LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – There are many constants at the American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe – large groups of people both on the course and in the casinos, lots of celebrity golfers, a beautiful golf course on the side of a beautiful lake, and a big media presence.
Phil Weidinger, owner of Weidinger Public Relations of Lake Tahoe, has been a fixture at the annual celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe almost as long as Jack Wagner and Jim McMahon (those two golfers have competed in every tournament since its beginning in 1990).
And Weidinger wasn’t far behind.
Weidinger, who is affectionately called “Dinger,” is well known on the South Shore and by sports writers and photographers from across the country. By many accounts, he is the reason the media can’t wait for the annual American Century Championship (ACC).
“Year after year, I do the American Century Championship because of Phil,” said Marty Smith, owner of Total Tournament Solutions.
Smith’s company provides on-course sound and projection systems at 33 golf tournaments a year, and he says the Tahoe event stands high above the rest.
“It’s because of Phil,” said Smith. “He’s always so real.”
To anyone who spends a day or two in the media room, and the ACC knows why his tenure with the tournament has been so long-lasting. In golf tournament standards, the media center at the ACC is the most active one, says Smith.
At Lake Tahoe, every golfer is a story, every swing of the club is a story, and it is Phil’s prowess in the media room that brings those stories to light. He works with all during the tournament as if they were family, and the camaraderie between Phil and the media, Phil and the organizers and sponsors, and Phil and the players exemplifies that.
“The players appreciate Phil,” said Smith. “It’s (the tournament) gotten big, but still runs the same. He doesn’t change.”
While those in the media room are working, Phil and his team make it seem like fun, and not work, and offer support just as a family would. There are also many moments of joking around, some epic practical jokes, and teasing as families do.
If Phil asks a celebrity to come to the media room for an interview, you know they won’t say no, Smith said. Even with media moving over to a tent on hole 8 this year, they still make the trek before or after their rounds of golf.
It isn’t only the week at Edgewood where Phil is in his element. Whether it is organizing media tours for golf courses in the region, or serving 20 years on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe, he keeps the success of others at the forefront.
In a recent interview with Ted Johnson, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority CEO Carol Chaplin told him that Phil’s reputation is built on honesty and truthfulness, along with a lot of knowledge about the game of golf.
Phil arrived in Lake Tahoe in 1980 after a stint as assistant director of public relations for the San Francisco 49ers. He became the PR Director of Caesars Tahoe at that time where he stayed until 1984. He was the tournament director of the 1985 United States Senior Open Golf Championship held at Edgewood, then started his firm, Weidinger Public Relations.
Next time you watch or read the interviews of the celebrities in the media room of the American Century Championship, think of how most tournaments turn out a couple of interviews and how there are dozens upon dozens of stories shared on a personal level at Lake Tahoe.
