A Farr better place

8/13/2004

FOLLOWING a golf tournament that was successful in virtually every respect, many Toledoans will join us in hoping that the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic last week at Highland Meadows Golf Club will continue to be a summer visitor to this area.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association tournament is expected to return to its traditional position in early July next year, after a move to August in 2003 to avoid a conflict with the PGA Seniors Tournament. August is not always the best month of summer in this region, but Toledo and its golf fans could hardly have fared better than they did during this year's Farr.

A cooler and somewhat rainier summer has left the region looking fresh and green, which is not always the case during the annual summer dry spell. True, the groundskeepers had to give special attention to the greens at Highland Meadows to keep them in playable condition, but this region of the Great Lakes has offered up one of the most bracing summers within recent memory.

The tournament was enjoyed enormously by golf fans, who watched Meg Mallon win the title on the last suspenseful hole of play with a 7-under score of 277 in her 19th appearance here. And we can't help but believe the sports scribes and other out-of-town visitors were favorably impressed when they wandered downtown to look at Fifth Third Field or the Docks restaurant complex, with its magnificent city panorama.

Toledoans concentrate a good deal of the time on the potholes, literally and figuratively speaking, in the path of progress. It sometimes takes a leap of imagination to look at the city as a visitor might see it. A downtown revival is taking place in many ways and on many corners, and we hope that the LGPA golfers and their fans will be on hand to see further signs of improvement for years to come.