Kingdom 19 by North & Warren

$20 where sold Issue 19—Spring 2011

50 Years of BaY Hill Venice two waYs HemingwaY’s KeY west matt KucHar

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1894. Two players find themselves sharing the title “national amateur champion.” There can only be one. Yet it’s not the players who settle the dispute, but representatives from five clubs. An inauspicious start, but this gathering to determine the real title holder creates golf’s Rules and governing body in America: the USGA. With responsibility that lies beyond writing and protecting the Rules of Golf, the USGA also conducts 13 national championships for individuals, tests and evaluates equipment for conformance to the Rules and is home to both the USGA Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History. Their history, dating back more than a century, leaves nothing to question.

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arnold palmer foreword

A 19th edition for the 19th hole Like the 19th hoLe at so many goLf estabLishments, the 19th edition of Kingdom is the ideal place to relax and reflect upon this great game of ours. This is the first issue to be published this year and I’m sure you’re all going to enjoy the various topics upon which we reflect this time around. First up, I must point out that 2011 is set to be a big year here at Bay Hill Club & Lodge as we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the club’s formation back in 1961. Needless to say, that event alone has given the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard extra poignancy as we welcome the world’s leading players to our Florida retreat. In April I shall return to Augusta National to meet up with many old friends at that fine club down in Georgia and also to act, along with Jack Nicklaus, as honorary starter at the 75th staging of the Masters Tournament. In this issue, we reminisce about the great battles I had over many contests for the Green Jacket with both Jack and Gary Player. To this day, I always look forward to our Augusta reunions. This year’s other three majors will all be staged at clubs for which I have considerable affection, and I shall be particularly interested to see how the young guns of the game handle the unique difficulties that each one of these venues presents. The Blue Course at Congressional Country Club, home to many golfing Presidents and Washington politicians, has recently undergone a facelift in preparation for the 2011 U.S. Open. Ernie Els, the 2010 Bay Hill winner, lifted the trophy the last time the USGA took their premier championship to Congressional in 1997 and I will be very surprised if he isn’t in the mix again this time as well. Royal St. George’s Golf Club is one of England’s toughest links courses, and the scene of one of my proudest international victories—in the British PGA Championship in 1975. But a word of warning to the Americans who plan to go over there for this year’s Open Championship— prepare for inclement weather. When the wind blows and the rain lashes at Royal St. George’s, it can be a brutal course to play and one that requires patience and fortitude. Atlanta Athletic Club, venue for the PGA Championship, was the home club of Bobby Jones. The club also hosted the 1963 Ryder Cup, on the East Lake course, when I captained the United States to victory over Great Britain & Ireland, as the opposition was then. Atlantic Athletic club relocated to Riverbend a few years later and the PGA Championship will be played over the Highlands Course, but I’m sure the spirit of Mr. Jones will be with the players every step of the way. It gives me great pleasure in this issue to present an interview with Matt Kuchar, a very accomplished young man. I was particularly pleased that, in addition to the Vardon Trophy, he also won the Arnold Palmer Trophy last year for topping the PGA Tour money list. Matt is no overnight sensation—far from it. A few years ago he went back to the Nationwide Tour to regroup after losing his Tour card. But now he is at the top of the game, I don’t expect him to “give” it away any time soon. Finally, I’d like to wish all our readers a wonderful and memorable golfing year in 2011.

arnold Palmer

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Kingdom magazine Issue 19—Spring 2011

Arnold Palmer Foreword—Greetings from The Boss Publisher’s Letter—Georgia on My Mind Editor’s Letter—Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

20 20 28 36 46 54 64 74 80 87 96 104 108 114 116

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The King’s Speech—Palmer shares his thoughts Roughly Ten Years—Ernest Hemingway’s Key West days Aidan Quinn—Meet one of Hollywood’s busiest non-leading men When Shall We Three Meet Again?—A trio of Masters greats 18 First Holes—A dream roundup of first tees City of Sighs—Italy’s Venice is awash with beauty Venice of America—Part dream, part carnival, LA’s most colorful enclave Hill of The King—Bay Hill’s looking great at 50 Life in Pictures—Arnie’s iconic swing, frame-by-frame On the Other Hand—From the line to the Tour: Tommy Gainey’s journey Home Control—A more efficient and valuable home thanks to Ingersoll Rand No Ordinary Joe—Talking shop with The PGA of America’s top man Trump On Golf—Donald Trump salutes the women’s game Matt Kuchar—The ups and downs of life on Tour

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Kingdom magazine Issue 19—Spring 2011

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Numero Uno—The absolute best way to travel tropically North to Alaska—America’s largest state is a treasure waiting to be found Ultimate Kitchen—The latest utensils in pursuit of culinary excellence Royal Fare—Arnold Palmer’s Restaurant in La Quinta is fantastic Clear Decision—Ketel One Vodka or NOLET’S Silver Gin? Impossibly clear decision Gelato—So much more than just ice cream Untamed—Off the leash in Jaguar’s incredible new 2011 XJL Gift Guide—Our selection of best spring flings The Natural Way to a Pain-Free Swing—By fitness guru Charles Poliquin Automatic Putting—Tiger and Singh believe: Marius Filmalter can help you putt APDC Update—Palmer courses at home and abroad Course Directory—A little black book of great courses Last Page—The USGA reunites Palmer with three iconic trophies

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Georgia on My Mind Here at Kingdom, working as we do out of offices in both London and upstate New York, I can confirm that the subject most discussed between us throughout this winter has been the weather—or rather, the sheer non-playable awfulness of it. So as I write this at the beginning of March 2011, I do so with my thoughts forever turning to upcoming golf tournaments—in particular, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard and the Masters at Augusta National. I am looking forward to seeing the world’s greatest players competing in one of the PGA Tour’s best events hosted by golf’s greatest-ever on the occasion of Bay Hill Club & Lodge’s 50th anniversary, and also to the battle for this season’s first Major, which is already shaping up to be one of the most fascinating ever. Can Phil Mickelson maintain his Masters majesty? Will Lee Westwood finally triumph? And what of the last three major winners—Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer? They seem only to be improving. Or how about last season’s top money winner Matt Kuchar? We interview this charming man later in the publication and there can be no doubt that he has both the game and the level-headed temperament to win not just one but several majors. Then of course there is a whole crèche full of young guns coming through! Just do the math: Italy’s Molinari times two, plus Matteo Manassero, Northern Ireland’s Rory Mcllroy, Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas, Colombia’s Camilo Villegas, Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa and Korea’s Noh Seung-yul. And then there’s a whole host of young Americans, with Dustin Johnson, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler to the fore. Regarding this Major equation, all of these young bloods are more than capable of shooting the sort of scores to enable them to bag one of golf’s biggest titles. And let’s not forget Tiger (Woods—you may have heard of him). We don’t know where and when, but for sure it will be no surprise when he roars back and lands his 15th major. But enough of the events that are about to unfold in the professional game, over which we have no control! The truth is that what I’m most looking forward to as I head away from Orlando’s international airport with my golf bag in tow is to feel the sun shining on my face again. I should also say there’s no golf resort I enjoy visiting or staying at more than Bay Hill. The facilities improve year on year but on the occasion of its 50th anniversary I would observe that there’s a timelessness, style and class about the place. A timelessness, style and class with which every returning guest is so warmly welcomed. The same, of course, can be said of Mr. Palmer. He appeared on the cover of GQ recently as one of the coolest athletes of all time, and he remains, enduringly, as stylish and gracious as ever. Enjoy this spring, I know that I will! Warmest regards,

Matthew Squire—Publisher

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m y g r a n d f a t h e r s h o t i n t h e 7 0’s with woods made out of wood. It was a time when putters were

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The More Things Change My grandfather, My father and I were all born in the same hospital in Clearwater, florida. Between the early 1900s, when my great-grandfather moved to the state, and 1990, when I moved away, the Sunshine State changed dramatically. Buildings went up where orange groves used to sit, ocean views became obscured by miles of condos, and downtown Clearwater… Well, don’t get me started on downtown Clearwater. and so things go. But great things have happened in Florida as well. As its 50th Anniversary approaches, the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando is as charming and lovely as ever, thanks to Mr. Palmer’s guiding hand and the excellent team working on site. The Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies were built and have redefined the word “care” for scores of families. And further south, over the last 30 years, Miami’s South Beach has transformed from a run-down relic into a dynamic jewel of a destination. We were fortunate enough to visit the area and to get a ride in Jaguar’s new XJL (p156), a fantastic testament to the marque’s heritage that we drove down to Key West. The city Ernest Hemingway called “St. Tropez for the poor” has changed a lot since the writer lived there, but the essence of the place remains the same (p28), as laid-back and welcoming as ever. The notion of enduring spirit also applies to Venice—both to Italy’s tidal gem and to the colourful enclave of Los Angeles, the respective histories of which are filled with shifts. In fact, we like to think that true character always survives change, no matter how subtle or dramatic. It’s true of Florida, true of Bay Hill, and true of Mr. Palmer, who remains an inspiration and a champion the world over. It’s even true of my game, which I blame on/credit to my great-grandfather. I never played golf with him, but I’ve been told my tendency toward high numbers bears a striking (if subdued) resemblance to his club-throwing days on course. True character, surviving four generations of the Tilley family. An inspiration to us all.

reade tilley—Editor

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reade tilley

matthew squire

editor

publisher

paul trow

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contributing editor

art director

designer

special thanks contributors

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Kingdom magazine was first available to friends & associates of Arnold Palmer, members & guests of his designed and managed courses, and is now available to distinguished private clubs and discerning golfers everywhere.

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Arnold Palmer was enjoying a winter break at his home within the beautiful California community of Tradition Golf Club when Kingdom, in the form of senior editor Paul Trow and photographer Brian Morgan, caught up with him to hear his thoughts about the latest events in golf, and life in general

T h e KInG’s Speech Kingdom. What is your fondest memory from your many years of playing in the Masters? Arnold Palmer. I have so many fond memories of the place. It’s so great just to go to Augusta and drive down Magnolia Lane amid so much beauty every time and to contemplate all the wonderful things they have done since I’ve been going there—almost 60 years. The course, the clubhouse and everything on the property is very special. Despite the changes, its traditions are the same every year. K. What was your worst memory of playing in the Masters? AP. My worst moment there has to be the double-bogey on the final hole that cost me the title in 1961. That’s when I departed from my own rules of playing. You must concentrate to the end, but I accepted congratulations walking off the tee and I had always been told never to do that. K. You have played a lot of golf over the decades with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. What are your standout memories from the times you’ve spent with them both? AP. We still see a lot of each other. Jack and I have both been asked to act as honorary starters at the Masters again this year, but I don’t know about Gary [despite unconfirmed reports that Player would join them]. We’ve had some great times together over the years—socially, kidding with each other on the course and having some great competitions between the three of us. We had the Big Three television matches back in the 1960s and Gary and I took part in the Challenge Golf series, but

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K. What do you expect to be the next revolutionary advance in golf equipment? AP. That’s hard for me to say, but I know Callaway have come up with a new material [Forged Composite]. They’ve collaborated with an Italian automobile company [Lamborghini] and the result is something that’s even harder and lighter than titanium. They’ve also just brought out these new RAZR X irons. I’ve got a set in my bag right now and they’re very nice. K. With the top players seemingly playing better each year, do you put this down just to equipment improvements or are physical conditioning and other factors having an influence? AP. I think all of the above. The quality of the equipment and balls these days is unbelievable—it’s mind-blowing to me. But I think physical conditioning is what these guys are doing regularly compared to my generation of players. They are working out long and hard and it’s paying off for them because it helps them hit the ball so far.

Mr. Palmer expects great things from Rickie Fowler during the course of 2011

“I am still advocating that they need to slow down the ball. That’s one way they can try to return the game to where it was” we still see each other a lot at exhibitions. Last year, we played together in a charity day at the Olde Farm Golf Club in Virginia—an event that raised over $15 million for the Mountain Mission school for disadvantaged children. K. Three of the 2010 major champions were firsttime winners. Do you see this trend continuing for the foreseeable future? AP. I do. I see the young people coming into the game even more prominently and building on a lot of what happened last year. They don’t seem to have any fear but how consistent they will be I can’t say. K. Which of the young guns will you be looking out for in 2011? AP. Dustin Johnson seems to be coming into his own so I expect more from him in 2011. Also Rickie Fowler. He’s long and mighty impressive for one so young. Then there are all the young European boys, especially from Ireland. It’s going to be very interesting to see who does what in 2011.

K. The opening event on the 2011 PGA Tour in Hawaii was contested by only 32 golfers over a course that measures almost 7,500 yards, yet the scoring was brilliant and the players were hitting wedges for most approach shots. It made for great TV, but is this right? AP. It’s amazing but it probably isn’t right. It looks like it’s going to continue, though. I read in the paper that they’re talking about scores of 59 and 60 at this year’s Bob Hope Classic down the road from here. There’s no doubt that these courses are easy, but they are also fairly narrow and have a lot of trees on them. However, I’d say they are in so much better condition today than ever before and the greens are as smooth as they possibly could be. Therefore, everything is leaning toward improved playing conditions. K. Do you believe modern professionals are in danger of becoming too distant from their fans and spectators because they play a game their fans can’t possibly recognize? AP. I am still advocating that they need to slow down the golf ball. That’s one way they can try to return the game to where it was. I lobby the UsGA about it when I can. In fact I hosted the UsGA’s rules people for an education weekend at Bay Hill recently. K. Given that there is such a premium on spare time these days, do you think there is a case for modern 18-hole courses to be designed as three loops of 6 holes each, not two loops of 9? AP. I’m hearing a lot of mumbling about the need to restructure the way we are playing now to save time. Ideas like whether a full-sized course should consist of 12 holes only or an 18-hole layout be made up of three loops of six are being discussed, but I haven’t seen it in reality yet so I’m waiting to see what happens. I’m looking at all the possibilities but I hope to have a client ask me to design a course along these lines one day.

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to the place when you first came across it and how much has it changed during that time? AP. This was before Disney came along to Orlando. My first visit there was in 1965 for an exhibition match for the Orlando Chamber of Commerce. We were a fourball—Jack [nicklaus], Don Cherry, Dave Ragan and myself. The course was only two years old at the time, but I fell in love with the place at first sight. It was absolutely beautiful—all that fresh water and in such pristine condition. It’s just the same now despite all the development that’s gone on around it. It remains a very attractive place—family friendly with a terrain and atmosphere that’s very catching. K. How is your grandson Sam Saunders’ golf progressing? AP. He’s definitely making progress and he is hitting the ball wonderfully well and a long way. He’s also very accurate. What’s holding him back is managing his game. He gets frustrated and a little nervous, so it will take a little time for him to get to where he wants to be.

Sam Saunders, Mr. Palmer’s grandson, “is hitting the ball wonderfully well”

K. There has been a lot of talk recently about extending the Ryder Cup to four days and perhaps allowing all the players to play in each round. What do you think of this? AP. I don’t think it would hurt the Ryder Cup to extend it to four days. It would generate a little more revenue for the organizers and would increase the amount of TV coverage the event is given.

“I fell in love with the place [Bay Hill] at first sight. It was absolutely beautiful. It’s just the same now despite all the development that’s gone on around it” K. What benefit do you think there is for the game to have the PGA of America and the PGA Tour as two separate organizations? AP. I’m the one that separated them in the mid-1960s, you know. And that was with the approval of the PGA and the pros. There was certainly quite a lot of hard bargaining done at the time and the PGA got to retain things like the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship. To be honest I think this arrangement is working well to this day. K. This year, Bay Hill Club & Lodge celebrates its 50th anniversary. What was it that so attracted you

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K. Did he go to Tour school last fall or is he planning another route to make it on Tour? AP. He didn’t make it to the final Tour school. He is eligible for seven invitations on the PGA Tour this year and he will probably get them, but I think he will also play a bit on the nationwide Tour. I know he’s definitely going to the event in Panama and also one in Pittsburgh. One way or another he will be playing plenty of tournaments this year. K. In what ways do you believe a golf club can benefit from a redesign? How often should a course be redesigned? AP. One of our major activities is redesigning courses we have designed in the past or bringing older courses back up to a more modern standard. Golfers like to see where they have to hit the ball and they like traps where the sand doesn’t wash away and the ball gets stuck in the face. We did that very successfully over at Bay Hill. A lot of people think this is harder than designing a course from scratch, but I don’t. As a country we are over-golfed now in terms of having too many courses for the people who want to play, but we hope that won’t stay that way forever. K. Aside from Bay Hill, what is your favorite opening hole in golf? AP. Cherry Hills. It’s a downhill par-4 and I drove the green in the final round on my way to winning the [U.s.] Open in 1960. K. When you design a course, what do you look to achieve with an opening hole? AP. I try to make it reasonable. It’s the start of the round and I want people to enjoy the experience, at least not feel downhearted too early in their round. I want the hole to be exacting up to a point but not too penalizing. It’s also important that a first hole gets people away and doesn’t cause delays.

K. Of all the majors you played in, which course did you find hardest to play due to the way it was set up? AP. Oakmont was certainly one. That’s as hard as it can be when it stages the [U.s.] Open. Also, I think that Carnoustie over on the east coast of scotland is another. Both are extremely challenging at the best of times. K. Do you play golf these days with celebrities or politicians perhaps? AP. I don’t play much golf at all. To be honest, I’m embarrassed that my golf is not up to the standard I would like it to be. I play occasionally at Bay Hill in the daily shoot-out, and I play a little while I stay here at Tradition. At the moment, I’m not sure if I will play in the pro-am before the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in March, or who I might play with. K. Have you ever been to Key West? If so, did you like it and what did you do? Fishing? Boating? Visit Ernest Hemingway’s house, perhaps? AP. I’ve been there for recreation. It’s very tropical down there and warm most of the time. It’s very good for a lot of sporting activities like fishing and boating. I have seen Hemingway’s home down there and it’s certainly very interesting. I read quite a lot, but not much Hemingway. I plan to change that because I feel I should get some education about him. K. What else do you like to do when you get an occasional day off? AP. I’d love to go fishing more—fly fishing for trout or salmon fishing. I enjoy eating salmon and preparing it different ways. K. Have you ever been to Alaska? If so, what did you make of it? If not, would you want to go? AP. I have been there, but not to play golf. I think it’s an interesting place and I plan on going back. I loved the salmon fishing and the midnight sun. K. What’s the latest news about your various charity initiatives, particularly the hospitals? AP. I continue to be very deeply involved in the Arnold Palmer Medical Center in Orlando. It is growing at an almost alarming rate. Then there’s the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Women and Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Babies. Last year they had more than 13,000 births, and the rooms there are like hotel suites. Annika [sorenstam] had her baby there. Tiger Woods’ two children were born there also. The program at the Arnold Palmer Prostate Center out here [Palm springs] is making great strides, not only with developing and refining techniques for treating the disease, but also with early detection which is so important. K. Do you dabble personally in buying and selling shares on the stock market or do you always leave that to specialist financial advisers? AP. I do it through a broker, but I am interested in what’s going on and check out what’s going on pretty much every day.

Mr. Palmer isn’t sure if he will play in the pro-am before his tournament at Bay Hill

“Last year they [the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Babies] had 13,000 births. Annika [Sorenstam] had her baby there. Tiger Woods’ two children were born there also” K. How often do you dine at the Arnold Palmer Restaurant in La Quinta and what is your favorite meal there? AP. I dined there last night! I go there a lot while I’m down in the desert. As for my favorite dish, check out everything on the menu under ‘Arnold’s Favorites.’ K. Do you like ice cream, milkshakes or smoothies? It’s a very inventive culinary area at present, so would you like to put an Arnold Palmer recipe out there? AP. I like all of these. I have a smoothie every morning when I get up—it’s always delicious, and very good for you. As for an Arnold Palmer smoothie recipe, I have my hands full with Arnold Palmer Tea so I think I’ll stick with that!

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Words and images: Reade Tilley

It’s nearly three-quarters of a mile from Sloppy Joe’s bar to the house behind the wall at 907 Whitehead Street. Ernest Hemingway made the walk countless times, drunk, sometimes angry, maybe lost in thought, happy from a good day fishing or not thinking about anything at all. He used to joke that living near the town’s lighthouse ensured he could always find his way home from the bar, and so it likely did.

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The lighthouse would have been one of the first buildings to come into view as Hemingway and his wife Pauline first sailed into Key West in 1928, and one of the last things the writer saw as he left, alone, in 1939. During those years he produced some of his most endearing literary works, drank, fought, wrecked a marriage, named a bar, discovered saltwater sport fishing and gave the city at the end of the road a legacy of sorts. In return, Key West expected nothing of him, took nothing and posed only one real constant challenge: To spend the day drinking, fishing, or both?

Home It was a walking town, with most everything you’d want to get to shoved in a few square miles at the west end of the island. Key West, not technically tropical (above the Tropic of Cancer) but it may as well be with its warm breezes, palm gardens and cool mornings. It was mornings that found Hemingway writing, going through a handful of No.2 pencils—seven pencils was a good day’s work—or punching out a couple hundred words on his Royal typewriter before heading into town. The studio in which he finished A Farewell to Arms and created such works as For Whom the Bell Tolls, Death in the Afternoon and Green Hills of Africa, is on the top floor of an old carriage house behind the main house on Whitehead Street, connected to the master bedroom by a catwalk. Sitting among various hunting trophies and reminders of his travels, he would have enjoyed the calm about the place, which remains even today. The house is a grand piece of work, built in 1851 on the second-highest piece of ground in Key West (the highest holds the cemetery) by a marine architect and salvage wrecker named Asa Tift. Remarkably for Florida it has a basement, which Hemingway used as a wine cellar. He and his wife filled the house with furniture from around the world—Venetian glass chandeliers, woodwork from Spain, a cigar-maker’s chair from Cuba—and added a brick wall for privacy in 1935 after the residence appeared on a tourist map. For a time, 907 Whitehead St. was a happy home for the couple and the numerous six-toed cats Hemingway kept on the property. It saw the birth of their two sons, Patrick and Gregory, and hosted frequent parties and visits from friends, but the house was also the setting for numerous dramas and, ultimately, the family’s dissolution. Of course that came after the writing, after the fishing, and long after the bar. The bar, in fact, is where you might say it all started. Started and ended.

Patrons carried their seats, their drinks and the bar itself down the street to the new location on Duval St.

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Papa’s Royal typewriter, though he reportedly preferred pencils

Sloppy Joe’S The floor at Jose Garcia’s Rio Havana club was a mess: wooden planks soaked from large chunks of melting ice that were cooling down the fresh seafood for sale. “Sloppy Joe’s,” patrons jokingly called it. Along with fish the place sold booze, which is why Hemingway and his friend Joe Russell stopped by on their frequent angling trips to Cuba. Back in Key West, Russell (also called “Josie”) chartered fishing boats and operated a speakeasy, making him an immediate friend to Hemingway. When Prohibition ended, Josie went legit and opened a bar called the Blind Pig (proxy term for an illegal drinking joint) but Hemingway preferred the humorous moniker from their Cuban haunt. So Sloppy Joe’s for Jose Garcia became Sloppy Joe’s for Joe Russell, and a legendary watering hole was born. It’s said the place didn’t have a door—and didn’t need one because it never closed. Rowdy, basic and pouring a constant stream of drinks, the bar was moved one night— literally—after a $1/week rent increase encouraged Russell to buy a building down the street and change addresses. In exchange for free drinks, patrons were invited to grab their seats, the tables, their half-finished beers and anything else they could carry and take it

Hemingway’s writing studio with various trophies and souvenirs

half a block to the new spot at 201 Duval Street, where Sloppy Joe’s still operates today. As Dave Gonzales, a Key West native and guide at the Hemingway house tells it, the crowd even ripped out the bathroom fixtures, which Russell owned, and moved them as well. Josie didn’t need the toilets and sinks—the bathroom at the new location was already installed—and so the whole mess was dropped on the sidewalk out front. When Hemingway saw one of the urinals lying there, he decided it would make a great watering trough for the numerous cats he kept at his house. And so, after a few drinks, Gonzales says Hemingway and Russell dragged the large porcelain urinal the three-quarters of a mile down Duval St. to Hemingway’s home and dumped it in the backyard, where it sits today. Pauline, not pleased, covered the urinal with Spanish tiles in hopes of disguising its true form. The bar was Hemingway’s home away from home. It hosted “The Mob,” Key West’s version of the Rat Pack. Hemingway, his friend Charlie Thompson, Russell, a local boat captain named Eddie “Bra” Saunders and a handful of others would meet there and solve the world’s problems over drinks. The bar was where Hemingway threw more than a few punches, though most of his proper fights happened elsewhere, and it’s where he launched—and finished—most of his fishing trips. It’s also where he met Martha Gelhorn, but we’ll get to her later.

The Mob The day after he moved to Key West (first visiting on the advice of writer John Dos Passos), Hemingway met Charles Thompson. Thompson’s family was one of the best off in town, but Charlie was a down-toearth guy, an avid fisherman and hunter who ran the local hardware store. In addition to introducing Hemingway to saltwater sport fishing, an activity the writer pursued for the rest of his life, Thompson and his wife Lorine became close friends of the Hemingways. Thompson even accompanied the couple on their epic nine-month African safari in 1933, with a stopover in Paris during which he managed to get drunk with James Joyce, who’d just finished Ulysses and who Thompson later referred to as “a grand little man.” Thompson was a charter member of Hemingway’s Mob, as was Russell. More joined in when Hemingway sent letters to his Paris friends asking them to come down to “St. Tropez for the poor,” as he called Key West, and of course there were the locals. All together, the Mob would drink, gamble, fish, go swimming and spend their days doing not much of anything and their nights carousing. Perfect Key West living.

“That urinal would make a great watering trough for my cats,” Hemingway thought

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Living and The end There was Pilar, a 38-foot fishing yacht named for a bullfighting shrine in Spain (Pauline thought it was named for her as “Pilar” was one of her nicknames). It was Hemingway’s dream boat and a lifelong companion, ferrying him and his friends on numerous multi-day fishing adventures and ultimately to Cuba, where it sits in dry-dock today. There was the night he punched a drunk Wallace Stephens into a puddle after the poet upset Hemingway’s sister Ursula at a cocktail party. Backyard sparring in his private boxing ring, hundreds of marlin and tuna pulled from the sea, madness in Cuba including the Havana dalliance with Jane Mason, wife of a major Pan Am investor and friend of Hemingway’s, the book To Have and Have Not, the only novel he set in the United States and a book he reportedly didn’t like… Hemingway’s Key West adventures held a pile of good times and a few messes as well, but none of it mattered as much as a meeting he had in 1936 at his beloved Sloppy Joe’s. That encounter, with Martha Gelhorn, really was the beginning of the end. Hemingway’s wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, was a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. She’d been in Paris on assignment for Vogue when she met the writer and his first wife, Hadley. Despite being a devout Roman Catholic and a friend of Hadley’s, Pauline began an affair with Hemingway, and eventually married him in 1927. Pauline’s family was wealthy and it was her uncle Gus who purchased the Key West home for the couple, for $8,000 in 1931. He’d also purchased a new car for them upon their arrival. But just five years later, the marriage came full circle and the happy days were over. One night at Sloppy Joe’s, Hemingway met Gelhorn, a

A man’s man, Hemingway enjoyed hunting and fishing

Martha Gelhorn was sitting in the bar, blonde hair, long legs and a black sundress that fit all too well The infamous urinal-turned-water dish

There used to be a catwalk from the balcony to the writing studio

stunning blonde. As the story has it, she was looking great in a black sundress, he was looking like hell in a dirty shirt, frayed sandals and a pair of Bermuda shorts held up by a piece of rope. However it happened, the two began carrying on an affair—and not discretely. One year later, both were in Spain covering the civil war for various publications while Pauline was home in Key West trying to salvage her marriage. Knowing Hemingway enjoyed swimming, she had a private pool installed next to his writing studio. But her attempt to please him backfired. When he returned he grew furious at the pool’s price—$20,000—and reportedly took a penny from his pocket and threw it at his wife, declaring, “You might as well have my last cent!” The money for the pool, the house, the 1933 African safari and a few other adventures wasn’t Hemingway’s, of course, which may have been part of the problem for the macho writer. In any case, Hemingway began spending more and more time in Spain and in Cuba, where he had a house with Martha. His Key West friends cooled to him, mostly siding with Pauline over the affair, and his marriage effectively ended. In late 1939, after some time in Sun Valley, Idaho, a new favorite haunt, he returned to Key West in hopes of spending the holidays with Pauline and his sons, but they’d left for New York in advance of his visit. He spent Christmas alone in the house, and on December 26 packed his things and boarded the ferry for Cuba, ending his Key West days. For her part, Pauline had the penny pressed into cement under glass next to the pool, where it remains today.

The pool displeased Hemingway, who thought the $20,000 price tag was outrageous

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One of the legendary six-toed Hemingway cats

Now Today, Sloppy Joe’s is a madhouse, as known for its Hemingway T-shirts as it is for being a bar. Those hoping to stop by on a weekend for a quiet drink in remembrance of “Papa,” as the locals called Hemingway, will be sorely disappointed to learn they’ve little hope of seeing the bar, much less sitting at it quietly. Standing-room-only crowds and live music are common in the high season, making it near impossible to study the various bits and pieces of Hemingway memorabilia on the walls, much less order a “Papa Dobles”—a mix of rum, grapefruit, grenadine, sweet and sour, club soda and lime, advertised as “Papa’s favorite!” The original site of the Blind Pig is still a bar as well, “Captain Tony’s,” and Hemingway’s house is a tourist attraction. The studio is still there, much as he would have left it. So are the urinal/water trough and the six-toed cats. But the small-town intimacy of the island has, to some degree, given way to a kind of “bikers on spring break” atmosphere, which is neither bad nor good exactly. It’s tough to say how Hemingway would find Key West today, but decades ago, a world away from the lights of 1920s Paris and the cocktail company of Gertrude Stein, Picasso and the rest, the writer found a place that takes all comers as they are and allows them to be themselves. For better or worse, that hasn’t changed.

Key West takes you as you are, and allows you to be yourself —for better or worse

the cats Hemingway’s cats are as much a part of his Key West legacy as his beard. There have always been more than a handful on the grounds of the writer’s home, and near 60 descendants of the originals remain today, most of them named after famous movie stars and celebrities of days gone by. Approximately half of the cats on the property are polydactyl, meaning they have six toes. The appearance of what seems to be a thumb is actually a genetic abnormality, albeit a rather charming one to most eyes. The story goes that Hemingway was fond of a particular six-toed cat owned by a local ship’s captain. When the captain departed, the cat was left to the writer, and there you have it.

For more on Hemingway’s Key West, read Stuart B. McIver’s useful book of the same title, a valuable resource for this article. And be sure to visit Dave Gonzales and the team at the Hemingway home in person or online at hemingwayhome.com

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u i n n Strange to relate, not every actor craves the limelight. Paul Trow meets one reluctant star who is more than happy to sparkle below the radarâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a retiring sort, though anything but retired

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H Copyright: Sepia Films

ow often have we gone to the movies and beaten ourselves up trying to place a face on the screen? “oh Lord, how many films has this guy been in? what is his name?” In the case of the piercingly blue-eyed, lightly whiskered gentleman sitting opposite me at a rustic table outside the Jigger Inn in St. andrews, the answers are: 78 at the last count (including tv movies)… and aidan Quinn. Between october 2010 and May 2011 alone, nine films in which he appears were being released, with at least two more in the pipeline for later in the year or early 2012. Given such an industrial rate of productivity, it seems incredible that Quinn, an american by birth and residence but with more than a dash of Irish mist in his soul, can find the time in his busy schedule for even one round of golf, let alone a whole week of it in Scotland. Yet here he is on an almost balmy evening at the home of Golf, soaking up the craic beside the notorious “Road hole” 17th along with an eclectic gathering of fellow celebrities, european tour players, hanger-on agents, giggling good-time girls and carousing caddies. he was participating in only his third alfred Dunhill Links Championship but already he has an

A bearded Aidan Quinn on the set of A Shine of Rainbows (2009)

emotional stake in this annual event that suggests he will keep coming back for as long as he draws breath. “My mother, teresa, died on the Saturday of the 2009 Dunhill—the day the winds were so high that play had to be called off,” he explains. “My playing partner, Paul McGinley, and the other Irish guys who were here were distraught. So tomorrow, exactly one year after she died, we’re going to plant a pink rosebush in her memory here in the grounds of the Jigger Inn.” “teresa’s Rosebush” was duly consecrated and should be approaching full bloom now that spring’s warmth is embracing Scotland’s east coast once again. teresa’s son, who has just turned 52, is blossoming as well—as an actor, that is, though not quite in the way that dedicated followers of hollywood might expect. after a brief but promising stage career, his first film part came in 1984 as the male lead squiring Daryl hannah in a “teenage rebel falls for socialite cheerleader” flick called Reckless. Interestingly, he claims this was the only film audition he ever passed, a feat he attributes to feeling rotten at the time with a temperature of 104! over time, his profile and ego have mellowed in inverse proportion to the fruition of his talent and versatility. he’s no longer promoted as a leading man or box-office draw— hasn’t been really for at least a decade. Yet he’s known throughout the film industry as a trooper from the top drawer: a pro whose services few directors can eschew. “I’m now very much a supporting actor, but it sure keeps me busy,” he says. “I seem to average about two films every three months these days. Sometimes I can complete all the shooting for my part within three weeks.” Quinn specializes in sensitive, intelligent characters, and is easily recognizable thanks to the aforementioned blue eyes and his classically handsome features. he also enjoys a reputation as the thinking woman’s fantasy fodder—a notion he greets with a quizzical shrug. his insouciance about his appearance, though, seemed a little disingenuous as he had earlier refused to be photographed during our meeting. admittedly, he hadn’t long finished his round over the old Course. “I look scruffy and the light’s all wrong,” he tutted. “anyway, you can get much better shots from my agent.” I asked myself, “is he being vain or shy?” By the end of our conversation, I was convinced of the latter.

“I’m now very much a supporting actor, but it sure keeps me busy. I seem to average about two films every three months”

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At the time of writing, his latest release is Unknown, a mystery thriller with Liam Neeson. From Reckless to Unknown in just over a quarter of a century would be a glib way to sum up the quaint symmetry of Quinn’s film career, but in many respects he likes it that way. “I don’t care about my career particularly. And the more I don’t, the more work comes my way,” he was reported as saying a few years ago. “I like the level of fame I have. You get nice tables in restaurants sometimes, but fame isn’t something I find comfortable.” This isn’t surprising considering he hardly comes across as an in-your-face extrovert upon first meeting. But there’s a quiet intensity about Quinn that hints at a larger-than-life dimension to his personality. It certainly came out in his second film, Desperately Seeking Susan, a new-wave, comedy of errors drama set in New York City in which he starred alongside Rosanna Arquette and, of course, Madonna, for whom, at that stage, global domination was but a twinkle in her eye. Desperately Seeking Susan was a ground-breaking movie, albeit charming and lightweight, but it made an impression on the young actor, not least because it perhaps taught him that smaller can sometimes be more beautiful when it comes to choosing parts. His affection for the film endures. “We had a 25th anniversary gathering for Desperately Seeking Susan recently which I went along to. Rosanna went as well, but Madonna didn’t show up. I was 25 years old when we did it. After Reckless put me on the map, I was offered this film. At the time I’d never even heard of Madonna.” The recognition he earned from performing in Desperately Seeking Susan was neatly complemented later in 1985 by his portrayal of a gay lawyer with AIDS in An Early Frost, the first TV drama to tackle what was then very much a taboo subject. He was nominated for an Emmy for that performance and he often squirms when he thinks back to the awards night. “They have a picture at the bottom of the screen with all the losers to see what your reaction is,” he recalls. “When they said, ‘Dustin Hoffman,’ my face lit up and you can see me saying to my wife[-to-be], very clearly, ‘Thank God,’ because I was so afraid of having to get up and speak.”

His only other Emmy nomination (also unsuccessful) came 22 years later for a dramatization of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, although he must have also come close to being put up for another production, shown in 2005, of which he’s particularly fond. “The Exonerated was a feature about people who had been wrongfully convicted of murder. It was based on a successful stage play written by Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank, and starred Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover and Susan Sarandon among others. That was a fantastic experience,” he says. Born in Chicago, Quinn’s Illinois childhood was punctuated by a couple of stints living in Ireland. Teresa and her husband Michael, a professor of literature, had emigrated from Ireland to the U.S. in the 1950s and raised their five children (Aidan is No.2) in Chicago and also Rockford, some 80 miles northwest of the Windy City. But money was sometimes scarce, so Teresa crossed the Atlantic periodically with the children to live with friends and relatives in Belfast, Dublin and her original home town of Birr in Co. Offaly—“bang in the middle of Ireland,” as Quinn remembers it. He also remembers the uncertainty of the experience: “At that young age we all felt tension and fear, big time.” Having received a year of his high-school education at a Christian Brothers school in Dublin, he lived in this most poetic of cities again in his late teens and thereafter has enjoyed regular extended visits to shoot on location. “I got used to living in two different cultures and being able to go back and forth,” he says. “I do a default Irish accent that makes a lot of people think I am actually Irish. I can go back to Ireland even today and within 10 days the accent returns naturally, probably because I had to do it as a youngster to survive.” But when the question arises as to how he sees himself, American or Irish, Quinn is adamant. “I have a passport for both Ireland and the U.S. I’ve done seven films in Ireland—Michael Collins [1996] is probably the best known—but despite that I’m definitely American.” Regardless of their itinerant upbringing, the Quinns remain a close family. His older brother Declan is a cinematographer—his numerous credits include Leaving Las Vegas (1995)—while his sister Marian works as an actress. Another brother who also acts, Paul, collaborated with Aidan, Marian and Declan as a writer-director on a joint family production, This Is My Father (1998), set in 1930s Ireland and starring James Caan. Only one of the siblings, another brother, James, has managed to resist the smell of greasepaint and the glare of footlights, preferring instead to make his living as a landscaper in Los Angeles.

Money was scarce, and Quinn’s childhood involved a few stints in Ireland living with friends and relatives in Belfast, Dublin and Birr in Co. Offaly

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Forever the perfectionist, Aidan Quinn takes his time over a practice swing on the 18th tee of the Old Course at St. Andrews

It was while working as a roofer in 1978 that Quinn camera for which he’ll principally be remembered. “I’ve first felt the urge to act. With few doors opening for been lucky to play with many great actors,” he reflects. him in Dublin he decided to return to Chicago where “At the moment I have a lot of things in the can. Just he graduated from the DePaul University/Goodman in the last year, I’ve filmed with Kris Kristofferson and Theater Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) acting program Brooke Shields in The Greening of Whitney Brown, and trained at the Piven Theater Workshop. Liam Neeson in Unknown, Andy Garcia in Across the He followed up his professional stage debut in Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright and Kristin Scott The Man in 605, written by local playwright Alan Gross, Thomas in Her Name Was Sarah.” with further theater appearances in Chicago before Throw into the mix previous alliances with Meryl debuting in New York in an off-Broadway production of Streep (Music of the Heart, 1999), Brad Pitt (Legends Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love. of the Fall, 1994), Johnny Depp (Benny & Joon, 1993), “Just before going into films, I played Hamlet Sandra Bullock (Practical Magic, 1998), Robert de at the Wisdom Bridge Theater in Chicago. That was Niro (The Mission, 1986, and Frankenstein, 1994) and actually the best stage work I ever did, but I had Annette Bening (In Dreams, 1999), and it’s clear he’s no a great director in Bob Falls [the current artistic B-lister. Heck, even Sir John Gielgud (Haunted, 1995) director of the Goodman Theater]. It was a modern- got in on the act with him at the age of 90! dress version with music from Talking Heads and One that got away, though, was the lead in using the court of Monaco as a contemporary parallel Martin Scorsese’s controversial production, The Last with medieval Denmark. Temptation of Christ. Quinn had agreed to take the part, “Around the same time I played Kowalski, the but the film ran into budget difficulties and opposition Marlon Brando character, in A Streetcar Named Desire, from the religious right. After several derailments, it but then I didn’t really do any more theater until 2009 switched studios from Paramount to Universal and he when I teamed up with Brian Dennehy and David was replaced in the role by Willem Dafoe. Strathairn for Conversations in Tusculum in New York.” Only time will tell whether that was He remains to this day a member of the Goodman a blessing in disguise, or just another in a lifeTheater Acting Company, but it’s his life in front of a defining litany of “what might have been” moments.

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Quinn has been married since September 1987 to Elizabeth Bracco, an actress best known for her role as Marie Spatafore in The Sopranos. They met in a restaurant in 1984, but the only film they’ve made together is Stakeout (1987) in which Bracco had a small part playing a waitress. Born in 1959 (like her husband) and raised on Long Island, she appeared in 19 films between 1986 and 2007, including The Impostors (a 1999 film Quinn dropped out of at the pre-production stage in order to make Music of the Heart instead). Quinn and Bracco, who have homes in New Jersey and upstate New York, have two daughters: Ava (born in 1989) and Mia (born in 1998). Ava made her acting debut as a baby in Avalon, a Jewish family drama, while Mia also appeared alongside her father as a ghost in The Eclipse (2009), a supernatural love story. Becoming parents changes the central dynamic in every marriage, but unlike most couples Quinn and Bracco have had to face the additional responsibility of wrestling with Ava’s autism. At an age, 21, when most offspring are flying from the next, Ava still needs constant attention. “My daughter will always need taking care of and being cared for. It mentally and physically exhausts you when you have an autistic child because it comes to dominate your family’s life,” he says. “As an obvious consequence of this, I’m very interested in autism and its causes. I’m convinced there are environmental issues involved.” Ava’s problems date from when she received the M.M.R. vaccine and transformed overnight, literally, from a lively, talkative toddler into an uncoordinated, non-verbal child. Quinn now works with several autismrelated organizations and has expressed an interest in making a film connecting immunization with autism and other disorders. Certainly the experience has put everything else into perspective. “Having an autistic child has saved me from neurosis about my career. Once you’ve lived through that, things like award ceremonies don’t mean all that much. My career is important to me, but it’s not the most important thing in my life. My family is.” Another celebrity who has grappled in recent years with similar problems is Ernie Els, whose son Ben, now aged eight, was diagnosed with autism in 2006. The South African golfer established the Els for Autism Foundation in 2009 and is staging a series of fund-raising amateur

No surprise that golf features on Quinn’s CV. Perhaps one day he will get to play Mr. Palmer, like Harry Vardon a seven-time major winner

Quinn (as Richard “Stick” Montgomery) with Madeleine Stowe in Stakeout (1987)

tournaments across the U.S. this year, culminating in a two-day, late-fall finale in Las Vegas. Quinn has already pledged his support, saying: “I’m hoping that some time soon I can do something significant with Ernie on the fund-raising, awareness-raising side of autism.” Despite limited opportunities to play golf, Quinn retains a single-figure handicap and is a member of Rockland Country Club in upstate New York. “I played golf as a youngster,” he says. “We moved to Ireland when I was three, but I didn’t start playing until we came back to Chicago. There was a nine-hole course a block away from my home and I’d play it in the mornings before going to school. I carried on playing when I returned to Ireland in my teens and I did a lot of caddying as well. I always try to play whenever I’m over and I enjoy taking part in the J.P. McManus Pro-Am [at Adare Manor near Limerick in July], if I can get there.” No surprise, then, that golf also figures on his CV— Harry Vardon in Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004) which starred Jim Caviezel in the title role. Perhaps one day he’ll get to play Mr. Palmer, like Vardon a seven-time major winner? “I’m not sure about that. I’ve never met Arnold Palmer, though obviously I’d love to.” In the meantime, there are dozens more films to be made, many more battles against autism to be fought, a few more rounds of golf to be played, and a flowerbed in the garden of a Scottish pub to tend to on occasion. Perhaps one day even that long-overdue award will come his way. If it does, he might blush, like the petals on Teresa’s Rosebush, but he certainly shouldn’t be short of something to say.

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When Shall We Three Meet again? 46

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arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack nicklaus totaled 13 Masters wins in 28 years. These three sporting icons are inextricably linked, not least by their Green Jackets. nowadays they mostly play for fun, but halcyon memories of their springtime deeds in Georgia will never fade. Paul Trow looks forward to the day this illustrious trio might once again be reunited at augusta national kingdom

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he sTory of The MasTers is in Many respects the story of happy coincidences. and as far as the tournament that wanted to be a major was concerned, no coincidence could have been happier than the one that put arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack nicklaus center stage together at the same time. in the early 1930s, when the great Bobby Jones embarked on his dream of creating a sumptuous golf course that would annually host the leading players (amateurs as well as professionals) on an invitational basis, even he could not have foreseen the global exposure his transformation of an old horticultural nursery would ultimately command.

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Arnold Palmer, (from left) with Doug Ford, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, has been both a grateful recipient and a gracious presenter of Green Jackets

In 1956, CBS provided the first television coverage of the Masters, using only six cameras over the final four holes Augusta, Georgia was the scene of his grand project, and it was brought to immaculate fruition with the invaluable aid of Clifford Roberts as fund-raiser and Dr. Alister MacKenzie as course designer. Given Jones’ unparalleled stature within the game, rendered immortal by his victories in the U.S. and British Open and Amateur Championships of 1930, it was inevitable that Augusta National Golf Club would come to be regarded as a symbol of excellence in terms of both golfing pedigree and social standing. After a relatively low-key inauguration in 1934, the Masters burst into life the following year with ‘the shot heard round the world’, the 4-wood the diminutive Gene Sarazen holed out for an albatross on the par-5 15th en route to an immensely popular victory. Over the next couple of decades, Jones, Roberts and their fellow members at Augusta National set about establishing the tournament as a defining challenge for the game’s finest practitioners. Of course, this quest for credibility was helped considerably by the four dominant professionals of that era—Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Jimmy Demaret—donning the Green Jacket no fewer than ten times between them. But the colorful setting, a veritable kaleidoscope of Southern

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floribunda at a time when the green shoots of spring were only just starting to appear in most states, played its part in attracting performers and patrons (spectators) alike. The touchstone that authenticated the unique qualities of this beguiling alchemy, though, came in 1956 when CBS provided the first television coverage of the Masters, using only six cameras over the final four holes. And within two years of this historic development, the sport was celebrating the arrival of its first star of stage and screen. Like many who had gone before him, Arnold Palmer was the genuine article out on the golf course. But unlike any who had gone before him, he became as familiar a figure in millions of homes as the family dog. It was only a one-stroke victory, but, appropriately, it was accompanied by the first five-figure check ever handed out at a major championship. It also came with a febrile final-round subplot that a team of Hollywood scriptwriters would have struggled to invent. When Palmer, making his fourth Masters appearance, arrived at the short 12th, he led by one. After his tee shot had plugged in the soft turf just over the back of the green, he expected to lift, clean and drop without penalty. Due to heavy rain earlier that week, the tournament was subject to wet-weather rules, yet an official told him he had to play his ball as it lay. The outcome was a 5, but Palmer then went back to the spot where his tee shot had finished, dropped his ball and got up and down for a 3. Loss of tournament looked a distinct possibility at the time—Amen to Arnie at Amen Corner, the headlines would have read—and it was only when he reached the 15th fairway that Palmer learned his 3 would be allowed to stand.

Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus were ‘drawn’ together for the first two rounds of the Millennium Masters in April 2000

The controversy prompted some mutterings amongst rival competitors, but Palmer, already a winner of eight PGA Tour titles, had been vindicated, by Bobby Jones no less. Even more significantly, perhaps, he had demonstrated to blue-collar sports fans that one of their own could stand up to blue-blooded officialdom and win the argument. Fast forward 12 months to April 1959 and Palmer was again right in the thick of things as he reached the 12th tee on the final day. This time, though, he dumped his tee shot into Rae’s Creek and walked off the green with a triple-bogey. His challenge was derailed and even though he kept on scrapping he could finish no higher than third, two shots adrift of the winner Art Wall, who had birdied five of the last six holes. On this occasion, and not for the first time during his storied career it must be said, Palmer felt he had let the main prize slip through his grasp. But he consoled himself that he was playing the game the way his growing army of supporters wanted to see it being played. “If I fondly recall anything about that Masters,” he wrote in his autobiography, A Golfer’s Life, “it is my growing awareness of how the galleries enjoyed watching me perform in the clutch, their hopes sometimes living and dying on every shot.”

In many respects, the Masters of 1960 was the apotheosis of this philosophy. Palmer had recently cemented his partnership with commercial adviser Mark McCormack and the endorsement deals were already flowing in. But having turned 30 and finding himself at the very peak of a profession that at the time offered a distinctly limited income from prize money and the other forms of remuneration on offer, Palmer was acutely aware of how important it was to maintain this momentum in order to secure his family’s future. And, boy, how he delivered! It was a new decade and the austerity of the post-war years were being swept away by a popular culture to match—vibrant, TV-inspired and ever so slightly rebellious. People were taking risks like never before, and Palmer on the golf course was the risktaker-in-chief. After three rounds, he led by one stroke from a mighty quintet of proven competitors—Ben Hogan, Julius Boros, Dow Finsterwald, Ken Venturi and Billy Casper—thus guaranteeing a denouement that would be as classical as it would be dramatic. With two holes remaining, it looked as though Venturi, the only member of the chasing pack who had not already won a major, was about to make his long-awaited breakthrough. But Palmer

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“What really tore me up inside was the knowledge that I’d lost because I’d failed to do what Pap had always told me to do—stay focused until the job is finished” had other ideas and with the galleries on tenterhooks and the TV audience on the edge of their seats he birdied both 17 and 18, holing out from 30ft and 6ft respectively, to dash Venturi’s hopes and claim a victory that without question was “heard round the world.” In all the excitement, it escaped most people’s notice that Player, winner of the British Open the previous summer at Muirfield, had claimed his second successive top-10 finish at the Masters, while Nicklaus, a crew-cut 20-year-old at the time, attracted only a fraction more attention by dint of lifting the silver cup awarded to the low amateur. All eyes were on Palmer, and what he might achieve next. Of course, by the time the 1961 Masters came round he had added the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills to his burgeoning trophy cabinet and was an overwhelming favorite to claim his third Green Jacket in four attempts. Player, though, had other ideas and after three rounds led Palmer by four strokes with the rest of the field a further two shots back. Three names in particular dominated leaderboards back in 1962

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As the final round unfolded, the pressure clearly got to the young South African as he stumbled to a two-over-par 74. Encouraged by his rival’s nervous performance, Palmer worked his way to the top of the leaderboard and stood in the middle of the 18th fairway with a one-shot lead, needing only a par-4 for victory. However, before playing his approach Palmer allowed himself to be distracted by an old friend in the gallery offering premature congratulations on a job well done. He duly pushed his second shot into a greenside trap, splashed out over the putting surface and took three more to get down, handing Player his first Masters victory on a plate. To say Palmer was steaming is a considerable understatement, although his fury was directed entirely at himself. “What really tore me up inside was the knowledge that I’d lost because I’d failed to do what Pap [his father, Deacon] had always told me to do—stay focused until the job is finished,” he said. Meanwhile, Nicklaus tied for seventh but was thwarted in his bid to retain the amateurs’ trophy by the experienced Charles Coe, who closed with a 69 to finish joint runner-up with Palmer. No doubt a desire to put the record straight, if not a naked urge for revenge, helped to propel Palmer, who had won his first British Open at Birkdale nine months earlier, into a two-stroke lead over Finsterwald after three rounds in 1962. Player was also lurking four shots back and in the end the three of them contested the tournament’s first three-way 18-hole playoff. After a modest start to the playoff which saw him trailing at the turn, Palmer reeled off a blistering back nine of 31 to seal his third Masters triumph. The rest of the majors in 1962 were spread exclusively amongst the Big Three, as McCormack was soon to brand them—Nicklaus, newly professional, beat Palmer in a playoff for the U.S. Open at Oakmont; Palmer successfully defended the Claret Jug at Troon in Scotland; and Player won the PGA Championship at Aronimink. Nicklaus annexed two of the four majors in 1963— the Masters, by a single shot from Tony Lema, and the PGA Championship at Dallas Athletic Club. Palmer’s only significant tilt came in the U.S. Open at Brookline, Massachusetts where he lost to Boros in a playoff; and Player recorded top-10 finishes in all four without ever really contending. And so to 1964, and Palmer’s long-coveted desire at last “to walk up 18 knowing there was no way I could lose the Masters.” Tied for the lead with Player after day one, Palmer was four strokes clear at the halfway stage and five ahead with 18 holes to go. This time his focus remained intact and he duly ran away with a six-shot victory over Nicklaus and his late, great friend Dave Marr. He wasn’t to know it at the time, but this turned out to be the last of his seven major wins. Palmer and Player tied for second, nine shots adrift of Nicklaus, in 1965 and a year later the Golden Bear was top dog again after a playoff, with Palmer two shots back in a tie for fourth. Palmer was fourth again in 1967, his last top-10 finish at Augusta, and second

It is the fervent wish of golf fans the world over to see the Big Three in harness again, if only as honorary starters

Fred McLeod was already 83 when he ‘started’ the 1966 Masters

to Nicklaus a couple of months later in the U.S. Open at Baltusrol. But thereafter the Big Three took a back seat at the Masters until Nicklaus won by three in 1972 to tie Palmer’s tally of four Green Jackets. Player, well into his 39th year, leveled another Palmer record—seven major wins—at the Masters in 1974 and 12 months later Nicklaus shaded Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in a thriller down the stretch. Despite these seasoned successes, both men’s finest hour at Augusta was, amazingly, still to come. In 1978, at the age of 42, Player carded seven birdies over the last 10 holes to close with a 64 and convert a seven-shot deficit behind reigning U.S. Open champion Hubert Green after 54 holes into an incredible one-stroke victory. The ultimate Masters swansong, though, came in 1986 when Nicklaus, at 46, turned the clock back in similar fashion with a final-round 65 (including 30 on the back nine). In the process, he overtook a distinguished cast of contenders that included Greg Norman, Tom Kite, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Price, along with his bête-noir in the 1977 and 1981 Masters, Tom Watson, to secure the last, and possibly most glorious, of his 18 major titles. Between the three of them, they made a total of 147 starts in the tournament and clocked up no fewer than 49 top-10 finishes, the last of which came in 1998 when Nicklaus, then 58, tied for sixth. Palmer brought the curtain down on his playing career at the Masters in 2004 and Nicklaus followed suit a year later, but it wasn’t until 2009 that Player called it a day. Now they are all “in retirement,” it is the fervent wish of golf fans the world over, not just occupants of the inner sanctum of Augusta National, to see the Big Three back in harness again, if only as honorary starters. The custom of starting the Masters with honorary opening tee shots at the 1st hole by legendary players whose competitive days were behind them was

introduced in 1963. The Scottish-born duo of Fred McLeod, U.S. Open champion in 1908, and Jock Hutchison, a British Open and PGA champion of the early 1920s, were the original honorary starters and discharged the duty together at every subsequent Masters until 1973. Hutchison dropped out at that stage due to ill health, but McLeod carried on until 1976, the year he died, aged 94. Nelson and Sarazen assumed the role in 1981 and were joined by Snead three years later. This threesome continued in harness until 1999 when Sarazen died, aged 97, while Nelson and Snead, both pushing 90 at the time, discontinued in 2001. After a gap of a few years, Palmer has acted as the solitary honorary starter since 2007 and was joined last year by Nicklaus. Despite much speculation that they will be joined by Player for the 2011 Masters in a dream reunification of the Big Three, no announcement to this effect had been made at the time Kingdom went to press. Palmer, Player and Nicklaus—now aged 81, 75 and 71 respectively—are the living evidence of the symbolic heritage that the Masters, and indeed the other major championships, embody. It is a heritage that stretches back through Bobby Jones to Tom Morris and the very origins of the modern game; and it is a heritage that safeguards for generations to come those principles and conventions that all who love the game hold to be sacrosanct. So, with sincere apologies to the Bard: “When shall we three meet again?” At Augusta National, we all hope. “In thunder, lightning or in rain?” Nicklaus won his sixth green jacket, aged 46, with a closing 65

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18 st 1 holes

in recent editions of Kingdom, readers have been introduced to fantasy courses consisting of memorable 17th and 18th holes. the latest chapter in our monumental series returns to the very start of the round— the 1st tee

or some golFers, this iconic piece of ground assumes an almost divine status as expectation and exhilaration mingle to generate an adrenaline-fueled feeling of euphoria. For others, it offers nothing but dread and intimidation as dozens of pairs of eyes—some beside the tee, others gazing from the shelter of the clubhouse—home in on the hapless, choking protagonist. these contrasting emotions apply equally to every standard of golf course known to mankind, not just the time-honored temples that regularly pay homage to the game’s major championships. they also apply to every standard of golfer, from the weekend hacker to the seasoned tour pro. All experience 1st tee nerves, though some are more adept than others at turning them to their advantage.

the bottom line, though, is that every round of golf has to begin somewhere, and the first hole, by definition, is the shop window for every golf course in the world. First impressions, though sometimes deceptive or even plain wrong, do count and can foster an unjustified mindset about the course as a whole. But like the rest of the population, golfers are predominantly subjective creatures and are prone to prejudices—both wildly for or wildly against. so it is no surprise that courses with a truly impressive or gloriously idiosyncratic opening hole are the ones that linger longest, and fondest, in the memory, as well as provoking the most discussion. over the next few pages, we are delighted to present a selection of opening holes that combine to create an 18-hole challenge that no golfer would ever be able to forget.

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Hole No.1

Hole No.2

Like all good bedtime stories, we shall start at the very beginning. And golf’s very beginning is to be found at St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. Overlooked by the grey edifice that houses the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the 1st tee on the Old Course should trigger the pulse of even the most relaxed individual. Quite simply, there’s no more fitting symbol of the game’s spirit—from its humble origins to its august pretentions. Few opening tees offer a wider target—despite out-of-bounds down the right, it’s almost impossible to go too far left. But don’t be deceived into thinking this hole is a pushover. Regardless of wind direction, the tricky part is the approach shot, clipped off a tight lie across the snaking Swilcan Burn to a shallow green.

After the relative simplicity of our ‘play away’ hole comes the man-sized challenge of the 1st at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, one of the more daunting openings on the PGA Tour. Mr. Palmer recently reshaped and toughened this difficult right-to-left dogleg, largely by spreading the traps at driving distance on the right edge of the fairway. Aiming left and trying to carry the cluster of mounds and trees on the elbow of the dogleg is for the longest hitters only, and even then the threat posed by the out-of-bounds hedge to the immediate left means only the most attacking, or tactically challenged, players will take it on. That said, Tour pros favor the left center of the fairway for the best angle to an undulating green protected on all four corners by bunkers.

Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland Par-4, 370 yards

Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida Par-4, 461 yards

Hole No.3 Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Lancashire, England Par-3, 206 yards The only modern major-championship venue starting with a short hole is this charming yet quirky links just south of the resort town of Blackpool. The last two [British] Opens at Lytham were won by Tom Lehman and David Duval, and it’s no surprise these former world No.1s are known as strong iron players. In this respect, the 1st provides a template for the test that lies in wait across the course. Needless to say, this is no gentle introduction—the tee shot is threaded through an avenue of trees to a green that’s slanted diagonally from front right to back left and protected by seven traps—four on the left and three on the right, beyond which is the railway line. No wonder Tony Jacklin, Open Champion in 1969, described the hole as a “terrible strain.” Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com

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Hole No.4 Old White Course, The Greenbrier, West Virginia Par-4, 449 yards Laid out in front of the clubhouse verandah by designer Charles Blair Macdonald, this revered opening hole was a particular favorite of the club’s former professional, Sam Snead. The amphitheaters behind the tee enable hundreds of observers—resort residents as well as club members—to watch, and gloat, as attempts are made to dispatch the ball down a straight but claustrophobically narrow, tree-lined fairway. Downhill and subtly curving, first to the left then back to the right, the turf tends not to deliver much run on the ball. Assuming you finish on the fairway, the approach, more often than not, must be played with a mid-to-long iron to a green framed by three bunkers—to the left, right and back.

Hole No.5

Hole No.6

Atlanta Athletic Club, home to the great Bobby Jones, hosted the 1963 Ryder Cup over its East Lake layout when Arnold Palmer, the event’s last player-captain, led the U.S. to a 23-9 victory. Soon afterwards, the club relocated to Riverbend where its two 18-hole courses—Highlands and Riverside—were designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and remodeled by his son Rees. The Highlands has showcased major victories by Jerry Pate (1976, U.S. Open), Larry Nelson (1981, PGA) and David Toms (2001, PGA), and the PGA Championship returns there in August. The opening hole is a dogleg left, so a controlled draw is required to leave a short iron to the green. Tall trees stand guard left of the fairway while the right side is well bunkered. The key to the approach is to stay below the hole.

The National Golf Club’s three courses are a short drive south of Melbourne. Laid out in 2000 by Peter Thomson (the city’s favorite golfing son), Mike Woolveridge and Ross Perrett, the Ocean delivers a dazzling start. Played from the course’s highest point beside the clubhouse, this medium-length par-5 is only a small part of the breathtaking vista on view from the tee. A split fairway tempts big hitters to take the shorter, riskier line via a narrow plateau up the right while the longer, safer option is to aim down the low side to the left. The green is reachable in two with a following wind, otherwise the sensible lay-up is to around 100 yards. However, shots to the raised putting surface will roll back down the hill if they fail to carry the slope at the front.

Ocean Course, National Golf Club, Victoria, Australia Par-5, 539 yards

Bob Maynard

Highlands Course, Atlanta Athletic Club, Georgia Par-4, 454 yards

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Hole No.7

La Moye, Jersey, Channel Islands Par-3, 167 yards

Jersey, the biggest of the Channel Islands off the south coast of England, has two outstanding golf courses, one of which, La Moye in the southwest, starts with that rarity—a par-3. Designed by James Braid around 1930 and refined by another [British] Open champion, Henry Cotton, some three decades later, La Moye is mainly a links layout that is defined by large sand hills, pot bunkers, gorse bushes and punishing rough, not to mention a stiff and seemingly omnipresent wind. Right from the very first tee shot, precision, in terms of both direction and club selection, is essential. The 1st here may not be long, but its small, exposed plateau green is surprisingly elusive and surrounded at the front and sides by a string of four bunkers and over the back by impenetrable gorse bushes.

Hole No.8

Damai Golf & Country Club, Sarawak, Malaysia Par-5, 564 yards

The course at Damai Golf & Country Club in the province of Sarawak on the island of Borneo was the first to be designed by Arnold Palmer in Malaysia. Carved into a spectacular setting consisting of sandy beaches, rocky outcrops and mangrove forests adjacent to the glistening South China Sea, it opened in 1996 and features two distinct 9-hole loops—the Mountain and the Ocean. The first half of the course—the Mountain Nine—tees off with a left-to-right dogleg par-5 that heads directly inland toward the foothills of Mount Santubong past a lengthy pond on the left and thick trees to the right. Ideally, the second shot should hold the left side of the fairway to set up a short-iron approach away from the trap that hugs the left side of the green.

Hole No.9 Augusta National, Georgia Par-4, 445 yards This hole has stretched considerably beyond its initial 400 yards in recent times, though its elongation is understandable given its status as the springboard for the year’s opening major, the Masters. Named ‘Tea Olive,’ this partial dogleg right presents a classic ‘down and up’ fairway which players need to clear in order to leave themselves a relatively short approach to a slightly raised green. But for the likes of honorary starters Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, the hole has been transformed from a routine push across the valley into an almost insurmountable carry. For modern players, the main threats are the wide bunkers to the right of the fairway at driving distance and to the front left of the green, while hooks off the tee invariably fall foul of the encroaching screen of trees down the left.

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Hole No.10

Doonbeg, Co. Clare, Ireland Par-5, 567 yards

Former world No.1 Greg Norman exercised his “least disturbance philosophy” when he mapped out Doonbeg on the west coast of Ireland. “When I first looked at this site, I thought I was the luckiest designer in the world,” said the Australian of the unspoiled setting for his ambitious layout. Spanning a mile and a half of crescent-shaped beach and centuries-old sand dunes, the course has views of the Atlantic from the green, fairway or tee on 16 of its 18 holes. Naturally with such an exposed piece of land, variations in wind speed and direction ensure different playing conditions every time. When playing the 1st, one of five par-5s, it’s easy to be distracted by the scenery and pay scant attention to the pot bunkers lurking alongside the fairway or the enormous dune guarding the green on three sides.

Hole No.11

Hole No.12

Many pundits believe the 18 holes designed by Arnold Palmer at DLF make up the finest course in India, a country destined surely to emulate China’s arrival as a modern golfing powerhouse. Opened in 1999 and set against the dramatic backdrop of the rugged Aravali mountain range, this beautiful parkland layout is adorned by five sparkling lakes, numerous streams and a bewildering variety of trees (no fewer than 140,000 were planted during landscaping). It is also the only course in India to offer floodlit golf and hosted its third European Tour event when the Avantha Masters took place in February earlier this year. This gentle starting hole is a clear birdie opportunity, but appearances can be deceptive. A pushed tee shot will easily find the meandering brook just right of the fairway and put an early dent on the scorecard.

Having spread our search for respectable opening par-3s both far and wide, we came across this delightful hole in front of the clubhouse at Brooklake, a prominent country club at Florham Park in Morris County, New Jersey. The course, designed by Herbert Strong in 1921 and revised two decades later, stretches beyond 7,000 yards from the back tees but is mainly flat and friendly. Its 1st hole, though, is not for the faint-hearted, and many a member and guest has suffered an attack of the jitters when confronted by the 100-yard watery grave that spreads from the tee to just short of the putting surface. With four sand traps strung out like pearls across the front of the green, the emphasis is on a cleanly-struck tee shot that fully flies the hole’s scorecard distance.

DLF Golf & Country Club, New Delhi, India Par-4, 365 yards

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Brooklake Country Club, Florham Park, New Jersey Par-3, 190 yards

Hole No.13 Royal St. George’s, Sandwich, Kent, England Par-4, 441 yards The difficulty off the tee is to pick the ideal line from rugged, almost bleak terrain. As the opening hurdle at this year’s [British] Open Championship, this straight but narrow par-4 will swiftly deflate many challenges, especially if the wind whips in from the English Channel across the dunes lining the left side. Out-of-bounds some way to the right shouldn’t bother the world’s leading golfers, but thick rough just off the fairway certainly will. Also, the deep cross-bunker 80 yards short of the green will deter many players from starting with a driver. Those who hold the crumpled, undulating fairway face an approach across three further traps cut into the upslope to a large, curvaceous green that falls away from front to back. This course was the scene of Arnold Palmer’s 1975 victory in the British PGA Championship.

Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com

Allen Kennedy Photography

Hole No.14 Four Seasons Golf Club, Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica Par-5, 543 yards The Four Seasons Golf Club opened to a Palmer design in 2004. Its seashore paspalum turf enables the fairways to be irrigated with salt water and stay green all year round. Laid out on a mountainside amidst a tropical rain forest populated by white-faced monkeys, the course tees off from its highest plateau overlooking Culebra Bay. The 1st is a sharp, left-to-right dogleg. Longer hitters can aim their tee shots over the line of three bunkers on the corner of the dogleg. Otherwise, a wide fairway up the left provides a safe, three-shot start to the round.

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Hole No.15

Hole No.17

This Blue Course will host the U.S. Open for the third time in June following a facelift that has taken it off the PGA Tour circuit these past two years. Opened by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 as a bolt-hole for politicians based in Washington D.C. and prominent businessmen, the Blue was nominally designed by Devereux Emmet although the hand of Donald Ross in its creation is plain for all to see. More recently Robert Trent Jones (1964) and his son Rees (1997) adapted the layout to meet the USGAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stringent standards in advance of the two previous U.S. Opens to be staged at Congressional. The opening hole, played against the prevailing wind, sets the scene with a gentle though tight right-to-left dogleg between a pair of fairway bunkers to a heart-shaped green virtually surrounded by traps.

Another James Braid course and a near neighbor of Royal Birkdale where Arnold Palmer won the first of his two [British] Open crowns in 1961, Southport & Ainsdale is embedded amidst several magnificent sand hills and dunes. This links layout, where accuracy is as important as distance, twice played host to the Ryder Cup in the 1930s. Opening par-3s can be a recipe for slow play, but S&A members are convinced the slight initial delay this hole causes is justified by a generally smooth flow over the rest of the round. With a tee in front of the clubhouse and a small green protected by a semi-circle of nine bunkers, it can play anything from a mid-iron to a driver. The ball must be fired into the heart of the green as anything short will inevitably find sand.

Blue Course, Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland Par-4, 402 yards

Southport & Ainsdale, Lancashire, England Par-3, 204 yards

Hole No.16

Hole No.18

This downhill hole will forever be known as the launch-pad when Arnold Palmer turned a seven-shot deficit after 54 holes into a two-stroke victory in the 1960 U.S. Open. Angered at being told by sportswriter Bob Drum that he was too far back, Palmer drove the green to kick-start one of the greatest final-round charges in golfing history. The 1st has since been lengthened and is probably out of range for even the longest of hitters, which would have been the intention of designer William Flynn back in 1922. The whole course is in view from the tee, where the main concerns are a tree-lined creek running down the right and a fairway bunker on the left. An accurate pitch to a small, sloping green with a swale across its middle is required to achieve a birdie.

To complete our fantasy 18, it is surely fitting we should conclude with one of the hardest tests in golf. This hole has posed a truly searching examination for the participants in the eight U.S. Opens to have been staged at Oakmont since 1927. The drive needs to be long and straight, threaded between a tight girdle of bunkers left and right in order to set up a blind mid-to-long-iron approach to a green that slopes away and is receptive to only the crispest of shots. Trees encroach all down the right of the fairway while to the left, particularly when the USGA come calling, the rough can assume the constituency of spinach. Two small traps guard the front left of a long, slick green where two putts is often the pinnacle of most playersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ambition.

Out: Par-36, 3,655 yards

In: Par-36, 3,591 yards

Oakmont Country Club, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Par-4, 482 yards

tOtAL: Par-72, 7,246 yards

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Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com

Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver, Colorado Par-4, 397 yards

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hen arrIVIng In VenIce FOr the first time, try to do so by water. On a water taxi from the international airport, the grand old lady of the adriatic looks like a painting by Turner, blurred and indistinct until slowly the ancient bell towers form more permanent shapes, historic buildings gradually solidify and the domes of St. Mark’s Basilica can finally be seen. This is Venice in all its glory. The great days of the island as a naval power, when it ruled lands all the way to constantinople (now Istanbul), are long behind it, but the majesty of its architecture and its heritage remains for art lovers, historians and serious travelers to enjoy to the fullest.

In this city without roads, the only traffic to be encountered is along a labyrinth of canals and the most noise comes from the clang-clong of the ancient bells, the cries of gondoliers or the sound of young schoolchildren released from their studies and playing loudly in one of the many squares. It can take half a lifetime to discover all that Venice has to offer and there are many quiet places where, even today, tourists are rarely seen. Despite fears of increasing high tides, crowds in peak times that threaten to overwhelm the city and any number of overpriced eateries around the railway station and St Mark’s, there is joy to be had in just a few small hours if you know where to go, and when.

Few cities in the world showcase the intersections between art, culture, history and civilisation as evocatively as Venice. There’s so much to see here in Italy’s iconic floating city, and so little time in which to see it. Or is there? Steve Killick investigates

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sighs Venice is at its best in spring and early fall. So let it be april, on a clear, crisp morning, with blue skies and the outline of the alps in the northern distance. We have landed, as worthy visitors always did, on the Molo, or harbor, near the two great granite columns on top of which both of Venice’s patron saints sit. To our left is St. Theodore of amasea, standing with his crocodile. eastern in origin, he was the city’s first patron saint until the remains of St. Mark were brought from alexandria by opportunist traders in 828. Venetians, forever image conscious, thought Mark was altogether a more prestigious saint. We can see his symbol, a winged lion with its paw on an open book, at the top of the right-hand column. There were once three, some 900 years old, although one column was dropped into the lagoon and lies there still. Like much in Venice, they were stolen from the east.

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When the Rialto, Venice’s oldest bridge, was built in 1591 it was doubtful whether it would stay up, let alone accommodate lighting

We now have a choice. We can either join the throngs queueing for the Basilica of St. Mark or the Doge’s Palace, home to Venetian rulers for over 1,000 years, or, safe in the knowledge that both jewels will still be here on our next visit, we can continue our walk. If the latter, we should pause to admire the grand square, the only “Piazza” in Venice—the other squares are called “Campo.” Time for refreshments? Alas, it’s too early for a cocktail at Harry’s Bar, which opened in 1931 and entertained talents as diverse as Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway, so we opt instead for a coffee in Florians on the south side of St. Mark’s Square. Having settled our check at Florians, we reflect that we were drinking not only in one of Europe’s oldest cafés, dating back to 1720, and the first to entertain women, but also where Dickens, Byron, Stravinsky and even Casanova had supped before us. If we look closely on the wall in the arcade we may just be able to spot a sign written in red saying “Piazza della Repubblica” put there after Napoleon’s invasion in 1797. Napoleon also removed the four golden horses that stood on the facade of the Basilica and took them off to Paris. The ones you see now are replicas while the originals, which the Venetians themselves stole during the sack of Constantinople in 1204, now stand inside having been

Walking down the steps of the bridge we are now in the economic heart of Venice where merchants met to broker deals returned in 1815 following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo. We should cast our eyes up at the great bell tower, Venice’s tallest at 325ft, where traitors and wayward priests were once hung outside the high windows in cages and left to starve, and where we can see a gilded archangel Gabriel glinting in the sun. In 1452, the Holy Roman Emperor rode his horse up ramps all the way to the top to enjoy the view, although we can now get there by elevator. Our route leads us away from the great tower and through the arch beneath the clock tower with the two moors on the top, who gently strike their bell every hour unless it happens to be Ascension week. Then we shall see every hour a procession consisting of an angel-herald and the three Magi encircling the Madonna in homage. We are on our way to the Rialto and its eponymous bridge, but let’s look up on the wall just past the arch on the left and see the marble relief of Giustina Rossi who looked out of her window in 1310 as an uprising

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Circolo del Golf Venezia is a short journey from the city center

Golf in the Veneto ReGion Just because we are in one of the world’s most historic cities does not mean we have to leave our clubs at home. Just a short water taxi trip takes us to the gates of Circolo del Golf Venezia over on the Lido, carved out of the sandhills alongside a 17th century fort. Tree-lined, lush fairways and good sea air make this an ideal holiday course at 6,800 yards off the back tees (par 72). Venetians take their golf at a leisurely pace, so after nine holes it makes sound sense to pop into the welcoming clubhouse and enjoy a delicious lunch with the freshest fish from the Adriatic washed down with a crisp, chilled white wine from the Veneto region. circologolfvenezia.it For a tougher challenge we need to head inland some seven and a half miles northwest of the lagoon to the Palmer-designed Ca’ della Nave Golf Club. Here, at par of 72 and just under 7,000 yards, the championship course snakes its way around eight lakes and numerous greenside bunkers before finally reaching the tightest of greens at 18, surrounded by ancient woodland and yet more sand. Facilities here are first-class with a swimming pool, tennis courts and fine food in delightful surroundings. There is also a 9-hole executive course. cadellanave.com The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute overlooks the Grand Canal

against the state was charging past. She accidentally knocked her flat iron off her window sill which landed on the head of the standard bearer. This was seen as such a dreadful omen that the protest fled in confusion and she got all the credit for it. Now follow the crowds that take you up to Venice’s oldest bridge and one of only four crossing its main artery, the Grand Canal. There was much argument whether the Rialto bridge (so called because “rivo alto” is a high bank in Italian) would ever stay up when it was built by the aptly-named Antonio da Ponte, opening in 1591. On the right side of the bridge on the façade of the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, where the financial magistrates sat, is the figure of a pained-looking woman sitting on a flaming cauldron at the top of a capital. According to legend, she wagered that she would set fire to her genitals if Antonio’s bridge did not collapse. Almost as famous as the Rialto is the Bridge of Sighs, a smaller, limestone structure built by Antoni Contino, Da Ponte’s nephew, in 1602. Crossing the Rio di Palazzo, it connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge’s Palace, and reportedly provided convicts with their last view of Venice before their incarceration. Walking down the steps of the Rialto we are now in the ancient economic heart of Venice where merchants

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from all over the world gathered to broker deals for silks, furs, precious spices, pepper, opium, perfumes and dyes. The first bank opened here and is now an excellent restaurant, Bancogiro—eminently worthy of our custom and with tables outside overlooking the Grand Canal. The oldest church in Venice is here too, St. Giacomo, originally built in the 5th century. However, the one we see, with its permanently stopped clock, dates from the 11th century. And, provided we are not here on a Sunday, we should visit the fish market with its strange and unusual catches from the lagoon. The lady in the hot seat on the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi facade

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Prosecco You can keep your champagne; true celebrants know that Prosecco—Italy’s sparkling gift to oenophiles everywhere— is as fantastic in the glass and better on the budget. From the hill country just North of Venice, a quality Prosecco’s bubbles are the result of a secondary fermentation (like champagne). But, unlike the French stuff, Prosecco’s second phase most often occurs in stainless steel tanks, lowering the cost of production. The result can stand comparison with sparkling wines from anywhere; often crisp, dry and lively on the tongue. Among the best examples, Adami’s Vigneto Giardino Rive di Colbertaldo Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore adds a hint of smoke and a healthy dose of minerality to the genre’s usual balance of peaches, pears apricots and apples. Enjoy it

Titian’s The Assumption (above) can be found in the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (below)

with a meal, before a meal, after a meal or all by itself with no food in sight. Whether on a summer’s day, at a spring feast or après ski, Prosecco should be a regular guest at your table. Visit adamispumanti.it for more.

There are many excellent places to eat on the Rialto, although if you only fancy a snack the ancient bar, Do Mori, is the perfect spot with its huge selection of wines and tasty sandwiches, meat balls and other delicious morsels known to the Venetians as “cicchetti.” Venetians will be popping in and out, shaking hands, downing a glass of wine, laughing and arguing before bustling off about their business. As time is limited, we must make one more, lengthy walk to pay our respects to one of Venice’s favorite sons. We head down the Ruga Vecchia onto Campo San Polo, where once bullfights were held; past the church tower with its relief of two lions, one fighting a huge serpent and the other playfully gnawing a severed head.

Hours could be spent in the Frari, but while we are here we must see Giovanni Bellini’s gorgeous triptych in the sacristy

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The church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is our destination, the monumental 14th century Franciscan church of the city and home to two of Titian’s most memorable paintings. The Assumption is a colossal altarpiece immediately visible on entry and we should also take time to admire his superb tribute to the Pesaro family, Madonna of Ca’ Pesaro, with Titian’s wife the model for the Madonna and Leonardo, youngest of the Pesaro, boldly gazing out and following us around the vast interior. Hours could be spent in the Frari, but while we are here we must see Giovanni Bellini’s gorgeous triptych in the sacristy, a stunning statue of St. John the Baptist by Donatello. Sculptor Antonio Canova’s tomb, originally planned for Titian, is also haunting. And so our short tour is done and we head south towards the Accademia bridge that will lead us back to St. Mark’s Square. We have not even scratched the surface but hopefully we have seen enough to bring us back to this most sumptuous of cities. As Truman Capote said: “Venice is like eating a box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.” So we need to take things slowly and return often to gain most delight.

Gliding a gondola round the intricate waterways of Venice has never been more lucrative. But, as Steve Killick discovers, unless the citizens of this historic Italian city brush up on their boat-building skills, and fast, this is a mode of transport that will sink without trace

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ver the next few decades, a craft that has lasted more than 1,300 years may be lost forever. the boatmaking skills passed down through generations that once made venice the world’s most powerful naval state could well vanish, and with it this historic city’s most iconic symbol, the gondola. Yet in a tiny shop in a quaintly-named alley, Calle due dei Saoneri (street two of the soapmakers), and hard by a popular franciscan church, the man whose ambition it is to save venetian boat-building works quietly away at his perfect-scale models. from great galleons such as the ‘Bucintoro’ that once carried venetian doges to tiny racing gondole, Gilberto Penzo takes equal care to ensure the finished result of his craft is flawless. every last detail is correct, right down to the type of timber used on each boat. Penzo uses the sale of his boats to fund his main business of ensuring that the skills of centuries are not lost. “so few young people want to follow in their fathers’ footsteps,” he says. “now the boatyards are mainly run by old men. when they go, who knows what will happen?” the challenge he has set himself is to persuade government, universities, schools, residents, and the millions of visitors who visit the city each year, to help make a difference to the future. Penzo has spent all his life near boats, being brought up at the southern end of the venetian lagoon in the small port of chioggia. Born in 1954 to a family of craftsmen and shipbuilders (his mother’s family owned a boatyard and his father was a naval mechanic), he could only watch as the number of skilled venetian craftsmen dwindled to just a handful. “nobody was doing anything,” he says. “the gondoliers can make so much money but they are just concerned about keeping it and paying as little tax as possible. these guys can earn $1,300 in a day during peak season and all they have to do is get their boat painted once a year and make the odd repair. they are not interested in producing craftsmen.” the gondola is first mentioned as venice was emerging as a major city state in a letter from a government official in 1094. By the end of the 15th century, gondole were appearing in paintings by carpaccio and Bellini, although back then they were used as taxis and many were in private ownership.

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the wealthy occupants of the great houses on the Grand canal would have their own gondoliers to transport them, as land owners would have coachmen, and today one can still see the different-colored boat poles where they would be moored outside the water gates of the grand palaces. Last year, a furious row erupted between traditional gondola makers and a Brindisi-based company which wanted to sell fiberglass boats, incorporating what it described as ‘aircraft technology’ and undercutting the cost of a traditional timber-made gondola, which typically costs up to $40,000. the city’s gondoliers’ association came out against the fiberglass scheme, insisting that the traditional methods and dimensions are still used. which is all very well, says Penzo, so long as people are skilled enough to produce them. standards for the traditional gondola are strict. a typical boat that the tourists pay up to $130 for a 50-minute ride in is made from pine, oak, cherry, walnut, elm, mahogany, larch and lime wood. the oar is made from beech wood. the only metal allowed is the unmistakable ‘fero,’ on the prow and at the stern. Insisting on traditional timbers has already upset one gondola maker, Gianfranco vianello, who favours plywood because the life expectancy of traditional materials is too short, around 15 years, before they need overhauling. But at least vianello is still making craft on the lagoon, although Penzo wants the traditional methods to be employed. “and it is not just gondole,” he says. “there are still over 100 different types of craft that are particular to venice and the adriatic region. we need to make sure that these are protected too, not lost and only seen in old pictures.” so, as well as writing books on the subject, involving himself in lectures, restoration work and model making, Penzo has been working closely with the University ca’ foscari in venice to set up a masters degree in naval archaeology, although the course is still in its infancy and sadly lacking in funds. Penzo puts the latter very much down to intransigence on the part of local government. he is not too happy with the regional policy makers either but then few venetians ever are. he is particularly annoyed at the local venetian government’s attitude to wrecks found in the lagoon. In

So he works with other like-minded parties in other boatyards to restore boats of antiquity and interest. He has travelled as far as Newport News in Virginia to help restore a gondola once owned by the poet Robert Browning which was on display in the Mariners’ Museum. The gondola still had its original ‘felze,’ no longer used today, which was a small, covered cabin amidships where owners could travel in privacy, often enjoying secret liaisons. Given that Browning bought it in 1846 and sold it on to his gondolier, Giovanni Hitzi, in 1861, Penzo reckons it is the oldest gondola in existence. Normally, when gondole in Venice wear out they are simply broken up and replaced by new boats. “This is the problem with the attitude in Italy generally and Venice in particular,” he sighs. “Boats are hardly ever repaired and restoration is barely understood. It is far more likely that someone will try and ‘improve’ the boats and add things when, by their very nature, they are spartan and basic. “If nothing else, this is the message I want to get across. The restoration of any boat, like that of any other historical artefact, is an operation that should be conducted with delicacy and craftsmanship and requires, above all, a profound sense of history.” Visitors to Penzo’s small shop in Street Two of the Soapmakers who buy one of his models, even the tiny ones that cost just a few dollars, are helping to keep a little bit of Venetian boat-building history alive. Gilberto Penzo works in his shop on a model he will put up for sale

2001, two ancient vessels were discovered in the shallows of the lost island of San Marco in Boccalama that disappeared beneath the waters of the lagoon some 500 years ago. The two ships, one around 700 years old, the other a 13th century galley and the oldest ever found in Venice, had been loaded with earth and sunk by monks of the island as a last ditch defence against the rising tide. The Government sent its inspectors out to look and then left as the waters once again submerged the vessels, deciding that they would come back for further inspections at some unspecified date. “It was completely crazy,” says Penzo, “as the boats would have only lasted another six months or so having been waterlogged for so long. And yet we have the ‘Arsenale’ empty where for centuries so many ships were built.” The Venetian arsenal was the very first of its kind, opening in the 12th century and named from the Arabic ‘dar sina’a,’ meaning place of industry. It was a legendary place and one that inspired Dante to describe the smoke, boiling tar and hellish heat in a canto in his famous Inferno. At the peak of its power, the arsenal was employing 16,000 men and could assemble an ocean-going war galley in just a few hours. On one occasion, for the benefit of Henry III of France, the whole operation was undertaken whilst 3,000 guests enjoyed a banquet. Now officially an off-limits military zone, it lies deserted, much to Penzo’s frustration.

Boats of the lagoon Since the first inhabitants fled from warlike Germanic tribes on the mainland during the 5th and 6th centuries, the occupants of the Venetian lagoon have been a waterborne people, using narrow, flat-bottom boats to fish and move easily around the shallow marshland. Over the centuries various craft have developed with the gondola being the most instantly recognizable. Indeed, only its prow needs to be seen to remind one immediately of Venice. The ‘fero’ is axe-like in shape although its design is meant to represent the cap worn by the Doge, the titular head of the Venetian republic. The six bars one side are the six ‘sestieri’, or districts, that comprise the city, and the long single bar represents the long island of Giudecca which lies immediately to the south. “For the majority of tourists who spend just a few hours in Venice,” says Penzo, “all the boats in the canals are gondolas. In actual fact, there are at least 100 types of boats, each of which was developed to respond to a specific need.” There are numerous racing types of gondola; large ‘traghetti’, the public taxi gondolas that ply passengers from one side of the Grand Canal to other; and flat-bottom sailing and fishing boats. All of these Penzo is trying to photograph and catalog, work that is both exhausting and expensive. “I am always looking for more sponsors,” he says, before returning to work on his latest craft.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;When the barbarians appear on the frontiers of a civilization, it is a sign of crisis in that civilization. If the barbarians come not with weapons of war but with the songs and ikons (sic) of peace, it is a sign that the crisis is one of a spiritual nature. In either case the crisis is never welcomed by the entrenched beneficiaries of the status quo.â&#x20AC;? Lawrence Lipton From the preface to his book, The Holy Barbarians, 1959

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bsurd. “To live as i have done is surely absurd.” The opening line to Beat writer Jack Micheline’s work A Poem to the Freaks, wasn’t written in venice, California, but it’s the kind of thing you might hear the city whispering, if cities could whisper. Conceived by a romantic (in the literary sense) who was also a fierce businessman, built on a marsh, celebrated by throngs in search of distraction, destroyed by fire, sewage and politics, and ultimately raised from the mire in tatters and redeemed on the shoulders of the dispossessed only to emerge decades later as an enclave of the newly minted who are attracted by the eccentric reputation and history but who reject living with the eccentricities themselves… venice is indeed absurd. and for most of its true fans, that’s beautiful.

Venice was a dream built on a marsh, celebrated by the masses, destroyed by fire and politics, and ultimately redeemed by the dispossessed

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Venice was Abbot Kinney’s idea. Born in 1850 in New Jersey, the nephew of a U.s. senator was the youngest of five brothers, asthmatic and 6’ 2” tall by the time he was 16. somewhat typical for the well-heeled of the day, the young Kinney was sent abroad to round out his education. heidelberg, Paris and Zurich all had him studying, while an extensive european tour before he returned stateside found him wondering at marvels in, among other places, venice, italy. When he returned home, he joined a U.s. Geological survey team mapping the sioux indian Reservation in what was then the Dakota Territory. after that, he joined his brothers’ tobacco business on the east Coast, heading abroad again as a tobacco buyer to far-off locales like egypt and Turkish Macedonia, and making use of his linguistic skills (he spoke French, spanish, italian, German and arabic). in 1876, in what is now Thessaloniki, Kinney was caught up in a Turkish massacre of thousands of Christians and narrowly escaped with his life. The experience convinced the 26-year-old to take a semiretirement, and he spent the next three years traveling. india, New Guinea, australia and hawaii were all ports of call, but California is where his trip ended. after arriving in san Francisco, he headed for a resort further south in hopes of curing his asthma. as the story has it, the place did the trick, Kinney felt great and decided to put down roots. he married the daughter of a state supreme Court justice, planted a citrus grove with the intention of being a produce man, and started a family. The next few years were alternately blessed and cursed with family and financial triumphs and tragedies, but his most enduring story began with a coin toss in 1904, when he decided to bet on a dream. in 1891, Kinney and a partner bought a casino and a large stretch of marshland on the ocean just south of santa Monica. seven years later, the pair opened ocean Park, a small community with beach cottages, a commercial district, golf links and more. Kinney’s partner died in 1898, a new partner came on but quickly sold his half of the company to other investors with whom, as fate would have it, Kinney did not get along. The company’s holdings basically included the ocean Park development, which was closer to santa Monica, and the undeveloped marshland to the south. in 1904, at a meeting to dissolve the company, a coin toss was held to decide who got first pick of the assets, Kinney won and—surprisingly, and perhaps stupidly, to some— decided he’d have the marsh. Kinney dreamed of building “venice of america,” and he thought the marshland was the ideal place for it. he envisioned canals, gondolas, colonnaded shopping arcades and the old World feeling of italy set on the Pacific, accessible via trolley from downtown los angeles. a man named henry huntington was just starting work on “Naples” in long Beach, California, with canals and gondolas of its own. But Kinney’s dream was the original, it was the biggest and—after battling storms, enormous construction difficulties and myriad other issues—it was the first to come true.

The Lagoon is now a paved roundabout with connecting streets

On July 4, 1905, Venice of America celebrated its grand opening “to great fanfare,” as they say, and Los Angeles gained one of the most enduring aspects of its character. Branching off a Grand Canal that was half a mile long and 70 feet wide, a network of nearly two miles of smaller canals flowed under arched bridges past bungalows, residential lots, and a small “tent city” Kinney built as an economy hotel of sorts, ultimately meeting at a main lagoon. The opening must have been a sight: There were swimming races in the main lagoon, rides on gondolas that had been imported from the “real” Venice, fireworks, boat races, concerts, new restaurants and hotels, and all manner of street attractions. Nearly 20,000 visitors came to see the manifestation of a project many had believed would end in folly. Venice was off and running.

PIERS When it came to creating seaside attractions in the early 20th century, it was all about the piers. But these weren’t simple planked affairs jutting into the sea from which lazy hobbyists drop fishing lines. Early piers were massive affairs with dancehalls, theaters, wild amusement rides, restaurants, hotels, funhouses and the like. When Venice of America opened, the nearby Ocean Park Pier was going strong. In fact, the day of the Venice opening, Ocean Park Pier premiered its new $150,000 heated saltwater “plunge,” the contemporary name for a large pool. Kinney had, of course, been part of developing Ocean Park, and for years his Abbot Kinney Pier and the one at Ocean Park—along with a number of other piers in the area—would compete for visitors, constantly trying to outdo each other with bigger attractions, finer hotels, better games, longer dance competitions, more impressive performers and the like. In the case of the Abbot Kinney Pier, it eventually featured a massive dancehall that could hold 800 couples on its floor, a 3,000-seat auditorium (in which the French actress Sarah Bernhardt performed in 1906), and an aquarium with a seal and sea lion tank, plus 48 other

glass tanks containing local specimens. A short-lived roller skating fad found a home at a skating rink in Venice, a 2,500-seat amphitheater on the lagoon hosted all manner of entertainment, and Kinney opened his own saltwater pool, which could accommodate 2,000 bathers at once. By 1911 the city of Ocean Park had officially changed its name to Venice, and local merchants were settling down to the business of doing business. For the next 40 years, that business was amusement. “Fraser’s Million Dollar Pier” opened the same year Venice made its name official with a large dancehall, roller coasters, a vaudeville theater and more. A miniature working model of the Panama Canal (construction on the real thing started in 1904 and fascinated the public at the time) joined fun houses, carousels and a popular exhibit called “Infant Incubators,” in which premature babies were displayed—and cared for, with assistance they likely could not get in hospitals of the day. Kinney’s pier eventually had an ostrich farm, zoological garden, and underground China exhibit with wax models of, among other things, an opium den. Other area attractions included houses of horror (“Darkness & Dawn” and “Hades” were popular); more than 14 roller coasters, including the Race Thru the Clouds ride in which two roller coasters raced each other on side-by-side tracks; and the Dragon Slide, which had patrons riding burlap sacks down a spiraling slide 99 feet high (bamboo splinters were apparently a common complaint). There were multi-day dance marathons; beauty pageants; a miniature railroad to ferry people around; a motordrome in which daredevil drivers would speed around a giant wooden bowl with 65-degree walls (one of the drivers, Tom Prior, died when his car went a bit high, hit a post and smashed into pieces); a barnstorming plane ride; Ferris wheels; roller rinks; and on and on and on. The crowd’s enthusiasm lasted only as long as it took to open the next attraction—and that wasn’t long. Jake Cox, a movie stuntman, used to put on a carpeted suit, douse himself with kerosene, light himself on fire and then dive from the rafters of the plunge pool into the water below to attract visitors, but this eventually failed to impress the crowds and he had to amend his act to lighting himself on fire and jumping into the Pacific at night from the wing of an airplane. As much as it might have brought in a few paying customers, fire, it turns out, was a problem for the piers. The “Million Dollar Pier” burned mostly to the waterline in 1912, then burned again in 1915 after being rebuilt. Abbot Kinney’s pier burned in 1920, again almost completely, and two more piers (The Pickering and Lick Piers) burned down in 1924.

When jumping into a pool while on fire failed to rouse the crowds, he started doing the fire jump at night into the sea from the wing of a plane

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“This is the only place I don’t feel out of place, because everyone here is out of place”—Arnold Schwarzenegger CHANGES Movies were filmed here, celebrities lived in the hotels (Charlie Chaplin lived in the penthouse at the Waldorf on Ocean Front Walk from 1915 to 1920), locals drank, danced and gambled here and the area got a reputation. When Abbot Kinney died, in 1920, Venice was in trouble. Mismanagement and a drop in city revenues led to annexation by the City of Los Angeles in 1925, which did no immediate favors—the first thing LA did was appropriate the Venice Fire Department’s brand new fire engine for its own and replace it with a clunker. By 1927, LA officials were talking about filling in the canals and the lagoon to make room for parking, which they eventually did, preserving only a precious few waterways. And when oil was discovered in 1929, Venice lost the last bit of its old school dignity. Over the next few months the town went from a charming amusement capital to an oil boomtown with more than 140 wells packed in side-by-side, and by September of 1930 the Venice oil field was the state’s fourth largest. High times in the early days of Venice of America The aesthetic shift from beach paradise to industrial mess and the overall impact of the Great Depression hit appeared (the infamous Crips street gang was formed amusement revenues even harder, but hope for Venice not far away) and Venice became dangerous, but the wasn’t yet lost. By the mid 1930s things were starting to artistic and cultural successes brought renewed popular look up a bit, due in part to an influx of workers from a interest in the 1970s and 1980s. The Boardwalk, which nearby McDonald Douglas aircraft factory. Additionally, runs through the area the piers used to dominate, is now the piers stayed open through WWII (though not at as much a part of LA as the Sunset Strip. This is where night) and proved popular for sailors on leave, but in Arnold Schwarzenegger used to work out, at the famed truth it was the old Venice’s last gasp. In 1946 the city “Muscle Beach” outdoor gym. “This is the only place that refused to renew the Kinney Company’s lease on its pier, I don’t feel out of place, because everyone here is out of and an era was over. place,” he once said of Venice. The 1950s saw a small resurgence, but old Venice It hasn’t changed that much in the last 30 years: A was all done. Drainage issues with sewage and garbage, tan bodybuilder in a pink thong playing electric guitar runoff and environmental issues from the oil wells, and on roller skates; the guy who hammers nails up his nose general decay had turned the canals into pits. The area and dances on broken glass; the woman covered in tinfoil was so ugly Orson Welles used it as the set for a forlorn selling expired wall calendars and barking about aliens… border town in the 1958 movie, A Touch of Evil. Ray Even the city’s website acknowledges that the three miles Bradbury noted the dreariness, writing that “Venice was of sand along the Pacific are not what attracts visitors, and is full of lost places where people put up for sale the last offering: “You go to Venice… to gawk.” worn bits of their souls, hoping no one will buy.” Modern Venice is still rough around the edges— Rather than step in and facilitate repair and “Where Art Meets Crime” is a popular slogan on local redevelopment of the old neighborhoods, the City of T-shirts—but gastropubs, galleries and new housing Los Angeles chose instead to bulldoze more than 500 exist right alongside fortunetellers and babbling selfof the historic buildings, giving the area even more of a styled prophets. As architect Antoine Predock, who built bombed-out appearance. Immigrants and artists moved a notable beach house in Venice in 1991, observed: “It’s into what was left and Venice’s modern chapter began. a fault line where the flotsam and energy that washes The Beat poets—Lawrence Lipton’s “Holy Barbarians,” up from the Pacific collides with all of urban America with their Gas House and Venice West hangouts—and crashing in from the other direction.” later the hippies and artists like The Doors made Venice In a word: Absurd. the center of LA’s art and counterculture movements. Charles Bukowski worked at the Venice Post Office. Jeffrey Stanton’s book Venice California: Coney Island of the Pacific, and Venice California by Carolyn Elayne Anais Nin’s friends drank and reminisced about her Alexander were invaluable sources for this article. sunbathing nude here in the late 1940s. Gangs eventually

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Hill of tHe king Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlandoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original Magic Kingdom, celebrates its 50th birthday in 2011. Paul Trow looks back on the illustrious lifetime of one of Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier golfing hideaways

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IdentIfyIng that moment In tIme when a golf course turns into an institution is far from easy. after all, how does one pinpoint the precise reasons behind the transition from humdrum tour stop to the golfing equivalent of, say, the Pearly gates? In the case of Bay Hill Club & Lodge, perhaps it was those electrifying putts and concomitant fist pumps with which Tiger Woods claimed his fifth and sixth victories in nine years over the testing Orlando layout in 2008 and 2009. Or perhaps it was the altogether more restrained celebrations of Ernie Els after the Big Easy had caressed home a 7ft putt to seal an equally popular win last year. Or perhaps it was the constant of teeing it up and contesting a title, year after year, at a tournament hosted by Arnold Palmer. Or perhaps, even, it was receiving that gold embossed invitation card from the King around the turn of the year—a call to arms that attests to a player’s status, pedigree or potential. Or perhaps it was none of those things. Perhaps it was because, as the poet T.S. Eliot wrote, ‘In my end is my beginning.’

The tricky par-3 199-yard 7th, here photographed in 2005. The hole has since been cleverly remodelled by APDC

“I loved Bay Hill from the first time I saw it, and I loved the area” The beginning, as far as Mr. Palmer was concerned, was unquestionably the means to a glorious end. In 1965, Bay Hill’s owners decided they needed an injection of publicity into their campaign to gain recognition for their new Florida golf resort. To accomplish this, they invited Mr. Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Don Cherry and Dave Ragan to Bay Hill for a winter exhibition match. To say it was love at first sight for Mr. Palmer might be an understatement—but shooting a winning 66 that day, seven strokes better than his great rival Nicklaus, certainly put a spring in his step. Back then it was little more than a still-raw golf course with a tiny pro shop, small guest lodge and a handful of modest bungalows carved out of the orange groves and desolate razor brush that so characterized central Florida. It was a breathtaking wilderness of laid-back rural ambience surrounded by pristine freshwater lakes and abundant wildlife—waterfowl, snakes and alligators. “I loved Bay Hill from the first time I saw it, and I loved the area,” Mr. Palmer reminisces. “It was near perfect, a golfer’s paradise in my book. Orlando is a great town and it is a wonderful place to play golf.”

Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com

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Indeed, he was so smitten with the place he told his wife Winnie: “Babe, I’ve just played the best course in Florida, and I want to own it.” That winter, Mr. Palmer returned to Bay Hill in order to escape Pennsylvania’s harsh winter and to work on his game. He had already decided he wanted to acquire this Orlando golfing paradise that had so taken his fancy, and his efforts reached partial fruition in 1970 when he and several partners took an option to assume control. “Bay Hill was something special. With its splendid isolation and Eden-like abundance of wildlife, it really was a little bit of paradise on earth,” he said. “We envisioned ourselves being happy there for a very long time, building a second home where we could go to relax before beginning the madness of another tour season, where I could practice to my heart’s content, with only a few club members and their guests around to interrupt my concentration. Best of all, we could adopt a slower pace of life—something we greatly needed at this hectic point in our lives.” He also established an office at the club, played golf and cards with the gang, sipped beer in the grillroom. No question—Mr. Palmer had found the quiet, out-of-the way place whence he could retreat each winter with his family and relax in the warmth. But purchasing Bay Hill was easier said than done. Thus Mark McCormack, the owner of International Management Group (IMG) and Mr. Palmer’s long-time business guru, along with his great personal friend and confidant, Russ Meyer, went to work in order to maneuver Arnold Palmer Enterprises into a position to buy the club and all its assets. As it turned out, almost a dozen of the initial investors needed to be satisfied and negotiating with them took the best part of the next five years. “In 1969, we finalized and signed a five-year lease with an option to buy the club,” Mr. Palmer said. “We immediately set about making improvements to the course and to the lodge, figuring we would own the whole shooting match outright by the end of the lease.” In 1974, at the end of that option, the course’s owners went against their agreement with Mr. Palmer and struck a deal to sell the property to another bidder. But the new owner—George Powell, president and CEO of Yellow Freight transport lines out of Kansas City— “turned out to be a real gentleman,” Mr. Palmer noted. “He graciously agreed to renegotiate the deal and we eventually purchased the club and course from him. The final price we paid was a bit higher than we had hoped it would be but at least Bay Hill was finally ours.” So in 1976, after a decade-long love affair, Bay Hill formally belonged to Mr. Palmer, and it has been the King’s southern castle ever since.

“Bay Hill was something special, with its splendid isolation and Eden-like abundance of wildlife”

Construction was well underway when this photo was taken in 1961

Apart from Native Americans and a few masochistic lovers of humidity, no one really lived in central Florida until the advent of air conditioning. Before that time, Orlando and Orange County occupied land that was devoted almost exclusively to the growth, processing and distribution of citrus fruits. By the early 1960s, though, the region had been staked out as the launch pad for the U.S space program following President Kennedy’s promise to put a man on the moon. In hindsight, this must have been the signal to Walt Disney Productions that the entertainment company’s search for an eastern outpost was over. Land was purchased during the late 1960s—more than 27,000 acres of it, as it happened—and in 1971, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World opened for business. In the meantime, the area had already attracted the attention of a group of wealthy investors and prominent businessmen—mainly from Nashville—who were seeking a more discreet form of entertainment. In 1961, they found the ideal location for their residential winter golfing retreat on a stretch of greenbelt controlled by the Dr. P. Phillips Foundation, named after a prominent local landowner, and irrigated from the nearby Butler Chain of Lakes. Prior to that time, only two golf courses had been built in Orlando and the town’s relative anonymity seemed destined to stretch long into the future. But a few local golfers felt the 640-acre tract of white sand and scrub pine, wedged between two large citrus groves to the west of Apopka Vineland Road and east of Lake Tibet Butler, would be the ideal location for a new course, especially as the elevation variations on site were far from typical of central Florida. In other words, the very features that rendered the land unsuitable for cultivation in Dr. Phillips’ opinion were nigh-on perfect for golf.

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However, the project required capital—$100,000 initially, and much more once the Nashville investors, all members of Belle Meade Country Club in Tennessee, came on board. The Bay Hill Club, Inc., to which was assigned an option from the Dr. P. Phillips Foundation to lease and purchase the land, was formed. By the end of 1960, plans for the club and its residential subdivisions had been drawn up and Dick Wilson, a leading course architect of the time, was engaged for the then-princely fee of $18,000. Wilson laid out two of the three 9-hole loops—the Challenger and Champion, which today form the revered Championship course. The third 9, the Charger, in the western corner of the property, came later. In an ironic piece of symmetry, Wilson had just completed a much-acclaimed design for Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania which years later Mr. Palmer renovated, having captained the United States to victory there in the 1975 Ryder Cup. By the by, the name “Bay Hill” was coined around the time of the initial purchase by one of the Nashville investors. According to legend, he noticed a number of bay trees on the high ground between what is now the 2nd green and 3rd tee. It didn’t take long for “Bay trees on the Hill” to ellipse into Bay Hill—and the name has since stood the test of time. A lot of the dynamics relating to Mr. Palmer’s acquisition of Bay Hill changed in 1970 when Disney Corporation announced its plans to create the world’s grandest family theme park. However, Mr. Palmer’s initial reservations about this development soon subsided. “The people at Disney couldn’t have been more gracious and the experience brought home to me what an unprecedented impact the park’s presence was going to have on Orlando and the surrounding environment,” he said. “Thanks to those freshwater lakes to the west and north, access to our little sanctuary would remain fairly limited. With no through traffic and only small residential streets connecting something like 600 residential lots, I figured that we would become an oasis of calm in the midst of it all.” Arnie with his wife and parents outside the Lodge in 1970

Dick Wilson, Bay Hill’s first course architect, charged $1,000 a hole

The next stop for Mr. Palmer and Bay Hill was the PGA Tour, though as with all truly fulfilling relationships the introduction was accidental. The Florida Citrus Open (won by Mr. Palmer in 1971) had been a fixture on the PGA Tour schedule since 1966. It filled a slot that no other state could manage at that time of year, and the players loved escaping their northern hibernations to take a tilt at some welcome dollars. Yet by 1978 the tournament’s best days were, seemingly, behind it. Mr. Palmer takes up the story: “I got a phone call from Orlando businessman Frank Hubbard. Frank was concerned that the Citrus Open was dying on the vine at the Rio Pinar Country Club and he wondered if moving the tournament to Bay Hill and attaching my name to the event might somehow revive what had been a very popular and prosperous stop on the PGA Tour. “When I thought about it I realized that this was indeed a way I could give something valuable back to the PGA Tour which had been so very good to me and my family. A year later, in the spring of 1979 with me playing the host role, the new Bay Hill tournament debuted with a strong field including Jack Nicklaus. “I don’t remember much about the 70 I shot in the first round; what I do recall is being incredibly nervous about having the entire golf world, my old friends and several million network television viewers, come to Bay Hill. I needn’t have worried. We got rave reviews and that first Bay Hill event was won in a thrilling playoff by a Wake Forest graduate, Bob Byman. “It was Winnie’s idea to make the children’s hospital the principal beneficiary of the charity monies created by the Bay Hill tournament.” The tournament was an overnight success, and 32 years later it’s still alive and kicking, and now enjoying that much-envied, prestige slot on the PGA Tour schedule just a fortnight before the Masters.

In harness with the late Ed Seay and, more recently, Erik Larsen, Mr. Palmer and the troops from Arnold Palmer Design Company honed and fine-tuned Bay Hill over the years—a policy that is still ongoing, to which the latest (2009) facelift will testify. The objective to this day is to present a stiff test for Tour pros while at the same time offering an enjoyable experience to club members and handicap golfers. “Even though Bay Hill is a private course, you’re still able to stay at the lodge and play a round of golf,” said Mr. Palmer. “I really like that golfers are able to play my course as the PGA Tour pros do.”

Mr. Palmer’s ownership of Bay Hill Club & Lodge has been sacrosanct, and beyond approach. The course ratings highlight the fact that the closing hole—the 18th—is its toughest and there is always an overriding impression that its firm fairways and even firmer TifEagle greens, along with its wicked rough, will some time soon put the course into contention to stage a U.S. Open. Els, a double U.S. Open winner and current Bay Hill champion, is certainly a fan. “I think it’s brilliant,” he said last March after inking his name into the tournament’s roll of honor for a second time. “They are really tough pin positions. I mean, 11-under won. That’s where, as a designer, you want the winning score to be.” According to one online pundit, “the layout itself has a few pedestrian Florida holes, where the typical bunkers and water hazards await. But they are offset by several stunners that confound even the world’s best.” Take, for example, the 558-yard 6th hole that bends boomerang-style around a massive pond. John Daly hit six consecutive tee shots into the water for an 18 in 1998. It was a “Tin Cup” moment in real life, showcasing how tempting it is to cut off too much of the corner. The property has just enough humps and ridges to create several semi-blind tee shots, notably the par-5 12th and par-4 15th. Playing the proper angle off the tee on many holes could make the difference of at least two strokes. The finish garners more than its share of the TV coverage for the simple reason that people love carnage. A train wreck is possible on any of the final three holes. The 517-yard, par-5 16th challenges the players to

“A lot of new courses are designed for longer hitters. Bay Hill is suited to shot-makers. That is Mr. Palmer’s style” Tiger Woods celebrates sinking a 16ft putt to win the API in 2009

Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer. That, perhaps, is carry the water hazard on their second shot or risk the best indicator of how special Bay Hill Club & Lodge being called a wimp in the locker room. The skinny really is. General manager Ray Easler calls the Woods- green on the 219-yard 17th is hard to hit and hold. Palmer connection to Bay Hill “an incredible marriage.” And we’ve all witnessed the destructive charms of the “It seems to be fate that the two are tied together,” 18th hole. Years ago, Mr. Palmer himself transformed Easler said. “Tiger only lives a mile and a half away. You a weak par-5 into a stout par-4 of 441 yards with have the new legend next to the living legend. a hook-shaped green tucked behind the rock-lined A lot of the newer courses are designed for longer “Devil’s Bathtub,” a pond that has rinsed the likes of hitters. Bay Hill is suited to shot-makers. That is Mr. Vijay Singh and others. Palmer’s style. Also, the way we set it up is along And who can forget Robert Gamez holing a 7-iron the lines of Augusta National. We are the tune-up for from 176 yards for an eagle to beat Greg Norman, Augusta. We have long rough and fast greens.” the perennial “bad luck” golfer, by one shot in 1990? And with a winners’ roll call that includes Fuzzy A plaque in the fairway still marks the accomplishment. Zoeller, Loren Roberts, Tom Kite, Payne Stewart, One of my golf-writing colleagues observed Paul Azinger, Ben Crenshaw, Fred Couples and Phil that Arnold Palmer massages Bay Hill as much as Mickelson, the Invitational at Bay Hill has no shortage Donald Ross did his courses at Pinehurst, tweaking it of class or pedigree. annually to keep it competitive for when the world’s best A Japanese consortium could have bought Bay Hill come to town. As T.S. Eliot also wrote, “In my beginning during the 1980s but their offer collapsed. Otherwise, is my end.”

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1962

Q blood, sweat &

School Trying to earn a PGA Tour card the hard wayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;over six rounds of unremitting enduranceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is one of the toughest and most gladiatorial challenges in sport. Dave Shedloski salutes those aspirants, most of whom must die!

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o oNe caN ever put too fiNe a poiNt on the critical importance of the pGa tour’s annual ‘gut check’ known as the National Qualifying tournament. to paraphrase Lou Holtz, the legendary Notre Dame football coach, Q-School isn’t life or death, it’s more important than that. if that sounds like hyperbole, well so be it. You’d be hard-pressed to argue that the final stage of the qualifying tournament—108 holes of sweaty palms, thumping hearts and jangling nerves—isn’t a life-changing ordeal. careers can be made, saved, started or rent asunder over six days that arguably are more challenging than anything served up at any major championship. “even if you know what you’re getting into, Q-School is probably the hardest thing you will ever have to do in golf,” says veteran Skip Kendall, who was one of 166 players who competed in the 2010 edition at orange county National Golf center and Lodge in Winter Garden, fla.

“Q-School … nothing fun about it,” another veteran said via twitter. that would be two-time u.S. open champion Lee Janzen, who like Kendall ended up well outside the harsh cut line that swept 29 players into a very exclusive club. the odds of obtaining a pGa tour card aren’t good— and that’s if you get to the final stage. only the top 25 and ties earned playing privileges for 2011 in golf’s big leagues (compared to a decade ago when the top 35 and ties made it). But the overall picture is bleaker when you take into account that 1,389 players sent in applications, and many of those had to compete in more than one of the three stages. there also was a pre-qualifying stage. in the end, it took a score of 9-under-par 420 over six rounds at the crooked cat course and panther Lake course at orange county National to advance, with Billy Horschel and Scott Gordon sneaking in when Horschel’s former university of florida teammate, Will Strickler, bogeyed his last hole. think about that: one putt changed the career path of two other men. the next 52 players in the field earned Nationwide tour cards, not a bad consolation prize, while the rest of the field earned Nationwide conditional cards. everybody wins something, which does take a bit of the edge off.

Will Strickler shakes hands with his caddie on the 18th green. Will Strickler (R) misses the cut, whilst Billy Horschel gets his card

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Billy Mayfair (L) with his caddie, and Paul Stankowski (R) on the tee, both during the final round of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament at Orange County National, FL

“It’s definitely a different atmosphere than when I first played,” says Billy Mayfair, who played in Q-School for the first time since 1988 and won medalist honors at 18-under 411, one ahead of youngsters Ben Martin and William McGirt. “It felt completely different. When I went there in ’88, there were 50 spots, and if you didn’t make it, you had no status and went to Asia or Europe instead. There was no Hogan Tour, no Nationwide Tour… nothing. There was a cut after four days. This time everyone who played had some kind of status and somewhere to play after. Not as many spots, but the pressure was different.”* Of course, Mayfair, 44, didn’t want to minimize how difficult the experience was. A five-time winner on the PGA Tour, Mayfair finished 142nd on the 2010 money list, which still left him eligible for sponsor exemptions playing out of the past champions category. He figured on supplementing his schedule with Nationwide Tour tournaments. But after missing the cut in the season finale at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney World in Orlando, he stopped by Orange County for a few days of practice. When he returned for the qualifier, he felt prepared. “I was actually pretty relaxed, relatively speaking,” says Mayfair, a Phoenix native whose last win came at the 1998 Buick Open, where he beat Tiger Woods in a playoff to take the title. “I felt like I was playing, essentially, for eight-ten more starts than what I was going to get from the past champions’ category. And you know, I played really well. It’s a big confidence booster to win it. To win anywhere is special, but in that event, at my age, that was pretty cool.” The qualifying tournament tends to be more of a young man’s affair, and that was the case in 2010; the only 40-somethings to advance were Mayfair, Brandt

“In ’88 there were 50 spots and if you didn’t make it you had no status and went to Asia or Europe instead”

Jobe and Paul Stankowski. The other 26 players were 34 or younger and 21 of them were in their 20s. But experience counts for something, as Jobe and Stankowski attest. For Jobe, playing on the Nationwide Tour in 2010 was as valuable as his previous exercises at Q-School. He had failed to graduate in ’09, but his 2010 schedule gave him comfort. “The year before, I played 10-12 events and 10 in Japan and got to Q-School and didn’t know anyone,” said Jobe, winless on the PGA Tour, but a 12-time champion on the Japan Tour. “I hadn’t been there since 1994. I wasn’t comfortable in my environment, and I didn’t play well. It isn’t that it’s really hard—it’s tough, yeah—but it’s just getting your brain around the challenge and the task at hand, playing 108 holes against some great competition but understanding we’re all starting from zero. “I was going to go to Japan last year, but instead I played the Nationwide Tour in 2010, and I was right there until I broke my driver in the last few weeks. But now I’m comfortable when I go to Q-School because I know what’s there as far as the competition. It’s Nationwide Tour guys and guys from the PGA Tour who lost their cards. It didn’t seem like it was impossible.” Jobe, 45, of Southlake, Texas, finished tied for sixth at 415, while fellow Texan Stankowski was one shot back in ninth place. For Stankowski, 41, it was the fifth time he had advanced in eight appearances.

*Mayfair’s point underscores the contention made by many players that the second stage is now more stressful because failure to advance leaves one scratching out a living on mini tours and overseas.

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Ben Martin, pictured with his caddie, passed his first Q-School examination

“It’s just a part of the game, a necessary evil,” says the two-time winner who ended up 137th in PGA Tour earnings in 2010. “There’s no way around it if you don’t play the way you should. I was in a really good place going into Q-School, which helped. I knew what my schedule could be with the exemptions, but I wanted to improve my place. Going in, I was at ease with where I was.” At ease? Was that possible? “Well, not really,” Stankowski admits with a laugh. “The thing you get most unnerved about is that it’s a long week, and it’s hard to play 108 holes one hole at a time. It’s different than any other event. You go to a regular tour event, and there’s a cut, so you want to make that. Everyone wants to win, but there are other goals like top 10 or top 25, and earning money. But at Q-School there is one objective. Whether you are first or 25th, you are in the same category. You have to plug along and not get ahead of yourself. And that’s hard no matter how many times you go through it.” Two men who went through it for the first time— and, in fact, got through all three of the main stages— were recent college graduates Ben Martin and Joseph Bramlett. Each felt an increasing level of pressure the farther he advanced, and yet each also admitted to not being overwhelmed by the challenge.

Bramlett, 22, of Saratoga, Calif., was an All-American golfer at Stanford and a member of the school’s 2007 NCAA championship team. He grew up following the career of another Stanford star named Tiger Woods, and all he ever wanted was to reach the PGA Tour. When he tied for 16th at Orange County, the dream was realized, and he became the first AfricanAmerican to make it through qualifying since Adrian Stills 25 years ago. Like Martin, Bramlett had experience playing some big-time golf, earning his way into the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. In 2002 he played in the U.S. Amateur at age 14, the youngest ever to qualify. Q-School was just one more hurdle, albeit a big one. “That was probably one of the things that’s helped me in Q-school. I hadn’t been through it six times, and then failed miserably at finals,” Bramlett says. “I was truly excited to be there and relished the opportunity.” Bramlett had to work hard in the final round to get inside the magic number, and he came through with a closing 68, tied for the second lowest score of the day. “I was outside the cut starting the final day, two bogeys on the first three holes. I was probably 50th or 60th on the list. Walking off the third green, I was a little bit down. But fortunately for me, I was able to kind of change my mindset by the time I got to the 4th tee and got it going.” Now he’s on the PGA Tour, where he’ll face a whole new set of pressures, some common, and others related to bringing more focus to minorities in golf. He’s ready. “I’ve had a great set of parents growing up, and they’ve made me very grounded and really understood who I am as a person,” Bramlett says. “It’s probably something that I’ll have to talk quite a bit about, but that means that I’m probably doing things well and doing things the way I’ve always wanted to do them.” An opportunity he wouldn’t enjoy if he hadn’t gotten through Q-School. Joseph Bramlett closed with a 68 to gain his PGA Tour card

“It’s a long week, and it’s hard to play 108 holes one at a time. It’s different compared to any other event” “I felt like I didn’t have anything to lose,” says Martin, 23, of Greenwood, S.C., who led outright after the third and fourth rounds and shared the lead with Mayfair after the fifth. “I think for me the early stages were harder, but once I got to the finals and got off to a good start I was able to get into a rhythm and didn’t worry about where I was in the standings.” Martin, a standout at Clemson who was runner-up in the 2009 U.S. Amateur, admits that he felt more pressure playing in the 2010 Masters than at Q-School. “Growing up so close to Augusta, the Masters was by far the most nervous I had ever been. Q-School I tried to just handle more like it was another tournament. It wasn’t but I kind of talked myself into it.”

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On the Other hand… Finding form during the week of the qualifying school isn’t the only passport to the PGA Tour; finishing in the top-25 of the Nationwide Tour secures the same privileges. One player to take this season-long route tells Paul Trow how he is getting to grips with his new status Tommy Gainey is the only player on Tour to wear two gloves

No-oNe caN accuse Tommy GaiNey of not grabbing his chance to take on Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson with both hands. Not only did he finish fourth on last year’s Nationwide Tour, winning more than $400,000 and two tournaments (including one over the Palmerdesigned TPL River’s Bend near Cincinnati, Ohio), but he has carried on where he left off in 2010. The 35-year-old former factory worker, nicknamed ‘Two Gloves’ because of his on-course hand attire as well as his initials, is having his second tilt at the PGA Tour following modest campaigns in 2008 and 2009. He’s certainly making a better fist of it this time round with $480,000 already banked by the end of the first week in March. But the pattern of his first eight starts—three missed cuts followed by ties for 8th, 39th, 35th and 19th, then 5th place on his own in the Honda Classic at PGA National—is perhaps the most encouraging part of the story. Some critics insist this genial slugger, whose baseball-influenced swing looks like a mongrel version of Arnold Palmer and Jim Thorpe, is simply punching above his weight. These statistics, though, suggest Gainey, a resident of Camden, S.C., now has the maturity and consistency not to panic at the first sign of trouble. His doubters will point to the victory chance he let slip

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at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in early February when he led for most of the last two rounds only to pay the price for trying to drive TPC Scottsdale’s treacherous ‘risk-reward’ par-4 17th—triple-bogeying and tumbling out of the top-three. But Gainey insists he will adopt the same attacking policy if a similar situation arises again. “My No.1 goal is to win, no exceptions,” he says. “I don’t play for second, tenth or even last place. Sometimes that approach gets me into trouble, but that’s me. It’s all about winning trophies—it’s definitely not about the money. I lost a lot of ground at the 17th in the final round [at Scottsdale] but I took a lot of confidence from the whole week and it made me feel that I can win at this level. I felt very comfortable and confident as I went down the stretch.” So anyone who throws down the gauntlet to Two Gloves in the future has been warned what to expect. But why two gloves, when most other Tour players seem content with one and the remaining few don’t bother with any at all? “When my Dad introduced me to the game at about nine years of age I wore two gloves, just as I did for baseball. The benefits were that they gave me a comfortable feeling. I’ve tried to play without them, or with just one glove, but it doesn’t work.

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Gainey struggled initially upon turning pro in 1998, but after the first week in March his 2011 prize-money tally was more than $480,000

“A.O. Smith really look after their workers and they want to see me succeed with my lifelong dream, which is to play and win on the PGA Tour” “Callaway provide all my gloves. Generally, I wear black ones, which are wet-weather gloves, but when the temperature gets up to, say, 80 degrees Fahrenheit or more, I always swap to thinner, white gloves. This change is dictated purely by how hot my hands feel.” Gainey knows a lot more about heat than some people might imagine, thanks to his previous life studying industrial maintenance at Central Carolina Technical College and then insulating appliances at the McBee, S.C. plant of A.O. Smith, North America’s leading manufacturer and marketer of residential and commercial water heaters and boilers. “It was real hard work for eight hours a day and you had to make sure you did the job right, but it was also fun and I made a lot of friends there,” he says. “I turned pro in 1998 when I was 22-23. My first tournament was on the local Teardrop Tour in Columbia, South Carolina. I played in this and because I didn’t have

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any vacation days remaining, I took the two days as sick leave. The entry fee was $750, $600 of which I borrowed off a friend, and I won the first prize of $15,000. He wouldn’t accept the $600 back, and then when I went to work at A.O. Smith on the Monday morning, the supervisor called me in. He told me: ‘I heard you won so I know what you must have been doing on the days you took off as sick.’ But he didn’t fire me, which he would have been entitled to do; instead he asked me what I was going to do with my life. “It was then I decided I needed to take the plunge, so I spent the next two and a half years or so playing the Teardrop Tour along with the Hooters and North Carolina Tours. But then my parents had some health problems so I went back to work there. My family needed me, and family comes first. Now they [A.O. Smith] are my sponsors on Tour and I’ve got to say it’s a great relationship. They really look after their workers and they want to see me succeed with my lifelong dream, which is to play and win on the PGA Tour. “This is the best job in the world out here. Where else can you go to play for a million dollars each week? I’m blessed to have the talent to do what I love so much, and I can’t think of anything better than to have A.O. Smith sponsor me.”

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The future is now with security and climate control systems from Ingersoll Rand that improve the experience and value of the homes of today TEX AvERy’S 1949 CLASSIC CARTooN The House of Tomorrow predicted that a man in the future who wanted to adjust the climate in his home would press a button on the wall—and unleash a rain cloud in the living room. While the vision was a bit extreme, Tex was right in guessing that life in 21st century homes would involve communication as much as it would habitation. That future exists in the homes of today, and one of the companies making it a reality is Ingersoll Rand. With its large stable of quality brands, including Trane Air Conditioning Systems and Schlage Home Security, the firm is transforming houses of any age into living spaces where the Jetsons themselves would feel right at home.

A Complete System From one perspective, a home is a collection of disparate parts: Separate locks on each door, thermostats in various rooms, an air conditioner outside, heater inside, a few security cameras and lights and switches spread around. Each of these parts contributes to the quality of life inside the home, but each must be independently operated with a number of different controls. Enter Trane’s ComfortLink II Thermostat and Schlage’s Schlage LiNK System. Together, both take a disparate array of locks, light switches and climate controls and allow the individual pieces to work together as a true home system—with “system” being the key word. As a programmable and self-monitoring unit, a home equipped with ComfortLink II or Schlage LiNK maintains pre-set climate and security protocols, constantly making adjustments for user preferences, efficiency and overall performance. As a controllable unit, all variables of home security and climate can be adjusted via a wall-mounted interface, via the Web, and eventually via smart phone apps from anywhere in the world. These systems transform the house from a building in which an owner intermittently and manually adjusts a variety of implements to an entity that silently and constantly works alongside the owner to maintain the well being and comfort of the inhabitants.

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Trane ComfortLink II Communicating System Trane is known for its incredibly efficient and effective range of home air conditioning, air cleaning and filtering, and heating systems. Already efficient and powerful, the individual Trane components become even more so with ComfortLink II, which connects them all. In the most basic terms, ComfortLink II allows the cooling and heating products to “talk” to each other. The center of the ComfortLink II Communicating System is the XL950 Thermostat, which features a 7-inch interactive, high-definition color touch screen, and serves as an easy-to-use central planning center all at your fingertips. It includes features that help keep you perfectly comfortable inside; know how to dress for going outside; access a calendar; and help manage home energy-efficiency while you’re at it. This level of communication makes the parts act as a self-maintained whole, constantly monitoring and adjusting airflow calibration to match personalized settings and to keep homeowners and their families perfectly comfortable. Furthermore, with this constant communication among products, operational irregularities can be easily identified and even troubleshot to ensure the system is operating at the highest efficiency full-time. Access is via a wall control panel or with a smart phone and the Telephone Access Module. Furthermore, system changes and status updates (such as power outage alerts) can be sent to a phone, meaning the ultimate in system control and performance.

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Schlage LiNK A ComfortLink II system is a quick and easy way to improve the efficiency and operational ease of your home, but home systemization can be taken even further with the Schlage LiNK system. Schlage has been involved in security products for more than 90 years, and it’s the only security product company to comprehensively cover both the residential and commercial markets. In the home, Schlage security products ensure the utmost protection for families and living spaces. Schlage LiNK takes that protection to a new level, allowing monitoring and control of all home security products. Furthermore, working with a remote Trane thermostat, Schlage LiNK can also allow you to remotely control the climate in your home, meaning total integration of all home climate and security products and the creation of a true home system. Schlage produces a series of products that utilize the company’s Z-Wave technology, which basically allows them to be accessed and controlled via Schlage LiNK. Many Z-Wave enabled locks, lights and various other components (like the Trane Remote Energy Management Thermostat) can be accessed 24/7 online and from most smart phones, meaning the ultimate in control and peace of mind. With Schlage LiNK, the status of any Z-Wave enabled lock on any door in a home can be monitored and changed. Same with Z-Wave enabled lights. Also, a home’s Schlage camera can be accessed via Schlage LiNK, meaning homeowners can know exactly what’s happening even while they’re away on business. Locks can be programmed with up to 19 individual access codes, all of which can be added, changed, or deleted remotely via Schlage LiNK, and a 90-day history of who has accessed a lock is available. Perhaps you’re away and need a friend to check on the house, perhaps you want to allow temporary access for someone doing work, watering plants or dropping something off. Weekly access for a specific time frame

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can be set up, as can one-time access. Email and text alerts can be set up so you’ll immediately know when a family member has arrived home or a lock has been accessed, cameras can be monitored from a mobile phone so you’ll know how the dog is doing while you’re at work, and entry can be remotely granted to a family member or friend who’s forgotten a key or access code. Furthermore, remote control of home lighting via Schlage LiNK is a far cry from the old wall-plug light timers of days gone by—and far more effective in terms of both efficiency and security. Likewise, remote climate control ensures home systems are operating at maximum efficiency while no one’s home, but that the home is comfortable and ready for when you return. The possibilities of customization with Schlage LiNK are incredible, as is the level of security provided by Schlage products. The “House of Tomorrow” is here, and available with both the Trane ComfortLink II and Schlage LiNK Systems. And while this kind of technology might seem far-out to some people, soon enough it will be as commonplace and expected as the “unlock” button on your car key. Whether you’re building a new home, maintaining a vacation home or have been living comfortably in the same space for decades, these offerings from Trane and Schlage are significant home upgrades that will improve and enhance the experience and value of any dwelling. The Jetsons would be pleased. Find out more at trane.com and link.schlage.com or visit ingersollrand.com to learn about other fine Ingersoll Rand brands and products.

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The Roberts Proton Therapy Center The largest, most comprehensive proton therapy center in the world, offering the unique ability to integrate conventional radiation treatments with proton beam therapy.

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DESTROYS TUMORS WITH PRECISION YOUR LIFE IS WORTH PENN MEDICINE What would you give for fewer side effects? More precision? And the most advanced cancer treatment in the world? The answer can be found at the Roberts Proton Therapy Center at Penn Medicine. Proton therapy is currently the most advanced form of radiation therapy vailable anywhere in the world. It uses a targeted particle beam to destroy tumors with precision. Proton therapy can effectively target difficult-to-treat cancers of the head, neck, prostate, brain, spine, lung and gastrointestinal tract. And when used in conjunction with the comprehensive services of Pennâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Abramson Cancer Center, it means Penn Medicine has more ways to save your life.

University of Pennsylvania Health System

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In the second of Kingdom’s series of interviews with golf’s power brokers, Paul Trow asks Joe steranka, ceO of the pGa of america, what makes him tick and how he sees the future of the game

he scene was The 38Th ryder cup aT celtic Manor; the problem was the deluge sir nick Faldo had so egregiously predicted in the wake of the previous version at Valhalla (don’t forget to bring your waterproofs, or rainwear, or whatever word he used); yet the subsequent decisions made by the team captains and pGa officials from both sides of the atlantic resulted in a stellar final day of nailbiting action on “overtime” Monday. Joe steranka, ceO of the pGa of america for the past five years, had been looking forward to an incident-free week, until he found himself up to his neck in it, so to speak. he lives and works in Florida, so a mudbath in south wales is not exactly his stomping ground, certainly not on the first weekend of October. But he and his fellow officials soon had a handle on the situation and they impressively kept their heads above water. “we faced so many challenges that week because of the rain. Lack of daylight wasn’t an issue—it was the rain that caused the problems,” he said. “It presented the most complex set of circumstances we’ve ever faced as administrators. I feel very good about how we reacted and adjusted to Mother nature in wales, but we were helped by an incredible course layout and cheerful galleries. and we learned a lot.”

even steranka’s wife, Joann, got in on the act, doing an Irish jig in the welsh mud and a rah-rah for uncle sam as the heavens wept. “I don’t care what’s been said, the u.s.a. will knock you dead,” she chanted. It didn’t quite work out that way from a golfing viewpoint, but the galleries loved it. In the meantime, her 52-year-old husband reinforced his reputation as one of sport’s leading administrators. when we spoke a few days before the pGa Merchandise show in Orlando, where he was so busy he seemed to be in dozens of places at the same time, I asked steranka whether the current format for the ryder cup should be adapted, as a result of its later slot on the Tour schedule, to take into account the weather vicissitudes that often beset europe in the fall. “we analyze every ryder cup at its conclusion and over the years we’ve had a three-day competition for 28 points,” steranka said. “we have non-stop action on the Friday and saturday, and we have sunday morning to catch up if we need to. at celtic Manor on the sunday and Monday, we witnessed golf at its most dramatic. adding more matches or stretching it to four days could present an unattainable mountain to climb and also take the drama out of the ryder cup. after all, look at the lopsided results they tend to get in the presidents cup.”

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The Professional Golfersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association of America

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The Professional Golfers’ Association of America

Steranka (right) and the European Tour’s Richard Hills admire the new logo created for the Ryder Cup by David Martin (left) and his colleagues at Interbrand

Ah, the Presidents Cup, very much a PGA Tour event and one the PGA of America has no control over at all. But considering every member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team is also a PGA Tour player and about as far removed from the world of the average club professional as could possibly be, the obvious question to ask seems to be, why should the PGA of America have any involvement in the modern-day Ryder Cup, let alone own it outright? “We see the major events in golf as being very successful largely because they’re run independently of the Tours,” Steranka says. “The business of running tournament golf week-in week-out is very consuming, but when it comes to events like the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship, staged on a much bigger scale than regular tournaments, you require a lot more people with specific skill sets to deal with things like international TV negotiations.” So what has the modern Ryder Cup got to do with club professionals? “The genuineness of the competition; the Ryder Cup is the embodiment of what golf is,” he responds. “Whether you’re playing with three friends in a Saturday afternoon four-ball or teeing up in a PGA section championship, it’s not about money and endorsements, it’s about pure competition. That’s why it’s so popular with the fans and PGA pros alike. They see people who set aside their personal interests to help each other and coach each other on shots.

“Major events in golf are successful largely because they are run independently of the Tours”

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That’s what connects the Ryder Cup together with the game and the way it’s played on thousands of courses.” It’s precisely with this philosophy in mind that the PGA of America selected Davis Love III to captain the next U.S. team at Medinah, Illinois in 2012. “We were all there in 1997 when Davis won the PGA Championship at Winged Foot,” Steranka says. “We’ve kind of grown up together. We’ve watched his children grow up. “Davis was relatively young in years when he started playing in the Ryder Cup and he was an assistant to Corey Pavin in the last Ryder Cup. There’s no better candidate who embodies what the PGA represents to captain the team in 2012 at Medinah.” No question Love ticks all the boxes as a Ryder Cup captain—six-time U.S. team member, PGA champion and long-serving player director on the PGA Tour policy board. In other words, he suits the traditions of the PGA of America to a tee. But any thoughts that the PGA of America are traditional in their values simply for tradition’s sake are way off the mark. Indeed, they demonstrated their determination to keep up with the times not so long ago by adapting the PGA Championship to make it more accessible to the world game’s growing colony of non-American stars. “In the early 1990s, we felt we had an obligation to present the PGA Championship as one of the four majors in a renewed light, Steranka says. “The highest quality events have the best fields, so we knew we had to change the structure for qualification. Forty PGA pros used to qualify for the event, but we decided to reduce that number to 25 and then 20, though not initially because they [the membership] were concerned we’d lose the heritage. After all, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan were club pros. “So the question was, were we going to lose that heritage? The answer was ‘no, but we’re going to use these spots [in the field] to recognize the growing competitiveness of golf worldwide.’ Now we have a more international field than any event apart from the [British] Open, and possibly the strongest field of all the majors. “We also felt we should go to more of the game’s historic venues, like Medinah, Hazeltine and Oakland Hills, along with the next generation of classic courses, like Valhalla, Whistling Straits and Kiawah Island.” Apart from the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship, what are the PGA of America’s other roles? “We have 200 staff working in perhaps 13 different departments of golf administration and services. Their day-to-day life is looking after the interests of 28,000 members,” he says. The PGA of America’s members will always be Steranka’s No.1 priority. After all, they’re his employers and he’s paid to fight their corner. But he’s also paid to guide them into the future as well as uphold the solid progress made to date over the past 95 years. Basically, his role, and that of his staff, is to equip PGA professionals with the skills they need for a constantly changing commercial environment and to ensure they have every tool they need to spread the gospel of golf. For them, therefore, the message is simple yet the standards are now incredibly high.

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Joe’s other Jobs So what else does Joe Steranka do? Here, in his own words, is a roll call of the initiatives, national and international, with which he’s involved. Play Golf America—An umbrella marketing campaign to bring more people into the sport. Getting more women and girls into the game is a priority. At present only 22 percent of players are female. Get Golf Ready—This consists of five lessons teaching you everything you need to know before stepping out on to a golf course for the first time with confidence. PGA PerformanceTrak—The largest single source of ‘rounds played per month’ data in the industry. It helps clubs to see how they’re performing. We Are Golf—Changing perceptions about golf. Most people in America don’t play and don’t understand the benefits golf courses provide to the local community—for example: jobs, taxes, recreation, tourism. The Professional Golfers’ Association of America

Steranka welcomes visitors to the 2011 PGA Merchandise Show

First Tee Program—This project, in its 13th year, makes golf accessible to youngsters regardless of cost or location. World Golf Foundation—Of increasing importance following the IOC’s decision to add golf to the Olympics in

“Golf has gone from a boutique service business where gentlemen and ladies came to the club and asked the pro for lessons or to help them choose a new driver. Today it’s a multi-billion-dollar retail industry. PGA pros still retain the core skills and fit people with the proper equipment, but we’re also being asked to understand human resources, management techniques, accounting practices, computer programming, email marketing and club design technology so we can vastly expand our customer base. And all that while not losing the personal touch. “As retailing of absolutely everything has evolved over the years, so has golf. We at the PGA of America have introduced a $3 million update to our educational curriculum, but it’s a tough program—20 separate courses across three different examination levels in addition to the playing ability test. Only one in 10 who aspires to become a PGA pro will complete the program. The average apprentice pays $7,000 for three years of training.” Steranka is clearly a man of the world, but what is his background? Born in the Phillipines, he was the son of serving U.S. Navy officers. “We eventually settled in Florida—that was my 14th move as a child. I was a real Navy brat and we were a real military family. But I’ve stayed here not least because I enjoy the weather. “After graduating from West Virginia University in 1979 [in journalism], I worked in public relations for two pro basketball teams—the Washington Bullets (now the Wizards) and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I then worked for Donald Dell, the former U.S. Davis Cup captain, at ProServ. He was the tennis equivalent of Mark McCormack and managed players like Arthur Ashe and Jimmy Connors. While I was there, ProServ branched out into other sports and managed, among others, Michael Jordan and [double Olympic sprint gold medalist] Florence Griffith-Joyner. I’ve been in professional sports marketing all my working life. I

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2016. We deal with topics ranging from World Golf Hall of Fame induction to collaboration on anti-doping policy. World PGA Alliance—Ensuring that PGA pros who work in developing golf territories operate to identical standards in terms of playing, teaching, and overall work experience.

“Only one in 10 who aspires to become a PGA professional will complete the program” joined the PGA of America in 1988 and succeeded Jim Awtrey as CEO in 2005.” Steranka, who plays off an 8-handicap at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens and the PGA resort at Port St. Lucie, met Joann during his Washington Bullets days. They have two children—daughter Alexandra, 24, a promotions coordinator at Turner Broadcasting, and a 21-year-old son Stephen, who is in his final year at WVU following in Dad’s footsteps studying communications. In November 2008, the PGA of America publicly acknowledged their esteem for Streranka’s achievements by conferring honorary membership on him. There have been only 10 previous recipients: Bob Hope, Gary Player, [boxer] Joe Louis, Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush and Gerald R. Ford, disabled golfer Dennis Walters, Thomas Crane and Lloyd Lambert (previous CEOs, but with different titles), and benefactor John Jachym. So with his legacy assured, how does Steranka see his mission as he steers the Good Ship PGA into the future? “The traditional values of our sport worked into health, economic and environmental benefits to make a sport that Americans can enjoy regardless of age and sex.” As Joann Steranka might have sung: “I don’t care what’s been said, the PGA will knock you dead.”

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A Message from the Arthritis Foundation

“I’m hitting

arthritis right where it hurts. ”

Y NAME IS JACK, AND I KNOW WHAT WE GO THROUGH LIVING WITH ARTHRITIS. I know the pain it causes, but I also know there's a limit to what any one of us can do alone to help. Yet by working together with the Arthritis Foundation, we will find a cure, and I’m hitting hard to help. I made a gift to the Arthritis Foundation’s Charitable Gift Annuity program. In return, I’m receiving tax benefits and lifetime income – all while I help find a cure. You can, too, and it’s much easier than you think. At age 75, the rate of return on my Arthritis Foundation gift annuity is great at 6.4%, and the payments I receive are set for the rest of my life. Join me today to benefit while you fight back. There’s no cost or obligation to learn exactly how you can benefit while you help find a cure. Call the Arthritis Foundation toll-free at 1-866-528-8687 or e-mail Legacy@arthritis.org to find out how you can get these great rates.

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To request additional information, you may also write to: PG Department 1330 West Peachtree Street, NW Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30309

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*Gift annuity rates shown are for a one-life charitable gift annuity. Two-life gift annuities have slightly lower rates. Please consult with your personal legal and tax advisors before making a gift

Trump salutes women’s golf PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S GOLF has become an integral aspect of the sport. It has created a market for itself, and it has been exciting to watch the outstanding golfers that have emerged from the women’s game. A crucial aspect of its development has been the LPGA, which has grown and enhanced women’s golf significantly. I’ve followed the greats since day one and have supported their efforts. I hosted the LPGA at Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach for several years and I loved the excitement it generated. It’s a wonderful thing for both the golfers and the public. There is an abundance of brilliant women golfers and the public deserves to see them play. Suzann Pettersen, Karrie Webb, Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer, for example, are incredible players and they appear often on the Tour. As for the future, I would hope the LPGA would thrive—as it should. It’s a well-established and well-run organization and I can only see it getting bigger and better. With more sponsors and corporate events happening every year—hopefully!—it’s bound to happen. Having Michael Whan at the helm is a wonderful situation for everyone. He will do a fantastic job and will lead the LPGA to greater heights, greener pastures and bigger accomplishments.

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Donald Trump greets LPGA star Suzann Pettersen of Norway at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida

Internationally, women’s golf has become an important sport with a large, global audience. Considering golf has been accepted into the Olympics, I expect that growth will only continue—and in a very significant way. In addition, I think that golf for women is important on the non-pro level. Just as it’s a great venue for business for men, it works the same way for women. I’ve done some terrific business deals on the golf course, and it’s also an excellent way to see and assess the character of the person you are playing with. Golf can bring out the best and the worst in people, and I’ve always believed it’s a brain game. It has a transforming power, and is a great way to improve your business skills, to learn how to maneuver. It can even be equated with learning how to negotiate, which is an art in itself. I made a great deal of money on the golf course even before I started developing golf courses as a business. Professional women golfers deserve to have the best venues and comprehensive coverage, both nationally and internationally. Their contribution to the sport of golf is and will continue to be significant—and watching them play is a pleasure that should be made available to all.

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The winner of the Arnold Palmer Trophy for topping the PGA Tour’s official money list in 2010 is a shining example of how to cope with the twin imposters of triumph and adversity. Paul Trow discovers that patience is now paying off for the man his fellow professionals all look up to

f ever confirmation is needed that golf is a capricious mistress, a game of wildly fluctuating fortunes where nothing can be taken for granted, just ask matt Kuchar. Few PGA Tour members have taken this truism to heart as intently and as philosophically as the affable young man with a ready smile who sits alongside me in the clubhouse at the PGA West resort in La Quinta, California. “Ups and downs” is a phrase he uses often during our conversation, which took place after a neat, below-par round at the Bob Hope Classic. Of course, for many players at this level an ‘up’ can be a top-25 finish, a rare flash of bloom in an ever-expanding nettle bed of ‘downs.’ In this particular case, though, it’s an entirely different story—a high-altitude tale of tailspins and vaulting achievements.

It’s just over a decade since Kuchar, now 32, turned professional following a stellar amateur career. At the time, it seemed unlikely he’d have to wait long for his first professional victory and he duly delivered at the Honda Classic in the spring of 2002. What happened next baffled most people around the PGA Tour—the form that had blessed him all his life disappeared overnight and for the next three years he was an ‘also ran’ at best. In 2006, his exemption expired and he found himself camping out on the Nationwide Tour. As it happened, the feeder circuit, populated in the main by veterans marking time before one last tilt at glory on the Champions Tour and ‘eager beaver’ college graduates trying to learn their trade, provided the springboard for an astonishing renaissance. Tenth-place in the money list gained Kuchar redemption, and there was a victory to celebrate along the way—in the Henrico County Open at the Dominion Club in Richmond, Virginia. He consolidated his status over the next two seasons, finishing 115th and 70th in the order of merit, before claiming his second PGA Tour title in 2009 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship in upstate New York. The rest of the story to date is as rosy as our hero’s cheeks, culminating with a whole bunch of bouquets in 2010. In addition to finishing No.1 on the PGA Tour money list (for which he won the Arnold Palmer Trophy) with earnings of just under $5 million, he also walked away with the Vardon Trophy and Byron Nelson Award (for lowest stroke average—69.61), and made his Ryder Cup debut. And there was more: Not only did he win The Barclays, the first of the FedExCup playoff

t t har tournaments, but he clocked up a further 10 top-10 finishes, two of them in majors. No money list was ever won by a flash in the pan, and this level of consistency suggests that Kuchar is well placed to extend this current ‘up’ in his life for the foreseeable future. Certainly, he has started 2011 in the same vein with four more top-10s from his first six starts—ties for fifth, sixth and seventh in the Sony Open, Hyundai Tournament of Champions and Bob Hope Classic

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respectively along with the victory over his Ryder Cup team-mate Bubba Watson for third place in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship that propelled him for the first time into the top-10 of the official world golf ranking. “It’s been a great start to the year following a fantastic 2010. I took from the end of October off till now [mid-January] and I wasn’t sure how my form would be at the start of 2011 after such a long break, but it feels to me like it’s still 2010,” Kuchar acknowledges. “I was really pleased with how 2010 turned out, particularly the number of top-10s I had. That was a good indicator of consistency. I take a lot of pride in playing consistently, and this is what enabled me to win the money list.

Third round at the Accenture Match Play Championship

Kuchar at the Ryder Cup

“It was also a thrill to make the Ryder Cup team [he took two points out of a possible four]. Normally when I finish a round, I go home, eat dinner and go to bed. So it was pretty cool to hang out with the best players in the world for that week in Wales. The Europeans travel so much more and so much further than we do, so traveling with their families as much as we do with ours on the PGA Tour is more difficult for them. “After that experience, I would very much like to keep my good run going by making the Presidents Cup in the fall [he currently heads the U.S. qualifying table by a massive margin]. It’s still a long way off but I think I’m in a good position to make the team.” Forever with Kuchar, his pronouncements seem to be understatements—a word of caution here, a refusal to get carried away there. His remarks are as measured

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as his gait while plotting his way, thoughtfully, through a round. This is an integral part of his temperament, of course, but it’s also a legacy of the scar tissue that remains from the times when things weren’t quite so good. Indeed, he has a maturity beyond his years and an elegance of demeanor that will stand him in good stead if, as many observers expect, he stays at the top for the long haul. “Golf is a funny game to play for a living—it’s a great life but it’s hard to have a good year every year,” he warns. “There are certain lessons you need to learn and one is that you’re going to have your ups and downs. At college I had good and bad years too. “Things can change at any time. When I go out to play golf I want to do a good job of focusing on my game, but I can only control what I do. My philosophy is that the rest of what goes on is beyond my control. I add up the strokes in the scorers’ tent, and then they tell me where I finished in the tournament. “This game changes so frequently that I don’t set many targets for myself. I can’t control what others do and I don’t think targets are overly helpful. All I aim to do is get myself in contention and then see what happens on Sunday. Consistency is my strength and I don’t make many mistakes. The statistics they gather

“There are certain lessons you need to learn, and one of them is that you’re going to have your ups and downs”

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“Chris teaches a one-plane swing, a round swing if you like, and he has made a huge difference to me. The golf swing is so fickle, you have to keep adjusting and tweaking it. It’s been a gradual improvement but he has definitely made me more consistent.” Pundits agree that Kuchar, who stands 6ft 4in, now attacks the ball with a much flatter trajectory, but there is no questioning the consistency with which he finds the target compared to his earlier years as a professional. There is also a consistency and calm to his personal life that must settle him in the heat of battle. He was born and raised in Winter Garden, FL (just north of Orlando) and is married to Sybi, who he met while studying business management at Georgia Tech. Their two sons—Cameron, 3, and Carson, 1—nearly always

His sons currently travel with him on Tour, but he knows that idyllic situation won’t last forever on Tour now pinpoint so many areas where you can get better—for example, your ball striking can always improve, you can always get longer.” But this is no puritan delivering a virtuous, utilitarian sermon from his pulpit. Kuchar is a balanced, civilized individual with a taste for the finer things in life. For him hard work is a means to an end, and the end is what he truly values. “I went seven years without winning on the PGA Tour until I won at Turning Stone. That long wait certainly makes me appreciate the good times I’m having now and also underlines how difficult it is to win out here. The experience of getting through the tough times gives you a better perspective and helps you enjoy the good times even more.” Kuchar’s rebirth began, by his own admission, when he was plowing the Nationwide Tour furrow in 2006. “That’s where I started to play good golf again and gained confidence,” he says. The key to this, it seems, was a change of coach. “I’ve been working with Chris O’Connor, who is based in Dallas, since 2006. He was recommended to me by one of my old Georgia Tech mates, Matt Weibring. Over the previous year or so, I’d seen a couple of instructors who kept telling me to do the same things and I have to say I was having trouble doing what they told me.

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Kuchar and his wife both enjoy tennis

accompany Dad when he goes on Tour. But Kuchar is aware this idyllic state of affairs cannot last for ever. “I like having the family with me but I’m not sure what we’ll do when school age kicks in because they won’t be able to travel as much. I’m kind of nervous about that,” he admits. Possibly with this in mind, the Kuchar family moved late last year to St. Simon’s Island in southern Georgia where Sybi was born and raised. “We moved into a new house there. It’s a beautiful place with a lot of great golf courses.” It’s probably also got a few tennis courts, which is one reason why the couple got together in the first place. “At Georgia Tech I enjoyed playing tennis,” Kuchar says, “but I got to playing a lot more after we started dating. She played for the college team. She doesn’t play much now because she has the boys to look after, but I still believe she could.

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“I played a lot of tennis growing up and still do. My Dad was a tennis player at Heathrow in central Florida—he was No.1 in the state as a doubles player in the 35 age group. “I’m not a big fan of working out in the gym. Flexibility is as important as brute strength when it comes to hitting the ball far and accurately, and in any case I like chasing a ball... I enjoy any sort of ball game.” Seasoned followers of golf will remember Kuchar’s father for the enthusiastic way he caddied for his son when he finished low amateur and in a tie for 14th at the 1998 U.S. Open at Olympic in San Francisco. The joie de vivre of those far-off days is a joy to recollect. Two months earlier Kuchar, a two-time All American who earned his passage into these iconic events by winning the 1997 U.S. Amateur Championship at Cog Hill G&CC near Chicago,

Corporate KuChar As with all successful golfers, Matt Kuchar has a number of endorsement contracts with blue-chip companies. Leading the way is the Royal Bank of Canada, who at the turn of the year added his name to a roll call of players that includes Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Luke Donald. “I’m not sure they knew about my banking background,” Kuchar jokes, “but I’m really enjoying being part of their golf team. After playing in the RBC Canadian Open last summer and witnessing first-hand what a dynamic organization RBC is, I’m very excited at the opportunity to partner with them They’ve become a big name in golf in a short period of time and I’m looking forward to helping grow their brand in the southeastern states where I’m from and where their retail banking business is based.” Kuchar also starred in the opening ceremony of the PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention

“At the Masters, the rounds ended quickly because I was walking on clouds all day”

Center in Florida in January. He was officially presented with the Vardon Trophy by the PGA of America prior to hitting the ceremonial first ball. “As we only lived up the road from Orlando, I used to come to the show as a kid,” he says. “I’ve always loved it—it’s like being in a giant sweet shop.”

had finished low amateur in the Masters (tied 21st). At the end of the year he was a shoo-in to win the Fred Haskins award as the top collegiate golfer and in 1999 he played in the Walker Cup at Nairn in northeast Scotland. “The British team had Paul Casey and Luke Donald, who I knew from college golf, and Bryce Molder, my friend from Georgia Tech, was on our side.” After graduating, Kuchar worked for a year as an investment banker for Liberty Associates in Boca, Florida. “I wanted to learn the business environment and perhaps follow the Bobby Jones plan [of playing at a high level as an amateur]. I nearly left college early to turn pro, but the prospect of playing in the U.S. Opens of 1998 and 1999 persuaded me to stay amateur. “Playing in the Masters was an amazing experience— the rounds would end so quickly because I was walking on clouds all day. Playing in the U.S. Open at Olympic in 1998 was different, very exhausting. I played even better there, but the course was so difficult. “But when I was working, I was spending a lot of time reading proposals and what golf I was playing then was mainly business golf. Yet I was still trying to compete seriously. Then I got a sponsor’s exemption into the Texas Open at San Antonio in 2000. I missed the cut but I didn’t disgrace myself and I found myself upset that I wasn’t playing the next week because I wanted to find out if I was good enough to play at weekends. It was then that I decided to turn professional. “I took up golf at the age of 12 and was playing bogey golf pretty quickly. Within three years I was down to scratch. Winning the U.S. Amateur Championship at 19 years of age was a dream. Because of that I got to play with Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Justin Leonard at the Masters and U.S. Open.” He’s playing with them again now—and beating them. Golf sure is a game of ups and downs.

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Numero Uno When tradewinds blow and the scent of coconut oil revives warm wanderlust, would-be tropical adventurers eschew boardroom footwear and fitted pants in favor of bare feet and light linens. But â&#x20AC;&#x153;less is moreâ&#x20AC;? should not leave one lacking for top drawer essentials. The following accessories and fashions are compact must-haves for anyone inclined toward a season of blue waves, sunny golf courses, moonlight serenades and equatorial bliss

Fuji Instax mini Instant Film Camera picks up where Polaroid left off with instant gratification, shaken not stirred Persol Crystal Havana Sunglasses protect the eyes and ego with top quality and style 1837 Compass from Tiffany helps you find your way back from lost, should you desire to return

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Cigars from Davidoff are the perfect accompaniment to the sound of waves Xikar Xi1 “Camo” Shade Tobacco Leaf Cigar Cutter won’t get lost in the sand

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Breathable and as classic as it gets, linen is to the tropics what denim is to Texas. Bold colored shirts and cool white shorts look great, especially from Armani Collezioni

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Odyssey Golf dominates bright greens with its new Black Series iX putter Holding markers, tees, a repair tool and your favorite good stuff, the Golferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Flask from Cocktails! Key West

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Cool elegance with this FloralEmbroidered Shirt from Michael Kors Perfect to strum in a hammock, Camrielle Guitar with Striped Macassar Ebony/Sitka Spruce from McPherson Guitars

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The most aggressive part of any tropical vacation will let you relax with lower scores: the R11 Driver and Burner 2.0 Superfast Fairway 3 Wood from TaylorMade

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north America’s frontier state may be the last place on Earth for a true pioneer-style adventure (easy to reach from any major airport)

hilE icons likE columbus, cortez, Pizarro and balboa are well known to students of exploration, the name bruno de hezeta is likely unfamiliar. it might be said that de hezeta drew the short straw as an 18th century explorer—or more accurately, that he was given the cold shoulder. unlike his iberian counterparts charged with riding warm breezes in search of tropical gold, de hezeta was dispatched to Alaska with orders to claim it for spain. one of his ships actually made it into sitka sound and performed a “possession ceremony,” but the long-term success of that venture is evident in the fact that only the state’s malaspina Glacier and town of Valdez carry spanish names.

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if the spanish were happy to abandon their claim (and they basically were), most Americans are content to ignore theirs. Despite it being arguably the most dynamic state in the country, it’s also one of the least inhabited and least visited. more than three times the size of France, it has just over one percent of that country’s population— roughly 710,000 people spread over 656,000 square miles. What that leaves is a whole lot of wild, with not many people to see it. Disney World gets near 16 million visitors annually; Alaska gets 2 million. in traveling terms, that means opportunity. And with planes, trains, uncluttered endless highways, rivers for rafting and even horses to get around, there’s no excuse for not visiting. it’s America’s last frontier, it’s beautiful, and these days you can even bring your golf clubs.

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Whether kayaking in Aialik Bay, walking in a forest on Kodiak or hiking on a glacier near Seward, beauty abounds in Alaska

AnchorAge If you visit Alaska, you’ll likely fly into Anchorage, and it will probably be spring or summer. Winter is challenging to say the least, with long spells of darkness and freezing temperatures even in the state’s southern regions. In summer it can be incredibly pleasant, with interior temps hovering in the high 60s and low 70s for most of the long, long days. Near the summer solstice (June 21) there’s enough light in the sky at 2am to easily read a newspaper outside—and you’ll have plenty of company. Alaska’s biggest city by a longshot, Anchorage’s 260,000 inhabitants make up more than a third of the state’s total. Fairbanks and Juneau are a distant second and third with just over 30,000 each, and it drops off sharply from there into the thousands and then hundreds. Due to its relative standing as a metropolis, Anchorage is where you’ll find most of the state’s fine dining, performing arts and other “big city” accoutrements. It’s less rustic than the rest of the state, to be sure, but you’ll know you’re not in Kansas any more by the surrounding mountains and wildlife downtown (some of it enjoying the state’s excellent micro-brewed beers). There’s plenty to do in the city proper, but most of it can be easily found in guidebooks. We think of Anchorage as a jumping-off point for the rest of the state, and so that’s how we’ll treat it here. A night or two should be all you need before heading out to the Kenai Peninsula, Denali National Park or to even further adventures.

Stay:

When it comes to accommodations in Alaska, it’s important to remember that you’re basically on the frontier and as such you shouldn’t expect five-star amenities or service. Any notion of actual luxury is more apt to be found in smaller towns’ B&Bs, with their typically friendly innkeepers, cabin or lodge-style accommodations and usually hearty and tasty breakfasts. The “big name” hotels in Anchorage include the usual

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suspects—Hilton Garden Inn, Sheraton, Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn Express, etc.—and they all pretty much stick to the story. We prefer the city’s quaint Copper Whale Inn, which is beautiful, clean and as friendly as they come. The included morning coffee and fresh muffins were all we needed to get our days started.

Eat: If you like your food big, fresh and bold, this is your state. While delicate sauces and carefully crafted Lyonnaise table fare may not abound, there’s a surprising amount of excellent quality food in Anchorage. For seafood, we like Simon & Seaforts. Bering Sea Red King Crab isn’t exactly rare in Alaska, but they do it right. Same with the Tableside Seafood Etouffee, which adds andouille sausage, braised greens and cheese grits to jumbo sea scallops, black tiger prawns, fresh mussels and clams. Glacier Brewery is another good option, with a grill and barbecue that will definitely satisfy, not to mention a great selection of house-made beers. Wherever else you dine, you can’t leave Anchorage without stopping by Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse. Too many beers on tap to count and all the buffalo wings, fried halibut and live music you could want. One of those great locals’ spots where you’ll feel right at home, even if it’s your first time in town. GOLF: There’s a Palmer Golf Course here, but it’s nothing to do with Arnold Palmer. Rather, it’s in the town of Palmer, about 40 miles northeast of Anchorage and just down the street from Wasilla. Though Russia is not at all visible from the fairways, Palmer Golf Course is considered one of the best around, rated one of the top public courses in the state by Golf Digest. They take particular pride in their greens, have a new fleet of carts and offer less congestion than other Anchorage area courses. Other options include Anchorage Golf Course and Moose Run GC, “The World’s Northernmost 36-hole Golf Facility.”

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KENAI PENINSULA Seward

WEStErN KENAI PENINSULA ANd NINA

Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula (“The Kenai,” to locals) is only 55 miles from Anchorage and it’s one of the most adventure-packed bits of land on the planet. It’s 15,000 square miles of bears, glaciers, cold winds off the sea, great fishing and history. Hotspots like Homer and Seldovia define a specific kind of laid-back Alaska living, but we couldn’t help but fall in love with Seward. This seaside town sits at the head of Resurrection Bay and is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. From Seward, one can embark on a cruise, a kayak adventure, a glacier hike, “flightseeing,” a ride on the Alaska Railroad and so much more. We booked with Kayak Adventures Worldwide (kayakak.com), and had an incredible day on the water seeing brown bears charging up the side of a mountain, numerous birds on land and at sea, and even calving glaciers—all from a kayak. (Note: Don’t make the same mistake one guest did and ask your guide, “What’s the elevation here?” while sitting in a kayak) If you want to stick closer to land, Exit Glacier Guides (ExitGlacierGuides. com) will get you on the local ice sheet for a day hike or more, while if you’re anxious for more on-water action—whale watching, perhaps—Kenai Fjords Tours (kenaifjords.com) or Major Marine Tours (majormarine.com) can help.

If you’re headed to Homer or any spot on the end of the peninsula, one place we cannot recommend enough along the way is the Samovar Café and its lovely (if eccentric) patron, Nina, in the town of Nikolaevsk. Only the natives were in Alaska before the Russians, and the town of Nikolaevsk harkens back to the state’s early days. Though this particular town was founded relatively recently, in 1968, most of the inhabitants are part of the Old Believers Church, adhering to a form of Russian Orthodoxy that predates church reforms introduced in 1666. Consequently, the town appears out of the wilderness as a sort of “frozen-in-time” enclave of old world living. Nina’s café is the one bit of color offered tourists, and it’s welcome in an otherwise imposing, though striking, atmosphere. Be prepared to dress in costumes, sup tea, eat borscht and piroshki and fend off pitches to buy everything from matryoshka dolls to DVD documentaries on Nina herself. Truly an experience not to be missed (russiangiftsnina.com).

GOLF: There’s only one full-service 18-hole course on the Kenai Peninsula, the obviously named Kenai Golf Course (kenaigolfcourse.com). Fun, though you’re as apt to get an award-winning wildlife photo here as you are to hit an eagle, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Stay: Cruise ships and buses regularly come into Seward, and there are a number of accommodations there to meet them. Skip the mass-market tourist boxes and head to a place we’ve found to be rather exceptional: Bear Paw Lodge (sewardbearpawlodge. com). Wendy and Dave, the owners, are the best kind of people: friendly, knowledgeable and helpful in the extreme. Their lodge is clean, comfortable, and incredibly well appointed with Wi-fi and other modern comforts. It’s close to everything you want to see and do in Seward, including the excellent Kayak Adventures Worldwide (which the couple own as well; book a trip and save on your lodging). After numerous visits here, it has to be said that the overall experience staying at Bear Paw Lodge is so good that we’re not even suggesting an alternative. Eat: We’ll make this plain and simple: Smoke Shack. If you like barbecue and eating in an old train car, don’t miss it. They do breakfast as well. Ray’s Waterfront is a local staple, and the harbor views are nice, but somehow Seward had us feeling hearty and so we couldn’t stay away from the Exit Glacier Salmon Bake. Great seafood, steaks and microbrews—and you get to pick your own pickle from a barrel. After a day of hiking on the glacier, we’re sold.

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Nina of Nikolaevsk (above) and remote homes on Kodiak (below)

GLACIER BAY & JUNEAU If you don’t fly into Anchorage, chances are you’ll come to Alaska on a cruise ship. If you do, you’ll almost definitely stop in Juneau. Glacier Bay, photos of which feature on most “Come to Alaska!” brochures, is a temperate rainforest region that features eye-popping glaciers to be sure, but it also functions as a sanctuary for whales, bears and a massive host of wildlife. It’s one of the largest protected Biosphere Reserves in the world, it’s recognized as a World Heritage Site, and we could fill a book with information on its wonders. That said, we’ll leave more Bay info to whatever tour you take, because there’s plenty to see and do in Juneau and the surrounding area. If you want to get up close and personal with a glacier but don’t have your sea legs, Mendenhall Glacier is a quick drive (just 13 miles) from downtown Juneau. One of Alaska’s top attractions, it’s just one of 38 glaciers that flow from the Juneau Icefield in the mountains just above the town. Drive, hike or take a “flightseeing” tour in a plane or helicopter, some of which actually land on the glacier and let you walk around. Fishing near Juneau is popular as well, as is whale and wildlife watching. Companies like All Alaska Tours (alaskatours.com) can sort you out for any of it, and there are a number of others, all of which can also help with activities around the nearby town of Sitka. Fishing is paramount in Sitka, but we also like the available Russian history. The city dates to 1799 and was the capital of Russian America. Evident today are the Russian Bishop’s House, the oldest original Russian building in the area, St. Michaels Cathedral and the site Natural beauty and state history abound in the area around Juneau

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of Baranof Castle, where the formal transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States took place in 1867. Whether you visit these, head out to catch a fish or just watch them swim, there’s no doubt you’ll enjoy this active corner of the state.

Stay: We don’t always go for the big-name hotel chains, but Best Western Grandma’s Feather Bed in Juneau is something special. Along with being “the smallest hotel in the largest hotel chain,” it’s downright gorgeous, 14 suites in a Victorian-style farmhouse. If you’d like something independent, check out Pearson’s Pond (pearsonspond.com). As comfortable as it is picturesque, there’s even a spa on property to work out the kinks of a glacier hike. In Sitka we like Otters Cove Bed & Breakfast (otterscovebandb.com), not only because it’s clean and friendly but because it sits at the water’s edge on—you guessed it—a cove where you can regularly see otters. Nice. Eat: Grandma’s Feather Bed has a pretty good restaurant on site. We also like Chan’s Thai Kitchen because it’s inexpensive and as authentic as you’re going to get this far north. Also, Tracy’s King Crab Shack is a winner: “Only five items but lots of ways to try them!” You can get crab, crab, crab, crab or crab, served in cakes, bisque, rolls or buckets. A lack of selection was never so appealing. GOLF: Not a lot going on here in Juneau, but the view from anywhere on the 9-hole Mendenhall Golf Course can’t be beat. Pair that with friendly locals and a strong crosscourse breeze, and you’ve got a seriously fun afternoon.

ALL POINTS NORTH If your personal ambition to head north continues once you land in Anchorage, there’s no reason to turn around now. You can drive—that’s right: drive—all the way to the Arctic Ocean if you like. Along the way you’ll hit Fairbanks, Alaska’s other big city, before you jump on the Dalton Highway on your way to Prudhoe Bay, the Beaufort Sea and views of the Arctic Ocean. But before you do, you must visit Denali National Park, home to Mt. McKinley. We suggest stopping, eating and staying in Talkeetna while you’re visiting the park. Denali’s main attraction, which stands more than 20,300 feet tall, lords over six million acres of some of the most beautiful land anywhere. Apart from on foot, the best way to see it is with a “flightseeing” tour on a plane that can not only circle Mt. McKinley, but can land on one of the glaciers surrounding it. Talkeetna Air Taxi (talkeetnaair.com) is one of the best. Five hours from there you’ll hit Fairbanks. While the city has its charms, we kept moving, jumping on the Dalton Highway en route to Prudhoe Bay. More than 400 miles of mud, ice and heart-stopping scenery, the Dalton is nothing if not a challenge—hence it being featured on the TV show Ice Road Truckers. You’ll either have to take your own vehicle or rent one from a specialist; Hertz, Avis and the rest of them don’t want their cars on this road. If you decide to brave it, you can look forward to hours of Muskoxen (a contemporary of the Wooly Mammoth and one of the oldest types of animals on the planet), Arctic Fox, Caribou, Snowy Owls and more, along with miles of stunning landscapes. The town of Coldfoot is basically a truck stop, though it does feature the northernmost bar in the country (no alcohol is allowed in the town of Deadhorse at Prudhoe Bay, which is essentially an oil camp). Stay in Wiseman, just down the road. The old mining town with a current population of roughly six people dates to 1919 or so, and the Arctic Getaway B&B (arcticgetaway.com) is in one of the town’s original buildings. Rustic but incredibly comfortable and homey, and the hosts are fantastic. From there it’s up, up and away to Deadhorse, where you’ll pay big money to stay in the oil camp and take an oil-company-run tour of the area, which culminates with a 10-minute stop on the sadly anticlimactic shores

of the Beaufort Sea. Still, if you can look beyond all of the industrial machinery, the area is stunning, and the drive up is once-in-a-lifetime—unless you’re a local trucker, in which case it’s likely less inspiring.

Stay: The Talkeetna Roadhouse was built in 1914, and it’s still serving up great rooms and great breakfasts (talkeetnaroadhouse.com). In Fairbanks we like Pikes Waterfront Lodge (pikeslodge.com), with its sauna, riverside deck and friendly staff. The Arctic Getaway B&B in Wiseman, referenced above, is fantastic, while the oil camp accommodations in Deadhorse are limited, similar and similarly expensive. Eat: There are options, but we’re sold on the West Rib Pub in Talkeetna—tasty fare and one of the best beers we’ve tried: Ice Axe Ale, only available here, and worth traveling for. In Fairbanks we have to recommend the Aloha BBQ Grill. The Hawaiian menu isn’t just a break from typical hearty Alaskan chow, it’s actually good. Choices north of Fairbanks are limited, but basic food can be had at the camp/fuel stop in Coldfoot, while you’ll eat with the oil workers in Deadhorse. GOLF: You won’t be doing much golfing up here, but if you want to play North America’s Northernmost USGA golf club, you’re in luck: North Star Golf Club near Fairbanks is your place (northstargolf.com). Links-style play and helpful staff make it worthwhile, plus it’s the only golf club we know of that includes an animal checklist on its scorecards—no kidding!

Lodging in Wiseman (above), the Dalton Highway (below left) and flightseeing over Denali

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Ultimate Kitchen F

or many it is the nucleus of a home, the place where we begin our days and where we gather in the evenings to reflect. Morning coffee, afterschool snacks and late-night feasts. Often a mess, it always ends up clean, inviting, warm in winter, cool in summer. The start to our holidays and parties, some of our best times and best memories. Burned toast, a beautiful roast, failed attempts at exotic feasts and celebrated successes as well. Our simplest bachelor efforts. We come here for comfort and satisfaction. For happiness. Because we need to—and because we want to. Wherever we begin, at some point we leave it all behind and enter THE KITCHEN.

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Le CReuset oven

Kuhn RiKon For pure joy in the kitchen look no further than Switzerland and the innovative Kuhn Rikon. The company makes a wide range of cookware and tools, including a few shaped like animals. Bright colors and playful designs are just half the story, because Kuhn Rikon’s products are also incredibly ergonomic and effective. They’ve been at it for 70 years, and are still winning design awards, bringing flair and smiles to kitchens everywhere. Available at fine kitchenware retailers. Kuhnrikon.com

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If you care at all about cookware, you’ve seen Le Creuset’s colorful creations. Since 1925 the company has been handcrafting enamelled cast iron cookware in Northern France, and none of it is more associated with the brand than its Round French Oven. Offered in a variety of sizes, this durable and versatile oven evenly holds heat like no other, bringing chicken, stews, cake and anything else your heart desires to brilliant fruition. In fine stores everywhere. lecreuset.com

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KitchenAid Official Home Appliance brand of The PGA of America and Senior PGA Championship Sponsor. Few culinary tools are as beloved as the KitchenAid stand mixer. From top restaurants to home countertops across the globe, this do-anything workhorse in its many incarnations and colors is at once vintage and modern—in other words, timeless. And it’s powerful as well, robustly handling any foodie task you can throw at it via a seemingly endless number of built-to-last attachments. But KitchenAid has much more

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to offer. Its wide range of products— from countertop appliances to cooktops, ranges to refrigerators and whisks to wine cellars—all feature the same craftsmanship and attention to detail found in the iconic mixer. Even a masterful manifestation of the humble toaster impresses, as does a sophisticated outdoor entertainment station. Dress your kitchen from top to tail in appliances from KitchenAid, and you’ll enjoy a world-class culinary studio at home. KitchenAid, “For the Way It’s Made.” Find out more at kitchenaid.com

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FOG Linen WOrk Working in her Tokyo studio with her cat “Goban” (meaning “No.5,” she says, because he’s the fifth assistant in her office) Yumiko Sekine creates what we believe are superlative kitchen linens and accessories. Classic patterns mix with modern cuts in a selection of useful and attractive fabric products that suggest European farmhouse kitchens or old-school Parisian cafes, while whimsical wire baskets and simple wood accessories are charming anywhere. Tablecloths, napkins, towels and aprons (we like her full apron sans drawstrings) are just part of the picture this intriguing studio offers. Yumiko sources her linen from producers in Lithuania, a country that’s been supplying the material since the Middle Ages, and sells her products all over the world. Look for them close to home in stores like Sur la Table or order them directly from her Web site. Foglinenwork.com

OVOPUr By now you’ve heard the environmental issues about the little plastic bottles of water. They last nearly forever in landfills, they’re so “last decade,” and anyway you have a sink at home. Move your H2O forward with an ecodesign OVOPUR water filter from AQUAOVO. The designer says the shape has something to do with new beginnings. We just like it because it looks better than a giant plastic jug on the counter, and because its reusable cartridge produces beautiful, clean water. Find out more on the company’s Web site, and add some high design to your liquid intake. Aquaovo.com

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A.O. Smith WAter heAter Far more than just an accessory, a water heater is part of a home’s engine room, fulfilling critical functions and helping to maintain comfort as well. When it comes to water heaters, none are finer than those from A. O. Smith. The world leader in the category, their already proven residential units are now joined by a suite of eco-friendly water heaters that utilize technologies such as solar, hybrid gas and hybrid electric. In addition to helping homeowners reduce their carbon footprints and increase the value of their homes, the new units are more efficient and perform better than previous models. A hybrid electric model, for example, is twice as efficient as a standard electric model and can save the homeowner a considerable amount of money without sacrificing hot water. And A. O. Smith’s water heaters can be built into new homes or installed as replacements to old systems, making them as versatile as they are effective. Better performing, better for the Earth and better for the budget, an A. O. Smith water heater isn’t just about doing the right thing, it’s what makes sense. Aosmith.com

mAuviel SAuté PAn Chefs like copper cookware because it distributes heat evenly and effectively, and because it responds to the slightest of changes. Precision cooking is all about control, and so copper is the go-to material of choice in professional kitchens. Mauviel appears in many of those, and in the finest home kitchens as well. The French company makes a range of copper cookware, but if you only buy one piece make sure it’s a sauté pan from Mauviel’s M’heritage line. Perhaps the finest sauté pan made it’s also one of the prettiest, appealing to all kinds of taste. Mauviel.com

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There is so much ThaT can

be aTTached To The name

arnold Palmer

Designers of Arnold Palmer Signature courses and architects of Palmer Refresh www.arnoldpalmerdesign.com (407) 876â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1068

Evan Schiller

An easy smile and a wicked swing A true sportsmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s style and sophistication A genuine approachability A trendsetter and a traditionalist A man of his word The gentleman athlete The father and the friend Host of the API presented by MasterCard The pilot and the businessman The Icon

The King.

r o yA L

Arnold Palmer’s restaurant in La Quinta, California, brings both modern cuisine and down-home comfort food to the desert

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t’s not often one gets A royAL invitation to dine, but that’s exactly what fans of the King get every day at Arnold Palmer’s restaurant in La Quinta, California. Appropriately named “Arnold Palmer’s,” the notable dining destination serves up great food for lunch and dinner with a fantastic view of the santa rosa Mountains. Known for its elegant presentations of straightforward American fare (much of it selected by Mr. Palmer himself) alongside family-style comfort food and some cutting-edge cuisine, the eatery maintains an atmosphere that is at once distinguished and relaxed.

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FAre

As much a museum of Arnie memorabilia as it is a restaurant, Arnold Palmer’s is enjoying a refreshed look thanks to a series of recent renovations, including a substantial new wine cellar with its own 20-seat dining table, a renovated putting green, enhanced dining rooms and a general tidying up. “We did a lot,” said Chef Brett Maddock, the restaurant’s longtime kitchen master. “We turned the courtyard into a wine cellar, re-did The Masters room… basically modernized everything to keep up with the times.” One of the most significant changes, the new wine cellar, is also a private dining room. Bottles of wine are stored in the

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walls of the large room and are visible through glass doors that line the space. “It’s all climate controlled inside the doors themselves, so people can walk by and enjoy looking in there,” said Maddock. “They’re all locked cabinets, custom made. We’re a big restaurant, we sell a lot of wine, and before we had wines stored everywhere.” In addition to the new storage and a substantial new dining table, there’s a fireplace in the room to ensure diners stay comfortable. “You can have the fireplace going and still have your wine chilling inside,” Maddock said. “We spent a bit more to make it right—you don’t want the ladies freezing!”

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One thing that hasn’t changed is the quality of the which is excellent. That’s thanks to Chef Maddock knows his stuff from the ground up. He started assistant in a Minnesota family butchershop and said of the experience, “Within a year I knew how not cook.” From there he held a variety of jobs at to dining locations in various states before heading t Ritz Carlton Hotel in Naples, Florida, and in Atl Buckhead area. Next came a Fine Dining Chef po at The Lodge in Rancho Mirage, with Maddock the restaurant to Four Star and Four Diamond f first time. The rest, as they say, is history. Mad work at Arnold Palmer’s is solid, constantly introd modern, creative cuisine alongside the downcomfort food for which many of the restaurant’ keep returning—among them the King himself.“ was in for dinner last night,” Maddock told u winter. In fact, Mr. Palmer is a frequent guest restaurant. For that reason, and so fans can taste of what a champion enjoys for dinner, the maintains a section entitled “Arnie’s Favorites. include selections like Meatloaf with Mashed and Gravy, and Organic Buttermilk Fried Chicken Mashed Potato, Collard Greens, Grilled Corn and Gravy. More modern fare includes a Vegetable C appetizer, in which fresh seasonal and mar vegetables are joined by pimento cheese, and Coa Date and Bacon Skewers with Spinach and M Sauce, which uses local dates from the Coachella For entrees, Maddock offers a selection of “ Creations,” which showcase his creativity in such as Honey-Soy Glazed Chilean Sea Bass and L and Herb Baked Steelhead Salmon. Of course, yo always get fresh seafood and a great steak at A Palmer’s as well. As for dessert, it’s any sweet t dream. Vanilla Crème Brulee works fine, but we’ the Coffee and Doughnuts, thank you very much. “ always changing it up,” says Maddock.

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It takes more than just food to make a restaurant truly wonderful, and the atmosphere at Arnold Palmer’s is nothing short of spectacular for Palmer fans. Dining rooms are themed after events like The Masters, the British Open and the U.S. Open. Each room contains related memorabilia from Palmer’s personal collections, including one of The King’s Green Jackets in The Masters room and a large collection of personal photos in The Arnold Palmer Room. The bar features live music, more Arnie memorabilia and a great selection of cocktails to enliven any desert evening—especially when the night spills out onto the 9-hole putting green, which, if it doesn’t showcase your best short game, is at least a terrific amount of fun. Whether you’re dropping in for lunch or sitting down for a perfect end to a long day of golf, Arnold Palmer’s restaurant is a must-see destination for Arnie’s fans and fans of great food. Visit the restaurant online at arnoldpalmersrestaurant.com, call 760.771.GOLF or stop in at 78164 Avenue 52, La Quinta, CA, 92253 to taste food fit for a King.

Arnie memorabilia joins great food at Arnold Palmer’s Restaurant

Pouring Greatness Arnold Palmer’s Restaurant is known for great food, but its drink selections are equally as remarkable. Wine Spectator has taken notice of the impressive bottled offerings and awarded the restaurant a coveted Award of Excellence, and with the new wine cellar the outpouring will only be better. Among the fantastic labels on offer, the restaurant is currently the only place serving the 2004 Arnold Palmer Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which has been heralded as one of the greatest creations ever to come out of Napa’s Luna Vineyards. Flavors of anise, dark chocolate and black cherry open to incredible intensity but offer a smooth finish in this exquisite wine. Also on offer, Seasmoke “Southing” Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills, Turnbull, “Black Label”, Napa Valley Meritage and the Kelleher Family “Brix Vineyard” Oakville and Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, among others. Better still Palmer Advantage members receive a complimentary glass of champagne (and dessert) for them and their spouse when dining at the restaurant—the perfect accompaniment to any meal at Arnold Palmer’s.

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Clear Decision Vodka or gin—which will it be? The people at Ketel One Vodka aren’t making the choice any easier by introducing their own NOLET’S Silver Gin and Reserve Gin. Never has so crystalline a decision left us so perplexed

At some point in my eArly 20s, I announced to my grandfather that I liked gin. “Somebody in the family has to, I suppose,” he replied. Most of my clan were vodka drinkers, but for my part I enjoy both—and I’m not alone. Take James Bond, for example. Over the course of Ian Fleming’s 14 novels about 007, Bond orders 19 vodka martinis, 16 gin martinis and one Vesper, a drink that mixes both—and which Bond himself invents in Casino Royale, the first 007 book. Vodka is most often distilled from grains or potatoes, while gin is a spirit that is re-distilled with juniper or other botanicals, giving it its flavor. Both are eminently mixable, but the best of either sits just fine alone. Case in point: Ketel One Vodka, which Arnold Palmer enjoys on the rocks. Lovers of that spirit, which the Nolet family has been distilling for 11 generations from 100 percent wheat, will be happy to hear that it’s soon to be joined by sister premium libations: NOLET’S Silver Gin (think hints of Turkish rose and peach) and NOLET’S Reserve Gin (imagine delicate saffron, and sipping solo). Whichever you pour, the choice is clear.

Vodka

Ketel One Grand A grand libation indeed

Ketel One PK Sure to enliven any occasion

Bitter Sweet Both sides of the flavor spectrum add up to pure enjoyment

1 1/4 oz Ketel One Oranje™ Flavored

1 oz Ketel One® Vodka

Vodka

1/2 oz Pimms #1®

1 1/2 oz Ketel One® Citroen Vodka

1/4 oz Grand Marnier®

1 dash Angostura Bitters

1/2 oz Campari

1/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

3 cucumber slices

3/4 oz Grand Marnier

Ginger Ale

Lemon-lime Soda

1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Pour Ketel One Oranje, Grand Marnier and fresh lemon juice into rocks glass over ice, top with ginger ale and stir gently. Garnish with orange wedge.

Place two cucumber slices at the bottom of a highball glass and fill with ice. Add the vodka, Pimms #1 and bitters, top with lemon-lime soda and stir gently. Garnish with remaining cucumber slice.

1/4 oz Honey syrup

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Dash of Orange bitters Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass. Top with orange zest.

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Gin

both

NOLET’S Silver Martini Simple to make and enjoy

NOLET’S Silver Dry Gin Fizz A roaring good time

1 oz NOLET’S Silver Gin

Stir with ice in a cocktail shaker, then serve straight up in a martini glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

3 oz NOLET’S Silver Gin

1/4 oz Simple Syrup

1 oz Ketel One® Vodka

1/2 oz Pasteurized Egg White

1/2 oz Blonde Lillet

Splash of Soda Water Stir the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white with ice in a cocktail shaker. Pour the mix into an ice-filled highball glass, stir well, top with soda water and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

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Ketel NOLET Vesper Invented by James Bond, improved by The Netherlands

2011

Pour both the gin and vodka over cracked ice, stir and then strain into a large martini glass or champagne goblet with the Lillet. Garnish with a large, thin slice of lemon peel.

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G e l When Voltaire wrote that “Ice-cream is exquisite; what a pity it isn’t illegal,” he didn’t realize he was referring to gelato Photography: Meghan Tilley

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VERy TOWN HAS ONE, AND OuRS WAS the Dairy Kurl. In fact, the little stand is still there, on the way to the beach and just across the street from the park, a red-andwhite striped building with two windows: one for orders, one for pick-up. I can still remember watching Mom push the money under the first window and then waiting what seemed an eternity until— finally—the second window opened, a rush of cold sweet air hit me in the face and a hand emerged holding a gloriously tall ice cream cone. How many children have memories like this? The local ice cream shop is as American as apple pie and Liberty herself, but frozen confections predate Elvis by more than a few summers. Some years ago I spent a particularly hot August in ukraine, and stood in

a long line with Kiev locals to buy a sweet and plain ice cream—locally “мороженое” (pronounced morozhne)— that vendors were selling out of cardboard boxes on the street. In Japan it was a trendy café and red-bean flavored mochi, a frozen treat made from pounded rice. Same with Korea, though the flavor was translated to me as “barn floor,” and it tasted accordingly. Paris served up pastel-colored frozen “boules” that tasted like Easter candy, while China promised “chocolate ice cream” but delivered something that tasted like cold carob and spoilt milk. The world loves ice cream, and I’m a tourist with a spoon. But if I had to pick just one spot on Earth that really, truly does it right (at least to my taste buds), I’d have to head for the land of red cars and la dolce vita. Without question, the Italians perfected the genre with gelato.

at o H i s t o r y But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Where did ice cream come from, anyway? Well, as with many things, the story of ice cream’s origins is shrouded in intrigue and mystery. There are records of a milk-based frozen dessert from the Tang Period in China, sometime between 618-907AD. Apparently, King Tang of Shang had no fewer than 94 “ice men” whose responsibility (aside from serving a king with one of the coolest names ever) was to create frozen desserts made from cow, goat and buffalo milk, mixing those with rice, honey and flour and allowing the mix to ferment. It was then combined with snow to create the earliest known form of ice cream. Maybe. Other sources put it even earlier, variously attributing the first frozen milk-based dessert to the times of King Solomon (971-931 BC), the Roman Emperor Nero (54-68 AD) and Alexander the Great (336-323 BC), all of whom may have enjoyed their own versions of 31 flavors.

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For the “Chinese origin” supporters, there’s a direct connection to the gorgeous Italian creation: Rumor has it that in 1295 Marco Polo returned to Venice from his Far Eastern travels with the recipe for—you guessed it—gelato. Italophiles contend he enjoyed a dish before ever setting out. Whatever its true origins, gelato came into its own in the 16th century at the House of Medici in Florence. Here again, we have a bit of mystery. One story holds that the Florentine cook Bernardo Bountalenti invented modern gelato in 1565 and presented it to Catherine de Medici who went on to introduce it to France and subsequently the rest of Europe. Another story credits Giuseppe Ruggeri, a chicken farmer by trade, who entered a contest put on by Catherine de Medici to create a new and exciting food. He won with his frozen dessert, which Catherine took to France when she married Henry II.

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WHY WE LIKE IT The ingredients for gelato are fairly simple and basically the same as any good ice cream you’ll find in the States: milk, cream, sugar and a number of different flavorings. But in comparison to ice cream, gelato has less butterfat, less sugar and approximately 100mg of calcium per serving, making it somewhat of a less guilty pleasure. Furthermore, the sugar and water in gelato are precisely balanced to prevent the treat from freezing solid. Due to the processes by which gelato is created—often a hot pasteurization process and aging period that allows the milk proteins to bind with the water—the ice crystals in gelato are typically smaller, resulting in the smooth texture coveted by gelato aficionados. Additionally, gelato is frozen quickly (commercial ice creams are usually frozen gradually on an assembly line). The final product is denser and holds its flavor better than—though not as long as—conventional ice cream. If you’re eating gelato at a quality gelateria, you’re eating a fresh product. The local ice cream counter will always have a soft (serve) place in my heart, and there’s nothing better for a summer day at the beach. But when you’re in the mood for a pure winter of decadence in your mouth and you feel ready to explore a dreamer’s array of flavors like Mascarpone Rum, Sea Salt Caramel and Zabaione (egg yolks and sweet Marsala wine), take a cue from Marco Polo, the Medicis and all the rest of them and dive into a bowl of gelato.

E A T I N G I T Io urlo, tu urli, tutti urlamo per il gelato! — or as we say in the States: I scream, you scream, we all scream for gelato It’s possible to make gelato at home using a conventional ice cream maker, but it’s far easier to source some from a quality gelateria. Be sure to ask where their gelato is made, when it’s made, and if the ingredients are organic or locally sourced. All of the above can impact the flavor and texture. After you bring it home, the gelato should be placed in the freezer for at least two hours prior to eating (it’s only really semi-frozen, after all), and conventional presentation has it served with waffle-cone wafers or a sliver of chocolate. As for us, we’ll take it with fresh fruit or naked as the day it was born. Pure, sweet and cold. Ché bella.

Gelato can be enjoyed to the full without enhancement by any flavoring whatsoever, but who would say ‘no’ in all honesty to a few slivers of chocolate?

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It’s big, it’s beautiful and it’s off the leash. Jaguar’s new supercharged XJL is elegant to look at, but don’t get too close if raw power scares you—this car has a ferocious bite. Kingdom’s editor approaches carefully and hangs on for the ride…

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A lusciously grand super-luxury sports missile of a car

“Oh man,”

I thought when I saw the 2011 Jaguar XJL. “This thing is big.” It’s even bigger in the configuration I was given—five inches longer than the standard XJ at 206.6 inches, which is 17.2 feet, which is three inches longer than a Hummer H2 and almost exactly as stretched as the longest alligator ever found in the state of Florida (according to Everglades National Park literature). But let’s get one thing straight immediately: The length doesn’t mean a thing once you start driving. The 2011 Jaguar XJL drives more like a sports car than it does a super-luxury sedan, and it’s an amazing thing to experience. The size all but disappears once you climb in, push a button to fire up the engine and point the imposing nose down the road. A Jaguar representative told me to expect as much, but I didn’t believe him until I drove the XJL for myself, and drive it I did. Jaguar was kind enough to let me take the 2011 XJL on a road trip from Miami to Key West and back, which had me racing down the A1A and taking a quick side trip to brush along the edge of the Everglades. Over four days with the car I learned that a big cat can be enormously fun if it’s a Jaguar, that the interior of the new XJL is nicer than first class on most airlines, and that this car is not for the shy: You will get noticed, and usually gawked-at.

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Rear-seat passengers are treated to luxury usually reserved for royalty or private jet owners

Quiet time If you’re driving, getting around Miami’s South Beach area is miserable any time of day. Between the thick traffic and the tourist mobs, progress down Ocean Avenue or the adjoining Collins Ave is incremental at best. Despite having to navigate the tight streets and frustrating conditions, the XJL performed remarkably well, leaping into tight spaces between creeping cars with unexpected agility and responding to every flick of the wheel and touch on the accelerator. Braking was immediate as well, meaning there was no kissing bumpers, which was great because it’d be a tragedy to scratch the dive-into-it deep paint. If the low-speed, stop-and-start experience of being trapped in traffic was good—and it was fine, truth be told—it’s also because the interior of the car is such a pleasant place in which to pass the time. The leather used on the seats and trim is “sumptuous,” to use an apt word from the Jaguar brochure, and the fit and finish impeccable, to use one of my own. The 11-way adjustable heated/cooled leather seats also offer a massage, and the steering wheel can be heated, though we didn’t need that in Miami. Rear-seat passengers enjoy a level of comfort usually reserved for royalty or the private jet set, with 44 inches of legroom in the XJL and even fold-down tray tables, which are finished in

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the same beautiful materials as the rest of the interior. Matched-wood veneers arc broadly across the cabin, giving it a cockpit feel of sorts, while chrome and leather accents impress and sparkle at every turn. The view of Miami out the formidable amount of glass was lovely, and it was nice leaning back and watching palms shift and clouds roll by out the vast dual sunroofs while sitting, not moving, in sight of the Interstate. Things were kept cool thanks to the powerful climate control system, which features vents I found to be particularly operational. The system is adjustable via a high-definition, centrally located touch-screen that handles navigation and audio control duties as well, among other things. While I enjoyed studying the virtual gauges and information panels on the dash (which are as useful and straightforward as they are cutting-edge) and playing with the numerous steering-wheel controls, one of the best parts about being stuck in traffic was the music. I’m rather particular about my audio, and the stunning clarity from the Bowers & Wilkins audio system, with its 20 speakers and 1,200 watts, was simply fantastic. Coupled with the 30gig hard drive, which holds both music and the immediately available navigation data, or a DVD system, the audio system is a must-have as far as I’m concerned.

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FInaL thoughtS

As nice as all of this was, you don’t buy a highperformance car to sit in it all day (unless you’re Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, who collects cars but doesn’t have a driver’s license). And as much as I was enjoying the fine work of Jaguar’s interior design team, I couldn’t wait to get moving. It seemed the car itself was feeling frustrated as well, because when we finally did escape the Miami gridlock and find some open road the XJL purred, growled, and then positively roared— and I swear it needed no urging from me. Getting pushed back in your seat under hard acceleration is great fun. When the seats are as nice as those in the XJL it’s doubly so because, while I’d marvelled at their sumptuousness in traffic (see above) I was now impressed by their support—not rock-hard, but comfortably race-inspired you might say. Pushing me back for the 4.9 seconds it takes to get from 0 to 60 was a 470hp 5.0-liter Supercharged V8 that produces 424 pound-feet of torque and has a tremendous engine note. It’s a fantastic power plant, effortlessly driving the roughly 4,300-lb (curb weight) car forward via a 6-speed sequential shift transmission that, whether left to its own decision-making or manually controlled via the paddle shifters, is quick and seamless throughout the range. The low weight (hundreds of pounds lighter than the competition) and high performance are due in part to a stiff and lightweight aerospace-inspired aluminium body structure, which means dramatic power delivery to the 19-inch wheels and whip-smart handling that belies the vehicle’s dimensions. Pedal response was brilliant and braking from speed sincerely effective, if not a bit dramatic. Choosing “Dynamic” mode, via a quick turn of the JaguarDrive Selector wheel on the center console, makes the car downright angry, reflected in the red hue assumed by the virtual gauges on the dash. In this mode, sophisticated electronics put most driving dynamics on alert, increasing reaction from the already responsive accelerator, quickening shifts and tightening handling and overall feel, which makes you appreciate the seats even more. With the new Adaptive Dynamics System (standard in all XJ models), which makes continuous adjustments to suspension dampening, and an effective but not intrusive Dynamic Stability Control system, which can save the hide of overly enthusiastic drivers, the XJL must be evaluated as the performance car that it is, not just as a super luxury sedan—which it also is. It excels at both roles.

I have to report that I’m blown away by what the engineers at Jaguar have done. At no point did I feel like I was driving a large car—much less one that’s five inches longer than the standard model. My daily driver is a sporty two-door, and making the transition could not have been easier. Even parking, which seemed daunting at first, was easily accomplished thanks to tight steering and readily available information in the form of proximity sensors and a rear camera, which automatically kicks in when the car is in reverse. All the expected bells and whistles are there—cooling box for beverages, passenger climate controls, elegant lighting, and so on—along with adequate storage and practical electronics, and there are a few surprises as well. But what sets the XJL apart is its dual personality. If you’re looking for an elegant and supremely appointed super luxury sedan to drive—or in which to be driven—this is your car. Likewise, if you’re after a commanding presence and crazy power with racetrack handling, here you go. Base models start under $70,000, while a top of the line 510hp version will set you back just over $100,000; for this kind of power and luxury that’s incredibly reasonable—and certainly better than anything remotely near the class. Considering the performance, luxury and price point, I don’t know how they’ve done it, but the 2011 XJL Supercharged leaves us with just one thing to say: Job well done. Find out more about the 2011 Jaguar XJ and XJL at jaguar.com

2011 Jaguar XJL Supercharged EnginE: Supercharged 5.0 Liter V8 HorsEpowEr: 470 0-60: 4.9 seconds Top spEEd: 155mph (limited) MilEagE: 15 city/21 hwy Curb wEigHT: 4,323 lb approx. priCE: $90,500

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“Sumptuous” is how the brochure describes the fine interior leathers, and it’s not wrong

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Concert for one P5 Mobile Hi-Fi Headphones Get closer to your favourite music wherever you are with P5, the noiseisolating headphones from the people behind the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most advanced hi-fi loudspeakers.

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Spring Flings The sun is out, the grass is green and it’s time to knock the rust off your game. Welcome the new season with a gift from our selection of top products and services—you deserve it Bowers & wilkins Air zeppelin Famous for fabulous design and acoustic excellence, Bowers & Wilkins have a tremendous range of audio products. We feature here the Zeppelin Air that, with Apple’s AirPlay technology, allows music to be streamed wirelessly from your Mac or PC straight to the Zeppelin Air speaker. It is even possible to bypass the computer completely and stream sound directly from your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone without the need to dock a device. All with the same highquality audio that music lovers have come to expect from Bowers & Wilkins. And of course, if you have more than one Zeppelin Air, you can use them in an elegant multi-room system.

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Apple ipAD 2 You’ve heard about it, read about it, seen it, perhaps even touched it, but if you haven’t yet purchased an Apple iPad you’re missing out. The device is exceptional for devouring media: visiting arnieskingdom.com and other Web sites, watching movies, managing email accounts and even managing your contacts, schedule and business life. And of course there’s the fun bits as well, with a whole world awaiting you at the App Store. Thinner than the iPhone4 and featuring front- and rearfacing cameras for video conferencing, the new iPad is simply fantastic.

apple.com/ipad

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iCe Cream maker You’ve seen KitchenAid’s Stand Mixer before—it’s one of the most iconic kitchen tools ever—but did you know it’s as good at making ice cream as it is at handling general mixing duties? Featuring the largest ice cream bowl capacity in the industry, there will always be plenty of gelato, sorbet, ice cream or other delicious frozen dessert to go around. For parties, events or just a summer’s day at home, this is one attachment every owner of a KitchenAid Stand Mixer should have in their cupboard.

kitchenaid.com

GlenmoranGie Finealta GlenmoranG The latest addition to Glenmorangie’s Private Edition range of malt whiskies is the Finealta. Named with the Scottish Gaelic word for “elegant,” Finealta is an exquisite recreation of a Glenmorangie recipe from 1903 that was once a favorite tipple in the American Bar at The Savoy in London. Dr. Bill Lumsden, head of distilling and whisky creation at Glenmorangie, followed the 1903 recipe meticulously, which included marrying whiskies of different ages from different types of casks. The result is a whisky of depth and distinction, carrying flavors of mandarin segments, lime and hints of cherry brandy along with a spicy palate of nutmeg and ginger. The final touch is a hint of peat, which creates a subtle smokiness and depth.

glenmorangie.com

la aUrora CiGarS In 1903, Eduardo León Jimenes founded La Aurora, becoming the first Dominican cigar factory. Backed by the experience of three generations of Master Blenders, Guillermo León, the founder’s grandson, created the La Aurora 107 to mark the 107th anniversary of the Leon family in the business. Its blend carries an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper, Nicaraguan filler and a Dominican binder that provides a very rich, medium to full-bodied smoke with hints of pepper, cinnamon and pine. This complex smoke produces a sweet smell of wood and tobacco.

laaurora.com.do

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wisecRackeR™ cRab cRackeR Ah, delicious fresh crabs—but what a nightmare to work with. Take a crack at them with the WiseCracker™. Simply push into the shell, squeeze the handle, release, and split to reveal perfectly exposed crab meat. Now where’s that lemon?

csnstores.com

best stone cRabs

Gift Boxes

Treat yourself to a taste of paradise. These mouth-watering Stone Crab Claws come from the prized crab beds of Florida and the Bahamas. Hand-selected, these beauties are cooked immediately, locking in their sweet, delicate flavor, then shipped overnight-fresh and ready to eat-from the boat to your table. Traditionally served cold with mustard sauce as an appetizer or entrée. We like.

Turn any occasion into a “special” occasion. Gift Boxes are Best Stone Crab’s most popular item and your best value. Three, five or ten pounds of succulent Best Stone Crab Claws, Papa Hughie’s Homemade Mustard Sauce, cocktail forks and mallet. They’ll even enclose a gift card with your personalized message. A gift that most surely makes a lasting impression.

From Sonoma County, Ca., Rodney Strong’s reserve Chardonnay is one of the Klein family’s premium wines. The 2008 vintage is a full-bodied, powerful wine but soft and creamy in the mouth. Tree fruit aromas and good acidity are supported by minerality and toasty oak on the palate. Great on its own, absolutely perfect with seafood.

beststonecrabs.com

rodneystrong.com

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Golf leGenDS PackaGe Hammock Beach Resort (Palm Coast) and Reunion Resort (Central Florida) offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Florida golf at its finest. With the Golf Legends Package, you can enjoy the beauty of Arnold Palmer’s Signature Course at Reunion as well as the mastery behind 4 additional courses designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. Whether you are taking on the rolling hills and strategically placed bunkers at Reunion or taking in the majestic views from 6 ocean front holes at Hammock Beach, this package takes you from the excitement of Orlando to the beauty of the coast for a spectacular golf getaway. The package includes 5 nights of luxury accommodations at Hammock Beach Resort (2 nights) and Reunion Resort (3 nights), a total of 5 rounds of golf and breakfast each morning. In addition to golf, both resorts feature world-class service and amenities, as well as spacious villas and suites.

reunionresort.com hammockbeach.com

SQRD UP Alignment Made Simple Proper alignment, correct ball and clubface position at address—these are fundamental questions that golfers face each and every time a stroke is made. The SQRD UP alignment tool enables players to fulfill each one of these requirements. Instead of guessing, or just hoping your alignment is correct, quickly view your alignment in comparison to SQRD UP’s 100% laseraccurate lines. SQRD UP is excellent for driving range use. “Research has proven that 85 percent of golf swing learning is visual. This being the case, the SQRD UP alignment tool does a better job giving feedback on your alignment than any tool I have used in my last 40 years of teaching,” says Dr. Jim Suttie, 2000 National PGA Teacher of the Year. We at Kingdom have also been thoroughly impressed by this innovative device. It is easy to use and exceptionally helpful to low- and high-handicappers alike.

sqrdup.com

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TaylorMade GolF r11 Ever the leader in golf technology and long a source of excellent drivers (among other things), TaylorMadeadidas Golf has done it again with the new R11. Strikingly colored with a white crown that will no doubt become a common sight on Tour, the R11 is the most advanced and tuneable driver ever. Loft, face angle, and center of gravity are all adjustable, while the aerodynamic shape promotes faster clubhead speed for more distance. A must-have for your bag.

taylormadegolf.com

Nike 20Xi FraNchise Nike Golf is changing the game with their new Nike 20XI premium golf ball franchise. About as high-tech as you can get, Nike says these “will dramatically enhance the performance of golfers around the world and, at the same time, propel golf ball manufacturing into an entirely new level of innovation.” The result of four years of collaborative work between Nike Golf’s golf ball engineers and a team of material and science experts at DuPont, the game-changing technology in the 20XI balls replaces conventional rubber cores with a radical new resin material, producing longer distance and more controlled shots.

nikegolf.com

MusTy PuTTers When pioneer golfers first played the game, clubs had heads shaped from either wood or iron while shafts were made of wood. Eventually steel replaced wood, then graphite replaced steel, and now titanium is King—or was… Feel was the one thing steel never really offered while titanium delivers the sound of an empty oil can. But wood? Well, wood always sounded and felt great. David Musty of Musty Putters has combined that great feel with superior performance to create the world’s only high-tech wooden putter. By raising the entire weighting system to the equator of

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the golf ball, Musty has also eliminated face hop and back spin, which was impossible to achieve with steel. The center of the putter head, a super-light beater bar with aiming line, facilitates a separation of the weighting system and ensures that off-center putts still roll straight and the same distance as full-center putts. Thanks to Musty Putters’ specialization in laser engraving, each putter can be individually tailored to the owner, making them ideal, and long-lasting, gifts. Six styles and six hardwoods are available—see them all at

mustyputters.net

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hAnger Project Kirby Allison, founder of The Hanger Project, believes in protecting a good investment. In this case, that investment is your suit, which is something that can be ruined by an ordinary hanger. Top suits need top hangers, Allison believes, and we agree. With four sizes, hangers from Kirby Allison’s Hanger Project guarantee a perfect fit—meaning your made-to-measure suit will continue to look like the bespoke garment for which you paid. Moreover, it will last longer. Buy them as a gift or for yourself. As Allison says, you tailor your clothes—now tailor your hangers.

HangerProject.com

deniSonboSton From denisonboston and the home of the dandy—Brighton, England—comes a classic bit of sparkle in this Abalone Tie Clip. Vibrant colors and dynamic design are hallmarks of the brand, sure to add a bit of flair to your formal attire.

denisonboston.com

PAolo ScAforA The Scafora family has been designing and creating bespoke artisan shoes since 1956. Wearing a pair of Paolo Scafora shoes is a unique experience—one that combines elegance and tradition with the highest standards of craftsmanship. All shoes are hand-made following the traditional Goodyear and Norwegian constructions that add that extra touch of style. The company’s workshop is dedicated to caring for your comfort while ensuring your footwear has durability and strength. Besides the ready-to-wear collection, for its most discerning clients Paolo Scafora also makes customized men’s dress shoes, under direct personal supervision. The leathers are skillfully hand-dyed to suit your taste so you can select nuances you will not see on anyone else’s shoes. Paolo Scafora also offers a superb golf collection and elegant leather accessories. Beautifully crafted and perfectly fitting, bespoke Paolo Scafora shoes provide a truly life-changing experience. Pictured here are their sublime moccasins.

paoloscafora.com

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kingdom magazine has always been available on a complimentary basis, as a gift from the King himself, to the private members of Arnold Palmer designed and managed courses. Now the magazine is also available, on a subscription basis, to all Arnold Palmer fans and golfers with a taste for fine living. If you would like to subscribe, or are a member and would like to gift a subscription to a friend, then simply tear out and fill in one of the below forms. 25% of all subscription revenue will be donated equally between the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies in Orlando. To pay by crediT card please call: 888.335.3288

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Thank you to the participants, the PGA TOUR professionals and sponsors of the Champions for Arnoldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kids Pro Am event

Proceeds from this event benefit the Pediatric Cardiac Unit at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children