BARRINGTON - June 17 through 19. I’ve had those dates circled on my 2007 Natalie Gulbis calendar for some time now.

That’s when the ninth annual CVS Caremark Charity Classic will be played at Rhode Island Country Club, with a 20-player field that may be the best ever.

Which is saying something, considering that past events have featured the likes of golfing legends Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player, along with a dazzling array of major-championship winners, including ``The Great White Shark” _ Greg Norman, Mike Weir, Mark Calcavecchia, Jeff Sluman, Jim Furyk, David Duval, Fred Couples, Lee Janzen, John Daly, Tom Kite, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Craig Stadler, Rich Beem, Hal Sutton, Steve Elkington, Paul Azinger and Shaun Michael.

It is both testimony and tribute to the respect and affection that Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade have garnered during their years on the PGA Tour that so many of the game’s top players have been not merely willing, but, indeed, eager, to come to Rhode Island and play in their annual early summer shindig.

The CVS Charity Classic, like wine, is one of the few things in life that improves with age. Just when you think it can’t possibly get any better, it does.

This year’s field is, arguably, the most attractive yet. And not solely because of the presence of the lovely Ms. Gulbis, whose 2004 calendar was banned by the USGA from the merchandise tents at the U.S. Women’s Open that year because it was too ``provocative,” which may have hurt sales in the short-term, but probably helped overall.

Gulbis will be paired with Juli Inkster as the first women’s team to compete in the CVS. While Gulbis has yet to win a Tour event, Inkster is one of the LPGA’s all-time greats _ as both a player and a person. Not only is Inkster very personable, but she also is one of only three LPGA players to have won more than 30 professional tournaments, including two Open championships, three Samsung World Championships, two LPGA championships, and two Nabisco Dinah Shore titles.

It’ll be fun to see how the two women fare against the men. And also to see how large a gallery will follow them.

You know that Lee Trevino will draw a crowd. He, too, is one of one golf’s legends. And also one of the game’s legendary characters. You’ve heard of people with personalities that can ``light up a room.” Well, Trevino can light up an entire golf course to the point where you could play all 18 holes after sundown. He’s a guy who has more punch lines in a round than he does shots.

Here’s a sampling of some of his witticisms:

``I’m going to make so much money this year (1973), my caddie will be in the top 20 on the money list.”

In describing fellow Tour pro J.C. Snead: ``He was so ugly as a kid that his parents tied pork chops around his neck so that the dog would play with him.”

``My wife tells me she doesn’t care what I do when I’m away,” Trevino said, ``as long as I’m not enjoying it.”

Talking about the castle he rented one year at the British Open: ``They’ve got to have some kind of princess locked up in there someplace.”

And this, one of his best-remembered: ``Pressure is playing for ten dollars when you don’t have a dime in your pocket.”

Trevino played matches like that, and won them, while working at a combination driving range/par-3 course in Texas. His hardscrabble background prepared him for the PGA Tour, where he won six majors _ capturing the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship twice each.

At 67, Trevino’s best days _ although not his best lines _ are behind him. Not so for Zach Johnson, who’s not very funny, but is a very, very good player _ good enough to have won the Masters this year, along with the AT&T Classic last month in Atlanta. He is at the top of his game right now, and having the reigning Masters champion on hand is reason enough alone to watch the CVS.

But there are many more.

You’ll also want to see what the colorful Jesper Parnevik is wearing. And, if Natalie Gulbis, in addition to being a fine player, is also a bit of cheesecake for the men in the gallery, then 25-year-old Colombian Camilo Villegas provides beefcake for the ladies in attendance. The kid has biceps that a Patriots’ linebacker would be proud of.

Brad and Billy are proud to have the likes of Chris DiMarco, David Toms, Tim Clark, Stewart Cink, J.J. Henry, Sean O’Hair and 1994 British Open champion _ as well as two-time PGA champion _ Nick Price on hand.

Along with, of course, Barrington boys Dana Quigley, the 2005 Champions Tour Player of the Year, and his nephew, Brett. They’re always popular with the hometown crowd.

And then there’s the golf course itself. The CVS Caremark Charity Classic will be the first chance most people will have had to see the venerable Donald Ross layout free of phragmites _ those view-blocking, waterflow-choking reeds that had come to overwhelm much of the course.

Spectators now will be able to see from the fourth fairway, beside Washington Road, all the way across the course to the 14th fairway, which runs alongside Middle Highway. They’ll also see more water on the course now, which is much more wide open.

With all those attractions, is it any wonder I long ago circled the dates June 17-19 on my 2007 Natalie Gulbis calendar?