This posting by Stephen Meyer on Top Sales Dog called “A Tale of Three Golfers” is an interesting account of one man’s persistent effort to get three famous golfers to do the right thing and help him provide a life long friend with a commemorative gift of some special times they spent together.

Andy Abrams decided that it would be a really cool 50th birthday present for his friend Rich if he could get Lee Trevino, David Graham, and Justin Rose, the three guys who have won the U.S. Open at Merion in the last four decades, to sign a commemorative poster since the two friends had seen Lee win his Open at Merion when they were just 8 years old and then Graham win his Open at Merion ten years later.  Andy was there this past June to watch Rose pursue his first major victory at Merion as well.

Considering that all three of these guys have a reputation as being very approachable it probably did not seem to Andy like such a tall order to get them to participate in his idea.
Heck they should jump at the chance to help two friends who were there at their moments of major glory commemorate the event.  If they were in fact “players of the people” it would just be the right thing to do.

Not so fast….as you will read it took old school persistence and proven sales tactics to pull this off.  Despite the effort required I am sure Andy is glad he did not settle for giving Rich a hat.

(Click to read Stephen Meyer’s “A Tale of Three Golfers”)

Stephen J. Meyer
Top Sales Dog
RapidLearningInstitute.com
January 2014

(Special thanks to moegolf friend Jim Doane for sharing this article)

When you play as a guest at an old line esteemed country club there is always a moment, some time between when you lace on your Foot Joys and put the peg in the ground on the first tee when your host will chime in, “You know this is an original A. W. Tillinghast (or some other iconic designer from The Golden Age of Golf Course Design)……one of the only two that he did in this region.”   Rich people love to brag about the uniqueness of their possessions and the pedigree of their country club is often at the top of this list.

Well, as you can read in John Paul Newport’s Wall Street Journal article “Country Clubs Dig Up Their Histories”, you may want to put that claim to a bit of scrutiny because it may be an exaggeration or an outright untruth.

As Newport explains, the members of the prestigious Bloomfield Hills Country Club in Detroit boasted for almost 100 years that they have been playing a Donald Ross original design.  When in fact, as was unearthed by a renovation design team in 2009, Ross was hired twice to propose changes to Bloomfield Hills but his ideas were never implemented.  He had nothing to do with the original design or any subsequent renovations.

This is often how misguided club histories are put back in order since the renovation designers will insist on proper research of course lineage so they can find documentation that will help them adhere to the original intent of the designer as they try to return courses back to their classic character.

The design of Bloomfield Hills was done in 1913 by Harry Colt, an English designer of great repute, who did very few courses in North America.  His resume includes iconic venues like Sunningdale, Wentworth, and Royal Liverpool in England , Royal Portrush and Royal Dublin in Ireland, Eden Course at St. Andrews and Muirfield in Scotland, and countless others across continental Europe.  So these members really have nothing to be embarrassed about in acknowledging the truth.

Like with our first president it is often claimed by country club elitists up and down the east coast that “Donald Ross slept here”.  When in fact he may have simply waved from the carriage car as his train passed through town on his way back to Pinehurst.  Ross would have had to sleep only 2 hours a night for forty years to have been able to design all the gems people say he had a hand in creating.

If you see a Redan or Biarritz green on their course the member will undoubtedly tell you it was C.B. MacDonald or Seth Raynor that was responsible for this when it may well have been William Flynn who was equally talented just much less well known.  Flynn in fact may be the least acknowledged prolific designer of this Golden Age.  His originals include Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, Cherry Hills in Colorado,  and The Cascades in West Virginia and he had serious design or renovation influence at Merion, Pine Valley, The Country Club in Brookline among scores of others.

So the next time your friend tells you that it is a Tillinghast greens you just three-jacked or MacKenzie bunker that ensnared your wayward drive you may want to take it with a grain of salt.  You see the self-serving dissemination of disinformation is not the exclusive purview of the federal government.

(Click to read John Paul Newport WSJ article on Bloomfield Hills C.C.)

Wall Street Journal

John Paul Newport

December, 2013

There is no one in the golf world at this moment other than Adam Scott who should be wearing the emperor’s clothes.  Building on his Master’s victory in April and his win at The Barclay’s this fall, he has been on a run of good form the last month that has all the best players shaking their heads.

Until the very last hole at the Australian Open at Royal Sidney yesterday he was staring at a folkloric accomplishment, winning the Australian Triple Crown. This was set up by his wins the previous three weeks in Australia including the first two legs of the Australian Triple Crown-the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and the Australian Masters at Royal Melbourne.  He threw in a third team victory for good measure with Jason Day winning the Two-Man World Cup at Royal Melbourne last week.

As you can read in this Boston Herald account of the final round of The Australian Open, Scott did everything he had to do to add his name to the distinguished list of Australian Open winners and become only the second player in history to win all three legs of the Australian Triple Crown in the same year.  That is everything except account for Rory McIlroy who was apparently closer than he appeared in the rear view mirror.

After an emphatic statement shooting 62 on the opening day, Scott just played as good as he needed to keep the field well at bay.  McIlroy, who has slowly been regaining his own swagger the last month, had a 65 on day two to make his presence known.

At the start of the final round Rory was four back of Scott and the two seemed to feint and parry their way through the first four holes until Rory unleashed his mojo with four straight 3’s  including an electric eagle on the seventh to Scott’s par 5.  Rory got within one at the turn and they went back into fencing mode over the back nine with Scott failing to convert a number of 10 footers that would have given him more breathing room.

Side-by-side in the 18th Fairway it came down who would blink on the final approach shot.  Rory stuck it to 10 feet while Adam’s effort meandered over the green leaving a dicey up-and-down to save par.  His pitch wandered away from the tin and he missed a long come back putt to settle for bogey.  Rory did what Rory does and just calmly make the decisive birdie putt on the last revolution to effectuate a two-shot swing and steal the Crown from Adam’s crown.

Great TV drama….two young champions pushing each other to the limit….the stuff of major championship golf.

(Click to read the Boston Herald account of Rory’s final round in the Australian Open)

Boston Herald
November, 2013

About 20 months ago Jarrod Lyle, an Australian pro of considerable physical size and commensurate ability, was told that the leukemia he had battled to a draw as a teenager had returned.   Given the fact that historically a second bout with leukemia has a much lower chance of success, it had to seem to him very unlikely that he would ever play a professional golf tournament again.

Yet yesterday, standing on the first tee of the storied Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the first round of the Talisker Australian Masters he heard those cherished words, “From Victoria, please welcome back Jarrod Lyle”.  To Jarrod and the throngs of supporters who poured out for his homecoming return to professional golf it brought tears of joy to their eyes…….this is the feel good golf story of the year.

As you can read in Matt Murnane’s account in the Sydney Morning Herald Jarrod Lyle’s begins a new journey in his fight to regain his career after his successful second round of treatment has once again put his leukemia in check.

The pictures in the article say it all, his wife and young daughter and hundreds of others wearing the supportive yellow of the Challenge cancer network.  They had come to provide a cloud of support for a local golf hero, playing the course he holds dearer than any other, in one of the big three events on the Australian golf calendar.

His opening par-birdie start was as much a release of pent up emotion than golf skill but it set in his mind that he was back where he belonged.  The golf gods did not issue him any free passes though.  On the ninth hole he pulled his drive and his Titleist wedged itself into the fork of a tree down the left side of the fairway.  “I think it was the same tree we were under in the Heineken (Classic in 2005, when he came to prominence),” said his father John Lyle. “He knows that spot well.”

Showing the grit he is known for with a resurgence on the back side Jarrod shot a one-over-par 72 and has positioned himself to meet his goal of making the halfway cut after tonight’s second round.

You can follow his progress as the Talisker Australian Masters is being broadcast live on the Golf Channel late this evening.  Great coverage with a cast of Australian announcers handling the duties with full Aussie jargon.  Ian Baker Finch is on the crew and is by far the most understandable accent in the booth.  Go figure!

Needless to say half a country and plenty of interested bystanders around the world are pulling for him to do just that.

Round 2 Update:  Jarrod Lyle shot even par today to make the halfway cut at one-over.  Those yellow Challenge Hats will be sold out for the weekend.  Great Stuff!!

Round 3 Update:  Lyle had three birdies and two bogies on his way to a one-under 70 and and even par standing through three rounds.  He is currently 29th and positioned will for a top 25 finish with a sub par round on Sunday.

Final Round Update:  Rough day for Jarrod starting off double bogey, bogey, and other in the first four holes.  He did make three birdies on the way to 79 and and T-57 finish.  Great to make a check….great to see him back.

(Click to read Matt Murnane’s article on Jarrod Lyle return to pro golf)

Matt Murnane

Sydney Morning Herald

November, 2013

Mike Keiser continues to astonish with a simple rule prevailing at his properties in Bandon-just go out an enjoy golf.  Whether it is the 13-hole Bandon Preserve par 3 playground or his new mega putting facility Punchbowl he continues to break the mold of modern golf resorts by providing unique opportunities to enjoy the game.

In this article by Ron Bellamy for The Register-Guard you can read about one of Keiser’s most innovative concepts, one of the best kept secrets in Bandon, a DIY golf course that anyone can play-the Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch.  No clubhouse, no golf shop, no practice facility, not even a bathroom with running water.  This is an unirrigated piece of kept golfing land with 13 greens where you can pretty much make your holes up as you go playing your own unique design.

Keiser’s business partner from the greeting card business, Phil Friedmann bought this land about a dozen years ago and had Tom Doak build him 13 greens on this piece of land he had purchased on the north border of Bandon Dunes.  It was basically his personal golf course and is not part of the Bandon Dunes Resort.

Yet it is totally accessible if you know the secret process for getting to play it.  Actually pretty simple, just call Bandon Golf Supply where they will put you in touch with the course superintendent.  He will arrange  a day and time to meet your group at the course, it is available weekdays between November and June, the course is closed during the hot summer months.  He will collect a fee of $100 a man hand you a scorecard and a suggestion for a routing and where to begin.  The rest is up to you.

This is a fantastic concept for any devout golfer with a strong opinion on course design. It is a golf equivalent to backwoods helicopter skiing without the chopper.  Imagine an open canvas of stellar golfing land overlooking an ocean where you decide where to tee it up and where the green will be on each hole.  No complaints about the design being unfair especially because the designer is looking back at you in the reflection of the glass face of your watch.  This is the ultimate in the Play It Forward concept.  Just decide what distance is comfortable and put a peg in the ground.

Don’t forget to bring a grill and plenty of refreshment….there will be no visits from a cart girl or a halfway house at the turn.  In fact there is no turn…..nor end to your round until you decide it is over.  What a concept…..leave it to Keiser and his buddies to break the mold once again.

(Click to read this fascinating article by Ron Bellamy’s about Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch)

Ron Bellamy

The Register-Guard

November, 2013

In this interview with Charlie Rose Sean Foley talks about his philosophy and the practical reality of coaching the best players in the world.  His classroom attendees include Tiger, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, and Hunter Mahan among others.

As he says in the conversation he teaches young kids how to play the game…..he coaches the best players in the world.  At this point in their athletic careers there is little new to teach them.  But like the great coaches in any sport observing their tendencies and relating to them the flaws these tendencies perpetuate he can help them get to a place of self-recognition where they can manage their flaws and produce better results.

In watching this 35-minute conversation you have to let go of the notion that somehow it is a referendum on his tutelage of Tiger and appreciate the accumulated genius of a guy who has studied the teachings of greatest instructors going back 100 years.

You won’t find any technical prescription for success in golf for his top ranked players or yourself for that matter.  But you will get an understanding of why these guys gravitate to this man and his ability to diagnose the problems that beset them at the current stage in their personal golf cycle and advise them on what to focus to maximize their competitive results.

This is a thoughtful guy who does not come across with the bravado of a Butch Harmon.  But it is evident to me that it is his intellect and his bedside manner, as he refers to it, that allow great athletes to trust him to guide them to a path of higher performance in their games.

Turn off the cell phone and shut the door to the study….this is a fascinating conversation best appreciated without interruption.

(Click here to view the Sean Foley Interview with Charlie Rose)

Charlie Rose

Bloomberg.com

October, 2013

It has been reported in a recent Washington Post article that the powers that be at the University of Maryland are considering a really bad idea of plowing under the university’s golf course as part of a $100 million mixed used redevelopment project.

The University of Maryland Golf Course sits on 150 heavily wooded acres adjacent to the campus and is a popular destination for students and Maryland residents.  Testimony to this is the fact that the course hosts over 35,000 golf rounds a year.  It also provides full practice and teaching facilities for the community.  Recent renovation of the course has improved it’s standard considerably and it has hosted Web.com professional golf events as a result.

The redevelopment plans would include a direct off ramp from the Capital Beltway to the College Park Campus, a slew of new box retail stores, some faculty housing, and a new, more appetizing entrance to the campus.  That is what we need in College Park more box retailers and housing tracts.

Serious opposition to this misguided idea is being spearheaded by local state senators and residents of P.G. County who understand the value of this asset to the students and local residents.

A website has been established as a clearing house for information on plan at

http://saveumdgolfcourse.com/

If you share in the misgivings about this plan please write an e-mail to university president Dr. Wallace Loh to express your opposition.

Dr. Wallace Loh    wdloh@umd.edu

If we don’t want this Terrapin to become extinct we have to speak up now before the developers have their way.

October, 2013

UPDATE: 

Rational minds have prevailed and the developer has abandoned plans for the redevelopment of the ground the University of Maryland Golf Course sits on.  Guess the grass roots movement was loud enough….

(Click to read the follow up article on this redevelopment plan)

Charley Hull, the 17-year-old rookie sensation of the European Solheim Cup team was lauded by Scottish tennis sensation Andy Murray’s mother and coach Judy who tweeted, “Love the way Charley Hull just gets on with it.  No messing.  No pouting.  No lippy. No shades.  No face paint.  Cool kid.”

Anyone who watched Hull and 18-year-old American teen star Lexi Thompson trade blows in their four-ball match on Saturday or Hull’s total domination of Paula Creamer 5 and 4 in Sunday’s Singles had to be impressed by her incredible shot making and Cool Hand Luke demeanor.

But the most refreshing and mature comment came from Hull herself.  When asked if she was affected by the pressure of an event that buckles the knees of the wiliest veterans she said, “I didn’t really feel nervous, to be honest.  I’m not going to die if I hit a bad shot.  I just hit it, find it, and hit it again.”

A very wise perspective from a youthful messenger.

As reported in:

Golf World

August, 2013

What you read below will seem remarkably familiar to anyone who is part of a regular golf group, whether a formal constitution of golf club members or a rag-tag contingent of golf friends with a shared addiction for the game.  It will just seem that the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

This is a chapter from a book by Hugh Baillie called “Golf at the Back of Beyond” Brora Golf Club 1891-2000.

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The Brora Old Boys Society, ‘The Bobs’ is an unofficial body within the Golf Club.  It was formed during the 1970’s and meets every Tuesday morning weather permitting.

The perceived wisdom is that the Society is allowed a special dispensation so far as weather is concerned, certainly it is quite rare for it to miss a drill.

The format is over fifteen holes: seven out, play the cross-over tee to the eleventh green, then the closing seven holes.

The society has its own score card and handicapping system, though based on club handicaps.  Two strokes are deducted from a winner’s handicap, one from the runner-up.

The tail-end Charlie receives a further two strokes, so that a few of the poorer, or perhaps older, exponents who may be regular Charlies may well be allowed two strokes on some holes.  These are commonly known as kisses or barbed-wire cards.

The prizes are simple: Three balls to the winner, two for the next, one for third.  Entry is one pound a meeting, with tenpence in the bunker box for each visit to the sand.

After paying for the prizes most of the monies go to the charities favored by the Captain of the year, though a small amount is retained for subsidizing the Christmas lunch and wine, when tradition is respected with the saying of Grace and a loyal toast to the Queen and Duke of Lancaster.

The trophies consist of Rob Wilson’s clock in the shape of a tee, The Tom Robertson Cup and the Dough Ross Salver in memory of a past Captain.  There was a Silver Flask, donated by Bill Robertson, a former club president, unusual in that the competition is for the best gross score from which a player deducted his age.

However, Gordon Matheson won it three times in a row, when aged 77,78, and 79, and was presented with the inscribed flask in perpetuity.

There is no age limit, old or young.  Anyone is welcomed, and in season there are many regular annual visitors who turn up on a Tuesday morning.

Twenty would probably be an average attendance, varying from fifteen to thirty depending on climate and season.

A pleasing feature is that former members who no longer play look in to the club on Tuesday mornings to socialize for an hour.

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Golf at the Back of Beyond

Brora Golf Club 1891-2000

Hugh Baillie