Dickey aims to please Toshiba fans

The moment came Sunday when a champion was crowned at the Newport Beach Country Club. Finally, there amid the hoopla and celebration, finally, Perry Dickey could exhale.

The week was over, the NBCC general manager’s first with the Toshiba Classic. He’s worked big events before, the Ryder Cup and PGA Championships, but with the unique community feel at the Toshiba Classic, Dickey wanted to make sure to maintain the atmosphere and make it memorable for everyone.

He spent the greater part of 2007 planning for the event, studying what was in the past and remembering what he was told from his good friend, Jerry Anderson, the former general manger.

Last year, Dickey started his job at the NBCC just before the 2006 Toshiba Classic. It led to a smooth transition as he studied Anderson working his final Toshiba.

The two worked together fine. They’ve crossed paths a few times throughout their respective careers.

Before Anderson became general manager, representatives of the NBCC called Dickey asking whom he would recommend. Dickey responded with Anderson as one of the names.

In 1997, when Dickey stepped down as president of the PGA Southern California section board of directors, Anderson took the spot.

Then about two years ago, when Anderson was asked who would be the right fit for the NBCC, he suggested Dickey.

“It’s funny how things come around,” Dickey said. “But 20 years [after I said his name for the job] he put my name to the International Balboa Bay Club company and I’m fortunate to be here.

“NBCC has always been special to me. To be a part of this is special. As far as being your first year out of the box, I was fortunate enough last year to shadow Jerry. But now it’s my deal and I have the reins and I want to make sure it’s done to the best of everybody’s ability.”

While at times Dickey’s style could be described as intense — he said he could not truly enjoy the Toshiba Classic until it was over — he encouraged his staff to try and have fun.

He told them to realize the impact the tournament makes on the community, yet he reminded them to savor the moments of delight it could bring.

Dickey, 52, didn’t want to heed that type of advice for himself. He was too busy trying to bring out the best of the Toshiba Classic. He was too involved with what he called putting out little fires.

He said those minor problems are bound to happen at a big tournament. He knows from his experiences with the Ryder Cup and PGA Championships.

So he was ready. He was also well prepared to become the general manager. A big reason for that came from the time he spent at Seacliffe Country Club in Huntington Beach, the city in which he now lives.

Dickey was there for the country club’s opening and took great pride in watching it grow.

So, at NBCC, he knew he would be a good fit. He had played pro-ams there earlier in his career.

Also, Dickey was excited to get back to California and Orange County. He wasn’t too happy working in Florida before he came to the NBCC.

He has a son and a daughter in California and he had spent most of his life in the Golden State.

He was raised until he was 12 in Chicago, till his family moved to the Coachella Valley, just outside of Indio. Before moving, his friends in Chicago asked, “What’s there to do over there?”

Dickey responded that many people played that game with a small ball and clubs. Golf? His friends laughed.

But when Dickey came to California, he soon fell in love with the game.

“I thought I was moving to outer space, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Dickey said. “I was fortunate to move across the street from a golf pro and me and his son hit it off. I used to caddie pro-ams. I was fortunate enough to have played high school golf, college golf, and some of the mini tours, till I got my PGA card.”

Out of Indio High, Dickey received scholarship offers from UCLA and Eastern New Mexico. After visiting the Bruins in Westwood, he felt a bit out of place.

He instead spent the next two years at the College of the Desert. He then went to San Jose State. On that Spartans’ golf team, he played with Mark Lye and Paul Hahn, who both competed in the Toshiba Classic.

Hahn is also the pro at the NBCC, yet another reason Dickey feels at home there.

Yes, as the sun set Sunday, Dickey could feel at ease.

“I’ve been a part of major championships, but the neat thing about this is the way the community has embraced it,” Dickey said. “The relationship with Hoag Hospital, the community and the players, it’s an exciting deal. .

To raise what will be $1.2 million, that’s incredible. I feel good about being a part of that.”

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