PHOTOS: Humana Challenge Kicks Off

Thousands of golf fans came out to see the opening round of the Humana Challenge, spread out across three La Quinta golf courses.

But reviews were mixed over the new direction of the former Bob Hope Classic, with fewer celebrities and amateurs joining the 144 PGA Tour Pros. 

“My wife and I hadn’t missed this since 1998,” Palm Springs resident Jake Lowenkranz said as he watched the action at the PGA West Nicklaus course. “I’d come to watch the pros, and she’d be here to see the celebrities, and we made a day of it. Now that they split everybody up, she decided to skip this time.”

For 2012 the number of celebrities playing has been drastically reduced, and scattered over the three courses (the Nicklaus and Palmer private courses at PGA West, along with La Quinta Country Club). In previous years, the celebrities dominated one course each day, drawing the largest crowds.  

“It was fun last year when we got to see Alice Cooper and Michael Bolton and everyone else go by,” said golf fan Jenny Howell, who saw the same singers again this year at La Quinta Country Club. “But this year we came up for the day, and had to pick and choose where we wanted to go.”

The change in format itself may be a benefit to the players. What was once a 5-round marathon played over four different courses stretching from Palm Springs to Bermuda Dunes, is now 4-day shootout with all three courses in La Quinta. With fewer players on the course, the four-to-five-hour rounds will be a thing of the past. 

“Making this a four round tournament is probably better for the golfers so early in the season,” according to fan Tom Flynn of Cathedral City. “It’s right in the middle of the FedEx Cup too, so there’s that added pressure.”

“I don’t mind the change,” Lowenkranz said, “the pros are the pros for a reason.  And that they have to play different courses is what gives [this tournament] its uniqueness.”

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