If you aren’t from the San Francisco/San Jose area you may not know who or what Fry’s Electronics is, or why there’s a PGA Tour stop sponsored by something that sounds like a McDonald’s snack. If you do live here, of course, you know all about Fry’s, as the chain of stores is legendary for having been the place where you could buy all the stuff you needed to build your own PC, right down to the individual microprocessors — as well as big bags of Fritos. Chips and chips at Fry’s.
Now everyone hear hardly ever talks about Fry’s anymore, since the stores have kind of devolved into a sort of catch-all low-end cross between a Best Buy (there are washers, dryers and ranges in the back of the Palo Alto store), a music and video store and a place where you can buy all kinds of electronics, cell phones, headsets, and geeky stuff too. Apple stores have long since replaced Fry’s as the places where cool kids hang out. But the Fry’s family still has the bucks to put its name on a PGA Tour stop, so — welcome, pro golfers and the Fall Season. We’re happy to have you. And next year the Frys.com open will be the official tour opener, so this isn’t just some fill-in date. It’s a tourney with Silicon Valley-style growth in mind.
Mobile Sports Report its own busy self will do its best to get down to the course this weekend — thanks to the tourney and the PGA we have a press pass waiting — but if you have cable of course you can watch coverage on the Golf Channel, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Thursday through Sunday. This tourney has some notable names here too, including British Open champ Ernie Els (whose main sponsor SAP is big in Silicon Valley, so to Frys.com Ernie will go) and Nicolas “play what’s in your pants” Colsaerts, who is probably a lock pick for Masters pools next spring given his lights-out play in the opening round of the Ryder Cup. The Frys.com will also see U.S. Captain Davis “Blame Me” Love III playing, alongside vet Vijay Singh. And John Daly! Here’s a list of tee times.
FRYS.COM OPEN
(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, Oct. 11 — Golf Channel, 4 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 12 — Golf Channel, 4 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 — Golf Channel, 4 p.m. — 7 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 14 — Golf Channel, 4 p.m. — 7 p.m.
RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite)
1 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday-Sunday. The live broadcasts are also available to subscribers on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App and online at SiriusXM.com.
FACEBOOK PAGE
C’mon, Facebook headquarters are just up 101 in Menlo Park! Of course the Frys.com Open has a Facebook page.
TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW
The Frys.com Open Twitter feed.
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.
WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
Here’s the deets on the CordeValle course, a classic Robert Trent Jones Jr. track through the oak-studded hills of southern Silicon Valley. (It’s actually south of San Jose.) The club is known mainly as a private refuge for many Silicon Valley uber-rich CEOs. What’s less known is that Santa Clara Valley (the real name of the area) has a bunch of fun wineries, nothing as world-class as Napa or Sonoma but many worth checking out if you are visiting. Two places we like are Thomas Kruse and Kirigin Cellars.
WHO WON THIS THING LAST TIME?
Bryce Molder.
