Singer Trini Lopez Withdraws as Host of Golf Tournament

Singer Trini Lopez, charged earlier this month with allegedly beating his girlfriend, has withdrawn as the celebrity host of a Palm Springs golf tournament, its sponsors announced Tuesday.

“He does not want the tournament’s charities to suffer while he attempts to clear his good name of a misdemeanor battery charge,” said Tony Aguilar, chairman of what had been billed as the Trini Lopez Celebrity Golf Tournament of Palm Springs.

Instead, Aguilar said, the Dec. 8-10 tournament will simply be called the Palm Springs Celebrity Golf Tournament.

Lopez, 57, who lives in Palm Springs and is known for recording such popular hits as “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree,” was charged Oct. 4 with misdemeanor battery of his girlfriend, Rose Mihata, 55. Mihata was hospitalized with multiple bruises and shortness of breath on Sept. 22.