The Official 'Double P' Blog

Tony Perez and Double P received mention in the San Diego Union Trib on Tuesday regarding last weekend's Pin Pal Junior Links event.

Leonard also made reference to PP's golf outing with Iron Maiden's Nicko McBrain a few weeks back - the most publicity Maiden has received in San Diego since they played the Sports Arena during the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son tour back in 1988.

Click here to check out the full article online or scroll down to read an exerpt.

Pin Pals program gains momentum
by Tod Leonard - San Diego Union Tribune
October 31st, 2006

The Pin Pals Junior Links program is no longer just a vision in Tony Perez's head. It has a home, an instructor, even a logo, designed by former Padre Gene Locklear. And the most important thing of all: kids who want to learn how to play golf.

After months of planning, Perez inaugurated his new junior golf program on Saturday at the Sun Valley Golf Course in La Mesa, and the first group of middle school kids from the East County took part in a question-and-answer session and a clinic conducted by Tony's son, Pat, the PGA Tour player.

"It's pretty exciting. My adrenaline has been going every day," said Tony Perez, who has begun this new endeavor a dozen years after co-founding the Pro Kids Academy at Colina Park.

Pro Kids is now a nationally recognized program, and Perez would like to do for East County children what Pro Kids has done for San Diego's inner city. With $11,000 raised so far, mostly from individuals, Perez's program is teeing off with one school, Parkway Middle School, from the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District.

Perez said about 15 kids will come to Sun Valley after school one day per week to receive free instruction from the course's teaching pro, Mike Cortes. After six weeks, Perez wants to host the kids and their parents on a Saturday for a skills test and a sort of graduation ceremony.

After that, the plan is for another 15 kids to go through the program. Perez's big-picture project is to have different East County school districts feeding the program every day, with clinics for all kids on Saturdays.

"This is something that East County needs, and once people realize what we're doing the money is going to come in," Perez said.

When Perez announced his intentions in July to start Pin Pals, he said it would have a yearly operating budget of $200,000. He is sub-leasing the use of Sun Valley from the owners, Johnny Gonzales and Barry Mahlberg, and is hoping for significant contributions from the U.S. Golf Association and its First Tee Program, the PGA of America and the Southern California Golf Association.

Southern California PGA Executive Director and CEO Tom Addis was on hand Saturday and has expressed his support for Pin Pals, as has La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid and the office of Congressman Duncan Hunter.

Perez rocks
From doing junior golf clinics, to hanging with his buddy, John Daly, to playing golf with famous, heavy-metal rockers, Pat Perez lives a full life off the pro golf trail.

Perez had to shut down his PGA Tour season early because of tendinitis in his elbow, but he was healthy enough a week ago to host friend and Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain for a round of golf at Orange County's Strawberry Farms before a sold-out concert at Irvine Meadows.

In his blog on Iron Maiden's fan Web site, McBrain, an Englishman, wrote, "Well, I was amazed at watching Pat do his stuff so close up; he is an amazing player. He clobbered his first drive 320 yards down the pipe. A thing of beauty. We had a blast."

It was Perez who gushed later on his Web site, raving about the front-row tickets, drum sticks and autographs he and his friends got, courtesy of McBrain.