AUGUST 2012

p r e v i e w: The 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills

Golf. Life. Style.

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InsideContents

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In Every Issue 6 Forethoughts The Issue of Power.

By Jon Rizzi 8 Gallery The Country Club at Castle Pines’ new patio, Cordillera, Los Cabos, more.

72 The Games of Golf PGA Championship Mix Player’s Corner 15 Home Course Telluride Golf Club.

16 Competition For seven days at Cherry Hills, 312 players will vie for a place among the immortals who have won the U.S. Amateur. By Kaye W. Kessler.

26 Clubbing Up Wyoming’s exclusive Old Baldy Club quietly casts for new members. By Jon Rizzi

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Features Sidebets 37 Fareways Where to eat a power breakfast, down a power steak, see the most powerful faces and go on a power date. By Lori Midson 42 Nice Drives The explosive Porsche 991 Carrera S, Audi R8 V10, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Ford F150 EcoBoost and Lexus GS450h. By Isaac Bouchard

Colorado AvidGolfer | August 2012

Cover Photo: John Fox at the Wells Fargo Championship Pro-Am at Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, N.C. Courtesy of the Associated Press

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Power Players From eminences such as Jack Vickers to entrepreneurs like John Breaker, meet 24 Coloradans whose influence on the local, national and international golf scenes qualify them as our leading lights. By Jon Rizzi

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Power Generators Accelerate Your Swing, by Geoff Greig. The Towel Drill,

by Jason Preeo. Fitting Fitness, by Tom Ferrell. Un-Mute Your Hips, by Randy Goldstein. Powering Through Fear,

by Elena King and Denise McGuire

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Hanging 10, Playing to a 13 Could Broncos coach John Fox see his team’s victory total match the number of strokes he gets on the golf course? By Sam Adams

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

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JOB #: 12FMG10350-105 CLIENT: FLEMING’S August 2012 Volume 11, Number 3 DESCRIPTION: Denver Avid Golfer Ad VERSION #: 1 2012 of 1Volume 11, Number 5 August TRIM SIZE: 4.75"w x 7.375"h publisher BLEED: .125 Allen J. Walters INK COLORS: (4/0) 4cp

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Ray L. Baker, C. Don Baker, Dick B. Baker Advertising inquiries: cindy@coloradoavidgolfer.com editoriAl inquiries And letters: jon@coloradoavidgolfer.com Customer serviCe And subsCriptions: 720-493-1729 mAiling Address: 7200 s. Alton Way #b-180, Centennial, Co 80112 FAX: 720-482-0784 neWsstAnd inFormAtion: 720-493-1729 Website: coloradoavidgolfer.com

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Colorado Avidgolfer (issn 1548-4335) is published nine times a year by baker-Colorado publishing, llC, and printed by American Web, inc. volume 11, number Five. 7200 s. Alton Way #b-180, Centennial, Co 80112. Colorado AvidGolfer is available at more than 250 locations, or you August order your personal subscription by calling 720-493-1729. subscriptions are available at the rate of $17.95 per year. Copyright © 2012 by baker-Colorado publishing, llC. All rights reserved. reproduction without permission is prohibited. postmaster: send address changes to Colorado Avidgolfer, 7200 s Alton Way #b-180 Centennial, Co 80112.the magazine welcomes editorial submissions but assumes no responsibility for the safekeeping or return of unsolicited manuscripts,photographs, artwork or other material.

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Forethoughts

The Issue of Power

I

n assembling this edition, I asked a number of local golf sages whom they would include among the most powerful individuals in the Colorado golf world. The responses reflected little variety—except one gentleman included CAG publisher Allen J. Walters and me.

After I caught my breath from laughing so hard, I admitted a truth about myself: Most people who wield traditional forms of “power” inspire in me an ambivalence that borders on antipathy. I wouldn’t call it a “stick-it-to-The-Man” attitude; I’d call it a healthy distrust of anyone who, as my successful yet modest mother would say, “thinks who the hell he is.”

That distrust began 38 years ago this month, when Richard M. Nixon resigned the Presidency in disgrace after Watergate. I was 12, and I venerated the Presidents of the United States of America, some of the most powerful men in history. I’d read biographies of every one, knew the names of their wives, their VPs, their opponents, how they took and left office. I wrote Richard Nixon for an autograph. He instead signed off on secret break-ins and bombings in Cambodia. He thought who the hell he was—a man above the law—and, in the process, he changed who the hell I was.

Four decades and seven presidents later, I’m editing a golf magazine that’s devoting a sizable chunk of an issue to power—a topic golf glorifies on numerous levels. On the playing level, there’s the power draw, the power fade and the power grip. Instructors talk about the power stance, the power turn, the power slot and various power moves. On the physical level, trainers have invented entire batteries of golf-specific exercises to generate more power. It’s the same promise held by the latest clubs and balls.

Beginning on page 54, we cover many of those performance aspects.

We also gain access to one of golf ’s more exclusive power loci (page 26), tuck into a number of Denver’s power eateries (37) and gun some power cars (42).

OK, but what about those powerful people? After all, we’re talking about a game that attracts individuals like Donald Trump, whose international course collection serves as a platform for his ego, not golf; and Tiger Woods, who was easily the most powerful person in golf during this century—until he thought he was bigger than the game.

In selecting, interviewing and writing about the powerful men and women of Colorado golf, I’m happy to report even the biggest of bigwigs addressed the game with great reverence and spoke of their influence with even greater humility. Each to some degree feels entrusted to perpetuate and grow a game that has given them so much. None of them thinks who the hell they are, and as a result, my skepticism towards power temporarily evaporated like morning dew on a sun-drenched fairway.

—JON RIZZI

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Colorado AvidGolfer | August 2012

Welcome to 3,000 magnificent acres, featuring 54 distinctive opportunities to elevate your game.

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theG Patio in the Pines

F

COUNTRY CLUB BUFFET: The new Grill Bar.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | August 2012

or nearly a quarter-century, the clubhouse at the country club at castle Pines sealed the panoramic views of its pine-forested course, Pikes Peak and the Rampart Range behind glass in the formal dining area. Only those fortunate enough to get a window table could get the full dramatic effect of some of the Front Range’s most vivid sunsets.

But in the same way it took an audience of millions to reveal Susan Boyle’s innate vocal talents to the world, it required $10 million in facelifts to expose the clubhouse to the intrinsic beauty of its surroundings.

At a June 16 gala, that beauty displayed itself, as the club unveiled its 6,000-square-foot tiered patio—the pièce de résistance to its extensive clubhouse makeover and expansion project. Featuring covered and open-air areas, two fireplaces, pergolas with ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

theGallery NEWS

Gallery automatic sunscreens, oversized furniture, hundreds of native plantings and synthetic turf spots for barefoot tramping, the patio encourages members of all ages to mingle, dine and savor the long shadows draping across the course and the club’s new Social Lawn, where concerts and activities for children take place.

The clubhouse interior also underwent work. The main dining area is now The Grill, which invites Colorado casual dining on Executive Chef Brian Dennis’ award-winning fare and game-watching on three flat-screens behind the new Grill Bar. The room’s other new tippling spot, The Panorama Bar, rewards members with breathtaking mountain views from just inside the patio doors.

Members can indulge in more formal and intimate dining in the private 500-square-foot Jack Nicklaus Signature Room, where Dennis’s nightly set menu highlights local fresh, seasonal cuisine for up to 26 diners. Less formal private dining happens in the Rampart and Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

|

NOTES

|

NAMES

ON HIGH: CCCP’s 6,000 square feet of panoramic comfort.

Pikes Peak rooms—both of which serve similarly superb selections and also double as spaces for meetings and special occasions. To accommodate the various dining experiences, the club added 1,000 square-feet to the newly constructed banquet kitchen outfitted with top-of-the-line equipment, including a slow-roasting COMBI oven.

Since 2004, when the members bought it, the Country Club at Castle Pines has benefited from perpetual upgrades to the clubhouse, course and staff, including the hiring of highly regarded COO John Reyhons. Those improvements, coupled with the club’s novel market-based membership pricing program (currently price-floored at $28,000), have resulted in more than 130 members joining in the past three years. “They’ve added a new energy,” says new Membership Director Brian Nishi, who sees the club as a rustic mountain retreat where people gather not just to play golf but to socialize. “Even on a Tuesday night, this place is rocking.”

August 2012 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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theGallery End of a Cordill-era?

For the Vail Valley’s posh Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, it’s still business as usual. But at the separately held Club at Cordillera, it’s anything but. After more than 16 months of acrimonious financial and legal wrangling between the club’s owner, David Wilhelm, and aggrieved members who are looking to buy the club (one of whom Wilhelm had ticketed for trespassing while playing golf ), the Cordillera Golf Club LLC filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in late June. Wilhelm, who bought the club in 2009, owes $12.7 million on the original loan, and is experiencing major cash-flow issues because a number of members, who are involved in suits and countersuits with Wilhelm, have stopped paying dues. For the second straight year, the club has closed three of its four courses—only the Fazio-designed Valley course remains open— and numerous members are defecting to Country Club of the Rockies and Red Sky Golf Club, or just buying season passes to Eagle Ranch.Wilhelm, who wanted to avoid

SAFE HAVEN: Puerto los Cabos

Chapter 11, “failed to reach a mutually acceptable agreement with certain stakeholders,” says Wilhelm, who could stand to lose $108 million in the suit brought by members.

Of the bankruptcy filing, Cordillera Chief Executive Officer Dan Fitchett takes an optimistic view: “This is a chance to reorganize and bring the club back to prominence.” omnimgt.com/cordilleragolfclub; 800-873-4214

No Worries in Los Cabos A seemingly relentless onslaught of negative publicity, most of it associated with

drug cartel warfare along the border, has tarnished Mexico’s reputation as a tourist destination. Still, millions of Americans annually visit Mexico to enjoy the authentic cuisine, scintillating beaches and dazzling golf courses of Los Cabos, one of many safe havens. “Overcoming this kind of negative media attention with people who are not familiar with Mexico’s geography has been a struggle,” says Eduardo Sanchez Navarro, chairman of Grupo Questro, one of Mexico’s foremost resort developers. “In Los Cabos we are 1,000 miles from the border. Most foreigners, and people from other parts of Mexico who have been vacationing in Los Cabos for years, realize this is one of the safer communities in the world.”

Grupo Questro’s most recent endeavor is Puerto Los Cabos, a resort development set on 2,000 acres overlooking the placid Sea of Cortez. It offers the best of all worlds: the natural beauty of a three-mile stretch of white-sand beach, a unique Jack Nicklaus/ Greg Norman championship golf course (each authored a nine); Mexico’s largest private marina; and home sites ranging in size from .61 acres to 1.84 acres and in prices

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theGallery

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from $195K to $5 million. Puerto Los Cabos recently announced a new 400-room Secrets Resort, which will open November 2013. puertoloscabos.com; 877-795-8727

Golf By Numbers 5

University of Denver Women’s Golf team SAFE BY THE SEA: Puerto Los Cabos members made the All-American Scholar Team: sarah Faller, melissa martin, tonje daffinrud, mieke heyns and rachael Watton were among 585 NCAA Division I, II, and III women’s golfers whose minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.50 met the criteria for this award.

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golfers raised more than $26,000 for dani’s Foundation and the Campaign to End Pediatric Cancer at the inaugural Golf Fore A Kid tournament June 25 at Meridian Golf Club.

The foundation, named in honor of dani stell, a South High graduate who died of cancer at 19, carries on its crusade behind another Dani: Cherry Creek High School golfer dani urman (above), who has endured bone cancer, chemotherapy and knee replacement to be a big part of the Bruins team that won this year’s State 5A championship. danisfoundation.org

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player’sCorner COURSES | LESSONS | OPINION

Telluride’s Wild Ride

T

hat telluride Golf Club credits Telluride Ski Company as its designer should come as no surprise to anyone who has traversed the slopes of the course’s impeccably groomed terrain. While 6,574 yards might seem scant at 9,500 feet above sea level, the 20-year-old layout defends its par of 70 with bedeviling bunkers and doglegs, demanding carries and reachable par-4s and -5s that involve far more risk than reward. And those unimpeded views of Mount Wilson and the serrated San Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

Juans don’t exactly promote focus.

Still, Telluride is Colorado’s festival capital— upcoming events include September’s starstudded Film Festival and the legendary Blues & Brews—and the club provides a summerlong celebration of golf. The party comprises six par-3s—including back-to-backs on both nines—that all insist on precise club and line selection. Although consecutive par-5s await on Nos. 5 and 6, visually and strategically, the money hole is the 254-yard par-4 seventh, which plays straight into Mount Wilson and requires a lake carry to get on from the tee. The back nine features no shortage of score-busting eye candy, especially on the water- and aspenlined par-4 13th (pictured) with the mountains

hovering beyond. The par-4 fifteenth deserves its 1-handicap rating but the six-level climb to the back tee box on the 137-yard 17th will literally take away your breath.

Like your lungs, your shot will need plenty of air to clear a ravine and parachute onto a green 100 feet below. Telluride members sew up tee times before 10:30, but so can guests of the Hotel Madeline or The Peaks Resort adjacent to the course. Telluride Golf Club rolls through the Mountain Village resort area, a gondola ride from the historic mining town made famous by Butch, Sundance and the world-renowned Bluegrass Festival, which celebrates its 40th anniversary next June. tellurideskiresort.com; 800-778-8581 ag

August 2012 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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player’sCorner AMATEUR

Marathon Men For seven days at Cherry Hills, 312 players will vie for a place among the immortals who have won the U.S. Amateur.

By Kaye W. Kessler

p h o t o g r a p h s c o u rt e s t y o f t h e U s g a

AM AND CHEESE: The smiling faces of (clockwise from top left) Jack Nicklaus, Charlie Coe, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Bobby Jones and 2011 champ Kelly Kraft.

A

n intriguing dichotomy of golf derring-do will brighten the Colorado sports scene this month: the U.S. Amateur, the granddad of all U.S. golf tournaments, with a virtual kiddie cast of contestants performing on two diverse venues—the historic and venerable Cherry Hills Country Club and CommonGround Golf Course, acclaimed one of the nation’s brightest new public tracks.

Putting the transition by attrition in a different shag bag, the 112th U.S. Amateur—the oldest, most time-honored golf tournament in the United States—arrives in Denver August 13-19 with the stimulating prospect of displaying the next generation of greatness in helpings that may bogey your brain.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | August 2012

It’s a wonderful old hat, common for 90-year-old Cherry Hills, which has hosted nine national championships, including the 1990 Amateur, three U.S. Men’s Opens, two PGAs, a Women’s Open and a Men’s Senior. It’s a nice new feather for embryonic CommonGround, if only a cameo, sharing the first two days of medal play that will shrink 312 national and international qualifiers to a field of 64 for the ensuing five days of rugged match play.

The cast of characters is a conglomerate of youngbloods supersaturated with power, confidence and talent to match their dreams of sooner-than-later becoming the next Tiger, Golden Bear or The King—each of whom hoisted the Amateur’s Havemeyer Trophy before turning pro.

Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

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player’sCorner 12 & 11. The event, however, resulted from a brouhaha the year before between Newport and New York‘s St. Andrews Golf Club, each of which claimed their invitational winner was the national champion. Clear heads prevailed, deciding they needed a national governing body to determine national championships and develop a single set of rules. Representatives from five clubs then founded the USGA, which in October 1895 staged the first U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open the same week—the Amateur starting and finishing first. Theodore Havemeyer was elected first USGA president, they named the Amateur trophy for him and it’s been ever thus.

History

The history of the Amateur is glittering, but you probably could count on one fist the number of players in this year’s field who know the origin of the name engraved on the championship’s Havemeyer Cup; that though probably all have heard of Bobby Jones, they have no clue who Robert Tyre Jones Jr. was; and that Arnold Palmer won the 1954 Amateur about the time in history the youngbloods took charge of the event.

The first official U.S. Amateur took place in 1895, with only 32 entrants at Rhode Island’s Newport Golf Club. A Macdonald named Charles whipped a Sands man named Charles,

UNCOMMONLY LONG: New tees on holes like No. 4 will turn companion course CommonGround into a 7,378-yard par 70.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | August 2012

OLD SCHOOL: The U.S. Amateur began in 1895.

Then along came Jones. The embodiment of the term “amateur,” the scholarly Jones between 1920 and 1930 won five U.S. Amateur titles, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens, one British Amateur and was six-time medalist at the Amateur. The unquestioned magnet who drew media and spectators to the game, Jones literally hung up the clubs competitively at age 28 after his 1930 U.S. Amateur victory at Merion rounded out the most stunning year in golf history—the “Grand Slam”—Bobby capturing all four U.S. and British Amateurs and Opens.

With Jones focusing on his career as an attorney (and the birth of Augusta National and the Masters), Amateur entries tripled to 583 in 1931 and continued to balloon to an alltime high of 7,920 at Pebble Beach in 1999.

BUCKEYE BLAST: Nicklaus won the Amateur at The Broadmoor in 1959 and at Pebble two years later.

Time, the grind of six rounds of match play and collegians caught up with great career amateurs like Charlie Coe, Harvie Ward, Dick Chapman, Johnny Goodman, Billy Campbell, Jack Westland, Dale Morey, Ed Tutwiler and Frank Stranahan.

Triumphs by Gene Littler (1953) and Palmer (1954) sent up a signal that the youngsters were coming, though Coe and Ward managed to hold up the old guard until Jack Nicklaus (1959-61) and Deane Beman (1960-63) hove into view.

Struggling to stimulate interest, the USGA switched the Amateur to stroke play 19651972, an eight-year span when Vinnie Giles, maybe last of the amateur purists, won in 1972 after three consecutive runner-up shots.

There were infrequent breakthroughs on the kid strangleholds—Billy Campbell (1964), Fred Ridley (1975) and Jay Siegel (1982-83)— but the run of young guns from amateur triumph to professional cash cows has resembled a flood…Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, John Cook, Mark O’Meara, Hal Sutton, Scott Verplank, Billy Mayfair, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Colt Knost ad infinamateur. Add the foreign winners of the U.S. Amateur who rolled for the dough like Scotland’s Richie Ramsey (2006), the first UK winner in 78 years; Italy’s Edoardo Molinari (2005); 17-year-old South Korean/New Zealander Danny Lee (2008); 17-year-old Byeong Hun-An (2009).

Oh yes, Tiger Woods, only man to win 18 consecutive match-play victories starting with

CHERRY ON TOP: The brutal 18th at the Championship Course could decide numerous matches during the week.

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o g r a p h s c o u rt e s t y o f t h e U s g a a n d BY e j c a r r ( B OTTO M L EFT )

This field marks quite a departure from the early days of the U.S. Amateur, which began in 1895. For the better part of its first 70 years, odd-shaped attorneys, car dealers, doctors, bankers and businessmen dominated the playing field. Sure, competitive fires burned within, but sportsmanship and camaraderie tamed tempers. After all, they knew, come Monday, they’d be back to their chosen profession. The cast changed minutely year to year.

That generation mostly was put to pasture over the past 50 years by a field brimming with flat-bellied, rosy-cheeked collegians or preps knocking drives into the next country, spinning wedges like a ball on a rubber band and fearlessly hammering every putt as if the cover’s off the manhole.

There will be 312 mostly young and loaded guns hitting Denver for practice the weekend before the main match-play fireworks at Cherry Hills, and you can bet they’ll all be geared to cross your eyes and dot your tees— birdies on the brain, eagles in their sights and a pro career ticket in their hip pocket, armed to emerge as the next Arnold, Jack, Phil or Eldrick. Monday and Tuesday medal play rounds at Cherry Hills and nearby CommonGround will whittle the field to 64 for Aug. 15-19 and the best match-play collisions this side of the Ryder Cup.

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player’sCorner his first of three straight Amateur crowns in 1994, age 18. Little bit of history there.

That’s not to forget last year’s winner Kelly Kraft and runnerup Patrick Cantlay, both getting into the play-for-dough flow following the recent Masters.

Rodgers, 18 and Chris Williams, 20, from Indiana, Russ Henley, 22, from Florida and old man Nathan Smith, 33, from Pittsburgh. Spieth was the leading U.S. scorer in a 14-12 loss to Great Britain and Ireland. Asian Amateur champion Hideki Matsujma and U.S. Mid-Am

This Year’s Field

If you’re guessing that leaves the Amateur talent flow at Cherry Hills bankrupt, take another shot. It’s more like tee it high and let it fly than high and dry.

Jordan Spieth will make you catch your breath. He heads the top 50 in World Amateur rankings, all in the field. Texan Spieth’s the18-year-old U.S. Junior champion with whom Tiger Woods managed to tie for 21st in the recent U.S. Open at Olympic after Jordan closed with rounds of 69-70.

Beau Hossler is the 17-year-old Texan with the Jason Duffner poker-face and game who was the talk of the U.S. Open until his last round 76 plunged him to a T29.

Spieth will be joined here by Walker Cup teammate, Auburn sophomore Blayne Barker, 21; Georgian Harris English, 22; Patrick

BEAU KNOWS GOLF: Open-tested Hossler, 17, already has game.

winner Randall Lewis are in the field.

Also aboard will be Bobby Wyatt, who won the recent Sunnehanna Amateur with 65-7068-68 as well as NCAA champion Thomas Pieters from Belgium, whose rounds of 71-6766-68 copped the Monroe Invitational.

Among Colorado standouts expected to compete are Cherry Hills’ Wyndham Clark, Jim Knous from Basalt, Drew Trujillo from Montrose and Cameron Harrell from

Colorado Springs.

This marks the 31st USGA championship conducted in Colorado and the fourth U.S. Amateur. Nicklaus won his first of two in 1959 at The Broadmoor in a stirring one-up win over Coe. Bob Dickson edged Giles 285-286 when it returned to The Broadmoor in 1967 as stroke play, and Phil Mickelson was medalist (135) and whipped Manny Zerman 5 and 4 when the event was last played at Cherry Hills in 1990.

Head PGA Professional John Ogden, who played in five U.S. Amateurs and reached the 1989 quarterfinals at Merion, believes Cherry Hills “is a great course for match play, the back nine very challenging as it provides the amateurs with an assortment of risk-reward shots.”

Ogden sees the 544-yard, 17th par 5 as the biggest game changer, more perilous today with its new cross-bunkering and bare naked island green than it was when it proved Ben Hogan’s Waterloo in the 1960 Open won by Palmer. Ogden never mentioned the unforgettable par-four 16th where in the 1958 Open Ray Ainsley settled for a U.S. Open record high 19 strokes when he played water polo trying to extract his ball from Little Dry Creek. That’s

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A D V E R T I S E M E N T

How Technology Saves Water

By Fred Dickman CGCS, Director of Golf Course Maintenance, The Broadmoor

O

ne of the most important issues facing the future of the game of golf is water. It’s a topic of considerable concern during what has been a particularly dry and fire-prone summer.

Although golf courses require substantial amounts of water to grow the turfgrass on which the game is played, going back several decades the golf industry has recognized its responsibility to reduce water usage. One of the most utilized approaches to saving water is the implementation of new technologies that improve irrigation system efficiency.

Most Colorado golf courses use on-site weather stations that measure accurate daily irrigation replacement needs, thus reducing over-irrigation. The weather stations commonly communicate with a sophisticated, centrally controlled computer system dedicated to irrigating the golf course.

In recent years soil sensors have been developed that can be located anywhere on the golf course. Soil sensors communicate directly with the central computer and measure moisture, temperature and salinity. Handheld moisture meters are also an important tool that are particularly useful for monitoring greens, approaches and fairway landing areas as the moisture level also corresponds to the firmness of the playing surface.

A periodic irrigation audit of the distribution of the sprinkler heads can recommend fairly low-cost items such as new nozzles and seals that greatly improve performance and reduce leaks and wet areas.

Pump stations utilize variable frequency drive pumping systems that apply water in the way most efficient to reduce water and energy consumption.

Pumping systems also integrate with the irrigation program to reduce run times and conserve electricity.

The rapidly development of sensor technology and GPS has led into mobile mapping devices. These units have the ability to make thousands of measurements over very large areas. Water holding capacity, soil compaction, topography and soil moisture are some of the variables these units can measure and map, offering additional precision to irrigation distribution and water conservation.

For more information, visit rmgcsa.org.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | August 2012

player’sCorner another story in itself, as spectators argued with the official scorer’s count, insisting it was 21 or 23. Ainsley smiled and shrugged, knowing a par 4 would have given him only an 82.

Then was then, back in the days when historically Palmer drove the 346-yard first green to touch off a final round 65 and victory.

More than a half-century later, the overamped amateurs may look upon No. 1 as aceable—with a rescue metal. ag

Contributing Editor Kaye W. Kessler holds the PGA of America’s Life Achievement Award in Journalism and is a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. A former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, he has covered the U.S. Amateur since the heyday of Skee Riegel.

ALUM FUN

On July 17, Colorado Golf Association Executive Director Ed Mate and board members, ever-alert to bringing youngsters to the game and the game to youngsters, staged a U.S. Amateur Alumni Day at CommonGround Golf Course for the 137 Coloradans who have competed in the Amateur.

The afternoon event was free to kids of all ages who received a King Soopers lunch, a Imperial Headwear golf hat and pen with an opportunity to get autographs after a Skills Challenge in which 10 U.S. Amateur alums competed against one another and put on a show for the kids and adults in attendance.

Jim English, who played in at least five U.S. Amateurs between 1947 and 1961, competed against Gunner Wiebe, Tom Glissmeyer, Scott Petersen, Ben Portie, Wyndham Clark and others. Two dozen other Amateur alums, including Mark Wiebe and Steve Ziegler, attended and performed. The Amateur All received a commemorative medal. Accompanying parents got a ticket to the US. Amateur.

The mission, according to Mate, was to showcase all the Coloradans who had played in a U.S. Amateur and stimulate interest in golf for the kids. “I think this is a perfect model for every state and regional golf association whenever they’re the host association for a USGA championship,” Mate said.

Tickets for the Aug. 13-19 U.S. Amateur run $17.50 daily or $85 for the week, with the preSaturday/Sunday practice rounds at Cherry Hills and CommonGround free. —KWK

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o g r a p h By e j c a r r

THE GROUNDS GAME Listen to Mike Burke’s serene responses to questions about course preparations for this month’s U.S. Amateur, and you’d never know that Cherry Hills Country Club, the course over which he presides as head superintendent, is hosting a major USGA Championship in a matter of weeks. Across town, at Aurora’s CommonGround Golf Course— Cherry Creek’s companion course for the Amateur—Head Agronomist Tracy Richard enjoys a similar state of sanguinity.

“As far as preparations go, I don’t do much ramping up at all,” says Burke, who has overseen the hallowed grounds at CHCC since becoming its greens giant in 1998. “The membership has high expectaions, and from April 15 to September 15 we have to shine.

The bar is set extremely high. It’s always in tournament shape.”

Beyond the Hillsdilly, Burke’s no stranger to high-profile tournaments. Before coming to Cherry Hills, Burke worked his way up to assistant superintendent at Castle Pines Golf Club during The International’s heyday. At CHCC, he worked with the USGA on the setup for the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open, and also prepped it for the 2009 Palmer Cup, shortly after coordinating with Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf team as it restored many holes to their original William S. Flynn design.

“We will not be pinching the fairways,” Burke explains. “After the renovation, the fairways became wider, but not easier. Suddenly the better players had more options, which tends to complicate rather than simplify your approach.”

Along the fairways, Burke will grow to three to four inches the primary rough that extends 12 to 16 yards from the fairway. The secondary rough will stand five inches high.

On the shorter par-4s—hole Nos. 1, 3, 7 and 13—the primary will be at 4.5 inches “to make scoring that much harder,” he says.

Burke says the “teeth of the property” start on No. 8, a well-protected 266-yard Par 3 that borders Little Dry Creek. “Arnold Palmer’s only bogey came here during his finalround 65 at the 1960 U.S. Open.”

The greens will Stimp at 11-11.5. “Any higher,” Burke says, “and we’ll lose pin placements.”

Leading up to the Amateur, Burke’s biggest concern—both literally and figuratively— has been the height of the gigantic netting that stands beteween the course’s driving Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

range and University Blvd. Because most of the players can clear the 60foot fence, studies recommended doubling its height. To illustrate what that would look like to members and neighbors, he attached balloons with 60-foot strings to the top of the existing fence. “That was just too high,” he says. “We settled on a 90-foot fence for the tournament.”

Over at CommonGround, Tracy Richard has no such problems. Like Cherry Hills, CommonGround boasts a Tom Doak pedigree, which makes it

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player’sCorner

PUBLIC PRIDE: CommonGround’s Tracy Richard

the ideal companion course for the stroke-play portion of the event, which alternates between Cherry Hills and CommonGround the first two days of the Amateur.

“The USGA hasn’t asked us to do what they’ve asked Cherry Hills to do,” says Richard.

“We’re not going to grow three-inch rough. It’s been pretty painless. The USGA has been very respectful of the fact we’re a public facility.”

To bring its challenge on par with Cherry Hills, however, CommonGround will play 200 yards longer than it has in its four years of existence, thanks to new teeing areas Doak’s

Renaissance team installed on hole nos.

3, 4, 5, 16 and 18. Players will probably not hit from the new tees on the par-3s at 6 and 17. In addition, the 539-yard par-5 11th will play as a 509-yard par-4 with a new nasty bunker, bringing the course in at a par 70 (36-34) of 7,378 yards.

Richard, who supervised the grow-in of CommonGround, just as he had done at Saddleback in Firestone, is “really happy” with the way the young course has matured. Working with superintendent Bobby Martin, he has had the course ready for six major state amateur championships in five years, and in each case, it acquitted itself with distinction.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish thus far, and we’re very fortunate to be part of a national championship,” Richard says, noting that USGA Executive Director Mike Davis selected CommonGround after making an unplanned stop on his his way to the airport. Despite having a vastly different budget, staff size, clientele and traffic than Burke and Cherry Hills, “this course should give players every bit the challenge they’ll have over there. We’ve adjusted the mowing heights for the fairways and teeing grounds, and our Stimp target for the greens is between 11.5 and 12.”

CommonGround will close Friday, August 10, and open only to Amateur competitor practice rounds August 11 and 12. —Jon Rizzi A walk through the Cherry Hills golf shop during this year’s amateur leads to the newest addition to the 90-year-old club: the Hall of Championships. Designed by former USGA Museum historian David Normoyle, the cases display approximately 400 artificacts from the 11 national championships (including the 2012 U.S. Amateur) hosted by the club since the 1938 U.S. Open. Footage from that event as well as the epic 1960 U.S. Open highlight the shrine, as does a rare program from the 1941 PGA Championship. It all makes for a stunning paean to this prestigious club’s legendary pedigree. —JR

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player’sCorner CLUBBING UP

p h o t o g r a p h By a L L e n K e n n e dy

GETTING IN: Once accepted at OBC, members soon become legacies.

On Top of Old Baldy An erstwhile summer escape for the elite, Wyoming’s premier private fishing and golf club is quietly casting for new members.

By Jon Rizzi

A

lthough he made his fortune in radio and television, Old Baldy Club patriarch George B. Storer probably could not have envisioned seeing a glamorous TV actress like Julie Hansen catching and releasing along the club’s private five-mile stretch of the North Platte River. After all, Storer and other well-to-do peers— primarily members of South Florida’s ultra-exclusive Indian Creek Country Club in search of a cooler summer playground—founded Old Baldy in 1964 as a redoubt mainly for men like themselves: titans of industry who appreciated the competitive action on a golf course

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Colorado AvidGolfer | August 2012

designed by Columbine Country Club architect Henry Hughes; outdoorsmen who thrilled to landing a spirited trout and eating it amandine in a formal dining room; and big spenders who partook in the occasional high-stakes diversion before turning in.

Storer also belonged to Augusta National, and Old Baldy would traditionally open the Monday following The Masters. But unlike that club, Old Baldy allowed women privileges as long as their husbands were members, and this June, the club’s 45th annual Ewe Tourn ladies golf event attracted 78 participants. Yet it wasn’t until Storer and many of his contemporaries moved on to that great grillroom in the sky that women would become members, and children— who were “never seen and never heard at the club,” according to one éminence grise—would become as much a part of the Old Baldy culture as the club’s traditional Thursday night cook-outs on the banks of the Platte.

The gathering is where Hansen and I, rowed by OBC Head River Guide Will Faust, disembarked after a four-mile float that yielded us each a rainbow trout as well as sightings of bald eagles, pelicans, mergansers, marmots and mule deer. The views at the cookout proved equally as intriguing. In the shade of enormous cottonwoods, wee cowboys and cowgirls—the children and grandchildren of ultrafriendly members—frolicked, couples two-stepped to live music and sated their appetites with bacony troutburgers and a hearty repast of perfectly turned steaks, ribs, and salads followed by delectably fresh fruit pies and cobblers.

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SARATOGA SINGS: OBC’s impeccably understated clubhouse and course suggest a timeless elegance and devotion to service.

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lot of marbles in front of people.” Although Old Baldy currently sits about 85 shy of its 250-member cap, there’s no plan to reduce the number of “marbles,” lower the surprisingly affordable initiation, or to mass-market the club. “Our best source for new members,” he says in-between hellos to members and guests arriving for breakfast in the clubhouse, “is current members.”

If not staying with their hosts, prospective members can bed down in one of Old Baldy’s flawlessly maintained suites and cottages, all of which offer complimentary in-room breakfast service from an elaborate menu. Your pancakes arrive with a newspaper and the names of every member and guest on property. “You want to know who’s here, who you can expect to see. It’s a big family,” Gallagher explains.

“Family” clearly means something at Old Baldy, which is why the club has instituted a Legacy Membership, which allows an Equity Member to transfer his or her membership to a child or grandchild after five years of membership. The club waives the heir’s initiation fee and, so long as he or she maintains the membership in good standing, the original member can enjoy all the privileges at the club without paying any dues or assessments.

While novel, Old Baldy’s strategy towards member retention and recruitment seems a bit surprising considering the desperate financial straits in which the club found itself just six years ago. “Let’s just say it wasn’t being run like a handson business,” Gallagher explains. “About 10 years after Mr. Storer died, we had what I call a ‘lost generation.’ We had a lot of billionaire members but we were C.O.D. for everything, overpaying staff, and on the verge of being bought. But

TREE LUGGERS: Original members moved the course’s pines from Old Baldy itself.

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p h o t o g r a p h s c o u rt e s y o f o L d B a L dy c Lu B

toga, Wyo., Old Baldy Club not only takes its name from a nearby mountain. It apparently also took hundreds of spruces from its base to line the fairways of the golf course during construction. “Can you imagine the Forest Service allowing that today?” asks Tom Rodeno, a Castle Rock resident who became a member five years ago and bought a home on the course. “The guys who built this place had some serious influence.”

They did. And many current members still do. A post-cookout mini-tour by the avuncular Club President Victor Gallagher produces the names of no fewer than a dozen Fortune 500 executives who belong to the club and own homes on property. The roster also includes prominent attorneys, doctors and 30 heirs of original members. All the homes, while rich in curb appeal, tend to understate their owners’ wealth. Discreet comfort trumps conspicuous consumption, although Saratoga’s Shively Field does tend to fill with private planes and jets on the weekends.

“We strive to draw from as diverse a geographic area as possible,” says Gallagher, a native Indianan who followed his father into the oil-drilling business and, eventually, to Old Baldy. “We have people from Southern California, St. Louis, Houston, Chicago, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana…you name it.

Geographic diversity is one of the five things we look for when vetting members.”

And the other four? “Love of the game of golf. Love of fly-fishing. Enjoyment of the outdoors in general. And they have to be… congenial. That was the vision of George Storer, and we’ve held fast to that. Anyone who’s here is here for a reason. We assume everyone here has been vetted to a degree that warrants an invitation.”

That membership-by-invitation, Gallagher admits, “is a tough nut to crack. It throws a

we love the club so much, we wouldn’t even consider an offer.”

Thanks to Gallagher and fellow board member Scott Tibbs—both successful small business owners with a sharp-penciled approach towards the bottom line—as well as a number of other progressive thinkers, Old Baldy passed around the hat and slowly went from “busted to viable,” according to Gallagher. “The money wasn’t the hard part; it was the attitude. It happened through attrition and getting a buy-in from people that we could run the club differently. We appealed to their sense of pride, that they were members for a reason.”

Old Baldy’s altered business model eliminated most of the club’s debt and is close to covering all depreciation. That sense of pride has inspired what are known as “friends of the club”—deep-pocketed benefactors who single-handedly have paid for the construction of a fitness center, the two-mile restoration of the private fishing waters of Trout Run, and the replacement of winterkilled greens on the golf course.

All the greens roll true and quick, and the course plays tougher than it once did, thanks to superintendent Trent Butler’s introduction of 35 acres of native grasses. “There was no real rough,” Butler says. “Between

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fuel and labor, we save $22,000 per year, and it makes the course better.” Wyoming’s harsh winters, desiccating winds and mercurial climate—as of late June, there hadn’t been a drop of rain in three months—also create special challenges, though you wouldn’t know it from the unimpeachable quality of the course.

Opening with a scoring chance on the shortish par-5 first, the 7,163-yard test quickly bears its teeth with “Little Deuce”—one of the four heavily bunkered par-3s and one of two requiring a full water carry. Local knowledge comes into play on most holes, as the fairways pitch to the right, making the left side your line off the tee. “At the time it was built, this was one tough course,” says Rodeno, pointing to the heavily bunkered fourth green. “But even with today’s equipment, it’s definitely not easy. Most of the greens roll back to front, so forward pin placements make staying below the hole close to impos-

SPLASHY: OBC’s pool promotes family fun.

already well stocked. There’s no need to add to it with a slice of dimpled trout food.

In addition to blue-ribbon fishing, Old Baldy offers swimming and tennis on premises. It also contracts with the Medicine Bow Lodge dude ranch for scenic horseback rides and pack trips high into the mountains, as well as full-out gallops across streams and

1043thefan.com p h o t o g r a p h s By: c o u rt e s y o L d B a L dy c Lu B ( t o p ) ; a L L e n K e n n e dy

Nate Ingro Erick Nelson Jerry Miller Abe Cabuag Ryan Axlund Dave Lawson Bill Hopkins Matthew Tobkin Dean Peressini Brandon Baca Ian Anderson Calvin Carter ROCK THE RANGE: An iconic outcropping at nearby Brush Creek Ranch anchors a property offering guests and Old Baldy members access to fishing, riding, hunting, shooting, gourmet meals, spa treatments and more.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | August 2012

sible.” The good news is, most of Old Baldy’s greens encourage run-up shots.

The most memorable holes come at the turn—nos. 8, 9 and 10—the last of which, a 568-yard par-5, features lakes squeezing both sides of the first landing area. You’ll have to run the traps—or just avoid them— throughout the back nine, especially those in the fairway on no. 16 and surrounding the green on its successor. The lake along 18 is

meadows. Hosts Tim and Debbie Bishop punctuate their gracious hospitality and delicious lunches with one of the most sinfully decadent homemade frozen mud pies ever confected.

Just up the road from Medicine Bow sprawls Brush Creek Ranch, a staggering 15,000-acre, 100-building compound of “wild privacy” built by Old Baldy Club members Bruce and Beth White. Guests ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

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Jon Rizzi is the editor of Colorado AvidGolfer. For more information, oldbaldyclub.com; 307-326-5222 ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

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and corporate retreaters ride, rope, hike, hunt, spa, feast, watch rodeo, take in theater, and shoot. This last option held strong appeal for my lovely companion, who acted like a gun pro, blowing more clays from the sky than I did. On the pistol range, however, I got caught up in shooting a .38 Special and rocked it into the night.

Old Baldy divides dining into formal and casual rooms. The latter is twice as popular as the former, which insists on a jacket and tie (an ascot or bolo also works). According to Gallagher, the introduction of casual dining in 2000 caused more consternation among the old guard members than the presence of children.

But that was then, this is now. The transformation of Old Baldy Club from George Storer’s straitlaced personal playground to a family-oriented club that functions like a business and promotes legacies is all but complete. The club provides sponsored prospects the complete Old Baldy experience. As long as you’re congenial, love the outdoors and can handle the “marbles,” you have a chance at joining an exquisite, exclusive community with outstanding golf, outgoing people and gorgeous views along the river.

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Colorado Section Golf in Schools Program

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sideBets FOOD

The Power of Chow

|

CARS

ELWAY’S WAY: The former Broncos signal-caller huddles up over dinner.

Where everybody who’s somebody goes to see, be seen and meet, greet and eat. By Lori Midson Power Faces Elway’s Cherry Creek

One look at the speed demon sports cars in the parking lot says it all: Elway’s Cherry Creek, monikered after the former Denver Broncos quarterback (now the executive vice president), is packed with notables like fashion icon Craig Andrisen and star athletes like Peyton Manning, who was there for a birthday soiree with his brother, Eli, back in March. The stargazer’s steakhouse, whose kitchen is commanded by chef Tyler Wiard, knows how to massage (and manage) egos, and Wiard’s menu, a feedlot of top-tier steer, ensures that all those famous faces don’t saunter off without a full belly.

The see-and-be-seen tables are in the bar, especially #82, a high-top that’s the ideal Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

squatting pad from which to savor the eye candy. 2500 E. First Ave., 303-399-5353; elways.com.

Power date

seafood tower that’s the perfect showstopping prelude to cinch a deal or to celebrate any occasion. 1530 16th St., 303-623-3127; thekitchencommunity.com.

The Kitchen

The Kitchen, which opened its original location in Boulder in 2004, unleashed a second outpost in March on the west end of Denver’s 16th Street Mall, and the stunningly fashioned restaurant has been generating buzz from day one, drawing downtown executives, name national chefs like Charlie Palmer (who also owns the nearby District Tavern) and red-carpet-ready couples. They flock for the restaurant’s seasonality and for the sustainable raw bar, where oysters, clams, smoked mussels, king crab legs and lobster mount a tiered

The Kitchen

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sideBets PowER BREAkFAST racines

Try not to splatter syrup or dribble butter down your starched white Armani button-up at this iconic breeding ground for brokering deals, especially during the morning hours, when enough lobbyists to form a quorum and other Capitol politicos gather during legislative sessions to gossip, fuss, champion their causes and fuel up on hot java and generous plates of biscuits and gravy, skillets and banana nut pancakes. Racines is also a magnet for power players in the media, including Fox 31 anchor Ron Zappolo and Blacktie Colorado columnist Penny Parker, who drop in for a bite while catching up on the local buzz. The best table is #72, a C-shaped booth up the stairs that peeks over the dining room, but is sufficiently tucked away to ensure privacy. 650 Sherman St., 303-595-0418; racinesrestaurant.com.

Fox and Lynch—all members—sealed the deal with Peyton Manning. The gorgeous grounds, which include the recently created hall of championships, remodeled dining room, a plush stage, bedecked with curved booths, a marble fireplace and windows that peek over the greens. The kitchen hasn’t always been Cherry Hills’ strong point, but executive chef Joe Piazza’s refined, seasonally-focused, locally-inspired fare has raised the bar. He turns out everything from an asparagus salad draped with Cacio Pecora cheese from Fruition Farms (owned

by Fruition chef/owner Alex Seidel) to some of the best Korean pork tacos we’ve had anywhere. 4125 S. University Blvd., 303-350-5200; chcc.com.

Cherry Hills

PowER STEAkhouSE

shanahan’s steakhouse

PowER couNTRy cluB cherry hills country club

If you’re one of the golf elite, this ultra-exclusive enclave is where you go for heavy schmoozing and power-networking— on and off the course. Word has it that a dinner there that included Johns Elway,

Despite the fact that Mike Shanahan, the former head coach of the Denver Broncos, no longer resides in the Mile High City, his namesake restaurant remains a magnet for high-rolling, highesteemed, high-powered carnivores, all of whom wine and dine in style in a swanky dining room with lots of razzmatazz and exuberant single’s action at the bar. The bullish clientele includes

Shanahan’s

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power lawyers like Steve Farber and Norm Brownstein, media mogul Dean Singleton and former Colorado Avalanche (and now Hall of Famer) Joe Sakic—in other words, a power mob that’s as well-bred as the steakhouse’s kingly beef robed in char to seal in the juices. 5085 S. Syracuse St., 303-770-7300; shanahanssteakhouse.com.

Power pinstripe lunch Panzano

Musicians Marc Cohn, Tony Bennett and Robert Plant have all experienced the heralded cooking of Panzano chef Elise Wiggins, whose unassailable Northern Italian cuisine is also a favorite of the ESPN columnist and commentator Rick Reilly

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and highbrow downtown dealmakers and shakers and their moneyed pals, who bring their slick suits to the sleek scene. The most coveted seats for a power nooner are the three booths up the stairs to the left of the hostess stand that face 17th Street. Reserve one in advance for those who want to be seen, but not heard. 909 17th St., 303-2963525; panzano-denver.com. ag

Dining Editor Lori Midson is also Westword’s Café Society writer. Follow her and CAG on Facebook and twitter.

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BE PROUD • BE PASSIONATE • BE THERE

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2012 | Colorado AvidGolfer 41 S O L H E I M C U P . C August OM

sideBets NICE DRIvEs

Muscling Up These five head-turners prove that with great power comes great possibility.

By Isaac Bouchard

SUPERBAD: The Audi R8 V10

T

hey say Power corruPts. Horsepower corrupts absolutely. Herein five that not only pack more than their fair share of ponies, but also offer that special something that defines a class of car, influences competitors, or just plain makes grown men weak in the knees.

2012 Audi R8 V10

($153,250 - $188,175)

on track that even novices can get a taste of what this extreme level of performance feels like. The ZL1’s body control is exemplary, and its various track-biased stability control programs allow such an oversteer-prone brute to be almost balletic. It’s also much nicer inside, and is easier to live with on a daily basis, thanks to careful refinements, including trick magnetorheological shocks. This is the most bang for the buck you can get for roughly $60k, and it’s a real car too.

Combining Italian drama (the R8 is based off the Lamborghini Gallardo) with precision German development, all wrapped in distinctly futurist carbon and metal, the R8 serves up easily accessible cornering thrills, ferocious acceleration and stupendous braking—all with an ease of use in daily driving that no one had managed before in a mid-engined supercar. The R8 feels organic in the best sense of the term, with telepathic steering feel and an excellent ride. Fourwheel drive not only makes it four-season friendly, but also much easier to manage 525hp at the limit.

2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ($54,995-$60,565)

Everyone expected a faster ‘Ro, so it’s no surprise Chevy shoved the supercharged 6.2-liter engine from the ZL1 Vette into its retro body. What causes amazement isn’t that it’s the fastest Camaro ever, but that it is also the best handling, with such an unruffled demeanor

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HANDLE IT: The Camaro ZL1 ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

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sideBets

2013 Ford F150 EcoBoost

($34,035-$54,810)

911 REDUX: The Porsche 991 Carrera S

Let’s commend Ford for taking a big risk with the world’s best selling vehicle, the F-series. Levering a twin turbo, 3.5liter V6 into the space normally occupied by one of several V8s could have resulted in mass defections to competitors’ products.

Instead, Americans kenned almost instantly

2012 Porsche 991 Carrera S ($97,350-$144,895)

Underneath timeless lines a revolution brews: four inches more wheelbase, electric power steering, the Panamera’s cockpit. In basic S guise, it does mid-3s 0-60 and is faster around the Nurburgring than the latest GT3 semi-racer. The Carrera offers most every type of available tech—for a fee, of course— from active antiroll bars and carbon brakes to cooled seats and a stupendous SurroundSound system. It has to compete with a ferocious exhaust blare, made easier to enjoy by a dramatic reduction in road roar. This bolsters the Carrera’s case as the perfect all around sports car. And four-wheel drive comes this fall.

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F-ING AWESOME: The F150 EcoBoost

the potent combination of economy (over 20mpg highway), incredible pulling power— 420lb-ft of twist and the highest tow rating of any F150 engine—and quite astonishing acceleration. Over 40 percent of all F150s sold are now EcoBoost propelled; here in Colorado it’s even higher. In the thin mountain air, the blown Ford leaves competitors in the dust.

NEW STANDARD: Lexus GS450h

2013 Lexus S450h ($59,825-$72,985)

Like it or not, gas-electric hybrids are here to stay. Toyota does them best, being generations ahead of most competitors. The latest Lexus midsizer sizzles outside with a more aggressive shape, and dazzles inside with a contemporary cockpit of surpassing comfort and easy-tofathom tech, accessed through a massive, 17" screen. Its combo of 3.5-liter V6, electric motors and batteries is seamless in use, oozing refinement in the best Lexus tradition. Yet the GS hybrid serves up 0-60 in six seconds, and can average over 30mpg. This could define the luxury sports sedans over the coming years. ag

CAG’s Automotive Editor Isaac Bouchard’s definitive car-buying book is available at CarbuyingTipsGuide.com. Read his reviews at NiceDrivz.com and ColoradoAvidGolfer.com.

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ARCHITECTS

GO L F E R S

Power Power

FINANCIERS

p l a y e r s iNSTRUCTORS

P R O S Meet 24 Coloradans whose involvement and influence on the local, nationalSand U P international E R I N T E Ngolf D Escenes NTS qualify them as our leading lights.

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ENTREPRENEURS ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

THE EMINENCES JaCk a. VICkErS

Judy BEll The first female president of the United States Golf Association, the first female to be elected to the USGA’s Executive Committee, a two-time Curtis Cup team member and two-time captain—this Colorado Springs legend’s involvement in golf has spanned more than a half-century, earning her a plaque in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Known as the “first Lady of golf in Colorado,” she earned last year’s Will F. Nicholson Jr. Award “for her accomplishments and service to golf.” She co-chaired the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor and her influence continued until recently through her leadership of the USGA’s Grants and Fellowships program.

“The best clubs aren’t run by committees,” Jack Vickers (below, left) says. “They’re run by a president.” From 1985 to 2008, Vickers presided over Castle Pines Golf Club, one of the best clubs in the country, let alone Colorado. An accomplished amateur player, Vickers founded the club, where he brought the best golfers in the world to compete 21 straight years in The International. Not only did Vickers put Colorado on the national golf map; he elevated the treatment of PGA Tour players and their families to the levels they enjoy across the Tour today. With The International gone, the Jack A. Vickers Invitational hosted by John Elway annually takes place at Castle Pines to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.

S WIll F. NICHolSoN Jr. For 17 years, the esteemed banker from Denver (above right) and Augusta National Golf Club member was in charge of course set up and running the golf tournament at the Masters, where he chaired the Competition and Rules Committees. Nicholson has also served as president of the USGA and was a member of the CGA Board of Governors for almost 40 years, helping to create the CGA/CWGAowned CommonGround Golf Course. In 2006, the son of the former Denver mayor created the Will F. Nicholson Jr. Award, which has annually honored individuals such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Judy Bell, Hale Irwin and others who have demonstrated “a lifetime of dedication and commitment to the game of golf.” Nicholson himself gained entry into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame this year.

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THE arCHITECTS rIC BuCkToN Jay Morrish may get design credit for The Golf Club at Ravenna, and Colorado Golf Club is a Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw masterpiece. But all three architects will quickly point to Denver-based Ric Buckton of Redstone Golf as the person who elevated the golf course design and integrated it with landscape architecture and community planning to optimize the experience. In addition to providing planning services for Colorado’s Catamount Ranch, The Ridge at Castle Pines North and Arizona’s Pine Canyon, Talking Stick and Chaparral Pines (as well as other courses in Canada and Mexico), Buckton takes full design credit for South Fork’s Rio Grande Club and Monument’s Kings Deer. His latest project finds him in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, where he is designing and planning two 18-hole courses on Efate Island—Breakas Pacific Springs (with Robert Allenby) and Breakas Beach & Golf Club.

JIM urBINa Spending 18 years as one of architect Tom Doak’s “Renaissance Men,” the Pueblo native struck out on his own shortly after sharing with Doak his first design credit—Bandon Dunes’ celebrated Old Macdonald—and Golf Magazine’s 2010 Architect of the Year Award. Urbina, who began his career with Pete Dye as a shaper at Plum Creek, learned that if he “didn’t like how it looked in the field, I could quickly redo it as long as I didn’t hold up the construction.” That creative flexibility, coupled with an appreciation for the art of Golden Age architects such as Macdonald, Tillinghast, Flynn, Raynor, Emmet and others, has made him one of the country’s more sought-after designers. Having successfully reinvigorated legendary layouts at Garden City Golf Club, Pasatiempo and San Francisco Golf Club, he’s currently restoring New York’s Paramount Club and Rockville Links, as well as some older courses near Chicago, where he and Bandon Dunes founder Mike Keiser “have looked at some land.”

JIM ENgH With the possible exception of the late Mike Strantz and Desmond Muirhead, few modern architects have shaken up the world of golf course design like Jim Engh has. The tremors began in 1997 when he sculpted Sanctuary from land too treacherous for mountain goats. Then came the quakes and aftershocks at Red Hawk Ridge, Redlands Mesa, Fossil Trace, Snowmass, Lakota Canyon, Pradera, Harmony and Four Mile Ranch. And that’s just in Colorado. Engh became Golf Digest’s first Architect of the Year in 2003, and it ranked his Golf Club at Black Rock in Coeur d’Alene as America’s 27th Greatest Golf Course in 2009.

With domestic work in Michigan, North Dakota, Arizona, Georgia and Nebraska, Engh and his business partner, longtime associate Mitch Scarborough (left), also have courses in the works in China, Korea, Vietnam and the Canary Islands.

THE FINaNCIErS MICHaEl S. SHaNNoN & ErIC C. rESNICk Although they declined to participate in this issue, omitting the managing directors of the Cherry Creek-based private equity firm of KSL Capital Partners would be irresponsible. Originally KSL Recreation Corporation—a portfolio company of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR)—the current company was formed in 2005 and, according to its website, currently has over $3.5 billion in assets. It owns ClubCorp’s nearly 170 clubs (including Aspen Glen), as well as the top-tier golf resorts of Barton Creek, La Costa, Rancho Las Palmas and The Homestead. A number of historic and iconic properties fill out its roster of impressive travel and leisure business investments.

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M.J. MaSTalIr Any golf course owner/operator who needs capital should have M.J. Mastalir on speed dial. Once named one of the 25 most influential people in golf by Golf Inc., this former University of Colorado golf team member and vice president of the USGA Executive Committee has specialized in the financing of golf properties for 25 years. As the creator of the first national model of golf course lending with Textron Financial Corporation, Mastalir has originated more than $1 billion in financings in the Western United States—although not much of it recently. “The golf industry is difficult for owner/operators right now,” he says.

“It’s tough trying to find resources for a capital-stressed industry, but there’s no shortage of people looking for free advice.”

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THE administrators Eddie Ainsworth Since becoming the Executive Director of the PGA’s Colorado Section in 2008, the former Head PGA Professional at Eisenhower Golf Club has galvanized his 800 members in ways only Ike could imagine. He has enlisted them to participate in free golf lessons, charity events like the 100-Hole Challenge, and worked with the Allied Golf Associations to start the successful PGA Section’s Golf In Schools program, which to date has involved 19,000 children and earned the Section a National PGA of America award. He has embraced the PGA of America’s Golf 2.0 program of expanding golf’s accessibility. “My job is to bring all of golf together and make a difference in every golf facility,” he says. “It’s about jobs, employment, and relationships.” In addition, Ainsworth has nearly quadrupled the amount of money (to nearly $200,000) generated by the non-profit Colorado PGA Foundation, which funds community outreach programs that support veterans, schools, programs and, Ainsworth says, “anything that makes a positive impact in the lives of others through the game of golf. It’s never been about me. It’s always been about serving others.”

Christie Austin In 2007, two years after serving as Vice Chairman of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills, Christie Austin retired from her executive vice presidency at Marsico Capital and became a member of the USGA’s Executive Committee, with her first officiating assignment coming at the 2007 Masters. As chair of the USGA’s Rules Committee, she believes she’s the first woman to represent the organization as it annually reaches consensus with the R&A regarding the Rules of Golf. “What’s great about the Rules of Golf is that it isn’t whimsical,” Austin explains. “The goal we’re trying to achieve is to simplify the Rules every year because they’re too complicated for the average player. It’s a big job.” To make it easier, Austin and Chris Hilton, her counterpart from the R&A, Skype each other often. They also have to tackle the rules of amateur status, which Austin has retained as she annually competes for the Cherry Hills Club Championship.

ROBIN JERVEY Robin Jervey’s accomplishments in golf go back about 30 years, when the New Jersey native won four Women’s Club Championships at the legendary Baltusrol Golf Club. Still a very respectable amateur player, Jervey has shined as an administrator since becoming the Colorado Women’s Golf Association’s executive director in 1992, elevating the profile of women’s golf and participation in it (the CWGA currently has 18,000 members). She served as a consulting member on the USGA Rules of Golf Committee, officiating at numerous U.S. Opens, U.S. Women’s Opens and the Masters. In 2005 she became the first woman representing a women’s golf association to serve on the International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA) Board of Directors, and became the organization’s president in 2011. She’ll be an official at this month’s U.S. Amateur.

Ed Mate The Executive Director for the 41,500-member Colorado Golf Association (CGA) since 2000, this Denver native oversees state championships, administers the handicap system for the state, conducts an extensive junior golf program, serves as the state authority in the state on the Rules of Golf and, in general, promotes and serves the best interests of amateur golf in Colorado.

The one-time caddy at Denver Country Club attended the University of Colorado as a full-ride Eisenhower-Evans Scholar, and has championed the groundbreaking Solich Brothers Caddie and Leadership Program at CommonGround Golf Course—the home course of the CGA and CWGA he was instrumental in developing. This spring he accompanied its designer, Tom Doak, to Rio de Janeiro in support of Doak’s bid to design the 2016 Olympic course.

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THE ENTrEPrENEurS JoE aSSEll & MIkE ClINToN In 1995, Joe Assell and Mike Clinton, both Mississippi State graduates who met as PGA assistant professionals at Cherry Hills Country Club, set out to revolutionize the golf improvement industry by applying biofeedback to instruction. Today, Assell and Clinton are, respectively, CEO/President and COO of GolfTEC, a nationwide company that teaches 25% of all U.S. golf lessons—eight times more than its closest competitor—at its 160 Improvement Centers. Nine of those are in Colorado, as is company headquarters. The company plans to open as many as 25 improvement centers this year, including ones in Korea and Japan, as well as buying back a number of franchises to consolidate corporate ownership. Clinton estimates the company will give more than 670,000 lessons in 2012, setting a new yearly record. One of those lessons will be the 4 millionth given by a GolfTEC instructor. The company’s exponential growth owes to numerous reasons, including its proprietary g-Swing system, its five-factor Proven Path to lower scores, its 500-plus dedicated PGA Professionals, its soup-to-nuts portfolio of services (including club-fitting and on-course lessons) and an airtight, scalable franchise-based business model that delivers consistently high ROI for investors and franchisees. The resulting 95% success rate among customers doesn’t hurt, either.

JoHN BrEakEr A BirdieBall may resemble a PVC napkin ring, but this limited flight practice golf ball has been anything but a pipe dream for inventor John Breaker, who unveiled his product in 2003. It felt, spun, arced, drew and faded like a regular golf ball but only could fly 40 yards. And unlike plastic practice golf balls, BirdieBalls did not break or crack. Although it was named best instruction product at the 2004 PGA Merchandise Show, Breaker’s stand-alone retail store in Lakewood failed because people couldn’t try it. He saw the potential in selling online with video, to school P.E. programs, and to retail sporting goods chains where customers could sample it. Today more than 6,000 schools use BirdieBalls in their gym classes and after-school programs. Holding events featuring the inflatable giant Golfzilla, into whose mouth, hands and belly one hits BirdieBalls, Breaker has been a hit with the Colorado PGA Section and the PGA of America, which is trying to boost participation through its Golf 2.0 program. The BirdieBall’s durability doesn’t encourage replenishment, so Breaker has expanded his product line and his distribution to cover the globe. “Business has grown 20 percent annually over the last nine years,” says Breaker, who expects sales of about $2 million this year. “The golf establishment initially didn’t know if we were hurting or helping it,” says Breaker, who notes that BirdieBall leagues have sprung up on disc golf courses. “But what’s good for BirdieBall is good for golf. “

THE BENEFaCTorS JIM BuNCH Calling himself “a recovering lawyer and investment banker now in my third career in private equity investment,” Jim Bunch has worked a good portion of his life in the service of golf—especially as it relates to caddying, “one of the best things a man or woman can do,” he says. “You’re one-on-one with an adult who doesn’t love you. Whatever success I have had I credit it to caddying from the age of 12 in the Chicago area.” Since 1992, Bunch has been a Director from Colorado for the Western Golf Association, which administers more than 800 Evans Scholarships. And this year he became its chairman. “It’s an honor and a privilege,” he says. “I want to build greater awareness of the good we are doing and give more people the opportunity to support this wonderful program. Through promoting caddie programs and education, we’re developing leaders with a great work ethic. That’s a powerful message, and I think we need to get that message out.” Bunch is the first WGA chairman from Colorado, which has its Eisenhower Evans house at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “We have about 45 scholars on average. To provide these kids with this opportunity makes you feel good all over.”

daVE lINIgEr The untrue rumor about RE/Max founder Dave Liniger building his own private golf course because Jack Vickers denied him membership at Castle Pines Golf Club still inexplicably circulates. What is true is that since 1997 Liniger’s purported “vendetta”— Sanctuary—has netted more than $62,000,000 for charities hosting events there. Charity tournaments and auctioned foursomes (personally selected by Dave and Gail Liniger with a minimum foursome bid of $1,600) comprise all the play at Sanctuary, which Golf Digest has ranked among the Top 100 Courses in the United States.

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PAT HAMILL When the 2003 Colorado Open got cancelled, Oakwood Homes Founder, President and CEO Pat Hamill saved it. But he didn’t just write a check.

He gathered Colorado’s golf and business leaders to reestablish the event at his course, Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, and secured title sponsorship from HealthONE. But his greatest contribution was creating the nonprofit Colorado Open Golf Foundation, which provides affordable golf programs to children 8-18. Those programs include The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch, which teaches character education through specific life skills learned on the golf course; LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, a junior golf program for girls ages 7-17; and the Colorado PGA Golf In Schools program, a collaboration between the Allied Golf Associations to introduce school-age children to golf and its valuable life skills. To date the combined programs have attracted 9,500 kids. “Our annual percentage growth is in the 40 to 50 percent range,” according to the influential Foundation CEO Kevin Laura. “I see Pat as the visionary, and I’m his missionary. It’s my job to make it happen.”

George Solich Working as caddies at The Broadmoor eventually earned George and Duffy Solich Eisenhower-Evans Scholarships to the University of Colorado. The job also started a lifelong love affair with golf, exposing George to individuals who would set him on his path to become president & CEO of Cordillera Energy Partners. Today, the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy—named for both brothers—is in its first season at CommonGround Golf Course.The Academy has accepted 37 kids with the hopes of graduating 30 to local caddie programs at, among other clubs, Cherry Hills. Solich’s passionate support for the Evans Scholarships made him a director of the Western Golf Association, which administers them. It also put him in position to lobby for his club, Cherry Hills, to land the 2014 BMW Championship (formerly known as the Western Open), which the Western Golf Association has operated since 1899. Solich will serve as the event’s General Chairman. “This isn’t about me,” says Solich. “This is all about the Evans scholarship, kids and golf.”

THE TEAM Russ Miller & Fred Dickman Between PGA Director of Golf Russ Miller and Director of Golf Course Maintenance Fred Dickman The Broadmoor’s legacy as a championship venue could not be in better hands. Miller, who arrived shortly after Dickman did in 1997, exercised his influence in working with the USGA to deliver and stage two of Colorado’s biggest golf events of the last four years: the 2008 U.S. Senior Open and the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open. He is quick to share the credit with Dickman, who worked closely with golf course architect Ron Forse to restore the East Course to its original championship level. This year, the West received a similar, cross-bunkered facelift. Whether you’re a Tour player, a member or guest, The Broadmoor treats you to a one-of-a-kind experience, thanks largely to the commitment Miller and Dickman make to maintaining the resort’s international reputation as a five-star golf destination.

THE PREZ JACK CLEVENGER Succeeding a legend isn’t easy. In 2008, Jack Vickers, doyen of world-famous Castle Pines Golf Club, named Jack Clevenger “president for life.”

Clevenger, a Castle Pines Golf Club member since 1987 and treasurer of the august Trans-Mississippi Golf Association, has filled out his green jacket quite impressively. Clevenger enlisted Jack Nicklaus to provide members with the world-class practice range they lacked, has overseen bunker and clubhouse renovations and has maintained the high level of services that make Castle Pines the gold standard for private golf clubs.

“He has the club moving in a forward direction,” says General Manager Keith Schneider, who wields considerable power of his own. “He has a great plan to have us survive tough times. He’s got it all dialed in.”

THE AUTHORITY J.J. Keegan Few individuals possess the same passion for the both the game and business of golf that Jim Keegan does. As the managing principal of Golf Convergence, a nine-member consultancy that aspires to enhance the profitability, value and ROI of today’s golf courses, he draws from 20 years of research and interaction with golfers at more than 4,000 golf courses in 41 countries. His award-winning book, The Business of Golf—What Are You Thinking?, outlines eight key concepts to predict the success or failure of a golf course and lays out an executable formula to rekindle fiscal prosperity. Keegan also serves as a rater for Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Golf Courses. He is a member of the Club Manager’s Association of America, the National Golf Foundation, and the International Network of Golf. ag

Jon Rizzi is Colorado AvidGolfer’s editor. Are we missing a Colorado golf power broker? Email us at jon@coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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Your drive Will never Go as far as iT does aT The Goodwill Golf ClAssiC. (no matter what you tell your friends)

At the Goodwill Golf Classic, there’s power behind your drive: The power to keep at-risk youth from dropping out of high school, the power to prepare them for post-secondary education, and the power to help them achieve self-sufficiency, dignity, and hope.

Thank you to all our sponsors who are making a difference in the life of a youth.

Be a parT of iT. When golfers and organizations unite to help put youth on the course to success… that’s The Goodwill Effect.

2012 Goodwill Golf Classic sponsorships are sold out, but we’d love to see you next year! Contact Mike pritchard at 303-650-7723 or mpritchard@goodwilldenver.org, or visit goodwilldenver.org/golf to learn more.

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August 2012 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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POWER LESSON

Green Means Go Knowing when to hit the accelerator can power your shots a long way. By Geoff Greig

N

o matter what you do with your hips, your shoulders or your wrists during the golf swing, you must maximize arm speed, which translates into club-head speed, to get more power and distance. Achieve this by making sure your arms are accelerating in the correct part of the downswing. Bottom line: If you want the ball to fly farther, your arms must swing faster through impact.

The Red Zone (incorrect)

Most amateurs accelerate their arms in the Red Zone, which leads to deceleration through impact and a huge loss in power and distance. Players who focus on accelerating “to” the ball instead of “through” it have a tendency to hit fat shots with irons and lose tremendous power and distance.

The Green Zone (correct)

The key to controlling and increasing power is making sure your arms accelerate in the correct part of your downswing. We call this the Green Zone.

Focus on swinging “through” the ball and towards your target. This will maximize power and increase distance.

Geoff Greig is the founder of EvoSwing Golf and is the PGA Director of instruction at Park Hill Learning Center.

303-333-5411 x33; evoswinggolf.com

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Power Drill

Throw In the Towel A drill to generate extra yards.

By Jason Preeo with Tom Ferrell

I

t’s a simple motion, one known to anyone who has been in a high-school locker room. Roll up the towel, give a well-timed flick of the wrist, listen for the signature “snap,” and watch your target jump! The difference between a direct hit and a glancing blow is unmistakable.

Whether you are snapping a towel or striving for extra yards off the

tee, the proper sequence is crucial to creating the leverage that produces perfectly timed speed and power. The golf swing is most efficient and powerful when the pelvis, torso, arms and— finally— hands move in the correct sequence on the downswing.

Let’s throw in the towel…literally, to demonstrate!

P h o t o g r a P h s by E . J . C a r r

1 Grab a towel and swing it a few times. If you start the downswing, and the towel opens up and goes limp you’ll feel the loss of power.

2 Once you get the feel of a good downswing sequence, the towel will curl behind your hands in a perfect display of stored energy and will make a powerful “swoosh” through or even after the impact zone. My pelvis and torso have cleared, creating leverage for my arms and hands and storing energy for impact.

3 Keep working with the towel until you can maintain the tension consistently on the downswing. Then you will have a much better understanding of how proper sequencing at the top will add power to your swing.

Jason Preeo teaches at The Academy at Colorado Golf Club (academy@coloradogolfclub.com). He works with golfers of all abilities and made the cut at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Tom Ferrell is editor-at-large for Colorado AvidGolfer.

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POWER mEtERs

Get Fit!

Quantitative analysis can make a huge difference.

By Jason Preeo and Tom Ferrell

T

our professionals have for years had access to sophisticated technology that allowed club fitters to optimize their equipment and fit for desired distance and trajectory. Now that technology is available to all golfers, and the results can be dramatic.

Using the TrackMan launch monitoring system (figure 1), we can take objective measurements such as ball speed, launch angle and spin rate. Those readings form the baseline for effective fitting.

Then we can further analyze personal variables, such as angle of attack (figure 2), impact location (figure 3) and face angle (figure 4).

These variables have dramatic effects on the flight of the golf ball.

Armed with this data, we can begin the process of matching equipment—shafts, club heads and golf balls—to maximize solid contact and energy transfer for more power and consistency.

Don’t be alarmed if the data produces unexpected results. For instance, the average recommended driver loft for an American golfer is 14 degrees. Thousands of golfers still believe lower loft means more distance, and that’s just not true. You shouldn’t shy away from exploring other golf ball families and model, either.

Of course, a good instruction program will help you improve your overall impact conditions over time, so we recommend an annual fitting to make sure you are getting the most from your game. (figure 1)

(figure 2)

There is no substitute for objective data. Today, advanced launch monitor technology such as TrackMan is available to all golfers.

(figure 3)

Tale of the tape: It helps to know where on the face you are striking the ball. In this case, it’s the toe.

The angle of attack shown here here is relatively shallow and varies from player to player. This is a key element in determining ball flight.

(figure 4)

Face time: The angle of the club face at impact make a huge difference in shot direction, trajectory and spin. So does the type of ball you use. These three here, for example, range from the Top Flite XL to the more controllable Titleist ProV1.

Jason Preeo teaches at The Academy at Colorado Golf Club (academy@coloradogolfclub.com. Tom Ferrell is editor-at-large for Colorado AvidGolfer.

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15th club

It’s Hip to Be Powerful “Un-muting” your hips can propel your shots consistently further. By Randy Goldstein

T

he last time you crushed the ball, what did the finishing position of your hips look like? Chances are, you are picturing your hips relaxed and “fully open” or extended. Now think about the hip position in your daily life. If you are like most people, you spend the majority of your day sitting at a desk, in the car, or on the couch—in the exact opposite position you need to be in to hit the long ball! We call that “muted hip function.” Luckily, by performing a few simple exercises each day, you can quickly “un-mute” your hips and thus consistently hit the ball longer! Here’s how to get started:

Good Morning Great for lengthening and strengthening the hamstrings, gluteus maximus and hip adductors, the Good Morning can be done daily and as part of your pre-golf warm-up routine. Take your driver (or a broomstick) and position it just above your shoulder blades with your arms/hands resting on top. Lift your chest and shoulders, tighten your stomach, stand tall. Push your butt back while maintaining your weight in your heels along with the length of your chest and back. Keep legs straight as possible, with knees unlocked as you work to get your upper body parallel with the ground. Return to upright position and repeat 10–12 times. You should be feeling this in the back of your legs, hamstrings, hips and glutes.

Ball On The Wall A very effective form of myo-facial release, (a.k.a. loosening up knotted clumps of muscle fiber). Simply place a tennis or lacrosse ball between your butt and a stable wall. Move the ball around and vary the pressure around the entire gluteal area (butt cheek). Spend a minute or so on each side applying varied pressure to sensitive areas, think “self massage.”

This should feel slightly painful yet very good overall. A great technique for the upper back and shoulders too.

Hip Flexor Stretch Face away from wall, get into a lunge position. Place instep of trailing foot against wall and put trailing knee as close as possible to wall (use carpet or a pad/towel under your knee). Pull trailing heel as close as possible to your butt. Put lead upper and lower leg at 90 degrees. Don’t be too aggressive with this one especially at first. You should feel a stretch in the upper part front of the leg; the hip flexor. Hold 30-60 seconds and repeat opposite side.

The founder of 20 Yards Longer and Crossfit Denver, Randy Goldstein works with athletes of every type, age and athletic ability. His 20 Yards Longer system brings together the most effective exercises for golfers into a individually customized program that can be done in about 15 minutes per day.

20yardslonger.com; 720-515-9348.

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HEAD GAMES

Powering Through Fear Better players don’t just survive. They thrive. Here’s how you can, too.

which way is it

going to break?

Money’s on the line!

for birdie

Don’t knock it way by It’s downhill

easy stroke

By Elena King and Denise McGuire

Y

ou stand on the 18th green, your heart pounding, mind racing, palms sweaty. Your mouth is dry and your body tenses. Why are you having this reaction?

A. You see a bear walking toward the green.

B. You are petrified of missing the three-footer to win the club championship.

Both A and B are correct. Both are examples of threats.

Whether caused by an external (A) or internal (B) source, they launch you into survival mode. When your sense of safety is threatened, your mind signals the body to activate the “fight or flight” response. It goes into overdrive to overcome a perceived threat and increase your odds of survival.

The golf course is a pretty safe environment in terms of external threats. That means the only place from which these threats are coming is your own head! In survival mode, you are either reliving a past negative experience (e.g., how embarrassed you felt after missing a two-footer) or anticipating another negative experience (e.g., “What if I choke again?”).

Although more subtle than being chased by a bear, the mind creates threats that thrust it into survival mode. These internal threats usually concern your need to protect your ego/identity or how you perceive others are judging you. It’s as if your survival depends on how you perform.

The survival response in golf can easily throw off your tempo, change your tension level and inhibit your ability to perform at your best. These self-imposed threats cause you to play defensively and to be concerned about the outcome.

Do you play golf in survival mode? Are you: • Afraid of embarrassing yourself?

• Concerned you will choke?

• Worried about how far you hit the ball compared to your partners?

• Hung up on your score?

• Concerned you are a slow player?

• Filled with tension and anxiety?

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• Afraid to make mistakes?

The alternative to playing in survival mode is playing in a thriving mode—fearless with a sense of freedom and confidence.

In a thriving mode you are no longer concerned about others’ perceptions and distracted by self-doubt. This allows you to trust your decisions, and be clear and committed to your shots. Thriving requires tapping into a different area of the brain than the part that generates fear. It is the area in the brain that allows you to be more present, creative, and play with enjoyment and confidence. You believe anything is possible, which allows you to create shots in your mind that your body then produces. Have you ever had the experience of knowing you are going to sink an eight-foot putt and then just allowed it to happen?

So, how can you move from a survival mode to a thriving mode?

• Identify when you’re in survival mode; recognize it as self-induced fear.

• Look around. Subconsciously you will feel safer when you see there are no threats. The mind and the body will naturally calm down.

• Eliminate threat. Become aware of your self-talk and the meaning you attach to your game, which interferes with your mind and sabotages your performance.

• Let go of any fear-based responses to turn off the survival response.

• Shift your focus to what is really important, away from distractions (i.e., being concerned about how others perceive you, to being clear about the shot you want to create and your target).

• Focus on what you want to happen, create that visual in your mind and allow yourself to feel the emotion of successfully creating that shot.

Dr. Denise McGuire (303-902-5008; denise@getinthezone.net) and Elena King, LPGA Director of Instruction, ExperienceGolf at CommonGround Learning Center (303-503-0330; eking@experiencegolf.biz), partner to deliver unique learning experiences to achieve optimal performance.

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100 years of development...

The CGA and CWGA focus on providing opprtunities for young competitors to achieve their full potential. We created the Colorado Junior Golf Association to enhance the youth tournament experience, and help kids develop skills that they will use both on and off the golf course.

Keeping the game you love the game you love.

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For a century, the not-for-profit CGA and CWGA have existed solely to preserve, improve and share this great game with everyone in the state. This is just one of the many ways that, with the support of over 60,000 members, we are keeping the game you love the game you love. Learn more and get involved at www.COgolf.org. Š 2012

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August 2012 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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p h o t o g r a p h c o u r t e s y o f t h e a s s o c i at e d p r e s s

FOX NEWS: The Broncos head coach is as competitive with his golf game as he is on game day.

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In 2012, there’s only one place in Colorado where over 2,500 kids will be introduced to this amazing game, and 312 of the world’s best amateurs will amaze us with their game...

A place for all and all the game teaches.

Companion Course August 13-19, 2012 www.2012USAmateur.com

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that if he wasn’t going to have a pro career, he was going to be a coach. I think that was his passion. One thing about John, even back then, he got along with everybody. He’s always been good communicator.”

Fox was prepared to accept an offer to teach and coach at his high school alma mater. However, that opportunity was lost after a California bill was passed placing a freeze on hiring teachers. Ultimately, Fox received an opportunity in the college ranks

when he was hired by legendary football coach Sid Gillman to coach defense at U.S. International University in 1979.

As Fox moved forward in his collegiate coaching career, with stops at Boise State, Long Beach State, University of Utah, Kansas, Iowa State and the University of Pittsburgh, he realized that he needed to become better acquainted with the game of golf.

“There would be a lot booster and alumni events,” Fox says. “I started taking golf seri-

DRIVING DOWNFIELD: Fox is working on his length off the tee.

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P h o t o g r a P h C o u r t E s y o f t h E a s s o C i at E d P r E s s

We strive to produce income while protecting principal

ously then because I didn’t want to look like a complete idiot out there. I’ve enjoyed golf for 20-something years. But I joke with people—when they ask when I started playing, I say ‘last year.’ For me, I don’t touch a club for six months, and then there’s about a two-month window where I kind of get golf fever—it probably starts around the time of The Masters and probably ends right around the end of June when I go on vacation.”

The fever has not yet produced an ace on any Fox’s scorecards. But he does have one double-eagle (made at Alavar Country Club in Lawrence, Kan.) and two eagles—both during his best-ever round of 77 shot played at Highland Country Club in Pittsburgh.

Breaking 80 might become more routine with a bit more time on the driving range.

Earlier this year Fox became a member at Cherry Hills Country Club. In April, just a few hours before the start of the NFL draft, Cherry Hills PGA Head Professional John Ogden found himself at the range working with the Broncos’ coach on his swing.

“We spent about an hour together that day, talking about the draft and working on his golf swing,” Ogden says. “He came over for the lunch hour. After the draft he was going back to Charlotte to play the pro-am in the Wells Fargo Championship.

It was sort of like he was cramming for a test.

“But he loves to play, and like all of us he’s trying to get a little better. I would say if there’s one area we spend more time on, it’s getting it off the tee with the driver. That’s one area he struggles the

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most…he doesn’t get the distance he’d like to have there.”

Fox tries to make the most of his time spent with Ogden and at the driving range—sometimes hitting 300 balls in an hour. “I never really learned how to play correctly,” Fox says. “I’d been teaching myself. Now I’m having to re-learn the correct way. John’s definitely helped me—I have a lot less moving parts now.”

For years, power brokers have found the golf course a haven for completing major business transactions. Fox and the Broncos chose the Men’s Locker Room Grille at Cherry Hills CC as the site to dine during the team’s recruiting efforts to lure Manning to Denver.

“It wasn’t on the golf course, but it was at the golf course,” Fox says. “Brandon Stokley, (former Broncos player) John Lynch, myself, Elway and Peyton. That probably was as important a meeting as we had during the process.

“Like any recruiter you don’t want to let him out of the building. It was a good meeting and we all knew there was an interest.

We’re just glad he ended up choosing us.”

Manning signed a contract with Denver less than two weeks after the meeting.

Edwards immediately drew a comparison with Fox and a former NFL coach with a reputation for being defensive-minded and utilizing run-oriented offenses.

“I’ve known Tony (Dungy) for decades,” Edwards says. “This is the same thing for Foxie—Tony was a marvelous head coach in Tampa, but then he gets an opportunity to go with Peyton Manning (in Indianapolis). Guess what? He became an even better coach.

“John Fox really hasn’t had an elite quarterback. He’s had good quarterbacks—solid guys, guys that have won a lot of games for him. John gets the knock that he just wants to run it, run it, run it, that he doesn’t want to throw. I think he understands the skillset of the guy who’s throwing it.”

Fox expects to benefit greatly from working closely with not one, but two of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played in the NFL. He admires Manning’s tireless work ethic and endless pursuit of perfection. And while he admires Elway’s competitive nature as a football executive, Fox won’t shy away from a chance to exchange

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swings with his boss on the links.

“I love playing golf with John,” Elway says. “It’s a lot of fun. He’s always positive when he’s out there and has a very enthusiastic approach to the game. He’s a great competitor. His short game, in particular, is very good. He’s able to make putts when he needs to and is extremely accurate on the green.”

Like Fox, Manning has spent more time this offseason tending to goal lines rather than putting lines—and understandably so after missing the entire 2011 NFL season while recovering from a series of neck surgeries.

Manning has managed at least one golf outing with his new head coach.

“I enjoyed being on the course with coach Fox—he’s someone who works hard at his game but also has a good time when he’s playing,” Manning says. “He keeps things very upbeat, and that’s a great quality that he also has as a coach. You can learn a lot about a person by how they approach the game of golf.

“I know he’s hungry to win. I’m just looking forward to being a part of that.”

Broncos fans are riding a wave of high expectations for what could be the team’s most exciting season since winning Super Bowl XXXIII. Fox is well aware of those expectations, but knows better than anyone the importance of maintaining an evenkeel during a football season. He takes a similar balanced approach when on the putting green.

“You pick your line, commit to it, keep your head down and then look up and see what happens,” Fox says, laughing. “Same in football—sometimes you make it, sometimes you don’t. But you move on to the next play.

“I think there is great correlation between golf and football because they both require real focus. I like golf because it’s a game that, at age 57, I can go out and still fuel my competitive juices—whether it’s oneon-one or team competition.

“That’s what I love about golf—still having that chance to compete.” ag

Contributing Editor Sam Adams is an awardwinning journalist and comedian who wrote last issue’s cover story on Ron Zappolo. Follow CAG on Facebook & Twitter for more stories.

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theGamesofGolf PUZZLERS

| WORD GAMES | TRIVIA

OCEAN’S 18

Can you solve the riddle of the Ocean Course?

T

he last major of the season, the 94th PGA Championship, arrives at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, South Carolina August 9-12. It will mark the second consecutive year the South will welcome the event. Last year at Atlanta Athletic Club, Keegan Bradley won it, notching his first major.

Below are questions about the PGA Championship. Answer each by filling in the letters. The circled letters drop to the bottom of the page, to be used to answer the last question.

designer of ocean course?

name of golf resort hosting this year’s championship?

winner of most pGa championships (5) in match play?

lost playoff to Keegan bradley in last year’s pGa?

site of next year’s pGa championship?

when the pGa championship switched from match play to stroke play in 1958, what colorado legend was the first champion?

To find the answers to the Games of Golf, visit ColoradoAvidGolfer.com.

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