Senior Circuit Has Become a Gold Mine for Colbert

Jim Colbert didn’t have to go to work Tuesday, he wanted to. So here he is, collar turned up, wearing his trademark floppy white hat, taking smooth swings on the driving range at Newport Beach Country Club.

And here he is grinding through a hot afternoon practice round on the 6,598-yard course, getting reacquainted with the layout on which he won the 1996 Toshiba Senior Classic. He plays with at least three balls off each tee, conferring with his longtime caddie, Willie Miller, on distances and club selection.

A dream job? Perhaps, but consider that Colbert has been doing this for more than 30 years and has swung the club thousands of times. It would be easy to switch over to autopilot.

Not Colbert, he remains firmly at the controls of his game. This week, he could have relaxed for an extra day at his part-time residence at Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert and cruised into Newport Beach in time to play in today’s pro-am.

“I wanted to get over here, get into it and get it done,” Colbert said. “This is what I like to do.”

And he has never done it better. Last year he won five Senior PGA Tour events. The year before he won four. Each year he set a senior tour record for earnings in a season. Last year’s figure--$1,627,890--was more than he earned in 21 years on the PGA Tour.

“I really like what I’m doing on the senior circuit,” Colbert said. “I’ve actually thought that if I had a choice to do what I’m doing on this circuit or the other circuit, I would take this circuit at this time in my life because I’m old enough to appreciate it and young enough to enjoy it.”

Colbert, who turned 56 Sunday, certainly has reason to be satisfied. But he’s looking for more. He makes no secret that he enjoys battling for the yearly money title--last year he moved past Hale Irwin by $12,121 with his final paycheck.

Colbert, who has won $226,433 in five 1997 events, says the quest helps him keep his focus.

Because of his success and the incredible growth of senior purses, Colbert has shot nearly to the top of the all-time senior tour earning charts. Currently, he is second in senior tour earnings at $6.79 million, about $20,000 behind Lee Trevino.

He has won more than $500,000 more in his career than Jack Nicklaus and $4 million more than Arnold Palmer. So why does Colbert’s name seem out of place among those guys?

Perhaps it’s because Colbert has played his best after he turned 50. However, he takes issue with anyone who calls his PGA Tour years mediocre. “I don’t apologize at all for my record on the regular tour,” Colbert said. “There are a lot of guys who didn’t win eight tournaments out there.”

Still, Colbert understands the situation: “I think your overall place in golf history comes off the other circuit and I think it should be that way. That’s where the best golf in the world is played.

“But I’m not trying to belittle the senior circuit because we play very good out here. It’s really competitive.”

Miller, Colbert’s caddie for more than 20 years, says no one wants to win more than his boss. “He’s more competitive than anybody I’ve ever been around,” said Miller, leaning up against a golf cart while waiting for Colbert to come out of the locker room. “It doesn’t matter what it is either--whatever he does.”

Colbert even competes with himself. During his PGA Tour career he jogged to keep in shape when he was on the road. When he was finished with his run, he jumped in the car to clock the mileage of the route.

“You ran again the next day, you had to do it faster,” Colbert said. “I always kept score. Otherwise it gets boring.”

Such workouts took a toll on the bad back that has plagued Colbert throughout his career. The pain kept him from practicing as much as he would like and eventually forced him to quit the regular tour in 1987 when he was in his mid-40s.

“Heck I was up to 14 or 15 aspirin a day,” he said. “In my third year out [on the senior tour] I was up to 10 or 12 Advil a day. I was thinking this is going to be a real short career.”

Then four years ago, Colbert hired a full-time personal trainer, who helped him gain strength, particularly in the muscles that support the lower back. Soon after he started wearing a magnetic belt on his back when playing.

The magnets, which improve his circulation and reduce inflammation in his back, have made a tremendous difference, and Colbert now plays golf as much as he wants--which is almost every day.

His trainer, Kyle Kenney, makes sure he sticks to the workout schedule, and the discipline has paid dividends: Colbert says he averages 12 yards more on drives than he did in 1980.

“He’s physically better than he’s ever been so he’s capable of finishing strong,” Kenney said. “A lot of these guys don’t understand why they can’t. Well, all that stress when you are in contention wears on your body and then the muscles don’t fire in the right order. You can’t figure out why the ball is going over there or it’s not going as far.”

Colbert lets little get in the way of golf. He avoids the hassle of commercial airline flights by flying to tournaments in his private jet. Kenney travels with him and also serves as a personal assistant, freeing Colbert to concentrate on his golf.

“All the stuff that would allow you to play the best you can play,” Colbert said. “It’s made a difference.”

But Colbert says the magnets have helped the most. “It’s been 44 months now that I haven’t missed a day when I wanted to play and that’s unusual. That never happened ever, even when I was a little kid.”

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Tee Times

First-round groupings and starting times for the Toshiba Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club:

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Time Grouping 8 a.m. Jerry McGee Larry Zeigler John Jacobs 8:10 Miller Barber Jim Ferree Hubert Green 8:20 Al Geiberger Bud Allin Tommy Aaron 8:30 Charles Coody Larry Gilbert Gil Morgan 8:40 Dave Eichelberger Tom Shaw Jim Albus 8:50 George Archer Rocky Thompson Jimmy Powell 9 a.m. Dale Douglass Jay Sigel Simon Hobday 9:10 Bob Murphy Tom Wargo Jack Kiefer 9:20 Gary Player Jim Dent Isao Aoki 9:30 Chi Chi Rodriguez J.C. Snead Gibby Gilbert 9:40 Lee Trevino Hale Irwin David Graham 9:50 Mike Hill Walt Morgan Bob Charles 10 a.m. Jim Colbert Dave Stockton John Bland 10:10 Frank Conner Bob Dickson Leonard Thompson 10:20 Walter Zembriski Lee Elder Lou Graham 10:30 Bruce Crampton Terry Dill Deane Beman 10:40 Calvin Peete Orville Moody DeWitt Weaver 10:50 Don January Bobby Nichols Harold Henning 11 a.m. Tony Jacklin Brian Barnes Bruce Summerhays 11:10 Gay Brewer Billy Casper Don Bies 11:20 Rick Talt John Schroeder Bob Wynn 11:30 Gene Littler Butch Baird Bob Eastwood 11:40 Rick Acton Bobby Stroble David Oakley 11:50 Mike McCullough Dennis Coscina Ray Carrasco Noon Dick Hendrickson Buddy Whitten Dave Ojala 12:10 John D. Morgan Will Sowles Ron Skiles

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Seniors on Parade

Here’s a look at the Toshiba Senior Classic, starting Friday in Newport Beach:

Schedule: Begins at 8 a.m. for all three rounds

The course: Newport Beach Country Club, 1600 East Pacific Coast Highway

Television: ESPN, Friday, noon-2 p.m.; Saturday, 2:30-4 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30-4 p.m.

Last year: Jim Colbert shot 12-under par 201 to beat Bob Eastwood by two strokes

Tickets: $15-$25 daily

Information: (714) 646-9007

Who’s hot: Hale Irwin, the second-leading money winner in 1996, has won two of three official events he has played in 1997.

Who’s not: Al Geiberger hasn’t finished better than 35th since finishing fourth in the MasterCard Championship Jan. 19.

Toughest hole: No. 5, a 455-yard par-four requires two hard woods for most players. It usually plays into the wind, making it even tougher.

Best viewing: A small hill behind the sixth tee gives clear views of players putting on Nos. 2, 7, 11 and 5 and tee shots on Nos. 3 and 6.

Hole by Hole

Hole: 1

Par: 4

Yards: 339

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Hole: 2

Par: 4

Yards: 390

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Hole: 3

Par: 5

Yards: 549

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Hole: 4

Par: 3

Yards: 143

*

Hole: 5

Par: 4

Yards: 455

*

Hole: 6

Par: 4

Yards: 418

*

Hole: 7

Par: 4

Yards: 360

*

Hole: 8

Par: 3

Yards: 203

*

Hole: 9

Par: 4

Yards: 407

*

Hole: 10

Par: 4

Yards: 429

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Hole: 11

Par: 4

Yards: 344

*

Hole: 12

Par: 4

Yards: 370

*

Hole: 13

Par: 3

Yards: 170

*

Hole: 14

Par: 4

Yards: 397

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Hole: 15

Par: 5

Yards: 492

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Hole: 16

Par: 4

Yards: 437

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Hole: 17

Par: 3

Yards: 185

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Hole: 18

Par: 5

Yards: 510