Mission Hills Country Club has celebrated women's golf for almost half a century with the tournament founded by American singer, actress and television personality Dinah Shore, and business leader Neil Golub has been there virtually every step of the way as a perennial competitor in the event's Pro-Am competition.
Golub, an active 80-year-old who is executive board chairman of the Golub Corporation, has remarkably taken part in 45 of the 47 Pro-Ams over the years. During that time, he has relished the opportunity to rub shoulders with celebrities such as Perry Como, Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope - all of them good friends of Shore who did everything they could to support golf in the California desert.
"It's always been a week's adventure for me and my wife Jane when we have come here," Golub told LPGA.com. "Going out and playing at Mission Hills, being on the practice tee, looking at the snow-covered mountains and then all the hoopla before the event - meeting all the professionals casually and many of the celebrities casually. There was always the excitement of Dinah being there, and you never knew who she would bring along with her - Perry Como, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Jack Lemon, Burt Lancaster, you name it.
"One of the most interesting Pro-Ams for me was when I played with Dinah and Nancy Lopez. We had a lot of fun. I was a pretty good player and we got along famously. The women took great care to treat the amateurs beautifully. When you went out to play, they cheered the group on because the winning group got recognition and a prize, and that was something everyone wanted. Nancy was an excellent golfer and she was at the top of her game in those days, in the late seventies. She won this tournament in 1981."
Golub, who served as president or CEO of Price Chopper Supermarkets for 29 years before becoming executive board chair of the company that was founded in 1932 by his father and uncle, was twice able to celebrate victory in the Pro-Am at Mission Hills.
"The first time I won was with Donna White," he said with a laugh. "In those days, everything was strokeplay so we all got to play our own ball. On that particular day, we finished after the sun had just gone down behind the mountains. We were one of the late tee times and the light from the houses on the other side of the water on 18 helped us to finish off. I shot a 71 that day. I remember that pretty clearly. I had a good day and everybody else did in our group, and we ended up winning. I also played with Donna Caponi one year and we also won then."
Golub, a former scratch player who has been a low single-digit handicap for most of his golf career, vividly recalls getting his first invitation card to compete in the Pro-Am at Mission Hills, an invitation that personally signed by the-then Colgate CEO David Foster.
"In those days, Dinah and David Foster were very much the center of activity. It was David's vision to create publicity for his company and what better than his basic customers, who were women. And he was smart enough to get Dinah to hook on with him. She was a beautiful and wonderful lady, and she treated every guest as being special."
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