Noticing lix - Lexus Champions for Charity

Many of my riders asked
how I liked the car.
It was fine. It was a car.
It had a radio.*

I spent the last three days chauffeuring golfers—in a brand-new Lexus GX460—among three of the courses in Pebble Beach: Spanish Bay, the resort where the participants are lodged; Spyglass Hill, reputedly the toughest of the three; and world-renowed Pebble Beach itself.

There were 147 teams of two, so 294 players in all—and thirty-five of us drivers to make sure they got where they needed to go. It was very pleasant to shuttle these (mostly) gentlemen around and have a chat, or listen to them chat, sometimes quite amusingly. (No politics this year—unlike 2016, grrr. These folks are wealthy, and from my experience that year, decidedly right-wing.) The golfers I drove this year hailed from such places as Jersey and Miami, New York and Oklahoma, Atlanta and Nashville, Cincinnati and Columbus OH, San Diego and San Francisco—and even Sydney, Australia.

Curious about the event, which is called Lexus Champions for Charity, now in its 30th year, I sought information online. Apparently it starts at a local level, with Lexus dealers in 150 golfy communities (it began in 1989 with 39: it's been growing) choosing a charity to adopt and then sponsoring a tournament that supports that charity, held anytime between January and November. The tournaments end with an awards banquet and charity auction, with one of the top auction items being a five-day Pebble Beach golf package for two in December.

Over the decades Lexus has raised over $420 million for charities of all sorts. "Lexus supports the local tournaments by making a donation to each associated charity and offers competitors the opportunity to own a Lexus and represent their charity in the annual grand finale, the Lexus Champions for Charity Championship at Pebble Beach Resorts in December. The charities represented by the top 10 net and top 5 gross teams will divide a $100,000 purse, with the winning team claiming $17,500 for its hometown charity."

In the "grand finale," there's another opportunity to own a Lexus: all you have to do is sink a hole-in-one. No sweat!

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Regardless of the details, it seemed that the players had a fine time. Usually when, picking them up in the afternoon, I asked how their game went, they responded, "We had fun!" What more could you ask for? They are wined and dined. Their lodgings are first-class. The views are spectacular, and the weather pretty much cooperated. To a person, the contestants effused about how beautifully organized the entire event was. All they had to do was play golf, and eat and drink. Sounds like a pretty swell vacation to me.

I do not play golf, and never will. But I appreciate Lexus and Pebble joining forces for charity.

By the way, I learned that the greens fee for Pebble Beach Golf Links is $550. A caddie goes for $95 per bag, plus tip of $60–140 (and caddies apparently have magic powers, so I'd say it's worth the investment). There is such a thing as a forecaddie, which I've never heard of, but they go for $47.50 pp/3 player min. (Maybe they're the ones who work the magic?) A cart costs $45. Golf at Pebble is not for sissies. Or for reg'lar folk, that's for sure.


*Actually, there is one thing I really like about the Lexus, as opposed to my Subaru Outback: the seatbelt warning signal. If you fail to buckle up, the Lexus gives you a few moments, then starts gently chiming, soft and slow; if you ignore the chiming, it gets a bit more insistent, but is still gentle: it cares about you, it just wants what's best for you. (I have not experienced true insistence. It's easy to be coaxed into submission with such kid-glove treatment.) With my Subaru, in contrast, if you aren't buckled in by the time you hit 10 MPH, it starts yelling: Get your damn seatbelt on! What, do you wanna kill yourself? Hey, bub, I'm talking to YOU! SEATBELT!!!! NOW!!!!!