1995 with a three-year hiatus starting in 2009 — and the Irwins are the only team that has remained intact for all 19.
The two won the 36-hole scramble event in 2003, and have been runners-up three times. They finished 11th last year.
Hale, winner of three U.S. Opens and a record 45 PGA Tour Champions events, is one of 13 World Golf Hall of Famers in the field for this year’s Father/Son Challenge, which will be contested on Saturday and Sunday. Jack Nicklaus and son Jack II will also play in the $1.085 million event.
John Daly and his son John will compete in the tournament for the first time. And Denver-area resident David Duval will team up with stepson Nick Karavites.
All told, the 20-team field accounts for 335 PGA Tour titles, including 64 major championships.
To qualify for the Father/Son Challenge, players must have won either a major championship or The Players Championship in their careers. The professional’s partner must not currently hold a Tour card.
Hale Irwin, a Boulder High School and CU graduate who last year was named the Colorado golf Male Player of the Century, won five CGA championships during the 1960s, including three CGA Amateurs and a CGA Match Play, plus a CGA Junior Match Play and a state high school title.
Son Steve, also a former CU golfer, won his sixth CGA championship this year, teaming with Barry Erwin to claim the CGA Four-Ball. He was the 2004 CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year. Steve Irwin has also qualified for one U.S. Open and two U.S. Amateurs.
(At left, Hale and Steve at the 1985 PGA Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club.)
Here’s the TV lineup for the Father/Son Challenge (all times Mountain):
Friday — Pro-Am Special, 3-4 p.m., Golf Channel
Saturday — 9-11 a.m., Golf Channel; and 2-4 p.m., NBC (KUSA)
Sunday — Noon-1 p.m., Golf Channel; and 1-4 p.m., NBC (KUSA)
