In 30-plus years as a golf professional, Howard Twitty thought he had seen it all. Turns out, he wasn't even close.

Twitty tees off this morning in the first round of the $1.6 million Turtle Bay Championship at the Palmer Course. Two months ago he was in Iraq, hitting golf balls, signing hats and talking story with the troops on a USO Tour. He and Donnie Hammond, both Champions Tour members, went with PGA Tour pros Frank Lickliter II, Corey Pavin and Jerry Kelly, and long-drive stars Art Sellinger and Brian Pavlet.

"The amazing thing was, I had no idea how much they (soldiers) would appreciate it," Twitty said. "The guys over there crave something, anything of home. ... What was really funny is they kept thanking us for coming and I'm certain I got a lot more out of it than they did."

The mission of the USO, a non-profit organization started in 1941, is "to provide morale, welfare and recreation-type services to service members and their families." Faces associated with it are more likely to be the late Bob Hope or, more recently, Robin Williams, Jessica Simpson, Ludacris and Morgan Freeman. A sevensome dominated by Hawaiian Open champions is a bit off the beaten course.

Pavin has won at Waialae twice and Kelly once. Twitty took the title in 1993, at age 44. It was his third and last tour victory and set a record for the longest period between wins — 12 years and seven months. The little girl who sprinted across the green to congratulate him that day — daughter Jocelyn — just got engaged.

Her fiancee, who met her while both were working for the Peace Corps in the Republic of Georgia, asked Twitty for his daughter's hand when he met them on his way back from Iraq. "There was a lot going on while I was over there," Twitty said.

The golfers' mission took them to 15 bases in seven days. They flew to Kuwait City the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, were issued Kevlar helmets and body armor at security briefings, and hit balls off the wing of a captured MIG fighter jet and a tank, over the border into Turkey and on the grounds of former palaces.

The pros gave away 3,500 golf balls and 100 clubs and signed hundreds of hats and pictures, for golfers and wannabes and more than a few with no clue. But mostly, they talked ... and listened.

"It was the most amazing group of men and women I've ever been around," Twitty recalled. "It struck me how totally hard working and educated they are about everything they do — their total mission."

Just as memorable for Twitty were the 100,000 civilian workers in Iraq, a group from all over the world whose sole purpose, according to Twitty, is to "free up the military to be soldiers." He vividly recalled two women, old enough to play on the LPGA's senior tour, who were there only to build the morale of "their boys."

"One had been there 28 months," Twitty said. "I asked how often she made it home and she said a few weeks a year. I asked if she wanted to go home and she looked at me like I was insane. They were 'her boys.' She just kept telling me, 'I can't leave my boys.' "

Twitty's exit might have been the most poignant moment of the trip. The golfers flew out of Baghdad in a transport plane with the body of a dead soldier.

"The most difficult thing talking about the trip is finding the words to truly explain it," Twitty said. "It's almost like childbirth. You can talk about it and talk about it and explain it, but until you are there and see it and feel it and see the look in the guys' eyes ... there are so many things that make you proud, and make you sad. The sacrifice those guys go through is beyond words."

Twitty tees off at 8:47 a.m. today. Hawai'i's Scott Simpson goes out at 11:32 a.m., with Dave Eichelberger (12:16 p.m.) and David Ishii (12:38 p.m.) in the afternoon. Hokuli'a representative Hale Irwin, who won last week's MasterCard Championship at Hualalai, is in the group ahead of Simpson. The 78-man tournament has all but three of last year's Top 30 money winners.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.