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By Greg Hardwig
Naples Daily News
Nov. 17, 2003
The third year of The Franklin Templeton Shootout was
charming. For the second year, the players got to enjoy the Ritz-Carlton
Golf Resort, on-site at Tiburón Golf Club.
"Overall, I think the tournament is a huge success," said
Greg Norman, the tournament host and founder. "We've got more and more
spectators coming out here. The support of the local community has been
tremendous.
 Perfect weather brought strong crowds to this year's Shootout. |
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"I never put a key in the ignition all week, so this is
pretty good," he added.
"It's been an incredible week," first-year tournament
director Taylor Ives said. "The weather's been perfect. The crowds have
been strong."
Ives previously was director of operations, then took
over when Gina Monterossi left for Peter Jacobsen Productions. This was his
first tournament as a director.
"I'd say it's a combination of satisfaction and relief,"
Ives said.
"It's always nice to see everything come together pretty
much as planned. There's always behind-the-scenes things that we could do
better. We keep a notebook for next year.
"All in all, the staff did an excellent job, the
volunteers, as expected, were incredible as well."
What about the future, though?
The contracts with title sponsor Merrill Lynch and
host course Tiburón Golf Club expire after the 2004 event, which will be
Nov. 12-14.
Ives hopes to have extensions in place by the 2004
tournament.
"I would say we will know more during the event next
year, for sure, and perhaps sooner," Ives said.
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