Card-Carrying Autograph Hunter

Autograph seeking at golf tournaments has long been a barbaric practice--just ask Tiger Woods. He nearly had his knee twisted into a pretzel three weeks ago by an overzealous signature seeker at Pebble Beach.

The general etiquette consists of shoving some piece of memorabilia in a player’s face as he rushes from the 18th hole to the parking lot or driving range.

One Orange County man attending the Nissan Open this week at Riviera Country Club, however, has changed the savage science into an art.

Benny Preston, who prefers not to reveal his hometown because of the value of his memorabilia collection, spent most of Thursday collecting autographs behind the 18th green and will be there again today.

The night before the tournament began, he gathered trading cards of many of the players in the field--he uses a blank piece of cardboard for those not so honored--and organized them in order of tee time. He put the cards in protective plastic sheets and locked them in a three-ring binder.

As each player exited the scoring tent Thursday, Preston opened to the page with that player’s card and politely asked for a signature.

Golf trading cards are no longer produced, so most golfers are surprised to see such a collection. Some strike up conversations.

“I’ve had players ask if they could have their cards,” Preston said. “Ain’t that something?”

Getting the player to sign is the easy part. Before the ink has dried, Preston often asks for used balls or gloves or tees or whatever else he can think of.

“I’ve been known to ask for shoes,” he said.

Most times players turn down the extra requests, but Preston said he has managed to collect about 150 balls and a few dozen gloves in his career.

He’s hard to turn down. A jolly fellow who bears a strong resemblance to Santa Claus, Preston is known by family and friends as Grumpy because of his resemblance to the disgruntled Disney dwarf.

In more than a decade of autograph hunting he has amassed a collection that includes a piece of an Indy car that broke off in a crash and a Diet Dr. Pepper can signed by a NASCAR driver.

This week, he is carrying a little black bag filled with items he intends to have signed: flags, programs, hats, golf balls, golf club heads and baseballs.

He had a few players refuse to sign Thursday, most notably the one he wanted the most.

“Tiger Woods turned me down four times,” he said. “He said ‘not now’ and ‘catch me later’ and ‘I don’t sign club heads.’ But I’ll ask him again tomorrow. You have to be polite and cordial.”

You also have to know when to ask and know who you are asking, he said. Volatile players who have had bad rounds are best to avoid.

“If Craig Stadler misses a three-foot putt on the 18th, you don’t need to ask him,” he said.

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The scoring tent behind the 18th green has been moved 50 feet farther up the hill, making it more difficult to reach the players after their rounds.

The only way to get near the players after the 18th is to stand on the top of the steep slope behind the green and reach over a fence.

A tournament official said the move was made because the previous location of the tent caused commotion around the 18th green that disrupted players finishing their rounds.

Preston has another theory.

“They just wanted to make it harder to get the autographs,” he said. “Standing on this hill is pretty hard on the ankles, but it’s worth it.”

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Anybody trying to think of a way to sneak past the security guard at the main entrance parking lot had better think again.

Ralph Monje has heard all the stories.

“I don’t care what they say,” Monje said. “If they don’t have a permit, they don’t get in.”

Monje said he turned down four bribes Thursday ranging from $20-$50.