By Bob Robinson
Courtesy of The Oregonian

The 17th Fred Meyer Challenge seemingly shouldn't have had something to prove, but it did. Even Ed Ellis, president of Peter Jacobsen Productions, admitted that.

Contracts with both Fred Meyer and the host Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club expire this month and negotiations are ongoing with both. With the resulting anxiety over the status of next year's tournament, it was time for the Challenge to have a showcase event with large attendance.

"We wanted the excitement, the interest and the intangible benefits to the community to provide a positive boost," Ellis said. "I think we had that." Brian Henninger and Scott McCarron earned a two-shot victory Tuesday over Stewart Cink and David Toms before a crowd estimated at 19,000. For its three days, including Sunday's Regence BlueCross BlueShield Pro-Amateur, the Challenge drew an estimated 58,925, breaking last year's record of 58,000.

"We have to convince the (sponsors') powers that be that this is a good event to continue," Ellis said. "Hopefully, what we had this week will help."

More than $250,000 was raised for Challenge charities by an auction at Monday night's corporate party. That led Ellis to estimate that between $700,000 and $750,000 will be turned over to the charities when bookkeeping is complete.

"I think that's a very significant amount considering the economy," he said. "And it puts us over $10 million to the charities (for the 17 years)."

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus spoke at the corporate party, praising the Challenge's format and urging that the tournament be continued. Perhaps more significant were the words of Sam Duncan, president of Fred Meyer, at Tuesday's awards ceremony.

"Hopefully, we can continue this for many more years," he said.

Whatever happens, Ellis said that tournament host Jacobsen and his company are committed to bringing professional golf to the Portland area. If Fred Meyer drops out, another title sponsor will be sought. If that doesn't work out, a regular PGA Tour event will be considered.

"We'll be back and we'd like it to be just the way it has been," he said.

Jack's first: Nicklaus said that the first golf course he has designed in Oregon -- at The Club at Pronghorn between Redmond and Bend -- will be located on a "very nice, moving piece of property" that is well-suited for the 18-hole layout.

"Because of lava, we won't be moving much land," Nicklaus said. "The area is like a desert but really isn't a desert. There are a lot of juniper trees." The course, under construction, will be part of a 36-hole resort development. It is a project of High Desert Development Partners and will be located five miles south of the Redmond Airport and four miles east of U.S. 97.

The club will occupy 640 acres, of which 420 acres will make up the golf courses. The Nicklaus-designed course will become a semi-private resort course, and a Tom Fazio-designed course will be private. About 300 homesites will be developed.

Scott Denney, one of the development company's partners, said plans call for the Nicklaus course to be ready for play in September or October 2003. "Development of the Fazio course will depend on how marketing goes," Denney said.

The club's name comes from antelope-like animals, called pronghorns, that inhabit the land.

Leave it to Arnie: Palmer, 72, said at the Challenge that "it is time for me to slip away with my golf game." But he hasn't lost his touch for the dramatic. At the revue before Monday's first round, he and Jacobsen competed with pitch shots from inside an elevated corporate tent to a pin on the 18th green about 40 yards away. Palmer won, hitting a ball within 21/2 feet of the cup.