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The 2009 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Chrysler Girls Try-Outs |
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Written by Pat Krause
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Thursday, 20 November 2008 |
 Bermuda Dunes Country Club, Bermuda Dunes, CA
Friday, November 14, 2008
Story and Photos by Pat Krause
Seventy-six women tried out to be a 2009 Hope Chrysler Classic Girl. This year try-outs were held at Bermuda Dunes Country Club on Friday Nov. 14 th. From these 76 beautiful women only three will become The HOPE GIRLS for 2009.
 The process from application to selection is long and difficult. It
starts with the girls sending in resumes. They must fill out a
questionnaire and send it along with an 8x10 photo of themselves The
HOPE GIRLS must be able to be at the beck and call of the Bob Hope
Chrysler Classic Golf Tournament staff for a whole week. They must
attend the Hope Gala the night before the tournament starts. There are
also many other parties during the week as well as TV and radio show
appearances they must make. They must be available for the pairings
party, registration and the many charity events. A lot of these events
will occur before the golf tournament starts and are to help in
promoting the tournament. The girls are the Ambassadors for the
tournament. They must always have a smile on their face regardless of
what is going on around them. For all of their work they receive only a
small stipend but they also get to keep all the clothes provided for
them. The girls do get an enormous amount of press and over the years
for many this has become a stepping stone to a career in modeling,
acting or show business. The women come from all walks of life. Some
are students while others work for a living. It takes a great deal of
time out of their busy lives to do this. Some days they must be up by 5
am and still be available at midnight.
 November 14th, the big day, is an exhausting experience. The women are
interviewed several times. As you can imagine it takes a great deal of
time to do this. Each woman is interviewed by six judges and each judge
can have many questions to ask. This day starts at 2:00 in the
afternoon. The 76 girls have to keep a smile on their face and try to
be as natural as possible and to let their personality show through so
the judges can see them for the bright and shining star they are. The
judges take a break after the first round of interviews in order to
decide which girls will stay and continue moving to the next round of
questions. They soon narrow the applicants down close to approximately
half the number who started. Then the process starts all over again.
The questions and the scrutiny by the judges. About 6:30 PM they
narrowed it down to just 12 girls.
 These remaining 12 girls are each given the exact same outfits to wear
and they are told not to wear shoes so they could see the different
heights of them all. Each must then walk before the judges again and
again. It was interesting to watch as the judges first put 3 girls
together and then changed the rotation of 3 girls many times over and
over again. Some combinations were all blond or brunette while others
were more random selections or combination of the 3 . Someone watching
might have a hard time trying to decide how the judges could possibly
come to any decisions or solutions. They must decide which of the girls
are the best as all of the girls were beautiful and each appeared to
have a sparkling personality. After a while the judges once again took
a break to discuss their choices. While the judges talked, the girls
took the time to make calls on their cell phones to friends and family.
Clearly, it is an honor to be chosen to be one of the top 12 finalists,
but being the last three standing is the highest honor. Finally, after
7 PM, the six judges narrowed their selections down to their top 3
choices. The room was filled with excitement and then screams as the
top three choices were announced. Hugs, condolences and congratulations
went around as the girls let the fate sink in and came to peace with
the decision of the judges. Flashbulbs went off as the very first
photos of the new 2009 HOPE GIRLS were taken. An alternate was also
chosen just in case one of the girls cannot keep their assignment.
The new Bob Hope Chrysler Classic GIRLS for 2009 are 'Hope", Heather
Hastings-Gorski, "Chrysler", Ashley DeWitt and "Classic" Jamie Lynn
Strzelcsyk. The Classic Golf Tournament will be January 19 - 25, 2009
All of the girls must be 21 years of age or older, as there will be
times they have to be in an area where they cannot enter if they are
underage. This year was also different as a set of twins was entered
into the competition. The diverse ethnicity of this group was also
evident this year.
The Judges included: President, John Foster; Director, Bob Brennan;
Director, Greg Helm; Director Clarke Rheney, Past Classic girl in 1991
& 1992, Kate Spates; Past Classic Girl "BOB" 1982. Caroldean Ross.
Caroldean Ross donates all the evening gowns and Nike donates all the
day time clothing. These donors deserve a lot of credit to do this for
the Classic.
Normally, it takes between 1800 to 2000 volunteers to put on this golf
tournament. There is generally a waiting list to be a volunteer. All
the money raised by this tournament stays in the Coachella Valley. The
long list of charities that benefit from this event are very deserving.
Millions of dollars have been given to charity over the past 49 years.
This year is the 50 th anniversary of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
The 50th anniversary Classic Host is well known, professional golfer,
Arnold Palmer. Mr. Palmer is one of the best known and most celebrated
winners of this tournament.
For more Pat Krause Photos of this event, click here.
For more information on the Hope Chrysler Classic, click here.
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Pat Krause |
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