Issue 24—Winter 2012
$20 where sold
10th Anniversary Edition
Please Drink Responsibly. Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 43% Alc./Vol., ©2012 Moët Hennessy USA, Inc., New York, New York
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READE TILLEY
MATTHEW SQUIRE
editor
publisher
PAUL TROW
LEON HARRIS
contributing editor
art director
designer Matthew Halnan
special thanks / contributors
founding contributor
Steve Browett Brian Cox Ray Easler & his great team at Bay Hill Brian Goerke Neil Grant Doreen Higney Rich Hilsinger Shannon Hudgens Stephen Killick Andy MacDonald Duncan Miller Vanessa Morant Mark Murphy Peter Nicholson Elizabeth Orozco Chris Rodell David Schraeder Dave Shedlovski Webb Simpson Don Vultaggio
Arnold Palmer
special contributors Cori Britt, Doc Giffin, Donald Trump
contributing photographers Aidan Bradley, Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com, Getty Images, Matthew Halnan, Leon Harris, Shannon Hudgens, Walter Iooss, Arnold Palmer Picture Library, Evan Schiller, Meghan Tilley
vp, operations Joe Velotta
head of advertising sales Jon Edwards
advertising sales Andy Fletcher Deric Piper
Walter Iooss (Sports Illustrated) Arnold Palmer’s grip, January, 2008
enquiry addresses Advertising—ms@tmcusallc.com Editorial—jh@tmcusallc.com Subscriptions—joe@tmcusallc.com
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.
executive assistants Carla Richards Lola Aina
junior designer
Printed in Canada.
Kieron Deen Halnan
published by
TMC USA, 60 RAILROAD PLACE, SUITE 501, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY 12866 Founders: John Halnan, Matthew Squire and Steve Richards. Commercial Enquiries—ms@tmcusallc.com Tel: 1.866.486.2872 Fax: 518.691.9231 arnieskingdom.com
TMC USA
COV E R I M AG E
© 2012 TMC USA
LLC
Reproduction without permission is prohibited. The articles appearing within this publication reflect the opinion of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the publisher. The contents of advertisements and advertorials are entirely the responsibilty of advertisers. No responsibility is taken for unsolicited submissions and manuscripts.
RENOVATE YOUR GAME ON THE RANGE.
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®/ TM ©2012 KitchenAid. All rights reserved. The design of the stand mixer is a trademark in the U.S. and elsewhere. All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies. Lowe’s, the gable design, and Never Stop Improving are trademarks of LF, LLC. All are used with permission. KP120018
ARNOLD
PA L M E R
FOREWORD
Congratulations to Kingdom It gives me considerable pleasure to extend a very warm welcome to all our readers to the 10th anniversary edition of Kingdom. It seems like only yesterday that we first sat down with our publishing friends at TMC USA to map out the prototype of this golf and lifestyle magazine, yet upon reflection so much seems to have happened during the intervening years. The game of golf has certainly seen some remarkable changes over the past decade, both in terms of prize money, personnel and technology. Some of the technological advances, especially in relation to the manufacture of clubs, have been bewildering and brilliant, but I sometimes wonder whether the golf industry has overdone it in terms of how far the ball now flies. In the field of golf course design, it is no secret we have experienced a downturn in recent years, especially as people become busier and have less time for the game. Certainly, this is one area I hope will pick up in the near future, but we all must give careful thought to how we can attract more participants to our clubs and courses and, of equal importance, keep them involved. At the top end of the game, Tiger Woods is still a force to be reckoned with, as is Phil Mickelson, while I expect Rory McIlroy to be a factor for the next 20 years or so. In addition to McIlroy’s recent triumphs, we have recently seen exciting major championship wins for some of the younger brigade on the PGA Tour—Keegan Bradley in the 2011 PGA Championship, Bubba Watson in the 2012 Masters and Webb Simpson, an alumnus of my alma mater, Wake Forest, in the 2012 U.S. Open. Webb, whose career I have followed very closely over the years, is the subject of a fascinating interview in this issue of Kingdom. Meanwhile, here at Bay Hill Club & Lodge we are preparing for the next Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard which will take place the week of March 18-24, 2013. Certainly, we are all anticipating an exciting tournament and another glittering field. This landmark edition of Kingdom also provides a great opportunity for reminiscences. I am particularly pleased to revisit our record-breaking flight around the world in 1976, an experience that was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my life. Finally, after all the upheavals and natural disasters of recent times, it is my sincere wish that we can all enjoy a successful and happy 2013—both on and off the course.
Enjoy the read,
Arnold Palmer
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Thank You
They were based in Jacksonville and called Palmer Course Design Company back then. The late, great company president Ed Seay was having fun and marketing guru Kevin Benedict really wanted a magazine. Fast-forward 10 years and so many aspects of media, sport and communication have changed, some almost beyond recognition. Yet other things are constant: Golf remains the simplest and yet most complex game on earth, I still want to lower my handicap, and we are looking forward to publishing Kingdom with Arnold Palmer for years to come. However, just like when you hit middle age and for the first time begin to look back on your life as well as forward, as you approach a 10-year milestone in business you can’t help but take stock and remember how you got where you are. In my case, looking at the path we have taken with Kingdom— from initial concept to established private members’ magazine and through to golf’s leading multiplatform luxury golf media property—I am left primarily with a feeling of immense gratitude. There are so many I need to recognize... although I can’t list them all, I certainly need to thank each and every advertiser in the publication. Kingdom has some great partners—Glenmorangie and Bowers & Wilkins are two personal favourites—but perhaps what gives me most satisfaction is to look back at the first few publications and find advertisers such as Insperity, Geico, Tamko, Bay Hill Club & Lodge and Rolex, all of whom were there at the start and are still great partners today. I am also tremendously grateful to all of our loyal readers. We have received so much positive feedback and so many great stories about Mr. Palmer from you along the way, and that helps drive us all here at Kingdom to provide you with the best quality editorial content and a publication that you can continue to collect and of which you can be justifiably proud. I also need to thank our “in the Palmer family” partners, such as Arnold Palmer Golf Management, APDC and, of course, Arnold Palmer Enterprises. Special thanks are in order to Cori Britt and Doc Giffin—without their combined knowledge of golf, media and all things Arnie, it would be near impossible to put the magazine together. Then there are my colleagues here at TMC USA, many of whom I have worked with from the very beginning. Their work has been tremendous, and the fact they can still put up with me is either testament to Kingdom or simply a sign of how bad the job market is right now! Finally, of course, there is the King himself, Arnold Palmer. When I sat down with Palmer Course Design in Jacksonville, Mr. Palmer was my hero and inspiration. Today he still is, but I am also lucky enough now to call him a dear friend.
Matthew Squire—Publisher
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“The years teach much which the days never know.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
If birthdays and New Year’s eve are times for reflection, then a ten-year anniversary certainly gives one pause. Looking back over a decade of Kingdom, and over my eight years at the editorial helm, I’m surprised to find that I’m actually quite satisfied with what we’ve created. This stands in sharp contrast to my opinion while we’re building the individual issues, which has it that every story could be tighter, each photo better, and each layout more considered. I’m sure there’s a lesson in here somewhere about forests and trees, but it’s not an editor’s job to appreciate the big picture—at least not while we’re on deadline. Like golf, if you do the little things right the big picture paints itself. Hit the ball well, you win the hole. Win enough holes, you win the tourney. Win enough tourneys, you have a great career. Win an exceptional number of important tourneys in sublime fashion while flying planes and running successful businesses, and you’re Arnold Palmer. Amazing. While there’s only one Arnie, everyone can—and all of us at Kingdom certainly do—find inspiration in his achievements and the manner in which he’s reached them. Beyond golf, aviation and business, over his life he’s exhibited one of the most fundamental qualities of success: make the most of every day. We at Kingdom strive to do just that, as do many of our clients and supporters, our interview subjects and, of course, our readers. One such, to whom I’d like to offer a special thank you, is subscriber Wendell Woodrow Hall, who celebrated his 100th birthday this year. In a New Orleans Times-Picayune article, Hall credited being raised in a loving environment—plus a love of margaritas, raw oysters and rare steak—for his longevity. Here’s hoping similar recipes keep us all going on the way to our centenary celebrations. Until then, to all of you, thank you for a fantastic decade of Kingdom. I promise to keep focusing on the little things—for now, anyway. Best,
Reade Tilley—Editor
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AP Q&A—The editors sit down with Mr. Palmer in his office at Bay Hill 10-Year Timeline—World and golf headlines during Kingdom’s first decade WoodenBoat—Kingdom’s correspondent visits Maine to train as a shipwright Top 10 Shots—Highlights from one of the greatest careers in tournament golf Bentley—The editor test-drives the Mulsanne ’round the streets of Manhattan 18 No.10s—Our fantasy course created from the game’s outstanding 10th holes Webb Simpson—The U.S. Open champion talks golf, Wake Forest and Mr. Palmer Mayakoba—We profile this shimmering, idyllic resort on Mexico’s Caribbean coast Celebrity Gallery—A popular potpourri of Kingdom’s interviews with the stars Glenmorangie Original—Drinking a toast to our favorite 10-year-old tipple Father/Son Challenge—PNC Bank mastermind the revival of this popular event Life in Pictures—Iconic shots of the King from the pages of Sports Illustrated Round-the-World Record—Reliving Palmer’s remarkable flight into history Golf on the Gulf Coast—Mississippi and Alabama offer a memorable golf experience Gold—Why all that glitters can also prove to be a profitable investment
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Wembley Stadium—The home of soccer has had an overdue facelift after 80 years Champagne—How Dom Perignon and Veuve Clicquot sparked a sparkling revolution Donald Trump—Kingdom’s outspoken columnist sings the praises of persistence Coastal Maine—Crashing waves and rugged coastlines are the order of the day Cracking Good—Savoring and saluting Maine’s most succulent shellfish dishes Living Out Loud—A showcase of dynamic products for livening up the home Winter Fashions—What to wear once the temperature starts to drop Gift Guide—A selection of luxury items no discerning golfer should be without Cleveland Clinic Foundation—The importance of treating hand injuries with care Golf Medal—Mr. Palmer is the second golfer to receive Congress’ highest honor His Way—Shining a light on one of golf’s most iconic—and individualistic—swings APDC Update—Course-design principles to stimulate and entertain every golfer Arnold Palmer Half and Half—Staying cool with America’s most refreshing drink Course Directory—A where-to-go guide for golfers in search of a quality round Last page—Rolls-Royce presents a mounted Citation X blade to a loyal customer
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Power of Ten A decade after Kingdom was first conceived, Arnold Palmer remains at the top of his game as golf’s outstanding ambassador. Paul Trow and Reade Tilley caught up with him at his office in Bay Hill to hear his thoughts on the past 10 years and his reminiscences from a lifetime of excellence
Kingdom. We are approaching the tenth anniversary of the first issue of Kingdom. What have been the highlights of the last ten years for you—in your life as well as the sport of golf? Arnold Palmer. The last 10 years as far as my golf is concerned have been rather uneventful. I continue to play very little. I’ve played in no tournaments of any consequence. I play in the Insperity Pro-Am events annually, and I still play with my friends here at Bay Hill—Dick Ferris and Bruce Walters, and some of the other guys in the shoot-out. I do that occasionally. K. At the top level, the game seems very different now. AP. Certainly prize money on the PGA Tour has shot up beyond anything that could have been predicted. K. Quite different to when you were playing in your prime, obviously? AP. I was just commenting on that as a matter of fact because I happened to pick up this document that shows the account value of my PGA Tour and Champions’ Tour deferred plan [pension statement]. It’s a deferred compensation plan for the players. Take, for instance, Payne Stewart, who got killed in an airplane accident [back in 1999]—his plan was worth to his wife and children about $15m. He played about 20 years. I played for 60 years and mine is worth $309,000. I’m not sure how they work it out, but I know it’s based on your earnings, and the difference is unbelievable. Goodness knows what today’s leading players would receive. It’s a lot of money— millions. I’m the one who started it. I insisted they create something like a retirement plan for players and this is the result of that.
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Tour. He used to entertain at a lot of tournaments, not just his own. I played quite a bit of golf with him—some exhibitions and I also played with him at the Bob Hope Desert Classic down in Palm Springs.
K. Before you turned 50, there can’t have been much of a senior tour in place? AP. I started it, along with Don January, Miller Barber—all those guys. We were going to limit it to 18 tournaments a year but that went out of the window right away. Pretty soon they had 30 and rising. K. This fall, you received the Congressional Gold Medal. Describe how the day unfolded and the emotions you felt during the ceremony. AP. Receiving the medal was really quite a deal. The President wasn’t there but the Speaker of the House was the master of ceremonies. There were numerous congressmen on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, and they all spoke. And of course the list of invitees was extensive—a lot of people were there. All my family was there, apart from my greatgrandchildren. K. How did it come about? AP. A representative from southern California, not too far from Palm Springs, suggested that I should receive the medal. His name was Joe Baca. I’d never met him before, or heard of him, but he called and said he was doing this. Since then I’ve met him and played golf with him—he’s a pretty good golfer, and a wonderful person. He had to work with both parties to get 100 per cent approval, but he could only get 99.9 per cent because the nomination was opposed by one congressman, Ron Paul. I believe he opposes everything like this on principle. Still, it was a huge honor—the list of people who have won it is amazing.
K. Did you enjoy this year’s Ryder Cup? AP. I knew it was going to be a good, tough match. I couldn’t predict who was going to win but I gave the European team a very good opportunity. I might have second-guessed the captain over the pairings, but Davis Love didn’t do anything wrong. The one thing I might have done differently is that I wouldn’t have put Bubba [Watson] out first on the last day, and I certainly wouldn’t have put Tiger [Woods] out last, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. K. Did any American players during the Ryder Cup matches you were involved in play as much above their normal form as Ian Poulter did in 2012, and Colin Montgomerie did on many occasions over the past 20 years? AP. The team ethic has something to do with it. You could say that feeling you’re part of a team effort, that you’re playing for your country, or your continent in the case of Europe, maybe spurs them on. I know I was always inspired by the fact I was playing for my country, and that inspired me to play better golf in the matches.
“Once the PGA Championship is done in August, the season used to peter out but it [the FedExCup] keeps the interest going”
K. You’re only the sixth sports person to have received the Congressional Gold Medal, but one of the other five, Byron Nelson, was also a golfer. Was he a friend of yours? AP. I knew Byron very well. Sure, he was one of my heroes when I was growing up. I’d read his book and I knew quite a bit about him, and what he did as far as golf is concerned—where he learned the game, played and taught. He was 34 years old when he retired from tournament golf. His reasoning was that he was very nervous and got sick a lot when he was playing. He’d throw up sometimes before he started a round of golf. It was tough on him and that’s why he quit. K. Golf recently lost a great benefactor with the passing of the singer Andy Williams, who hosted the San Diego event on Tour from 1968-88. You won that title twice, albeit before Williams loaned his name to the tournament, but you must have known him. What was he like and what are your memories of him? AP. Andy was a friend of mine and I knew him pretty well. He was a great guy and a great entertainer, and a fair golfer—mid-handicapper. He was one of the early celebrities to lend his name to a tournament on the PGA
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Snedeker scooped the $10m FedExCup jackpot at the Tour Championship
Justin Timberlake is following in the footsteps of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby as a bridge between show business and professional golf
K. Was that true of when you played in the World Cup of Golf with Jack Nicklaus and, initially, Sam Snead? AP. I played with Snead at least twice before playing with Jack a few times. Snead was ultra-competitive. He was always on edge. If he was playing his granddaughter, he’d be playing hard. K. We heard a story that Gary Player bet you $100 during the champions’ dinner at the Masters a while ago that Snead couldn’t kick the top of the dining-room doorframe at Augusta National any more… AP. But he did. He could kick that doorframe with his foot every time. It was a tradition. And he never stopped. The last time I saw him he could still do it, well into his eighties. K. Justin Timberlake made quite an impression as the master of ceremonies at the Ryder Cup. Have you met him and how do you assess his commitment to the game? AP. I definitely think he could follow on in the great tradition of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby as a bridge between show business and golf. He’s a great addition to the game and the fact he’s a very great entertainer is a plus all the way. He loves the game of golf. He was a member here [at Bay Hill] but he moved away, so I never got the chance to play with him. But I hope to have the chance some day. K. What did you make of this year’s FedExCup play-offs, resulting in a win, and the $10m jackpot, for Brandt Snedeker? Is there a danger of this prize going to a player who doesn’t really deserve it?
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AP. It’s a good question. Snedeker played awfully good but I suppose I’m as surprised as you are that he scooped that much money. I’m not sure I can really answer. I’ve heard some good remarks about the way the FedExCup provides an exciting end to the season. Once the PGA Championship is done in August, the season used to peter out but now it keeps the interest going for far longer, especially for television viewers. K. Why do you think it is that your alma mater, Wake Forest, keeps producing so many wonderful golfing talents like Webb Simpson and Bill Haas? AP. I like to think that maybe we’ve created an interest in golf at Wake Forest through the years of participation in tournaments of interest like the Atlantic Coast Conference, against Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State among others. Look at the golfers they’ve produced—like Harvie Ward, Mike Souchak, right down through the years, a lot of pretty good players. That created an interest in collegiate golf that people follow pretty closely today. After I left Wake Forest, I was followed by more players who came out on Tour, like Lanny Wadkins, Jay Haas, Curtis Strange. Then they won the NCAA twice in the Eighties. A lot of those guys went on Tour and became consistent money winners. K. You helped to build the golf course at Wake Forest, so you must be pretty committed to the place? AP. Yes, I’ve been very active and I’ve also provided scholarships—the Palmer Scholarship and the [Bud] Worsham Scholarship. Bud and I were roommates and he got killed in a car accident during our senior year. Webb Simpson was on a Palmer Scholarship.
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Left is definitely not the place to go from the tee on the 18th hole at Disney World’s Magnolia golf course
K. Do you know Webb well and how did you assess his U.S. Open win at Olympic? AP. He’s very nice, very thoughtful. He was very cool down the stretch in the Open. I was pleasantly surprised by his manners and the way he did things. Most importantly, he stayed cool. You never know, but he should win more majors. After all he’s only 26. K. How do you assess the state of the golf design business at present? AP. The golf design business is very flat, although there are signs that it’s starting to come back and I’m watching the situation with some interest. K. What relationship do you have with the Disney organization, your near neighbors, in view of the fact that you both bought into the Orlando area around the same time? AP. I bought Bay Hill in 1969 and Disney didn’t announce their presence in this area until 1971, two years after I was here. Century Golf Partners, one of my licensees, has now taken over the running of Disney golf, under the overall management of Jim Hinckley. They’re a nice neighbor to have and have been here for a long time. K. What attracted you to the Orlando area? AP. Oh, the environment here at Bay Hill… and the naturalness of the freshwater lakes. It’s been well maintained and will be maintained for many, many years. Orlando was just an agricultural town back then with orange groves. The fruit industry was very large, and still is, and the area is so nice. It’s just a very beautiful place.
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K. How important was driving the 1st green at Cherry Hills in the final round of the 1960 U.S. Open, and what was the result of your attempts to do so in the previous rounds? AP. I tried to drive it all four days. The very first round I hit it right off the tee, it hit a tree and bounced into a little stream. I was watching the ball rolling down the stream when an official came over, and that official happened to be Joe Dey [the USGA executive director at the time], and I said to him, ‘I think I’ll let it roll down the green and take a drop there.’ But he wasn’t taking it that way and said, ‘Now Arnold, you know better than that!’ Of course, I was trying to be light but he was too serious for that and I made [double-bogey] six, on the first hole of the Open that I eventually won. It didn’t put me off trying to drive the green again and on the last day I did drive the green, and two-putted for a birdie. That started my run of six birdies in the first seven holes. K. The media must have been on your case all that week. How difficult was it to play, and deliver the goods, in such a great championship as the favorite, under so much pressure and being made to know you’re the favorite? AP. You’re deeply conscious of your position. The pressure builds, and continues to build as long as you’re there. K. Tiger Woods has had this pressure for 15 years now and Rory McIlroy is experiencing it every time he tees up now. Would you say it’s harder to stay at No.1 than actually get there in the first place? AP. There’s no question about it, that’s right.
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K. Would you say you were a better ‘bad weather’ player than most of your contemporaries? Why do you think that was? AP. I didn’t mind the bad weather. Like everyone else, I had questions about it but I didn’t mind playing in it. K. Didn’t you also win the 1975 British PGA Championship at Sandwich in absolutely foul conditions? AP. I won the British PGA at Royal St. George’s, where the [British] Open was in 2011. Does anybody know I won the British PGA? K. I know—I watched it on television. You were interviewed in a howling gale and horizontal rain before you went out for the last round. AP. [chuckling] Yes, sir! K. Whose idea was it to set a round-the-world flight record with Learjet, and how seriously did you take it at the time? AP. I was at an NBAA [National Business Aviation Association] meeting in New Orleans and I was flying a Lear 24 at the time. I was looking for another airplane because my lease on the 24 was running out and I was going to have to find another airplane to fly. That was when a guy named Harry Combs said, ‘Arnie, I’ll make
you a deal. If you fly around the world in a Lear 36 and set a world record, then I’ll make you a deal on a Lear 35,’ which was what I wanted. So my good friend Russ Meyer put a deal together with Harry Combs. That happened to be the year of the bicentennial, 1976. And I did it. It was an incredible experience. K. Your swing is almost unique. Did you at any stage during your development as a player receive any instruction from teachers, or any attempts by well-meaning outsiders to change your methods, especially once you were out on Tour? AP. The only instruction I ever had was from my father and a friend of mine by the name of Herman Worsham, who was a brother to Bud and also Lou Worsham, a former U.S. Open champion [in 1947]. I was playing at Pinehurst one time when Herman was watching me and I hooked a couple of tee shots. He was a good buddy and he said, ‘Arnie, you can stop that. Just move the thumb on your left hand up on top of the club,’ and I did, and I spent the rest of the year adjusting my thumb from the right to the left at the top of the shaft. That was the only instruction I ever had. My father put my hands on the club when I was a boy and said, ‘Don’t you ever change them,’ and I never did. That was my golf grip for life. K. We understand that George Low, a Scottish professional based in the United States, helped you with your putting? AP. George Low was a Scotsman. His father was a golf pro and when he died, he left George endowed for life. It wasn’t a lot but it was money. So as a Scotsman, George decided he’d never do anything and he never did. He said, ‘I’ll never own an overcoat.’ He never did, he followed the sun. He gambled, won a lot of money gambling, but he was tight… and he was an unbelievably good putter. I met him on the Tour and he sort of adopted me. He used to hang around all the time with me and say, ‘Arnie, you’re the best putter in the world,’ which was the best putting lesson I could ever receive. He played one tournament that I know of. Byron Nelson had won 11 tournaments in a row [in 1945]. The next stop was in Memphis and some guys got talking to George and they made some bets. They bet George wouldn’t finish in the money, so he said, ‘let’s bet.’ He finished second and beat Nelson. Freddy Haas won the tournament, but he was an amateur at the time, so George received the first place money. He was a character and could tell stories forever, as long as you bought him beer. Heck, he even used to babysit my kids.
“He [George Low] was a character and could tell stories forever, as long as you bought him beer” Palmer defied foul weather to win the British PGA Championship at Sandwich
K. Was George Low the friend who congratulated you prematurely on winning at Augusta, with disastrous consequences? AP. When I was playing in the Masters in 1961, I had just birdied the 17th to take the lead and I was walking
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down the 18th after hitting my tee shot right down the center of the fairway. Yes, he was the guy who called me over to congratulate me on winning. And I then made 6 and lost by one shot to Gary Player. K. Did you ever speak to him again? AP. Oh, sure! It was my fault, not his fault. I knew better. My father told me never to do what I did. I’d have been the first one to win two Masters in a row. It still rankles, even though I won two more [Green Jackets]. K. How much work did you do on your chipping and pitching, given that there are so many different types of grass to play off around the world? AP. I worked very hard on that part of the game. I was lucky that when I was in school, I had a girlfriend and I’d put her out on the range, anywhere from 50 to 125 yards. I would hit them at her and she would shag my golf balls. And she would stay out there all day long.
work with me to talk about the possibilities and here we are. It’s a multi-million dollar business. A coincidence is that it is made at Latrobe, in the same factory where Rolling Rock beer was started and made. Rolling Rock abandoned it [the premises], sold their business and laid a lot of people off. Oddly as it may seem now, they now make Palmer tea there, among other products. K. We understand that you will be a Patron of the 600th anniversary celebrations of St Andrews University in 2013. What does that involve? AP. I’m doing a video, I think. I have no plans to come over at the moment, but I would never say ‘never.’ If so, I’d go over to the Dunvegan Hotel and say hello to my old friends who run it.
“It [Arnold Palmer iced tea] is made at Latrobe, in the same factory where Rolling Rock was started and made”
K. It seems that good players in Europe come out on Tour at an earlier age than over here. What are the advantages or disadvantages of that? AP. The way it works here is that if they’re good at 18, they go to college and come out when they’re 22. I was in college for four years, in service (the Coast Guards) for three years, and then I worked for half a year. So I was 25 when I started on Tour. That wasn’t unusual in those days [the mid-1950s]. K. A decade ago, you teamed up with Arizona Beverage to make Arnold Palmer Half & Half iced tea. Could you have imagined how big it would get? AP. I could never guess it would become as big as it is. I started it at home with my wife Winnie, then I ordered one in a restaurant in California and it caught on. The lady called it an Arnold Palmer. I got together Cori [Britt] and Alastair [Johnston] and the whole gang who Vince Gill provided a musical interlude at the Congressional Medal ceremony
K. Do you plan to visit Donald Trump’s course north of Aberdeen? He hopes it can become a great golf destination, perhaps even a [British] Open venue. AP. I may go, we’ll see. He said, ‘you’ve got to come and see it.’ K. It seems Mr. Trump is having an argument with the Scottish prime minister about a wind farm that’s going to be installed out in the North Sea, within view of his course. AP. The prime minister is a friend of mine, Alex Salmond. We’ve been corresponding and talking about all sorts of things. K. In March you will once again stage the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard at Bay Hill. Have you started preparing for that and do you envisage any further course changes? AP. We’re already doing a lot of planning and the tents and stands will start going up shortly after the New Year. No course changes are planned this year. K. Do you have any firm arrangements with celebrities to play next March? AP. Well, so far we’ve got Vince Gill. He’s a great friend and has played in our pro-am and performed here before. So has his wife, Amy Grant. K. And on the playing side, presumably Tiger will defend. But what about Rory McIlroy? AP. This year, he told me he’d come to play but he didn’t. However, he has said he’s definitely coming to play next year. (laughing) He had better! K. Mr. Palmer, thank you very much indeed. AP. Thank you! It’s my pleasure.
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.
You don’t have to be a golf pro to walk like one. When you walk the recommended 10,000 steps a day,* it’s the same as walking an 18-hole professional golf course. So get out there and walk like a pro. *As recommended by the U.S. Surgeon General.
Humana. Proud supporter of health and well-being.
GNHHEZTHH 1012
JANUARY
d e c a d e
Ground is broken for the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies in Orlando
MARCH Mr. Palmer aces the 208-yard 17th hole at Bay Hill for his 19th hole-in-one
Ten years, and a lifetime’s worth of events in the worlds of golf and Kingdom. We look back...
FEBRUARY Ed Seay and Matthew Squire begin discussions about a publication for the members of Palmer-designed courses
2003
2004
MARCH
NOVEMBER
Tiger Woods wins the Bay Hill Invitational and becomes the first Tour player since Gene Sarazen in 1930 to win the same tournament in four consecutive years
The United States, captained by Mr. Palmer, tie 12-12 with the Rest of the World in the UBS Cup at Sea Island
APRIL Agreement is reached with Mr. Palmer and work starts on the first edition of Kingdom
MAY Annika Sorenstam misses the cut on her PGA Tour debut at Colonial
The first edition of Kingdom is published
JULY
DECEMBER
Ben Curtis, playing in his first Major, wins the [British] Open at Royal St. George’s
Mr. Palmer’s Scottish caddie James “Tip” Anderson dies at home in St Andrews, aged 71
SEPTEMBER
APRIL
The 100,000th birth is recorded at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children
Phil Mickelson wins his first Major at the Masters
IMG founder Mark McCormack dies, aged 73
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Mr. Palmer makes his 50th and final Masters appearance
WINTER
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KINGDOM
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JUNE
JANUARY
JULY
JANUARY
Mr. Palmer receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush at the White House
Mr. Palmer and Kathleen ‘Kit’ Gawthrop marry at Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii
Woods uses his driver only once in 72 holes while winning the [British] Open at Royal Liverpool
arnieskingdom.com launched as a web accompaniment to Kingdom
AUGUST
MARCH Scott Wellington becomes Bay Hill Invitational tournament director. Kenny Perry is the winner
Vijay Singh wins the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits
APRIL
SEPTEMBER Europe, inspired by Darren Clarke whose wife Heather had died only a few weeks earlier, retain the Ryder Cup at the Palmer-designed K Club
Tiger Woods beats Chris DiMarco in a playoff to win his fourth Masters
The Golf Channel embarks on a 15-year contract as the exclusive cable television home for the PGA Tour Mr. Palmer and Muhammad Ali serve as honorary captains for Wake Forest and Louisville at the Orange Bowl in Miami
MARCH Bay Hill Invitational is renamed Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard
APRIL Mr. Palmer acts as honorary starter at the Masters for the first time
2005 2006 2007 JULY SEPTEMBER
SEPTEMBER
Europe win the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills
Team USA win the Presidents Cup in Gainesville, Virginia
NOVEMBER Mr. Palmer leads the U.S. to a 14-10 win over the Rest of the World in the final UBS Cup match at Kiawah Island
KINGDOM
Zach Johnson lays up at every par-5 en route to winning the Masters
Woods wins the [British] Open at St Andrews for the second time
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Mike Reid wins Senior PGA Championship at Laurel Valley
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JULY Byron Nelson dies, aged 94; Patty Berg dies, aged 88
OCTOBER Mr. Palmer announces his retirement from competitive golf
Grand Opening of Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve in Latrobe
AUGUST Mr. Palmer’s course design partner Ed Seay dies, aged 69
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stronger, healthier babies 75 years in the making More than 4 million babies were born in the United States last year, and the March of Dimes helped each and every one through research, education, vaccines and breakthroughs.
1950s
Polio vaccine
1960s Newborn screening
1970s
Newborn intensive care
1980s
Surfactant therapy
Donate now in celebration of the March of Dimes 75th Anniversary and help ensure future generations of stronger, healthier babies.
marchofdimes.com/75
1990s Folic acid
Today
Preventing premature birth
MARCH
SEPTEMBER
MARCH
APRIL
10th issue of Kingdom is released at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
The United States, under the captaincy of Paul Azinger, regain the Ryder Cup at Valhalla
APDC finish work on refreshing several holes at Pebble Beach in preparation for the 2010 U.S. Open
Jack Nicklaus joins Mr. Palmer as honorary starter at the Masters
JUNE Tiger Woods hobbles to a playoff win over Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines—his 14th and, to date, last Major victory
Mr. Palmer, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, receives the annual Lone Sailor Award in front of the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington
MAY
Mickelson plays wonder shot from trees on the 13th en route to winning his third Masters
Mr. Palmer receives Byron Nelson Prize and $100,000 contribution to a charity of his choice from the PGA Tour
JULY
JULY
Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History opens at USGA Museum in Far Hills, N.J.
A few weeks shy of his 60th birthday, Tom Watson loses a playoff to Stewart Cink in the [British] Open at Turnberry
2008
Louis Oosthuizen wins the [British] Open at St Andrews
SEPTEMBER Europe scrape a narrow victory in the Ryder Cup at a wet Celtic Manor
AUGUST
OCTOBER
Y.E. Yang of Korea makes up final-round deficit on playing partner Woods in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National to become the first Major winner from Asia
Mr. Palmer receives a meritorious service award and Wright Brothers’ master pilot certificate from the National Business Aviation Association
2009 2010
NOVEMBER The inaugural Kingdom Cup is held over two days at Bay Hill Club & Lodge
JULY Padraig Harrington thwarts 53-year-old Greg Norman to retain the [British] Open at Royal Birkdale
KINGDOM
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DECEMBER
SEPTEMBER Arnold Palmer celebrates his 80th birthday
Sorenstam ends her playing career in Dubai with a birdie
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JANUARY
JUNE
MARCH
AUGUST
Mr. Palmer, aged 81, decides to forego mandatory training required to pilot his Cessna Citation X
Arnold Palmer’s Guide to the Majors is launched as a newsstand and members’ magazine in the USA
Woods wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill for a record seventh time
McIlroy wins the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island by eight shots
Century Golf’s Mark Murphy and colleague win the third Kingdom Cup to collective astonishment
McIlroy bounces back from his Masters collapse to win the U.S. Open at Congressional by eight shots
APRIL
AUGUST
Charl Schwartzel wins the Masters as Rory McIlroy blows a big lead
Keegan Bradley, in his first Major, beats Jason Dufner in a playoff to win the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club
2011
APRIL
SEPTEMBER
Gary Player joins Mr. Palmer and Mr. Nicklaus as honorary starter at the Masters
Bill Marriott joins Mr. Palmer on his birthday to open the SpringHill Suites Latrobe Hotel Mr. Palmer becomes the sixth sports person in history to receive the Congressional Gold Medal
2012 Bubba Watson takes the Masters with a miracle shot to beat Oosthuizen, who earlier had an albatross
JUNE NOVEMBER The United States beats the International team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne
MAY Seve Ballesteros dies at home in Spain, aged 54
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Mr. Palmer records the 20th hole-in-one of his career on the 163-yard 7th hole of the Charger Course at Bay Hill
Arnold Palmer’s Guide to the Majors is published in both the USA and Europe Wake Forest graduate Webb Simpson wins the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club
JULY Ernie Els wins his second Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes after Adam Scott falters
WINTER
2012
OCTOBER Mr. Palmer recieves “Champion for Babies” award for 40 years of service to March of Dimes
NOVEMBER Kingdom’s 10th Anniversary issue is published
KINGDOM
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Take IT to the Cloud.
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Win a seat in the Cloud Ambassador Xertification training program valued at $1875. Visit www.cloudsilverlining.com/kingdom to enter.
Cloud Silver Lining is a proud sponsor of the Kingdom Cup. *All trademarks, logos and service marks are the property of their respective owners.
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Words: Shannon Hudgens
d r e a m building Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. —Zora Neal Hurston
T
he sun was s h i n i n g through cold air the day I arrived in Maine to attend the WoodenBoat School. It’s on the coast in the small town of Brooklin, an hour and a half south of Bangor, nestled among cedar trees, lighthouses and harbors. Though I live nowhere near the sea I had come to build a boat, and was enrolled in the final classes of the year. It was September, none of the trees had changed color yet, but autumn was just under their skin. Flying home two weeks later the world would be spotted in gold and red, and I’d be changed as well.
Established in 1981 as a way of preserving boat-building techniques, the WoodenBoat School is a beacon to actual sailors and dreamers alike, offering three or four classes per week through spring and summer in such subjects as sail making, canoe construction and “Fundamentals of Boat Building,” which was my class. The school is a little like a craft brewery or artisan bakery, where value is placed on traditional techniques and quality craftsmanship. Hand tools are used in place of power ones, and, given the choice, antique tools are preferred. Out of Bangor, I lost my cell phone signal and immediately regretted not
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GloSSary aPex: The lowest point cut into the rabbet, where the inside face of the plank ends batten: A long, thin flexible piece of wood used to create a fair line Port Side
Carvel: Planking style fit edge to edge, producing a smooth hull
Lefthand side of the boat, when set upright
Fair: A smooth line, without any distortions, lumps or hollows laPStraKe: Planking style where the planks overlap each other laPStraKe dory: A variety of lapstrake, where two bevels are used instead of one loFtinG: Full-size drawing of the hull rabbet: A groove that allows another piece of wood to fit flush inside it SPile: To make a pattern for an oddly shaped piece
Whitehall A 19th century boat design, first used in New York Harbor
Starboard Side
Righthand side of the boat, when set upright
Garboard
Plank set closest to the keel Carvel PlanK
Planking style fit edge to edge, producing a smooth hull PlanK
Strip of wood fastened to the frame of a boat, forming its outer skin
Keel
Main longitudinal structure (the backbone) of a boat
ribband
Part of the frame on which the boat is constructed. Later removed as boat is constructed Frame
Supports inside the boat, which are attached to the planks and provide rigidity
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Fair line
A smooth line, without any distortions, lumps or hollows
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Wade Smith, explaining how to stay dry
bringing a real map, but after a few hours (and a few wrong turns) I found my accommodations at the Mount Ash Student House. By mid-afternoon I was sitting on the front porch with the other students, drinking a gifted Guinness, waiting for the dinner bell to ring. The man who gave me the beer was an Australian named Rob, who was also in my Fundamentals class. He came from Sydney and had already built a boat from a kit he’d ordered from America. Though the boat had turned out all right, he said he wished he’d taken a class like Fundamentals first, hence his enrollment. Another student, Dave, was Canadian and claimed he was trying to connect with his Nova Scotia boatbuilding heritage. Everyone else came from somewhere in the United States and gave various reasons for being there. Through a strange coincidence, three total strangers from Greenville, South Carolina, ended up in the same class: me, a guy named Mike and the youngest member of the group, Ben. Mike was the oldest member of the group at 70. He drove up from Greenville and looked to be more interested in his collection of antique woodworking tools than in learning how to build boats. Conversely, Ben seemed to take the possibility of building a boat the most seriously. The rest of us fell somewhere in-between on the age and enthusiasm ladder. At dinner that first night, the staff fed us lobster bisque while Rich, the WoodenBoat School’s director, introduced us to the instructors. Leading the Fundamentals class was Wade Smith. He worked most of the year at
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We all wanted to be sailing and, somehow, a class on building boats was going to get us closer to that goal Taylor & Snediker, a shipbuilder in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, and taught a few courses each spring and summer at WoodenBoat. He talked mostly about his time at Mystic Seaport, the famous nautical museum in Mystic, Connecticut, as well as his work helping to build the slave ship for the movie Amistad. Wade asked us about ourselves, and we all told a little, what we thought would be appropriate, what would put us in a good light, what would entertain the group. I found myself as guilty as anyone trying to impress the teacher and fellow students, but I also had a genuine interest in being there and said so. I told him I wanted to buy a boat and sail it around the world with my family. At home my wife laughed at the idea, but for a moment everyone in that class was aboard ship with me in some tropical port, pulling away from shore and looking for wind. We all wanted to be sailing and, somehow, a class on building boats was going to get us closer to that goal. The first few days of class Wade taught us the art of lofting out a “study” boat he used to teach with back at Mystic Seaport. First, he drew a grid on painted plywood, which had been laid down on a low table. He marked a
45
centerline, as well as the front and back of the boat. Then he explained how nearly everything we would need to know about a boat came from its table of offsets. He described buttocks and waterlines and how they were used on the lofting plan. [See the glossary in this article for definitions of terms.] He showed us diagonals and the path that water takes as it moves under the boat. He told us where these measurements would be lined out on the lofting plan, and described the profile view and what we saw when we looked at it. Wade spoke of half-breadths and what that meant, exactly. He talked about the body plan and how we would eventually make molds of them. All the while, he urged us to strike fair lines for all these views and measurements. And that was just the first morning. It was a lot to absorb, but Wade explained everything with such genuine enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but find it all fascinating. We started marking sticks and putting the boat design down on plywood and connecting dots. “Connecting the dots” in boat-building terminology is known as “drawing a fair line.” It’s done by writing down the numbers from the table of offsets, marking them on the lofting plan and then nailing a flexible strip of wood to them. If the line looks good, then it’s “fair.” Wade described an unfair line as being one that made you sick to your stomach just looking at it. On even the worst lines we put down, I never felt nauseous. His point was straightforward: If it was a beautiful line you wanted on your boat, it was fair. If not, fix it. The process was slow and occasionally painful, since every step was discussed at length by the students, every line held up to scrutiny and every question led to a tangent. It wasn’t until Wednesday that we were able to step away from the lofting table and actually cut some wood. That day, Wade gave us our first attempt at carving out the rabbet line of a stem. Think of the stem as the backbone of a boat and the rabbet as the groove down it that allows the planks to be fitted into place. Wade demonstrated how to draw out both the stem and rabbet onto a block of wood. Then he chiseled into a piece of wood to show us how it was done. For a person who had never used a chisel, it looked quite challenging. As Wade worked, he described the mess of wood shavings he was making as a salad. It would be fair to say, then, that what I was doing would have made any vegan happy, as there was more chipped wood in my workstation than anyone else’s. Dave was next to me, and something in his Nova Scotia boat-building heritage was kicking in, giving him a blood-borne, inherited skill. His rabbet looked as though he had been cutting them for years. Rob’s looked just as good. Mine looked terrible. But worse than my pile of shavings, I had inscribed backward the angle at which the planks fit into the stem. So, instead of delineating a curve sweeping the planks back to the rear of the boat, I forced them to shoot forward like tusks. Wade congratulated me on making a Roman trireme. In the following days we fell into a rhythm so that the physical side of boat building merged with the intellectual side. We were no longer just determining fair lines and chiseling wood, we were trying to chisel fair lines. At one point six people crowded around a 12.5 foot boat known as a Whitehall, which sat upside down on its frame, while we
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I had inscribed backward the angle at which the planks fit into the stem; Wade congratulated me on making a Roman trireme
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chipped at a rabbet line with freshly-sharpened, antique chisels. “Why haven’t we been doing this our whole lives?” one of us asked as he leaned in close to a bend in the wood, inspecting the line of his cut. He might have been speaking to himself but we were all huddled so close around the frame, and the boat was so small, we all heard and agreed it was a good question. As our second week began, the Fundamentals class was looking more like a boat production line than a shop room full of tools no one knew how to use. Dave and I spiled the batten for a lapstrake plank, went out back and picked the best cedar we could find, planed it smooth, laid it on the lofting table, and when we found too many knots running through the wood, went back and found another piece. This one proved sounder and we marked out the curve of the plank on it. Then we tacked a batten to the marks, traced the line of the previous plank and measured the distance from the top of the plank. That gave us the points we needed to make the far end of the plank, the side farthest from the previously installed plank. It sounds technical and complicated but the education in this Fundamentals class was so comprehensive that we hardly felt out of our depth anymore. We were all beginning to believe we might be able to build boats one day that wouldn’t sink like stones.
‘Why haven’t we been doing this our whole lives?’ someone asked. We all agreed it was a good question tools of the trade
00
By Wednesday Dave and I had installed our first plank. I asked Jeff, from Seattle, to take my picture in front of the installed plank. Maybe I was more proud than the circumstances warranted, but it was the first time I had ever really transformed something from a lumber pile into a functioning object with a chisel, block plane and rivets. Hand tools are underrated. The best example of this came when we had to tear away the extra wood surrounding the design of our plank. I chose the draw knife as my tool of choice. For those of you who might not know, a draw knife is a blade with handles at both ends designed to split and shave wood quickly. I ripped down several inches through the wood with only a couple of passes, almost to the plank lines we had drawn. A band saw or some other power tool would have been no faster and a lot less fun. Jerry and Rob installed a carvel plank on the starboard side of the Whitehall. Ted and Burke finished theirs, too. We took their place and Ben and Jeff worked opposite us, like they had been doing with the lapstrake dory. We all moved between the various boats, finding something in need of doing. With four boats in different stages of completion, there was always work to be done. On the final night of class we threw a mildly raucous lobster party. This happened to be the last class of the year, so toast followed toast and glass followed glass. With each bottle emptied in the name of an enduring friendship most of us knew wouldn’t grow beyond an email or two, the light grew softer. Smiles inspired fondness, laughter was infectious, and humor endearing. It was as though we had decided to pour every last ounce of our personalities into this final evening. Tomorrow there would be nothing left, we would have nothing left to give, the scope of our being would belie any belief in our infinite and variegated souls. So we drank and ate and each student thought the other charming, and when we said our good-byes we almost believed we would keep in touch, form long-lasting friendships and come back to the WoodenBoat School one day to take another class together. But who knows? Rich, the Director, claimed nearly 60% of the students were returning ones. Maybe finishing a boat together someday isn’t so far fetched after all. Maybe even that boat in which I want to travel around the world.
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MAKE A TOUGH
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www.CountOnKonicaMinolta.com KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS U.S.A., INC., 100 Williams Drive. Ramsey, N.J. 07446 © 2012 KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS U.S.A., INC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Konica Minolta and Count on Konica Minolta are registered trademarks of KONICA MINOLTA HOLDINGS, INC. bizhub is a trademark of KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Simitri is a registered trademark of KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS. All other brands and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.
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1 9 6 0 M A S T E R S (LEFT) Arnold Palmer, the 1958 Masters champion, arrived on the 17th green at Augusta National during the final round two years later trailing Ken Venturi by one shot. Mr. Palmer, confronted with a 30-foot birdie putt across the undulating putting surface, took dead aim and calmly rolled his ball into the cup to draw level. A short while later, following another birdie up the 18th, the King was being helped into the second of his four green jackets
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TOP SHOTS
More than most golfers, Arnold Palmer has played an impressive number of great shots during his storied career. For the 10th anniversary of Kingdom, we recall 10 of the most memorable
1986 CHRYSLER CUP Arnold Palmer gave the TPC at Avenel a spectacular baptism in its first big tournament, the 1986 Chrysler Cup, with back-to-back aces on the 239-yard par-3 3rd D O U B L E - E A G L E AT I S L E W O R T H Not every memorable shot is made down the stretch in a major championship. Sometimes a friendly match for a few dollars gives equal cause for delight, like the time Mr. Palmer made a double-eagle (albatross) on the 531-yard 7th hole at Isleworth to trump an eagle by Bill Damron 1981 U.S. SENIOR OPEN The climax of the 1981 U.S. Senior Open over the Donald Ross-designed South course at Oakland Hills was a three-way playoff between Mr. Palmer, Billy Casper and Bob Stone. After eight holes of the outward half, he was trailing both his adversaries; but he turned things round in his favor at the 213-yard par-3 9th with a glorious 1-iron that covered the flag all the way for the birdie that gave him the momentum to go on and claim the title
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1 9 6 0 U . S . O p e n (abOve) Mr. Palmer took driver off the tee at the downhill, 313-yard 1st hole at Cherry Hills in all four rounds of the 1960 U.S. Open. With his final attempt, he flushed his drive and momentarily feared he had gone through the green. But his ball landed in a collar of rough that softened the bounce and two putts later he had begun one of the most famous rounds in major-championship history with a birdie-3. A further five birdies over the next six holes set up a closing 65 and enabled Mr. Palmer to make up a seven-shot deficit and claim the only U.S. Open crown of his illustrious career
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1 9 6 1 O p e n c h a m p i O n S h i p (belOw) In his second [British] Open, over the links of Birkdale in northwest England, Mr. Palmer drove into a blackberry bush just right of the fairway on the par-4 15th hole during the last round. Most players would have taken their medicine and chipped out sideways, but that has rarely been the Palmer way. Taking a 6-iron, he smashed his ball 150 yards up on to the deeply-bunkered plateau green for a two-putt par. “As it turned out it was the right thing to do because Dai Rees eagled the last hole. I still had to birdie the last to win by one shot,� Mr. Palmer, pictured standing by a plaque commemorating his shot, reflected.
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1 9 6 8 p g a c h a m p i O n S h i p (abOve) On the final hole of the 1968 PGA Championship at Pecan Valley in San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Palmer struck a 3-wood out of heavy rough to within eight feet of the cup. Needing a birdie to force a playoff with 48-year-old Julius Boros, his putt slid agonisingly past the hole and he had to settle for one of his second places in the major he never won
1 9 5 4 U . S . a m at e U r c h a m p i O n S h i p The highlight of Mr. Palmer’s first truly significant triumph was a delicate chip to the 18th green at the Country Club of Detroit. With the putting surface sloping treacherously away from him, he feathered his ball to within a few feet of the hole to extend his semi-final match against Ed Meister which he won on the third extra hole
1 9 6 4 c a r l i n g w O r l d O p e n (belOw) Another marvelous shot that narrowly failed to yield a victory was a 6-iron from an awkward lie that hit the pin on the 18th green in the final round of the 1964 Carling World Open at Oakland Hills. Had it dropped, Mr. Palmer would have tied Bobby Nichols and forced a playoff
1 9 5 8 m a S t e r S (belOw) Awaiting the outcome of a ruling over the drop he took after his ball had plugged beside the 12th green during the final round, Mr. Palmer fashioned a majestic 3-wood into the heart of the 13th green to set up an eagle-3 and pave the way for the first of his four Masters victories
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gh n i c ra e a n th san i w l rt Mu o f m ley’s o e c ent lim n B b su tha large luxury r o ter f saloon, it’s obvious: g et n Bentley started in racing, ki o b o and racing remains in Bentley. Just outside o on l The first iteration of the of Le Mans, ’re ld d Mulsanne appeared in 1980, surprising France, the Circuit de u yo ou crowds at the Geneva Motor Show with la Sarthe hosts one of the If u c a 0-60 time of 7 seconds and a top speed of most iconic races in all of yo
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motorsport: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Just under 8.5 miles long, the course originally gained fame for the extreme speeds achieved on its fantastically long straight, which the French call the Ligne Droite des Hunaudières, the English call “the Mulsanne,” and Bentley Motors calls “inspiration.” Naming “the grandest of grand tourers,” as the company has it, after one of the fastest stretches of racetrack in the world could seem peculiar, until you drive a Mulsanne. The flagship of the Bentley fleet is as stately as any demanding royal could want, but it’s the almost incredulous sense of power waiting under the accelerator that separates this executive carriage from the rest. Even in the company’s
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135mph, which, at the time, made it the fastest Bentley ever built. The current Mulsanne does better, saving nearly two seconds to 60 and topping out at a serious 184mph. The performance (all the more incredible considering the vehicle’s curb weight of nearly 6,000lbs) comes via a 6.75liter twin-turbocharged V8 that was re-engineered recently to be lighter and more efficient than ever. Around town or cruising comfortably near 60mph, half the cylinders are deactivated and the Mulsanne runs as a four. The changeover is imperceptible, and it’s only one of the innovations that help the 505hp beast achieve 11mpg around town and 18mpg on the highway—not bad, all things considered.
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Power gets to the 20-inch rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox with electronic shift interface (including the now-expected paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel) and the whole show is brought to a halt by a twin-booster braking system controlling 400mm discs in the front and 370mm discs in the back. When you want to go, you go fast. And when you want to stop, you stop quickly. But as dramatically as the going and stopping are, all of it feels rather well composed, and that’s where the Mulsanne goes from being just a car to being a motoring experience—perhaps even more so from the back seats.
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THE EXPERIENCE At just over 18 feet long and roughly seven feet wide, the Bentley makes a statement with its sheer size alone, but it’s the sublime design that gives the Mulsanne its presence, and what a presence it is. The aggressive front with its wide stance, formidable grill and “Flying B” hood ornament; the confident lines rising to shape the rear of the car; the strong wheels and miles of bodywork… The Mulsanne looks both expensive and comfortable, but its track heritage is there as well in a more subtle take on the “ready to pounce” crouch presented by the company’s GT3 racer. Open the doors, though, and it’s not racing that comes to mind. The words are sumptuous, plush, serene. Pure luxury in acres of handstitched leather. The rear seats, where many Mulsanne owners will likely spend some time, are grand. The same electronic adjustments available in the front seats and a massage function facilitate comfort while two video monitors (linked to a DVD and SD card media system) and his-and-hers wireless headphones ensure everyone stays happy with the on-board entertainment. There are fold-down tray tables for wine or work, and a remote control for those who want to direct front-seat media as well. Privacy shades raise and lower electronically, just like the windows, for when you get tired of people staring in at you—and you will. The view from the front is as nice and as
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comfortable, with Bentley’s multi-featured infotainment system handling navigation (rather well, we believe) in addition to managing the excellent NAIM media center. NAIM engineers spend time with each Bentley model and customize the equipment selection and placement to best optimize the interior space for premium audio. The results are stunning. As for the navigation and media center, the screen is bright and clear, and input (via the touch-screen or via analog controls, as you like) is simple. We especially liked zooming in and out of the map with a simple turn of a dial. The system also manages climate controls, the hands-free phone, vehicle information and more. Air vents are still opened and closed with Bentley’s iconic “organ pulls,” and they operate as smoothly as the ultrasmooth finish of the wood dash would suggest. Incidentally, the wood used in Bentleys, which are all handassembled, is grown
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FROM THE BACK SEATS Parked in front of my local bodega, across from one of Brooklyn’s oldest Italian restaurants, Bentley’s formidable Mulsanne is an event, not just a car on the block. People take photos with their phones, bring their children over to look in the windows and ask a million questions. We’ll see plenty of that today because we’re riding in the back seats, enjoying the hospitality of Bentley during the “ride” portion of a “Ride and Drive,” and the driving (and narrative) skills of Tony, a Bentley brand ambassador, who sits behind the wheel effortlessly piloting us around New York City. After a quick stop to pick up some friends (four passengers fit easily enough), we’re off for lunch. Half an hour later, over coffee and pasta, photographer Mark offers, “That’s a beautiful car.” How true. We reflect on the comfortable seats, the fit and finish of everything, the nearly 500 man-hours it takes to build a Mulsanne. After lunch everyone’s up for a quick trip out of the city. It’s near Halloween, and so we head to Sleepy Hollow to visit the Headless Horseman Bridge and the grave of Washington Irving. Traffic is miserable coming out of Manhattan, but inside the quiet of the Mulsanne we’re chatting and enjoying the day. When the traffic breaks, Tony puts it down and the Mulsanne flies forward. This is what motoring is all about: speeding up the highway, jazz playing through the superb NAIM audio system, great friends and conversation just rolling along in exquisite fashion. Sleepy Hollow is grey enough, and after we get our Halloween fix we’re headed back to Manhattan. Getting gawked at during a nice, slow drive through Central Park caps the day. After dropping off the friends, we have a precious couple of miles to savor the view from the back seats: New York in all its autumn splendor, boats on the East River, a true professional at the wheel and us, gliding into Brooklyn in a Bentley Mulsanne. The world never looked so good.
in the company’s own forests and managed to ensure clean grain and optimum quality. You won’t find any thick knots cutting across your door trim or dash. As nice as the rear seats are, it’s worth a vacation behind the steering wheel because at the end of the day the Mulsanne is a Bentley, and Bentleys like to be driven. Pressing down on the milled accelerator (neatly styled with a nod to the company’s past), the 7,500lb-ft of torque practically surges through you, and the car insistently launches forward. It’s a bit of magic from the Bentley engineers, but as quick as the car is (0-60 in 5.1 seconds) it never feels abrupt. Power delivery is smooth through the seamless range of gears, and high speeds are achieved seemingly effortlessly. That’s not to say the experience isn’t thrilling. If you push the car, it will surpass you; you’ll get pressed back in your seat (rather than “thrown”) in tremendous style, but with no loss of control. In turns it’s as well behaved and as able as you are. Several driving modes, easily selectable via a rotary dial on the console, tailor the suspension and performance for the kind of experience you’re after, as plush or as firm as you like. In all modes,
the Mulsanne is capable beyond what one might think for a car of this size, performing exquisitely at speed or around town, easily negotiating curves in the road or gliding over potholes with nary a shudder. Steering is precise but not twitchy, as is appropriate for a tourer, and visibility is good, which is important for something that takes up this much lane real estate. In a major metropolitan area, navigating through a sea of bicycle messengers, double-parked cars and small, twisting streets with no parking, the back seats are preferable. But if you’re planning a trip through the country or simply have a decently long commute, one could hardly do better than to take the Mulsanne. No matter where you arrive, you’ll make a grand entrance. Find out more about the Bentley Mulsanne and more at bentleymotors.com
2012 BENTLEY MULSANNE Power: 505hp 6.75L twin-turbocharged V8 Transmission: 8-speed automatic with electronic shift interface 0-60: 5.1 seconds Top Speed: 184mph Price: near $300,000
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P e r F e C t
10 s
For the 10th anniversary edition of Kingdom, we are indulging ourselves by going out of sequence with this ongoing series of fantasy 18-hole courses, consisting of great holes all with the same number. By rights, we should have presented 18 outstanding 6th holes in this issue, but we’ve skipped to the 10th tee on this occasion—to stay in line with our celebrations. Other than the 1st tee, the 10th evokes the most optimism or pessimism, depending on a player’s mindset. It is usually near the clubhouse, though not always, and it normally provides an opportunity to regroup after a disappointing outward half or, indeed, a chance to consolidate following a promising start
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Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com
Hole No.1
Hole No.2
Par-4, 400 yards bay hill Club & lodGe, orlando, florida
Par-3, 190 yards WinGed foot Golf Club (West), mamaroneCK, neW yorK
The problem with this pleasing left-to-right dogleg is that the fairway narrows acutely as it turns to the right, thus posing serious questions on the tee shot—do I lay up just short of the elbow and accept an approach of at least 170 yards, or do I try to blast over the bunker on the right hinge of the dogleg in the hope of leaving a short pitch to the green? In preparation for the 2010 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, the right-hand trap was moved 50 yards forward to provide a stiffer challenge to anyone taking driver. In addition, the two traps on the left corner of the fairway were expanded and shifted to the right to intrude more into one’s line of vision. The green, slightly raised and guarded by two front bunkers and tightly-mown run-offs, has a square shape that offers numerous potential pin positions near the corners. A nice conundrum with which to start our round!
This classic redan par-3 was designed by A.W. Tillinghast during the early 1920s in partial homage to the original at North Berwick on the east coast of Scotland. A redan is a military term for a diagonallyangled defense system. In golf terms, it describes a putting surface that slopes diagonally away from the tee with an obvious defense at the front—in this case a deep bunker that stands sentry slightly short of the putting surface. The green is both wide and deep, but it slopes away from front to back and sharply from left to right. Two further traps eat into the right side of the putting surface, feeding inevitably off any ball that starts nibbling down the slope away from the pin. A long, drawn tee shot into the slope of the diagonal is clearly required, but even that doesn’t guarantee par. Like so many greens on the West, five times a U.S. Open venue, its contours are awkward and slick.
Hole No.3
Par-4, 456 yards turnberry resort (ailsa), ayr, sCotland “Dinna Fouter” is the locals’ name for this iconic hole, and “Don’t mess about” is its message. Following Martin Ebert’s redesign for the 2009 [British] Open, a new tee was installed nearer the lighthouse to create a more pronounced right-to-left dogleg. It stands on a rocky outcrop and presents a carry of 200 yards across the bay on the most aggressive line. To add to the challenge, the fairway on the left was widened almost to the coast line and three new fairway bunkers were added. A bold drive down the left will leave little more than 100 yards to the green but a tee shot further right, flirting with the bunkers, will require a longer approach. None the less, staying shy of the bunkers could result in a second shot of 200 yards. The large bunker with a grass island inside it about 40 yards short of the green will only trouble those who struggle off the tee.
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Evan Schiller / golfshots.com
Hole No.4
Par-5, 609 yards medinah Country Club (no.3), ChiCaGo, illinois At the 2012 Ryder Cup, this long par-5 proved to be a pivotal hole in several of the matches, not least because it demands pinpoint accuracy and a fearless mindset as well as gargantuan length off the tee. There are no fairway traps, so the rough is the main deterrent to having a go at reaching the green in two. Long hitters have the advantage here if they can drive the ball to the top of the hill that crowns the middle of the fairway. They should then have a long-iron or metal-wood into a green that is well protected by a semi-circle of bunkers and what seems like an umbrella of overhanging branches. If players choose to lay up, as most do, the severe slope of the green from back to front makes it difficult to eradicate backspin and coax the ball close to the cup, even with the most precisely judged pitch.
Hole No.8
Par-4, 446 yards Pebble beaCh Golf linKs, monterey Peninsula, California One of the world’s most spectacular sporting arenas, Pebble Beach Golf Links, designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant in 1919 and reworked recently by Mr. Palmer, hugs the rugged coastline on the south side of the Monterey Peninsula and offers breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. The 8th, 9th and 10th, positioned on cliffs overlooking Carmel Bay, represent probably the hardest stretch of holes on the course. The 10th is a lengthy, though straight par-4 with the Pacific down the right and an awkward cluster of three bunkers left of the fairway at driving distance. The fairway slopes toward the ocean, adding significantly to the degree of difficulty, though a decent tee shot leaves a medium-iron at the most. However, the shot still needs maximum attention because an inlet cuts in front of the green from the right, and there are bunkers left and long. For good measure, the green also slopes from left to right.
Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com
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Hole No.5
Par-4, 429 yards oaK hill Country Club (east), roChester, neW yorK The East course at Oak Hill, designed by Donald Ross in 1921, has since staged three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and the 1995 Ryder Cup, and it will host the PGA Championship again in August 2013. One hole that always attracts attention is the 10th, a beautiful downhill par-4 where an accurate drive is essential. Some players will lay up off the tee with a fairway-metal or long-iron, but because the green presents a tiny target they must exercise supreme control over the second shot. Like several other holes on this undulating course, the slopes in the fairway make the tee shot much tighter than first appearances would suggest. A bunker protects the left side of the fairway while trees and a creek block out the right side. The green has a small slope in the middle that can play havoc with the approach shot, invariably making it difficult to get close to the hole. Hole No.6
Par-4, 311 yards riViera Country Club, PaCifiC Palisades, California After some conventional yardages across the first five holes, the time has come for the sort of ticklish, riskreward par-4 that no championship layout should be without. Designed by George C. Thomas Jr., who never charged a cent for his work as a course architect, Riviera is perhaps his masterpiece; and the 10th is a particularly tantalizing challenge. Robust hitters can get up downwind, though it’s difficult to hold the green
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—and with the breeze blowing in any other direction, it just isn’t a realistic option. So discretion here is definitely the better part of valor; yet discretion is far from simple to achieve. Two bunkers bisect the fairway —at 215 yards on the right and 260 yards on the left— so the ideal lay-up is around 240 yards. But then the approach must carry five bunkers circling the front to a green that lurches from left to right. No one turns their nose up at par here. Hole No.7
Par-3, 139 yards ChiCaGo Golf Club, Wheaton, illinois The oldest 18-hole course in North America, and one of five founder members of the United States Golf Association in 1894, has hosted three U.S. Opens and numerous other great tournaments, most recently the 2005 Walker Cup match, won by a U.S. team including Anthony Kim, J.B. Holmes and Jeff Overton. The 10th hole on this links-style, Charles Blair Macdonald layout is short in length but long on character. The tee shot is threaded through a capricious wind and across the course’s only water hazard—a small pond that also cuts into the par-4 9th—to a green guarded on both sides and behind by a horseshoe bunker. The pond finishes only five yards short of the putting surface, so there are no rewards for anything under-hit or over-spinning from the tee. However, mastering the wickedly undulating green—it slants from back to front and features a variety of up-slopes and swales—is undoubtedly the biggest challenge.
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Hole No.10
Hole No.11
Par-5, 596 yards Country Club of detroit, Grosse Pointe farms, miChiGan
Par-4, 495 yards auGusta national Golf Club, GeorGia
For our tenth 10th hole, we visit the scene of Mr. Palmer’s first ‘major’ victory, in the 1954 U.S. Amateur Championship. The Country Club of Detroit was laid out by the distinguished British course designer Harry S. Colt in 1912, and later modified, first by Colt’s long-serving assistant, Charles Alison, and then in 2011 by Tom Doak. Off the back tee, a 240-yard carry is required over three church-pew-style bunkers to reach the fairway. The best line is down the right as anything leaking left could easily bounce toward the out-of-bounds posts. Even a 280-yard drive leaves a second shot of over 300 yards, so most players opt to lay up down the middle as most of the fairway traps are dotted along the right side. The green, protected by two big bunkers at the front, is large and fairly easypaced. But speed can on occasion be a factor, so center is the ideal target.
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Known as Camellia, this hole witnessed the shot of 2012 —Bubba Watson’s extraordinary hooked wedge from deep in the trees right of the fairway to the heart of the green to win the playoff for the 76th Masters against Louis Oosthuizen. It’s a long par-4 that can play much shorter if the tee-shot is drawn and catches the downslope in the middle of the fairway. The ball will then kick on prodigiously, leaving a mid-iron at worst to the green. A drive leaked right will result in a longer approach at an awkward angle, but anything over-hooked—as Rory McIlroy famously discovered on Sunday in 2011 —will likely end up unplayable in trees. The green is deceptively complex and slopes precipitously from right to left, making it especially difficult to save par from the front-right bunker. The challenge it poses and the drama it creates explains why, statistically, this is the most difficult hole in Masters history.
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Hole No.9
Par-4, 472 yards muirfield Golf Course, Gullane, east lothian, sCotland
Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com
Muirfield, laid out beside the Firth of Forth by ‘Old’ Tom Morris in 1891, will play host to its 16th Open Championship in July 2013. Unlike the oldest links, where the front nine generally heads in one direction and the back nine treks back home, the layout of Muirfield was unique for its time. Under Morris’s inspired design, a clockwise outward half encases an anticlockwise inward half, an arrangement that necessitates continual adjustments according to wind direction. The 10th, which starts this anticlockwise journey, is long, straight and fairly open. Southwest prevailing winds tend to push the tee shot toward bunkers on the right edge of a narrow ribbon of fairway. A ridge with twin bunkers then crosses the fairway 100 yards short of the green; even though they shouldn’t come into play, they effectively mask the view. It takes two fine shots to find a flat green between two bunkers front right and one to the left side.
Hole No.12
Hole No.13
Par-4, 468 yards sanCtuary CoVe Golf & Country Club (Pines), Queensland, australia
Par-3, 146 yards Pine Valley Golf Club, Clementon, neW Jersey
This resort-style gated community is located in north Queensland’s Gold Coast region. The Pines, designed in 1989, is Australia’s only Arnold Palmer Signature golf course and rated as one of the country’s most challenging courses. Sanctuary Cove’s touring professional, Adam Scott, says: “When I think of great golf in Australia, I think of the Pines, a true test of the game.” The 10th is reputedly the hardest par-4 in Australia. Water guards the right all the way to the green, while any shot left will find the pine forest. The prevailing wind is left to right, and the bounce in the neck of the fairway also kicks right towards water. Scott’s advice is to trust your swing and aim your drive down the middle of the narrow, undulating fairway. Shots to the green should favor the left as an antidote to rolling right. The green is exceptionally long so club selection depends on the color of the flag.
Pine Valley, a fiercely private club founded by a group of amateur golfers from Philadelphia on sandy ground deep in the pinelands of southern New Jersey, commissioned its design from George Arthur Crump Jr., who knew the area from hunting expeditions. This was Crump’s only course design, yet he oversaw the draining of marshlands and uprooting of more than 20,000 trees. He died suddenly in 1918, and a year later the job was completed by Merion’s architect, Hugh Wilson. Reflecting its regularly affirmed status as one of golf’s hardest courses, Pine Valley’s shortest hole, the 10th, is a devil. A mid-iron off the tee should find the green, but this is no safe haven. Not only is the green raised with run-offs on all sides but it’s surrounded by a craggy sand pit. The most perilous hazard, though, is a pot bunker slotted into the right front of the putting surface from which the only escape is backwards.
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Take your game on The road. When it’s time to get out and play, Nebraska is the place to do it. Throughout the state you’ll find hundreds of courses—including several national award winners—that deliver round after round of golfing enjoyment. So hit the road— and the greens—in Nebraska. Come watch the U.S. Senior Open, July 8–14 in Omaha.
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Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com
Hole No.14
Hole No.15
Par-5, 621 yards White WitCh Golf Course, monteGo bay, JamaiCa
Par-4, 414 yards shinneCoCK hills Golf Club, southamPton, lonG island, neW yorK
The late Robert von Hagge blasted this glorious course onto the solid-rock hillside overlooking the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort. Despite the absence of topsoil, the 600-acre site, part of the historic Rose Hall sugar plantation, was home to extensive scrub, low-lying trees and lush greenery. Named after the 19th century plantation owner Annee Palmer (no relation), who cast spells on her slaves and murdered three husbands, White Witch is replete with stunning sea views, elevation changes, colorful foliage, cooling trade winds and mountainside holes. The 10th, a monster of 621 yards, actually plays somewhat shorter thanks to a tee raised 100 feet above the fairway. The hole doglegs left around a yawning ravine lined with six bunkers down to a green guarded by three more traps to the right. Long hitters can reach in two, but the smart recommendation is to exercise caution with the first two shots and then try to pitch close.
Another USGA founder member, Shinnecock Hills was created by Scottish professional Willie Dunn Jr., aided by 150 Native Americans from a nearby reservation, and redesigned at various stages subsequently by Charles B. Macdonald, Seth Raynor, William Flynn and Dick Wilson. Perhaps more than any American course, it echoes the pristine conditions of historic links like Muirfield with its fescue-lined fairways, swirling sea breezes and abundance of strategic bunkers. Laid out across the property’s most undulating terrain, the rollercoaster 10th hole veers sharply downhill at around driving distance before climbing some 70 yards to a raised green protected by three traps and a copse to the right and a false front to the left. Some chose to sacrifice distance off the tee to gain a level lie for their approach, from around 170 yards, while others aim for the bottom of the hill, though a pitch from here is no bargain as the ball invariably spins back off the green.
Hole No.16
Par-3, 218 yards ConGressional Country Club (blue), bethesda, maryland When the Blue course at Congressional, a Devereux Emmet design dating back to 1924, was last remodeled (in 2006), Rees Jones converted the old 18th into a new par-3 10th pointing in the opposite direction. The hole is now played from an elevated tee across an expansive lake to a wide though punishingly shallow green defended by bunkers to the right, left and rear as well as the water hazard in front. For those wanting to bail out long, the two traps at the back of the green are not the place to be as splashing back downhill is fraught with danger. This is doubly pronounced if the pin is on the right side as that part of the green slopes sharply and directly into the water. Rory McIlroy secured his historic victory in the 2011 U.S. Open, in effect, by propelling his tee shot in the last round to within three inches of the cup.
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Hole No.17
Par-4, 310 yards merion Golf Club (east), ardmore, PennsylVania As the late, great golf writer Pat Ward-Thomas once observed, big hitters can drive hole-high here only to find themselves confronted with a pitch “as delicate as picking up a teacup filled to the brim.” Golfers psychologically sense a breather when the back nine starts with a hole as short as this. The tee, elevated between sentinel poplars, poses a classic risk-reward question—the more aggressive line increases the threat but offers an easier second shot. All approaches, though, must be pitched delicately to a treacherously bunkered, slyly sloping, oblong green. The wicker baskets perched on top of the flagless pins change from red to orange on the back nine at Merion, where the 2013 U.S. Open will be played next June. This is also a superb match-play hole because competitors expect their opponents to make birdie and tend to press accordingly. It’s positioning as No.17 on our fantasy course reflects that abiding quality.
Hole No.18
Par-5, 615 yards Pinehurst resort (no.2), north Carolina Donald Ross created over 400 courses, but Pinehurst No.2, which he laid out in 1907, is “the fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed.” After Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw’s extensive restoration of the jewel in this 144-hole golf haven’s crown, No.2 is back to what Ross originally intended. The 10th, the longest hole on the course and uphill as well, is reachable in two for only a few players, but it’s far from an exercise in brute strength. The angles of this right-to-left dogleg alone, and the perils awaiting an ill-executed attempt to cut the corner, mean it’s a genuine three-shotter. So a solid drive and second shot, steering clear of the bunker on the left of the fairway, should leave a short-iron into a green sloping subtly from left to right and protected by two more traps. Completing the package, the putting surface falls away dramatically into a collection area at the back.
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A lot has happened in a short time for Webb Simpson. After finishing second on the 2011 PGA Tour money list and playing in the Presidents Cup, the Wake Forest graduate took further strides into golf’s stratosphere when he claimed his first major championship in June and made his Ryder Cup debut in September. Between those career landmarks, he celebrated the birth of his second child. Dave Shedloski hears how he has kept his feet on the ground during this life-changing period
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2012 US Open
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Simpson (back row, third from right) played on the victorious U.S. Walker Cup team in 2007. Wife Dowd (right) caddied for her husband during the Par-3 competition prior to the 2012 Masters
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ebb Simpson skipped the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes in northwest England this summer so he could stay home in Charlotte, N.C. and be with his wife, Dowd, for the birth of their second child, daughter Willow Grace. The U.S. Open champion might have been absent from the year’s third major championship, but he certainly was not forgotten. In the midst of his pre-tournament interview at Royal Lytham, former Open champion David Duval was asked which young American players appear to be the most promising. Duval, himself once a young hotshot who rose to No.1 in the world before a back injury derailed his career, gave it some thought and then replied, “Where’s Webb Simpson ranked?” Simpson’s come-from-behind victory at The Olympic Club in San Francisco in June had elevated him to No.5 in the world. “Obviously he’s proved himself to be a major champion,” Duval said of Simpson. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see Webb Simpson go there [to the top of the world rankings]. There’s so much parity now that you can’t really distinguish. But I think the thing Webb has, especially coming off Olympic, is confidence. And confidence is as important as anything when it comes to playing the game of golf. That’s what I kind of look for when I see players playing, and I think that that’s what holds people back at times, and lets other people break through.” Simpson has certainly broken through. Just one year after an eye-opening 2011 campaign in which he won twice
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on the PGA Tour and finished second to Luke Donald on the money list, Simpson further burnished his reputation as one of the game’s top players with his U.S. Open triumph. And even though he took more than a month off in the middle of summer, he still reached the Tour Championship for the second year in a row and also qualified for the U.S. Ryder Cup team for the first time. At Olympic, thanks to a pair of 68s on the weekend, Simpson rallied past two seasoned golfers, and former winners, in Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell to win on his second U.S. Open appearance and just his fifth start in a major championship. He became only the third American to win the national championship since 2004, and is the first player since Jerry Pate in 1976 to win the title at his second attempt. Simpson has risen quickly since he turned professional in 2008 after an amateur career that included victories the previous year in the Southern and Dogwood Amateur Championships. He was a member of the victorious U.S. Walker Cup team in 2007 at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland, and his college career at Wake Forest culminated in three years as an All-American and the accolade of Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in ’08. After reaching the PGA Tour via the Tour school, he earned $1.2 million from his first full season in 2009, displaying a commitment to self-improvement and a healthily
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Simpson tees off on 18 at Olympic (left) and celebrates with Tiger Woods during the 2011 Presidents Cup in Melbourne
competitive attitude. He’s a fast learner but believes he has to be in an era defined by the excellence of Tiger Woods. “I think the game’s changing,” Simpson said. “The Tiger effect of inspiring people to play at a younger age, and the access that players have to golf [at the highest level] has gotten so much bigger, that the game is changing. The prime age of a leading player 10-15 years ago was mid-30s. Now it’s moving closer to the mid or late 20s. There are so many young guys. “If I see Keegan Bradley win a major, I respect his game a ton, but I feel like, Keegan Bradley won one so I want to go win one. All these guys that won before me, I thought I played with these guys all my life. I want to win a tournament. Everybody is so competitive in this world that we just kind of feed off each other. “So I think the game will continue to evolve like that,” Simpson adds. “I’m lucky because I feel like we’re playing at a time when golf is at its best.” Simpson is evolving, too. He is a man with a strong religious faith and devotion to his family. “When you talk about winning a major, especially the U.S. Open, which is probably the most important tournament an American player can win, you experience the highest form of joy in your profession,” he says. “Even as such, that doesn’t compare to the highest form of joy in your personal life of having children, and my wife and I are very fortunate to have two healthy kids. “ Th e who l e experience is just so cool. You hear it a lot how having kids puts everything in perspective, and that’s so true. Your priorities change. You have a little less time for yourself, less time to
“One of my thoughts on the back nine [at Olympic] was I don’t know how Tiger has won 14 of these things. It grew my respect for Tiger”
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practice, and you have to adjust more to their schedules and their needs. But that just means you have to be a little more efficient with your schedule and your time. I think I’m learning more about how to do that every day.” It appears so. One of the most important undertakings in his professional life has been tweaking his swing with the help of longtime coach Ted Kiegel. He needed it. When veteran caddie Paul Tesori took up Simpson’s bag last year, he was not impressed with Simpson’s unconventional motion. It was simply way too handsy, he said, and he was not afraid to voice his opinion, albeit with the best of intentions. “It was some of the worst action I’d seen,” Tesori said. “I said, ‘Bud, you must have a strong mind.’” The fact is Simpson does have a strong mind along with a first-rate short game, one that doesn’t merely rely on his proficiency with the belly putter he wields. He has further progressed through a new fitness regimen. But strong mind aside, Simpson gained a newfound respect for Woods, having gone through the grinder of being in contention in a major championship. “One of my thoughts on the back nine was I don’t know how Tiger has won 14 of these things, because of the pressure,” Simpson said. “I couldn’t feel my legs most of the back nine. It grew my respect for Tiger all the more.” Simpson’s breakthrough year in 2011, which also included a successful debut in the Presidents Cup in Melbourne, Australia, where he went 3-2 with his three victories coming in team play with Bubba Watson, placed more expectations on him in 2012. But while he had undertaken modest improvements, he’s taken care to not make changes that are overly dramatic or a departure from his core fundamentals. “I knew what would probably come with having a good year like I did last year,” he said. “One thing I’ve kind of noticed with certain guys that have had great years is maybe they change equipment or they change swing instructors. And I wanted to make sure I didn’t change anything. And I wanted to continue with what we call our process, which is that we’re trying to get better. “I didn’t care if I came out and made a million dollars, as long as I was getting better. I wanted to just come out and continue to improve my game, continue to improve my mental capacity to play well in tournaments. And I’ve had a
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slow year compared to last year, but I’ve been pleased because I felt like I was getting better.” Winning a major championship can change a player, alter his expectations, perhaps even make him overly satisfied and a bit complacent. Or he can go the other way and start expecting too much of himself, trying too hard to live up to the expectations of others. Simpson, who had a so-so Ryder Cup at Medinah, going 2-2 but losing his singles to a fired-up Ian Poulter on the final day, is cognizant of that, which is itself an important step. “I haven’t put any extra
He has become good friends with Palmer as a result of attending Wake Forest on an Arnold Palmer-funded scholarship
Simpson, the only amateur in the field, celebrates a birdie on the 18th green at Bay Hill in the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational
pressure on myself being a U.S. Open champion,” he said. “It’s allowed me to work harder because you see certain guys do something big… and they don’t play as well. So I haven’t put more pressure on myself, but I have tried to push myself into working harder.” In winning at Olympic Club and knocking off a couple of former champions in the process, Simpson extended the San Francisco club’s tradition of shepherding an underdog to victory. That tradition started with Jack Fleck defeating Ben Hogan in a playoff in 1955. Eleven years later, Billy Casper knocked off Arnold Palmer in another playoff after Palmer led by seven strokes with just nine holes remaining in regulation. This bit of history—Casper’s upset of Palmer— Simpson knows something about, even though it occurred long before he was born. He has become good friends with Palmer as a result of attending Wake Forest on a Palmer scholarship. “He’s meant the world to me,” Simpson said of Palmer. “I played four years at Wake under his scholarship, which was a huge help. I’ve always been such a big fan of the King and what he represents. I had the opportunity to play in his tournament [at Bay Hill] twice as an amateur, which kind of opened my eyes to the PGA Tour and how good
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these players are. He couldn’t have been a nicer guy to me through the years.” During the 2012 U.S. Open, Simpson came across the story of the 1966 Open, and he came away thinking, “Hopefully, I can get a little back for him and make him smile.” And that’s exactly what Simpson did. Two days after his victory, Simpson went on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive program for a short interview via telephone. While he was on the line, Palmer, who won his own U.S. Open in 1960 at Cherry Hills, called in to congratulate him. “I have a smile all the way across my face,” the King said proudly. While Palmer has been an inspiration to Simpson, another Hall of Fame golfer has also had a considerable impact on him. The week before he ventured to San Francisco and Olympic, Simpson warmed up for golf’s toughest test by playing some casual golf for four days with friends in Pinehurst, N.C. Pinehurst has long been a favorite retreat for Simpson, who grew up about an hour from there in Raleigh, N.C. He used to make the drive there for weekends for golf, and when he was 13 years old, he served as a standard bearer during the 1999 U.S. Open over the No.2 Course. One of the players whose name he carried was 1982 U.S. Open winner Tom Watson, who offered him some sage advice that week: every tournament is a level playing field, so keep working hard. “I’ve never forgotten that,” Simpson said. As fate would have it, the national championship returns to Pinehurst in 2014. Simpson can’t wait. But this time, his name will be on one of the standards. He’ll be introduced as a U.S. Open champion.
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R e p o s a d o On a beautiful stretch of Mexico’s Caribbean coast, Kingdom’s editor is reminded of how beautiful life can be
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hen Carlos Fuentes wrote that “what the United States does best is to understand itself, what it does worst is understand others,” the novelist and former diplomat likely gave a nod toward his home in Mexico. Under a legacy of misconceptions, misperceptions and, more recently, fear, our approach to our southern neighbor has often been shaped by stereotypes that are more political caricatures than cultural identities, and it’s our loss. The real Mexico is a vast, rich, sensuous and intelligent place where wild landscapes surround metropolitan expressions, where much of the modern history of our country began, and where it is still being written today. One could spend a lifetime getting to know Mexico, and Mayakoba is a beautiful introduction.
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On its own, the luxury development may not be any more accurate a picture of Mexico than one of the towns along the Texas border. But perhaps it is here, undistracted, in an environment distilled down to the country’s best of everything, that a certain kind of person might come to be introduced to the wonders that Mexico offers. As an ambassador, Mayakoba excels. Less than an hour south of the blazing lights, thumping clubs and sunburned tourists in Cancún, Mayakoba rests quietly on a beach along the Riviera Maya. The closest town is Playa del Carmen, simply “Playa” to the locals, and the iconic Maya ruins at Tulum are just beyond that. The development covers nearly 1,600 acres and holds three hotel properties: the Fairmont, the Banyan Tree, and the Rosewood. All are lovely, with the latter two achieving “exquisite.” Beach clubs, tennis courts, spas, swimming pools and the other amenities one would expect at any
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good resort are here, with respective examples tailored in design and purpose to each property’s personality. The adults-only pool at Rosewood is chic and quiet; Banyan Tree’s signature restaurant is elegantly romantic; Fairmont’s children’s areas are playfully tropical; and so on. As well considered as all of it is, the environment itself cannot be underestimated in terms of setting the stage for excellence, and here, in part at least, we have the developer to thank. Mid- and late-20th century global coastal development often consisted of putting tall buildings close to the water, right on the beach when possible. This involved dramatic changes to the land and considerable environmental impacts. In contrast, Spain’s Grupo OHL decided to plan Mayakoba around what was already there. They carefully built the development into the wetlands and rainforest that sit between the beach and the mainland, and the effect is
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simply stunning. All construction was planned and carried out with the supervision of pertinent scientists, and a team of biologists still maintains the waterways and landscape today.
Welcome The setting affects you instantly. After check-in, guests board an elegant launch and are taken on a slow journey through the resort’s clear, cold canals, past anhingas drying their wings in the sun, crocodiles resting deep in the mangroves and the rest of the forest’s 300 species of plants and more than 200 species of animals. The trip, which takes only a few minutes, puts you in the moment. Under a big sky, on hyaline water reflecting shadows in green and black, the morning’s trip to the airport and all attendant stresses disappear. By the time the launch turns the corner into a quiet lagoon and your suite comes into view, you really have arrived.
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Room I stayed at the Rosewood, where there’s a relaxed Mid-Century Modern vibe to the accommodations and just enough cutting-edge amenities to convey management’s commitment to the urban jet-set—without isolating you from what’s happening outside. Deep seating, warm lighting and a color palette that’s more Hemingway than Hawaiian set the scene, which is scored by the pulse of the jungle outside. At twilight, from the deck of the suite, sitting with your feet in a private plunge pool or relaxing on a lounger with a glass of complimentary top-shelf tequila in hand, you’re part of the living world: amidst a chorus of tropical birds with the sound of waves not far away, light humidity resting on your skin, it’s the essence of coastal Mexico. Should you wish to shut out the sounds and escape to the quiet cool of your room, large glass sliding doors do the trick—and let you keep the view. When the day ends, options for relaxation include a deep, candlelit soaking tub or a luxe shower, both set against walls of glass that look out to a high-walled private garden with a shower under the stars. The large, comfortable bed was a welcome sight, while the pillowcase monogrammed with my initials was a true surprise (and later, a nice takeaway gift). All of that, plus several large televisions, round-the-clock butler service, a sizeable walk-in closet and an array of other touches almost too numerous to mention, made a compelling argument for not leaving the suite. But then, of course, that would be missing the point.
Golf During my first visit to Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Club, a deer stepped onto the course a moment after I did, looked around for a moment, then disappeared back through the green wall of jungle. That moment says quite a bit about
the course, which is one of the most beautiful (and bestmaintained) I’ve ever seen. In addition to a number of local contests and community events, it hosts the Mayakoba Golf Classic, currently the only PGA Tour event in Mexico (but certainly the first of many, with the new PGA Tour Latinoamérica now underway). The Greg Norman design isn’t necessarily for beginners, though anyone will have a good time hitting ’round the spectacular layout, which runs through the mangrove forests and jungle, over limestone canals and eventually along the ocean. The opening hole includes a fantastic bit of local topography, a “cenote,” which is a large sinkhole with exposed limestone walls. Cenotes dot the Mexican landscape and have long been held as both sacred places and recreational swimming holes. As for El Camaleón’s, it’s fair to say that any hazard that has a name (and into which one could rappel) should be avoided. Known as “Devil’s Mouth,” measuring 30 yards by 20 yards, quite deep, and reportedly containing stalactites, bats, and moss, it makes the worst bunker on Scotland’s Old Course seem positively Lilliputian. The course isn’t all bite, though. Numbers 7 and 15 play right to the edge of the Caribbean, just steps from the sand, and are truly the stuff of which golfing dreams are made. Likewise, the canals running alongside most of the rest of the course provide cool distraction (if not some frustration) and are a great place to spot any number of the tropical birds that call El Camaléon home. James Batt, Mayakoba’s charismatic VP of operations and an avid birder, can tell you about most of the area’s winged residents. An enthusiastic (and excellent) photographer, he’s even produced a book, “Birds of Mayakoba,” which is available in the gift shop as yet more evidence of why the course (and the area) is a certified Audubon Sanctuary.
Exquisite bath at Rosewood; launch in one of Mayakoba’s canals
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Back on course, the on-site Jim McLean Golf School is tremendous, offering state-of-the-art JC Video Swing Analysis along with an unbelievable level of personalized instruction. Information from the lessons can be downloaded to your mobile device and carried on course for a mid-round reminder. Likewise, instructors are available via email for follow-up questions and information. That, along with the 350-yard double-sided tee, short game facility and 40-yard wide putting green, makes the school the finest practice facility in Mexico.
Dining After a dip in the sea or in one of Mayakoba’s fine pools, a round or two of golf, a trip to one of the excellent spas or a bit of sightseeing, the issue of sustenance will inevitably arise. Here again, Mayakoba does not disappoint. I tried several of the restaurants, from poolside fare to a couple of the fine dining options, and found that every meal was as perfectly prepared as it was suited to its table. Rosewood’s main restaurant, Casa del Lago, is set just off the lobby and covers the whole day’s dining. A relaxed atmosphere makes for a carefree breakfast or lunch, while evening sees the restaurant transformed into an elegant venue. The menu appropriately features local seafood along with fine dining staples, and the chef’s inspired treatments add just enough Latin flavor to remind you that you’re abroad. A starter of Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Brie Cheese and Iberico Ham nicely precedes Braised Ox Tail in Carnaroli Rice with Pasilla Pepper and Sauteed Green Beans or Olive Oil Confit of Black Cod with Ajoarriero Peppers, Roasted Onions and Lobster Demi Glazed Potatoes. Similarly brilliant sweets like the Xocolatl—a steamed chocolate sponge with blue corn crumble, Mexican spicy chocolate, creamy ganache,
white chocolate flan and homemade cocoa ice cream—will send you to dreamland with a smile on your face. At Rosewood’s Agave Azul Tequila Library, I enjoyed Chilli Pepper Lobster empanadas and an education in the wonders of the agave, while the Fairmont’s La Laguna restaurant provided a delightfully fresh lunch one afternoon—not surprising considering that it, like all of the restaurants at Mayakoba, is committed to a responsible menu. That means sourcing local and organic produce when possible, and offering sustainable seafood choices. My final evening was spent at the Banyan Tree’s signature (and understated) Saffron restaurant, which offers top-tier Thai dishes and a perfect setting for romance or reflection. Dinner with a friend started on one of the venue’s three over-water decks. The sun was just down, and the jungle’s voice was shifting from day into night, insects, frogs and birds changing their songs as the trees shifted in the shadows. As it happens, the wind was bringing the sort of storm that those unfamiliar with the tropics would describe as “intense,” though in fact it was quite average, and characteristically short. We moved inside just as the rain began in earnest, and enjoyed our food with conversation about the beauty of the place, the fullness of the moon over the Caribbean and the way the resort so effectively pushes the rest of the world away. The rain stopped just as we finished dessert, and in the clean still that followed we lit paper lanterns and watched them float away, glowing soft and gold against the spent sky over Mayakoba. Among the wishes we’d scribbled onto bits of paper that rose with them, certainly, was the hope of return. Visit Mayakoba.com to find out more about this sublime part of Mexico.
Seaside golf at Camaleón; the elegant Banyan Tree at twilight
Numbers 7 and 15 play right to the edge of the Caribbean, and are the stuff of which golfing dreams are made
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SPOTLIGHT D E C A D E Arnold Palmer keeps good company. Over the last decade, Kingdom has sat down with numerous celebrities from the arts, politics, sports and business, talking golf and all things Arnie. Often competitive, stressed individuals, many of our subjects turned to the game for the same reasons the rest of us love it. Time with friends, competition or meditation, golf can also be frustrating. A look back at ten years of Kingdom interviews proves it: Anyone can be a star on course.
olf is a whole other planet compared to baseball or football because just when you think you’ve mastered a certain part of it, it jumps up and bites you in the butt.” In 2009, sports icon and huge personality bo JAcKson — arguably the greatest all-around athlete to have played any sport—told Kingdom editor Reade Tilley that while baseball and football both came naturally, golf was an exercise in hard work. In just a few years, from 1987 to 1991, Jackson set the world of professional sports on fire, sending up dominating performances in both baseball and football, and stunning everyone
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who saw him—and who played against him. When a hip injury ended his NFL career at the end of the 1990 season, he worked through a hip replacement and stayed in major league baseball, turning in a career-high .279 batting average for the Angels in 1994 with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs in 201 at-bats. “I considered golf back then a lazy man’s game,” he said in the PGA West clubhouse. “Now, it kicks my butt.” Similarly, the late, great dennis hopper came to golf later in life, not picking up a club until he was in his 50s. Speaking with Kingdom correspondent
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Paul Mahoney in 2008, the man reflected on a career playing slightly unhinged characters in such films as Apocalypse Now, Easy Rider and Blue Velvet. “More than slightly unhinged,” he said. “But that’s not me. I’m mildmannered now. I may have been a little out of control when I was younger, but I didn’t play golf back then.” At the peak of his mayhem, Hopper was downing half a gallon of rum, 28 beers and three grams of cocaine every day. “It’s a miracle I’m still here,” he said. “I should have been dead ten times over.” Then singer and actor Willie Nelson introduced Hopper to golf. “Willie told me it would keep me out of bars,” the actor remembered. “Once I’d hit one good ball, I was addicted. And it’s a great addiction to have... I haven’t had a drink in 24 years. Golf really has saved my life. It’s strange, there are so many actors and rock musicians that have indulged in every kind of narcotic and alcohol. And when they get sober, they seem to end up on a golf course. We’re all out there playing.” Actor Andy GArciA, another intense personality, found golf much earlier in life, picking up a club at age 12. “Back then, it was a very casual pursuit,” he told Kingdom contributing editor Paul Trow in 2011. “I got some clubs and we’d play in the park or sneak out on the course in the evening.” A gifted athlete, Garcia played both baseball and basketball at high school in Miami, but eventually turned to acting when an illness sidelined him. His incredible determination in all of his pursuits stems in part from his family background. Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1956, the young Garcia fled the island with his family in 1961 and settled in Miami Beach. “Even though I left Cuba at such a young age, my memories of my childhood there are specific and vivid to this day,” he told us with detectable emotion in his voice. “When you know you’re not going back you hold on to what you have. It can never be taken away from you.” Despite his driven nature, he took the game in stride: “Golf is what it is,” he told us. “One day you feel great and the next you just don’t have the feel. Lee Trevino says you play with what you’ve got on the day and he’s right.” Supermodel Jodie Kidd wasn’t entirely relaxed about the game in 2005 when Trow, then the editor, interviewed her—but then Trow wasn’t relaxed either. After objectively describing his subject—“Her eyes are cobalt blue, her complexion like porcelain and her personality as radiant as the sun on a hot day on the Caribbean island of Barbados...”—he nervously jotted down a disclaimer for the readers: “At this juncture I should point out that chatting with models is not a normal assignment for a journalist more used to chronicling the length of Tiger Woods’ birdie putts, so I entered our discourse with some trepidation. Would she flounce off the moment I asked an awkward question?” Undoubtedly affected in similar
fashion by Mr. Trow, Ms. Kidd nonetheless managed to give a composed accounting of her relationship with golf, which turned out to be quite serious. “I’ve been playing since my brother, sister and I were all given a golf lesson by our father as a Christmas present,” she said. “I was 11 at the time and straight away I thought it was a really cool thing to do. The moment you hit a good shot it makes up for 10,000 bad ones.” By the time Trow met her, Kidd was hitting the ball an average of 270-280 yards off the tee, and explained that her natural attributes were to credit for her success—in golf, that is. “Because my height (6ft, 1in) gives my swing a wide arc, I can generate massive clubhead speed,” she said. “I hit it a long way off the tee and with every club through the bag. I hit my nine iron about 130 yards, for instance... Once I take up any sport I can become addicted—as soon as I try it I go for it and there’s no stopping me until I’ve done well. I’d rather do two or three things well than dabble with things I’m not suited to.” There are few things to which Kurt russell isn’t suited, or at least it seemed that way after Kingdom sat down with him at the 2011 Bob Hope Classic. An accomplished actor and pilot, Russell also did a stint in baseball, playing second base for the El Paso Sun Kings, a California Angels Double-A minor league affiliate. In 1973, a collision with another player tore the rotator cuff in his right (throwing) shoulder, so the young ballplayer— who was leading the Texas League in hitting with a .563 batting average— turned to acting, which he’d already discovered as a young man. “[The injury] was also one of the reasons I eventually returned to golf,” he confessed. “My dad was a real good golfer, so I started playing with him when I was 14... Golf is the only sport I know of in which you can play absolutely horribly all the way through, but then birdie 18 and you’re ready to play another 18. And vice versa... It really is a game like life. It goes up and down and all the best-laid plans fall apart. On the other hand, you can surprise yourself and get lucky.” Luck had nothing to do with sAmuel l JAcKson ’s game; it was all about persistence on his part—and on the part of his friends. “They actually tricked me not once, but twice,” Sam (as he likes to be called) told Kingdom in 2007. On false pretexts, Sam’s friends drove him to a course, rented him some clubs and found a way to motivate him to play: “They made me gamble with them for a few quarters here and there,” he said. “Needless to say I lost, probably five or six dollars in total, which I was not happy with at all. And I decided right there and then that I was going to learn how to play the game.” And so he did. Long hours on the course paid off, and not just for his game. After early struggles with drugs and alcohol, “Golf saved my life,” he said. “When I got out of rehab it became my new addiction.
i lost, which i was not happy with at all. i decided i was going to learn how to golf —samuel l jackson
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It was something that settled my mind, something that I wanted to become better at, and I became as hooked on it as I had been on drugs.” Of course, the game has its own hazards, such as occasionally tipping Sam’s temper, as his caddies have found. “They hear me shouting at myself and they’re like, ‘Ah ha, Sam’s back then.’ But you know, I’ve played with Arnold Palmer several times, including at the Hope, and on practically every hole where he made a bogey I’d find him on the edge of the green, head down, hissing and growling some language you wouldn’t believe. If it’s okay for the King to get mad, I suppose it’s all right if I get mad once in a while.” Getting mad was something of a career asset for boxer suGAr rAy leonArd , who danced and ducked his way into Kingdom in mid 2012. The man who won world boxing titles at five different weights between 1979 and 1991 and brought home Olympic gold from Montreal in 1976 ultimately had some of his toughest battles against drugs and alcohol. Like many celebrities who have faced down their personal demons, Leonard found an ally in golf. “One of my best friends took up golf back in 1991 and got me playing. He never really took it seriously, but I really did. It’s so therapeutic... I’ve got my handicap down to 13 and I’ve always wondered how good I could have been if I’d taken it up at a younger age. It’s remarkable how many similarities there are between golf and boxing— the moment of impact, the need for timing, keeping your head still.” Timing also applies in baseball, something Atlanta Braves pitcher tom GlAvine knows about. The two-time Cy Young award winner is known for both his athletic prowess and his ability to manage his emotions. No surprise, then, that he can golf. “When people play golf with me, and they know me as a pitcher and then they see me as a golfer, I hear the comment a lot that my golf game mirrors the way that I pitch,” Glavine told Kingdom in 2008. “People look at my delivery as a pitcher and it looks effortless, and my golf swing is very similar... I try to have some combination of power and accuracy, which, like everybody, is better some days than others.” Glavine said one of his golfing highlights, and most knee-knocking experiences, was being paired with Arnold Palmer at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Celebrity Pro-Am Tournament. “As a professional athlete, there are not a lot of things that you get nervous about... But I tell you, knowing beforehand that I was going to get an opportunity to play with Arnold in that kind of venue, that is the kind of thing you lose sleep over. But it was fun.” The King similarly inspired a young Kyle mAclAchlAn , when Arnie played an exhibition match in the actor’s hometown of Yakima, Washington, in the 1970s. “The town went crazy,” MacLachlan remembered
in a 2006 edition of Kingdom. With a career that’s had him playing a special agent in Twin Peaks, drummer Ray Manzarek in The Doors, and a host of characters on shows like Desperate Housewives, Portlandia, Law & Order and Sex and the City, golf hasn’t exactly been MacLachlan’s first priority. But his appreciation for the game goes beyond the struggle to master his swing, as evidenced by his first trip to Scotland’s most famous track: “When I saw St Andrews, my eyes were on stalks—Totally! It has a special atmosphere, and the light is so different.” Likewise, when his path crossed Palmer’s again at the 2001 Bob Hope Invitational, he took an artist’s perspective: “I’d just played in the Dunhill Links and thought I knew what I was doing,” he said, “but I wasn’t prepared for the crowds following Arnold. People were close around the greens and I was coming into them with 5-irons. I didn’t kill anyone but I came close. Palmer... had an aura about him and a wonderful common touch. He gave time to all us amateurs and made a real effort to find common ground to start a conversation. I felt like I’d been allowed into a special inner circle. An amazing experience.” “Arnie is The Man,” dAn mArino insisted to Kingdom in 2008, reflecting on his own “amazing experience,” which had something in common with MacLachlan’s. The former Miami quarterback and Palmer first played together at what was then called the Senior PGA Tour’s NFL Golf Classic. “I guess I was a little nervous that time,” said Marino. “I was playing with Arnold and there were huge crowds around him… I didn’t want to kill anybody. That was 15 years ago; I can hit it a little straighter now than I did then.” Like Glavine, Marino found a few similarities between his sport and golf, at least mentally. “The one thing in football that you have to learn as a quarterback— and golf helps you with this—is to stay focused and in the moment,” he said. “You have to be thick-skinned as a quarterback. If something bad happens, like an interception or a fumble, you have to let it go away and look forward to the next opportunity. The game of golf is like that, too. You might hit a bad shot. You might miss a putt that you needed to make. But you are going to have more opportunities so you have to let it go.” We’re not sure donAld trump sees it that way. The most gilded household name on planet earth isn’t a fan of letting things go, or losing. Fortunately, he was in very good spirits when Kingdom’s editor spoke with him: “I just won my club championship,” he told Tilley in 2009, quickly adding, “I’ve won many club championships.” While Trump might not emulate the King’s humility, the excellent golfer and longtime Kingdom columnist has nothing but respect for Palmer, and the two share a penchant for great expectations and top performance in
i wasn’t prepared for the crowds following arnie. people were close around the greens. i didn’t kill anyone, but i came close —kyle maclachlan
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all of their pursuits. “[Arnie] has a way of making you feel you’re the only one in the room,” Trump said. “But while he’s a great champion who’s truly a nice person, at the same time he’s got a competitive streak the likes of which you don’t see. I saw him in an interview on TV and they were asking how he would have done against the current guys. He wasn’t backing down, wasn’t being diplomatic; he was going to beat everybody. I like that answer. He’s the ultimate.” As for a fantasy match in which he and Palmer faced off against another twosome, Trump laughed and chose his opponents true to form: “Well, I’d like to play against two guys who couldn’t play—because I like to win.” That’s one approach to success, certainly. But there are others, as evidenced by an oft-repeated quote from AidAn Quinn : “I don’t care about my career particularly. And the more I don’t, the more work comes my way.” Trow spoke with the actor at St Andrews in 2010 and found Quinn both humble and genuine, qualities that come across in his incredible work ethic and charitable efforts on behalf of autism, something with which his daughter Ava contends. With his schedule Quinn has limited opportunities to play. Despite that, he maintains a single-figure handicap as a member of Rockland Country Club in upstate New York. “I played golf as a youngster,” he said. “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.” Trow caught up with him at the Jigger Inn by the Old Course on a rather special, if somber, anniversary. “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 explained. “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.” In a follow-up, Trow wrote that “Teresa’s Rosebush” was duly consecrated and blooming beautifully. herb Kohler has, no doubt, passed by that rosebush on many occasions. As the owner of numerous properties at St Andrews and longtime president and CEO of the Kohler Company (best known for its plumbing and household products), he spends lot of time in Scotland. Visiting with Kingdom there in 2009, the “bearded bear of a man,” as Trow found him, reminisced about his time at Yale, his days in the theater, his move into the family business and, of course, golf. “St Andrews is a wonderful place and I don’t give a damn about the weather. I’ve played regularly in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship... I used to play [golf] 90 times a year, but I’m down to about 20 now. But I love the game and will always play.”
Singer huey lewis plays 75 times per year—musical gigs, that is. And in 2010 he told Kingdom that he golfs almost as often, though he didn’t pick up the game until he was 33. “It’s America’s pastime, not baseball,” he said. Lewis is a veteran of the celebrity golf circuit, and plays in between concerts while on tour. Occasionally that leads to some interesting rounds, as he found before a performance in Orlando when he played with Palmer. “He’s my man, he’s The King, but he’s so sweet,” Lewis remembered. “Howdy Giles [Mr. Palmer’s longstanding friend] is a big fan of our band and he arranged for me to get invited to play. When I got there, Mr. Palmer was so friendly. ‘Huey, how you doing?’ he said. ‘Would you like a beer and a bite before we go out?’ So we sat down and had a meal... But that wasn’t the first time I came across Mr. Palmer. One day... I was playing at the Meadow Club when word circulated that Arnold Palmer was playing the course... When I got to the green at 18, he was in a greenside bunker on the 9th (they’re alongside each other) and about 60 people were watching him. I was on the front of the green, about 35 feet from the cup. I holed the putt for a gross 75, but only one person saw it—me. The spectators only had eyes for Mr. Palmer.” Huey isn’t the only musician to golf while on tour— or the only one to witness Arnie holding court. “The running joke is that you’re not allowed to book us where it’s under 55 degrees,” said vince Gill , talking to Tilley in 2009 before a performance in California. When the editor spoke with Gill, the country artist had sold more than 26 million records, earned 19 Grammy awards and 18 awards from the Country Music Association. Always busy, it’s incredible that the singer and guitarist keeps his 1 handicap, though his ownership of the course record at Tennessee’s GreyStone Golf Club (62) erases all doubts. Gill found golf as a kid at a local nine-hole layout in Oklahoma City with his dad. Today, he plays the best courses in the world with some of the best players. He wins often but not always, as he remembered from a round with Palmer: “So I’m out there playing pretty hard... maybe 20 years ago. I played really well that day but I missed a putt on the last hole, and I think I shot a 68—you shoot four or five under par playing with the King it’s a heavenly day. So I missed this birdie putt and shot a 68. Arnold had about a 10-footer for birdie, and he ran it in and looked at me and winked. He’d shot a 67! He knew that I knew what he’d shot, and he knew that I knew that he knew what I’d shot. And it’s just that kind of thing—when I get those opportunities, I just pinch myself and go back to the days when I started beating balls and wanting to play golf, and did I ever dream I’d get to play with some of those guys? No I didn’t, but it sure has been fun.”
i missed my putt and made 68. arnie had a 10-footer for birdie, made it, and winked at me. he’d shot a 67 —vince gill
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A Drive For Innovation. High Performance— On And Off The Green. Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey PGA Golfer & Former A. O. Smith Employee
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10Golden 10 Golden Years As Kingdom approaches its 10th anniversary, what better way to celebrate this publishing landmark than by drinking a toast to ourselves, and Mr. Palmer of course? And what better choice of tincture than Glenmorangie Original, Scotch whisky’s leading 10-year single malt
It’s the official whisky of the [British] Open Championship, and the favorite whisky of Kingdom. But how did this nectar that sprang from the northeast foothills of the Scottish Highlands come to rank so highly with such pillars of the golf establishment? Matured in one-time Bourbon casks made of American white oak from the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri, Glemorangie Original, a 10-year single malt, is the celebrated distillery’s most widely consumed product. Indeed, it is particularly popular with Scotch whisky drinkers throughout the United States where consumption of Glenmorangie single malts has almost doubled since 2008. The original expression of the floral elegance that is this historic company’s trademark, and the backbone of its range of a dozen distinct whiskies, Glenmorangie Original marries up the delicate spirit that emerges from Scotland’s tallest stills with the lingering flavors that are innate to those slow-grown, air-dried Bourbon casks. The result is a sumptuous balance between sweetness and complexity, a light-bodied spirit that, at 40% proof, is soft, mellow and creamy. But such is its subtlety that no two whisky drinkers are likely to agree on exactly what it tastes like. The basic flavors, by general consent, are, in turn, floral, citrus (mainly orange) and vanilla, while the end of its journey around the palate leaves a pleasing, almost smoky warmth. But this is where the experts diverge. Some detect hints of honey and walnut along the way, while others identify ripening peaches and toasted almonds as the prelude to its impressive finish.
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A few years ago, the Original was repackaged in a new bottle through which the whisky’s deep, lemony-golden color positively radiates. It might only retail for around $45 a bottle, but Glenmorangie Original earned a ‘Double Gold’ at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, two years after winning ‘Gold—Best in Class’ at the International Wine and Spirit Competition. Praise, and confirmation of pedigree, doesn’t come any higher than that! Glenmorangie—the word rhymes with ‘orangey’ and is Gaelic for Valley of Tranquility—was founded in 1843 by William Matheson in Tain, on the southern shores of Dornoch Firth. To get his new business up and running, Matheson transported a couple of gin stills (far taller than conventional whisky stills) more than 600 miles north from London—no easy task back then. The stills, in operation to this day, were hailed an overnight success and the rest of the distillery’s activities— mashing, fermenting and maturing in casks—were built around them. The initial workforce was styled ‘the 16 Men of Tain,’ and ever since only local people have been selected to work in the distillery and its warehouses, even though Glenmorangie now has an annual output of more than one million gallons. The distillery, which still draws its water supply from the local Tarlogie springs, is open to the public all year and guides are available to show visitors round seven days a week (apart from over the Christmas period), though it’s advisable to pre-book your tour (see glenmorangie.com). Glenmorangie’s other whiskies are also matured in Bourbon casks for a minimum of 10 years, mostly at a temperature of between 44-48 degrees Fahrenheit. One of them, the ‘Signet,’ remains there for 30 years, but the others
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are all switched for the final stages of maturation to other casks—from Spain (sherry), Portugal (port), France (Sauternes and Burgundy) or, as in the case of the Artein, an amazing 15-year-old released last January, Italy (Tuscan wine). In total Glenmorangie’s whiskies are reputedly capable of generating more than 140 different aromas, but adding water to any of them results in a marked change in taste and an eruption of smoothness at the back of the tongue. Andy MacDonald, the distillery manager, says that this effect is known locally as “releasing the serpent.” There’s no doubt that a smoother sensation is released, but as for a serpent— well, it seems a lot less diabolical than that. There’s certainly nothing diabolical about the glorious countryside surrounding Tain, though the presence of oil platforms, derricks and tankers in the adjoining firths can’t entirely be ignored.
Glenmorangie House’s drawing room is warm and welcoming
Kingdom’s researchers stayed at the exclusive, six-bedroom Glenmorangie House beside the hamlet of Cadboll overlooking Moray Firth (about five miles south of the distillery). This secluded retreat, one of only nine Scottish hostelries to possess a Michelin Hotel Guide ‘Red House’ symbol, offered a warm welcome, superblyappointed accommodation, sumptuous local cuisine and, most importantly, an abundance of Glenmorangie whisky. Around 1,500 years ago, the Picts—swarthy, painted folk who famously thwarted the Romans and, legend suggests, might have originated from Egypt (certainly not Ireland whence the red-headed Scots came)—started growing barley, the crop used to make malt for whisky. Ever since, it seems, the area has been devoted to this one purpose above all others. Glenmorangie House is a mid-17th-century property, though its current incarnation—a tastefully restored country home abutted by two walled gardens and a private beach— dates from around 200 years later. Among the activities on offer are fishing in the well-stocked local lochs and rivers, skeet shooting in the adjoining field, but not surprisingly the most popular sport with visitors is golf. Royal Dornoch, Skibo Castle, Brora, Golspie and Tain are all within a short distance of Glenmorangie House while Nairn and Castle Stuart, south across Moray Firth, are half an hour’s drive away.
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Royal Dornoch, where Donald Ross was the ‘keeper of the green’, and the Hilton of Cadboll Stone are two additional local attractions
Dornoch was also the birthplace of Donald Ross, the Scottish émigré who designed more than 400 U.S. golf courses during the first half of the 20th century. It is not known whether Ross was partial to a tipple, but as he was ‘keeper of the green’ at Dornoch while still a teenager it is more than likely he will have sampled the delights of Glenmorangie. For those who wish to delve further into local history, the replica of an 8th century Pictish slab known as the Hilton of Cadboll Stone on the Tarbat Peninsula is a joy to behold, especially at night when it’s floodlit. The intricate, kaleidoscopic pattern on the Stone’s lower panel—a network of interlocking spirals and twirls—is reproduced on the recently-installed main window in the distillery’s still room. An extract from it also appears on the label of every bottle of the company’s whisky—proof, if you like, that we really can Pict when we choose Glenmorangie.
10 GLENMORANGIE FACTS 1. Glenmorangie was served on Concorde throughout its airborne lifetime 2. Brigitte Bardot shipped 36 cases of Glenmorangie to her homes in Paris, St. Tropez and Geneva 3. The Lord Mayor of London had Glenmorangie delivered to his official residence in 1899 4. Glenmorangie was first shipped to the United States in 1880, shortly before the official arrival of golf, another Scottish export. San Francisco was the destination 5. Glenmorangie’s head of distilling and whisky creation, Dr. Bill Lumsden, has three times won Whisky Advocate magazine’s “Industry Leader of the Year” award 6. The recipe for Glenmorangie Finealta was originally concocted for the Savoy Hotel in central London in 1903 7. Glenmorangie became Scotland’s best-selling single malt in 1982—a title it has held almost continuously since 8. 60 percent of the flavor in Glenmorangie’s whisky comes from the casks in which it matures and 40 percent via the distilling process 9. The height of Glenmorangie’s stills means the heavier, leathery flavors can’t reach the top, thus only the purest vapors ascend to the full height of their copper necks before condensing into a pure spirit ready for maturation 10. Glenmorangie only ever uses a cask twice while other whisky producers may use casks up to six or seven times
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A Family Affair In 1995, NBC Sports brought one of golf’s greatest relationships to television, that of a father and his child playing the game together. A scenario that plays out on countless club courses every weekend proved good viewing in the Father/Son Challenge, a made-fortelevision event co-owned by the broadcaster and IMG, which ran from 1995 to 2008. Now, after a short hiatus, the tournament is back thanks to new sponsors PNC Bank.
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“The PNC Father/Son Challenge has always been an event that celebrates family as much as it does championship golf, and like my fellow pros, and fans of the game, I am thrilled and thankful to PNC Bank,” said former Father/ Son player Arnold Palmer, in a statement issued by the tournament. “For many years we talked about how the Father/Son Challenge was one of our favorite events to play in all year, not only because it featured a field filled exclusively
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Palmer and friend, PNC’s James E. Rohr
with major or Players Championship winners, but because it allowed us to share a moment in our career, and our passion for the game, with those that we love the most.” Brian Goerke, a PNC representative, said the bank is thrilled to be part of the event. “We’ve been pleased and somewhat surprised at the awareness of the previous tournaments. People have said, ‘I remember that, and I’m really glad it’s coming back!’”
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Mr. Palmer’s long relationship with James E. Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., played a part. “Arnie did bring [the Father/Son] to Jim’s attention first,” said Goerke. “And it went from there. What appeals to us is that it’s major champions and the relationship of father/son or father/daughter; that’s meaningful to us in terms of family.”
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In a tournament statement, Rohr concurred: “The PNC Father/Son Challenge truly reflects the values and focus on family and relationships that are so important to PNC as a company, and we look forward to celebrating the event’s return with our partners and golf enthusiasts everywhere. The chance to see many of the best golfers in the history of the game will be special for everyone, but we are equally as excited about the opportunity to leave an important legacy by assisting the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.” The tournament itself will see 18 teams of two battling it out in a scramble format from December 13-16 over 36 holes at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando, Grande Lakes. They’ll be competing for a $1 million prize purse and the Willie Park trophy, named after Willie Park and his son Willie Park, Jr., who combined to win the British Open five times. In addition to the purse, the tournament is raising money for the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. To qualify, the “fathers” must have won either a major championship or a Players Championship at some point in their career, making the resulting list of entries a true Who’s Who of the golf world, while the partners cannot have held a Tour card at any point. Though it’s long been called the Father/Son Challenge, the name has always been something of a misnomer. Palmer played past Father/Sons with his grandson Sam Saunders, and is set to play this year’s with another grandson, Will Wears. Likewise, Fuzzy Zoeller and Bernhard Langer are scheduled to play with their daughters, showcasing golf as a true family sport. In addition to being a great game, golf is also a touch-point for families, offering teaching opportunities for parents on such critical life skills as patience, perseverance, concentration, honesty and even managing failure. It also offers a way to spend time together in a way that transcends life changes and development: from childhood through adolescence and beyond, golfing families always have the game in common. There are countless father/son tournaments at clubs around the world, making the televised event a natural way to celebrate a fantastic relationship. “On behalf of all of the partners who have made the return of this great event possible, as well as the players who were so excited to be able to participate in it again, we are thrilled to announce such an incredible field for this year’s PNC Father/Son Challenge,” said Alastair Johnston, vice chairman of IMG, co-founder and producer of the event with NBC Sports, in a tournament statement. “For 14 years, the Father/Son Challenge offered a truly unique, family-oriented format as well as an opportunity for these great players to share their love of the game with their sons, daughters and grandchildren. We look forward to celebrating that special bond, and competition, with golf fans in December as the event returns.” Along with Palmer, Zoeller and Langer, Jack Nicklaus will be there with his son Gary, as will the winning team from 2008, Larry Nelson and his son Josh. Other entries include Steve Elkington, Lanny
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Palmer and grandson sam saunders at the father/son Challenge
Wadkins, Mark O’Meara, Vijay Singh, Dave Stockton, Nick Faldo, Curtis Strange, Raymond Floyd, Davis Love III, Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin and Lee Janzen. Combined, this group has 492 professional wins on the PGA and European Tours, including 67 major championships. “We are extremely proud of our heritage as co-founder and creator of the PNC Father/Son Challenge, one of golf’s most special events, and excited to have it back on the NBC schedule,” said Jon Miller, President, Programming, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network, in a statement issued by the tournament. “Through the collective efforts of PNC Bank, Ritz Carlton and IMG, golf families nationwide can now share in the joy of this unique tournament.”
ThE NamE is somEThiNg of a misNomER as TEams havE iNCludEd daughTERs, gRaNdsoNs aNd fRiENds
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PNC baNk PNC Bank is the latest to sponsor the event, joining past backers Office Depot, MBNA WorldPoints and Del Webb. The bank is one of the largest diversified financial services organizations, providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities; and wealth and asset management. Along with its solid banking reputation, the company has a tremendous commitment to the world at large. “In addition to great banking we have the largest corporate commitments to early education in the country,” says Goerke. “With 10 years and $250 million, our program is called ‘Grow up Great.’ Secondly, we have more green buildings than any company on earth.” In fact, PNC considers water use, use of natural lighting when possible, overall energy efficiency and a host of other factors in its “Green Branch” ethos. A new headquarters in Pittsburgh is set to be one of the greenest buildings ever built. The commitments to early education, business development and environmental caretaking are all part of the notion of responsibility that underlies the bank’s core philosophies, making it an ideal partner for the Father/Son Challenge.
PNC faThER/soN ChallENgE
moRE ThaN JusT a baNk, PNC is a CommuNiTy PaRTNER CommiTTEd To EduCaTioN aNd ThE ENviRoNmENT
Palmer, PNC’s James Rohr and young golfer davis hingtgen at bay hill in orlando, filming a television commercial for PNC financial services group, inc.
December 13-16 The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando, Grande Lakes Pncfathersonschallenge.com
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LIFE IN PICTURES Walter Iooss shot more than 300 Sports Illustrated covers and took innumerable pictures of Arnold Palmer over the years. Here are just a few of them, from the book The Classic Palmer Š Stewart, Tabori & Chang 2012
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U.S. Open Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, NJ June 1967 [Previous] Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, CA Jan 1966 [Left] U.S. Open Olympic Club, San Francisco, CA June 1966 [Top] PGA Championship Laurel Valley Golf Club, Ligonier, PA July 1965 [Above & Right]
With Dwight Eisenhower, PGA Championship Laurel Valley Golf Club, Ligonier, PA July 1965 [Left] Carling World Open Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, MI August 1964 [Below] PGA Championship Laurel Valley Golf Club, Ligonier, PA July 1965 [Bottom] U.S. Open Olympic Club, San Francisco, CA June 1966 [Right]
U.S. Open Olympic Club, San Francisco, CA June 1966 [Left] PGA Championship PGA National Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL February 1971 [Below] U.S. Open Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, PA June 1973 [Right] With Gary Player Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, NJ August 1964 [Bottom]
PGA Championship PGA National Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL February 1971 [Below] U.S. Open Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, CA June 1972 [Right] The [British] Open St Andrews, Scotland July 1978 [Bottom]
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Spirit of 1976 Arnold Palmer’s around-the-world flight record is still standing—and still an inspiration
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On January 21, 1976, when the Concorde left London’s Heathrow airport on the first-ever supersonic commercial flight, it kicked off one of the more remarkable years in aviation history. Over the next 11 months, two separate Viking missions successfully landed on Mars, NASA unveiled the Space Shuttle Enterprise (along with the cast of Star Trek, minus William Shatner), and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes died—in the air, on a plane to Houston. Amidst the landmark moments, in an inspired bit of Bicentennial fun, the golf world got involved. On May 19, 1976, Arnold Palmer and three others landed in Denver, Colorado, completing an around-the-world flight in a Learjet 36 that netted the golfer a passport full of stamps, more stories from his incredible life, and a world record that still stands today. What a year to be in the sky.
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n the mid 1970s Palmer’s game wasn’t what it used to be, but it didn’t matter. By May of 1976 his legend was well secured and his professional record was phenomenal. His 1973 victory at the Bob Hope (his fifth at that tourney) would turn out to be his last PGA Tour win, though there was plenty of great golf yet to come, and plenty of adventures. When the idea of an around-the-world flight record attempt was proposed, it proved irresistible to the avid aviator—for a number of reasons. “I was flying a Lear 24 at the time,” Palmer recently told Kingdom, explaining that he was at a National Business Aviation Association meeting in New Orleans when the record idea was first mentioned. “My lease on the 24 was running out and I was going to have to find another airplane to fly. That was when a guy named Harry Combs said, ‘Arnie, I’ll make you a deal: If you fly around the world in a Lear 36 and set a world record, then I’ll make you a deal on a Lear 35,’ which is what I wanted. So my good friend Russ Meyer (former Cessna chairman/CEO and National Aviation Hall of Fame member) put a deal together with Harry Combs. That happened to be the year of the Bicentennial, 1976. And I did it.” The plan was for Arnie, co-pilots James E. Bir and Lewis L. “Bill” Purkey, and aviation writer Robert Serling (brother of Twilight Zone icon Rod Serling) to leave Denver on May 17 in a Learjet 36 and return there on the 19th having circumnavigated the globe in fewer than 60 hours. It was an ambitious idea, considering the existing record stood at more than 86 hours, set ten years earlier by “The Old Redhead,” entertainer Arthur Godfrey. Before they left, there was a lot to do—and Palmer was already busy. “Arnie left today for Wichita to acquaint himself with the machinery and for some briefings,” said Doc Giffin, Arnie’s longtime friend and assistant, according to the May 13, 1976 edition of South Carolina’s Spartanburg HeraldJournal. “He also has three exhibitions on the West Coast before making the flight.” Several appearances and a few tournaments, including the Kemper Open in Charlotte, the U.S. Open in Atlanta and the Open Championship at Birkdale in early July were all on Palmer’s mind, but—like today—Arnie apparently loved keeping a full calendar.
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“Arnold has an amazing facility to do so much,” Giffin told the newspaper. “His schedule would wear out the normal man, but he seems to thrive on driving himself and working.” Addressing what the Herald-Journal referred to as Palmer’s “prolonged slump,” Doc added, “This could be a pretty fatiguing trip, but to get away from the game for a while might be just the tonic he needs.”
Bicentennial On April 1, 1976, in a garage in California, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the first Apple computer. American patriotism was in full bloom and innovation was in the air— literally. The flight, in addition to being a public relations play for Gates Learjet, was a statement on business aviation, American technology and good old fashioned get-up-and-go. “We’re trying to show how much technology has advanced in business jets and how anyone could really do this,” Palmer told reporters prior to the flight. Referencing the plane’s name, “Freedom Way USA,” and its number, 200 Yankee (N200Y), Palmer explained, “We’re trying to tell the rest of the world that the U.S. has lived 200 years in freedom. We’re spreading the word of our Bicentennial.” Greetings, plaques, Bicentennial flags, bronze replicas of the Declaration of Independence, letters and other goodwill offerings were carried on board as gifts for representatives of the countries Palmer’s crew was set to visit. The plane was painted red, white and blue, and many of the stops had something to do with the American anniversary, as Palmer explained to the press at the time: “Boston was chosen as the jumping-off point for the transAtlantic crossing because of its crucial role in the American Revolution.” It took UPI reporters to connect the lessobvious ports of call: “It was Ceylonese tea that was thrown into the harbor at the Boston Tea Party,” read a nationally published UPI dispatch. America’s Bicentennial year was a hopping time on planet Earth: aircraft hijackings by Palestinian extremists, Vietnam’s unification, the assassination of the U.S. ambassador in Beirut, IRA bombings in London and a host of other events and natural disasters might have made some would-be global travelers think twice, but Arnie brushed aside any concerns. “The element of risk and danger has been reduced to
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arnie sent postcards from each stop on the flight
the near-vanishing point,” Palmer was quoted as saying in the May 17, 1976 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But the adventure is still there.” Regarding potential issues with the actual flying, the following day’s Herald-Journal added that Palmer said he could make the flight “with a very inexperienced person sitting in the right seat—my wife.”
around the World The first leg of the flight went off without a hitch. Palmer, Bir and Purkey settled into their various roles out of Denver and eventually landed in Boston, where they took on fuel. Palmer retrieved a framed letter from Boston Mayor Kevin H. White to be given to the Mayor of Paris, and they set off again. Anticipating tailwinds, the crew was frustrated instead to encounter headwinds halfway across the Atlantic. This burned fuel and created a small complication, as the mission’s communications team on the ground discovered— in hurried fashion. In a posting on Aviationweek.com, Jim Swickard recounted his job as a [Rockwell] Collins employee, supervising communications for the flight. “It was a fun project. The only glitch was at the end of the first leg, 200Y ran low on fuel and we were the only ones talking to him. He asked us to tell the Ops Center he was diverting to Glamorgan. ‘What? Say again.’ ‘Glamorgan.’ I’d never heard of it and neither had 200Y Ops. We weren’t even sure of the spelling, except it started with ‘G.’ And we lost radio contact with Palmer at that point. It turned out that the Collins Radio Station had a truly gigantic world atlas. I frantically leafed through the index pages. There are a lot of places with names starting with ‘G.’ But there it was: Glamorgan, Wales. I told the Ops Center and they called the field just as 200Y was on approach and arranged for a fast turn. The rest of the trip was flown as planned and the record was Arnold Palmer’s.”
They meT me aT The plane wiTh an elephanT, and i rode inTo Town for The golf awards and back
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“That was quite a thrill,” Palmer recently told Kingdom. “We got some fuel at 4 o’clock in the morning, and then we went to Paris.” From Paris they flew to Tehran, Iran; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Jakarta, Indonesia; Manila, Philippines; Wake Island; and Honolulu, Hawaii, before returning to Denver. At every stop, Palmer dropped two postcards in the mail: one to his mother Doris, and one to Doc Giffin. Doc still has his complete set, a tremendous bit of memorabilia from an incredible flight. “Every five hours there was a new challenge,” Palmer said in a Kingdom interview some years ago. “Whether it was a typhoon or making it to the next destination with enough fuel, the challenges never stopped.” The challenge in Sri Lanka was big—as in elephantsized: “They met me at the plane with the elephant, and I rode into town for the golf awards and then back,” he said. “It was a busy 55 minutes in Sri Lanka.” The elephant was just one of the reasons that, after landing in Denver, Palmer told reporters that he and the crew “started getting a little tired” in Colombo. A dispatch from Manila confirmed that the flight was taking its toll but not discouraging anyone. As published in Washington State’s May 19, 1976 Ellensburg Daily Record: “American golfer Arnold Palmer, looking tired but in good spirits, said today he still hoped to complete his flight around the world in a small jet in a record 60 hours despite a 3-hour setback and bad weather in his path. Palmer and his three crewmen aboard the red, white and blue Learjet 36 made an hour-long stopover in Manila, then flew on to Wake Island, his next stop, as rains spawned by Typhoon Olga began pelting Manila. Palmer told newsmen the weather was ‘very seriously’ affecting his flight plans. ‘The weather has been our major obstacle,’ Palmer said.” The dispatch also mentioned that Palmer and the crew were dealt another delay in Jakarta in the form of a landing clearance that had them on the ground at 1:47pm instead of the originally scheduled 9am. Fortunately, as reporters found when Palmer landed in Honolulu, the flight found tailwinds out of Manila and made up a lot of time, skirting the edge of a typhoon.
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all i could Think abouT was geTTing back here. iT feels really good To seT a record of This kind
a record Coming into Honolulu to begin the last leg of their journey, the crew sounded ready to get home. With only one more flight left, the record was in sight, and they could feel it. From a Honolulu Associated Press report: “Palmer emerged from his plane after arriving here, pointed to his posterior and said, ‘It’s sore.’ ‘But it’s really been great,’ he said of the flight. ‘When we talked about it, I would have given a million dollars to do it,’ he said. ‘Now, I don’t think I would take a million dollars to do it.’” During what the dispatch said was a 42-minute refueling stop, “Palmer, with a two-day growth of beard, posed with two scantily clad models who gave him flowered leis. He also was handed a putter and golf ball and took several swings on the airport apron.” Arnie found a razor somewhere over the Pacific, because when he arrived back in Denver on May 19—57 hours, 25 minutes and 42 seconds after leaving—UPI reports offered a fairer description: “Palmer was at the controls as the plane flew low over Arapahoe County Airport in a salute and then touched down in front of a crowd of more than 300. He was clean-shaven and appeared rested as he stepped from the jet into the arms of his wife.” A short time later, standing on a red carpet and sipping champagne in the same yellow sports shirt and brown suit he wore for takeoff, the new record-holder addressed the press. “All I could think about was getting back here,” he said. “It feels good to set a record of this kind.” Calling the journey “exciting and enjoyable,” he was asked about his favorite part of the trip. “The highlight?” he quipped. “I guess it’s right now.”
home Upon his arrival in Denver, Arnie received a telegram from President Gerald Ford, which read, “Congratulations on circumnavigating the globe in a record-setting flight for
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The record-holding team with “200 yankee”
American business jets. Your achievement dramatizes the spirit of American free enterprise and focuses the attention of your many fans on the round-the-world popularity of one of America’s leading golfers.” The next day, at 8am, he and Winnie boarded the same plane that he’d just taken around the world and headed out. Soon there would be the tournaments in the Carolinas, then England for the Open and so much more, but for now there was only one place he wanted to be: back home in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, landing at the airport that today bears his name.
addendum In 2010, a Swiss crew discovered the full extent of Palmer’s accomplishment, failing in their attempt to beat his time. Flying a 30-year-old Sabreliner 65, the Sonnig team started celebrating a record after beating Steve Fossett’s aroundthe-world flight time by almost 10 hours. “Not so fast,” said an April 12, 2010 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology, which pointed out that Fossett’s record of 67 hours, 1 minute, is for speed around the world, nonstop and non-refueled. The Swiss team was scheduled for 10 refueling stops in their business aircraft, which put them up against Palmer’s record, though the Learjet was a lighter class of aircraft. Other sources concur with the magazine’s position. In any case, at 57 hours, 54 minutes, the Swiss were half an hour slower than Arnie and his crew, leaving the record where it’s stood since 1976.
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BILOXI, MS
BAY ST LOUIS, MS
SOUTHERN HOSPITALI-TEE It’s been said that north, east and west are directions on a compass, but South is a place. These days a place so rich in history is devoting a lot of time looking in the other direction. The Gulf Coast is banking on a future made golden with gaming and golf. Yes, as Chris Rodell writes, you can still reminisce and wish you were in the land of cotton where ol’ times are not forgotten. But rest assured, the promise of memorable tee times will not soon be forgotten either
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GULF SHORES, AL
Those who approach life from the glass-half-empty side are sure to think of the Gulf Coast as mired in a perpetual cycle of destruction and resurrection. In just the past five years, there’s been Katrina, Deepwater Horizon and Isaac. And the only natural phenomena outnumbering the headline-grabbing calamities are the soulful comebacks. The more optimistically-inclined will say there’s nothing nature or man can do to diminish this charmed and ever charming land. And, c’mon, all along the sugar shores of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, there are squads of friendly bartenders eager to fill those half-empty glasses right up to the top. Cheers! Interested in a glass-more-than-half-full perspective of what is being marketed as America’s Golf Coast? You can’t beat a man named Drum. “We’re three destinations in one,” says Kevin Drum, executive director of the Biloxi-based Mississippi Gulf Coast Golf Association. “We have the golf quality of the magnificent Carolinas, the weather of Florida and the gaming opportunities of Las Vegas. And we have some of the tastiest food you’ll find anywhere in the world.” He’s right about the trifecta of fun that makes driving around the Gulf Coast in a Hertz rental car such an appealing option. During a roughly 100-mile stretch from the eastern banks of the Mississippi River to the tip of the Florida Panhandle there are 20 championship courses wedged between Interstate 90 and the waves. The average high temperatures in April are 73.6 degrees; in July 88.5. And coastal Mississippi has become a regional casino Mecca with 12 casinos, the most recent being the months-old Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in Biloxi. Drum is charged with making this sun-kissed land a legend among golf travelers on a restless quest to find the
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next great golf destination. It’d be wrong to bet against him. He has legend-making in his blood. He’s the son of CBS golf broadcaster Bob Drum, the late Pittsburgh sportswriter who first heralded to the nation that a skinny kid out of Latrobe was going to turn the country-club golf world on its head. In doing so, he helped him take the whole planet by storm. Drum was to the sporting press what John the Baptist is to the Bible if Palmer had been a New Testament Messiah or if Jesus had known how to hit a soft fade. It was Drum senior whose curmudgeonly goading at Cherry Hills in 1960 so agitated Palmer that he launched his most famous charge. And together Drum and Palmer divined the notion of golf’s modern Grand Slam that today is accepted as gospel. Those were the conversations Kevin Drum grew up overhearing at the dinner table and other places golfers only dream of being. “Some of my earliest memories are flying around the country in Palmer’s prop plane with my Dad,” he says. “I’ll never forget my dad asking me what I thought of Mr. Palmer’s plane and me saying, ‘Gee, Dad, it’s pretty small.’ Twenty years later my Dad was still introducing me to Mr. Palmer, saying, ‘Remember Kevin, Arnold? He’s the kid who said your plane’s small.’ And he did remember.” The colorful Drum is woven prominently throughout Palmer history. So when his son tells you he’s found the next big thing, man, you’d be wise to pay attention. “To me, sharing with the world’s golfers the news that this is one of the best golf destinations in America is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “It has everything the traveling golfer could ever want—and it’s all in one place.” If history has taught anything it is that even the worst storms and spills along the Gulf Coast will come and go. The good times aren’t going anywhere.
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Courtesy NASA
the country are on a mission to play as many other APDC courses as they can. “They love to sit around and talk about how The Bridges compares to their course back home,” he says. “You hear it all the time.” Baumgartner says the Palmer name generated a lot of goodwill in the difficult months after Katrina by introducing an innovative stress-reducer for people beleaguered by tragedy and Infinity Science Center, MS endless repair. “We were the first course to open after the storm,” he said. “We over-seeded the heck out of ay St. LouiS, MS the fairways and got the course in play position. Then when The garage-sized reinforced steel box we opened we used the oversized six-inch cups. And people stood there amidst a vacant block for just loved that. Life was tough enough back then. People five years. Visitors to this idyllic little really appreciated being able to score on the big cups.” town would point and wonder at the surreal incongruity. “It was the vault for Merchant’s iLoxi, MS Bank,” says Myrna Green, manager of the Hancock County It’s No.4201 on the jukebox at Shaggy’s Visitors’ Bureau. “Katrina washed the whole block away on the Beach in Ocean Springs, the and the only thing that didn’t move was the vault.” charming old Biloxi Bay hamlet that Finally, the vault, emptied prior to Katrina’s landfall is to Biloxi what the French Quarter as a wise precaution, is gone and Bay St. Louis, the town is to New Orleans. The number cues Katrina hit even harder than New Orleans, is back. This the tune Biloxi, Jimmy Buffett’s 1977 charming community of arts, shops and splendid hostelries romantic ode to the town that was renowned as “The like the 200 North Beach Restaurant and Hurricane Hunter Playground of the South” decades before casino gambling Bar is open for business. swept in to back the boast. “It’s been five years and that’s how long it took to get The song’s an evocative lullaby about the hurricanes, the infrastructure back in place,” Green says. “Once the seafood, beautiful women and splendors of skinny dipping electricity, sewage and all the utilities came back, things in the magnificent warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico that have really taken off.” bestow so much character on the region. Like a rocket. Opened in March after 10 years of The singer placed a big 2012 bet that Biloxi itself will delays, the $10 million Infinity Science Center is attracting make an indelible impression on the minds of flighty parrottens of thousands of visitors and the adjacent Stennis heads. Because you can go to Key West to see where the Space Center is historically renowned as the Delta home to Mississippi kid went after he became famous or you can go where NASA has since 1961 tested its rockets. The grounds to Biloxi and the Gulf Coast to see how he became who he is. are the site of America’s largest rocket test complex and the “He was a border boy,” says Drum. “Born in Pascagoula, museum of space artifacts, a hall that contains a moon rock, Mississippi, he went to Southern Mississippi University. a real Space Shuttle engine and a Space Center simulator. Visit Biloxi and you’ll see where the idea of Margaritaville It’s not the only Bay St. Louis location where people came from. This place is just so casual, so fun and so are intent on launching spheres into orbit. The other would without any stuffy pretense. Just like Jimmy Buffett.” be The Bridges Golf Club at Hollywood Casino, the only A growing niche movement of tourists is ambling Arnold Palmer-designed course in the Magnolia State. down an informal Jimmy Buffett boyhood trail that wobbles “Golfers here love how Palmer built around what all along the coast in places Buffett made famous through nature provides,” says head professional Billy The Bridges, MS Baumgartner. “He adapts the course to the land, not the land to the golf. That’s evident here and that’s one of the things golfers love about it.” Baumgartner says he is struck by how many golfers from Palmer courses around
song or association. Places like Lulu’s at Homeport Marina, operated in Gulf Shores, Alabama, by his sister, or that delightful dive Flora-Bama Bar, mentioned in his 1983 song, Rag Top Day. The only part of the Biloxi experience that seems far removed from daydreams and hammock naps starts on the tee boxes. The advent of Mississippi casino gaming brought championship golf to a land that seemed made for it. “We started marketing golf right away because we knew it was going to be a great niche market,” says Janet Leach, golf and sports program manager for the Mississippi Development Authority/Tourism Division. “And it’s really paying off. The area’s dealt with hurricanes, floods and spills, but our golf play has been very steady. Golfers love coming here again and again. “You can’t beat the quality of golf for the prices, the entertainment at the casinos, the food, the beaches and the games. Lots of people come for the casinos and are surprised to learn what a great golf destination we are.” It’s not a surprise to Champions Tour pros, who each year bring one of the deepest and highest-profile fields to contest the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic at the vaunted Fallen Oak, a dazzling amenity for guests of the Beau Rivage Casino. Golf Digest considers the Tom Fazio design the second best casino course behind only its sister course, Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. Other notable golf clubs in the Biloxi area are Grand Bear, The Oaks, Shell Landing and a sublime Jerry Pate wilderness track, The Preserve, a course that looks all the more rugged for having to adjust to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina on the fly. “We were under construction when the storm hit,” says head pro Chris Champagne. “Overnight we needed to find a way to replace 1,000 trees. It was a real mess. Torrential flooding washed debris over the whole course.” Today The Preserve looks as its name implies: a wilderness refuge that threads its way through with 18 outstanding holes of marsh golf. Don’t plan on munching
Fallen Oak, MS
on a hotdog at the turn here. The clubhouse food is refined enough for non-golfing diners to fill the tables for exquisite gumbo all day long. uLf
ShoreS, aL
As mentioned, this is a region that’s used to dealing with forces of nature. But only one of them forever altered the region in ways that inspire residents. Arnold Palmer! This once sleepy Gulf Coast community was devastated by Hurricane Frederick in 1979. Visionary entrepreneurs R.C. and Robert Craft figured the rebuilding would transform the town for the better. They wanted to take a chance on turning their lucrative sod farm into championship golf courses. They needed what planning experts call a market accelerator, something that will generate overnight publicity. They turned to Palmer, a human market accelerator. “It was a real struggle to earn approval for a sewer line,” says Robert Craft. “The opposition evaporated as soon as my father announced Arnold Palmer was interested. I remember the first question the mayor asked us at the very next council meeting was, ‘Do you think you could introduce me to Mr. Palmer?’” The mayor got his wish and the Crafts got their sewer line. Today, Robert Craft sits in the seat of the man whose favor he once petitioned. He’s been mayor of Gulf Shores since 2008. “I think he was impressed that we were a father-son family business devoted to doing things right,” he recalls. “He said to his team, ‘Let’s help these guys out.’ Next thing I know, I’m watching Arnold Palmer and my father riding around the property watching sods being harvested. We had a whole team of people waiting there to answer his questions and all he wanted to do was learn about sod farming. We had to remind him that he was there to build a golf course.” Need a refresher on the evergreen appeal of Palmer? Talk to Craft. “When my father died in 2006, one of the first people to call to express his condolences was Arnold Palmer,” he said. “I remember he asked me, ‘Tell me how I can talk to your mother.’ He told her how much he thought of my father and his words really helped ease her through her pain.
Cypress Bend, AL
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groves twisted enough to look in need of chiropractic intervention. The pro shop walls sport review accolades from every prestigious golf publication in North America. It’s a regular in Golf Digest’s lists of Top 75 American golf resorts and 100 Best Public Courses. With a stately four-story lodge overlooking the nearby Gulf of Mexico, the property also includes elegant seaside homes, with one-to-10-bedroom availability, and lushly appointed condominiums. And did you know Kiva has 3,000 feet of private beach? Perhaps not. In fact, it took an environmental catastrophe for some geographically challenged tourists to realize just how much luscious beach front there is in Mississippi and Alabama. The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon spill was the worst thing ever to happen to the Gulf Coast. Ironically, BP’s reaction was the best. “Our Gulf Shore beaches were Ground Zero for the spill,” Craft says. “We were inundated with more oil than any beach along the whole Gulf Coast. It was horrific. Having said that, if you had to have this happen with one company in the gulf, we’re all glad it was BP.” Two years and myriad stumbles later, BP officials now get uniformly high marks for their response, not least for an endless and effective advertising campaign that features tourism officials from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana extolling the virtues of renewed gulf tourism. Duncan Millar, executive director of Timber Creek, AL the Gulf Shores Golf Association, says the ads reach potential visitors who had no idea that the states had such dynamic tourist opportunities. “It opened a lot of eyes to the fact that Alabama and Mississippi share some gorgeous coastline along the Gulf of Mexico,” he said. “Those ads brought a lot of positive attention to the area. That means the world to us. Once we get people here for the first time, our repeat rates are through the roof.” He’s right, of course. But why should the Gulf Coast be any different to the people who love to visit? Just like the people who love it, it keeps coming back, over and over, too.
Cotton Creek, AL
“I have great respect for him as a golfer and a businessman, but what a human being.” In Gulf Shores, Craft Farms is considered the granddaddy of nearly a dozen courses and the only one fashioned by a true grand daddy. It’s two 18-hole courses— Cotton Creek and Cypress Bend—teem with lakes, sculpted bunkers and shots that require precision attention; in short, they showcase the Palmer course-building mystique. Just east from Craft Farms across the border in Perdido Key is another Palmer jewel, Lost Key Golf Club, the first Florida course to earn the distinction as an Audubon International Silver Signature Sanctuary. The course is exacting enough that frustrated golfers refer to it as “Lost Ball.” Earl Stone is another name that resonates with fans of great golf. He’s designed three highly-regarded Gulf Shores courses—Peninsula, Rock Creek and Timber Creek—and all earn high marks from discerning golfers. Best of them all, though, is the beguiling Kiva Dunes. Built on a dunescape that in places looks almost lunar, the golf here is out of this world. Unique and unsparing, the holes are carved through wind-gnarled
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Five Ways to Invest in Gold 1. Gold Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) 2. Gold mining stocks 3. Gold accumulation plans (GAPs) 4. Gold bars 5. Gold coins
Three Reasons To Invest in Gold 1. Diversify portfolio 2. Price appreciation 3. Hedge against inflation/currency fluctuation
In the third row of transition metals on the periodic
WAYS TO INVEST
table of elements, “Au” occupies spot No.79, sandwiched
All of this only underlines and reinforces the stability of
between Platinum and Mercury. Unless you teach high
gold as an investment. While many likely own some gold
school chemistry, you more likely know Au by its common
in the form of watches or artwork, there are a number of
name: gold. Among all of the elements, gold has been the
additional ways to invest in gold. Jewelry, gold coins or
most valued in its numerous functions as currency, jewelry,
bars (stored in safes or at banks) are rather straightforward
artistic decoration and as a sign of wealth. Demand for
ways to hold the metal and can be purchased from
gold predates recorded human history; the story of gold is
companies that specialize in precious metals. Much like
the story of civilization. In today’s world, gold makes more
other investments gold can also be held and traded on
sense than ever as a timeless investment that’s as constant
financial exchanges. Gold Exchange-Traded Funds, or “ETFs” are an option. Since 2004, this type of investment
as it is storied. No one knows when gold was first used for coinage,
allows investors to purchase shares on a regulated stock
but incredibly detailed decorative artifacts and jewelry
exchange, just like a share of a company’s stock. The
made from gold have been traced to nearly 3000 BC. The
value of the shares reflects the price of gold bullion, less
soft and brilliant metal has been found in Egyptian tombs
the expenses of the ETF, with some (though not all) ETFs
and Mayan ruins, English courts and Tibetan temples. Its
backed 100 percent by physical gold. Of course, as an
use in jewelry and decorative arts remains as vibrant as
ETF shareholder there’s no need for investors to physically
ever, and the metal’s longstanding popularity is showing
store any gold, which eliminates the cost of a safe or safety
no signs of waning.
deposit box.
Beyond personal ownership by royals and the well-
Owning shares in a gold-mining company is another
to-do, gold has long been a way for countries to store and
way to invest in gold, with income potentially being
to stabilize their wealth. Following the move away from the
generated from dividends, depending on the company.
gold standard that backed many of the world’s currencies
While the value of gold-mining stocks has historically
prior to 1972, central banks in countries including the
been tied to the price of gold itself, there are other factors
United States, Germany, France and Italy all continued
that help determine the value of the individual companies,
to hold large quantities of the metal. However emerging
more than 300 of which are listed and publicly traded in
economies like China, Russia, Mexico and India held little
the United States.
to none. More recently, that has changed. The volatile
Additionally, Gold Accumulation Plans (GAPs) are
markets of the past five years or so have led central banks
available. These function much like any wealth accumulation
around the world away from primarily investing in the
plan, with investors setting aside a fixed amount of money
U.S. dollar and the Euro. Additionally, those banks are
every month in order to purchase gold through this kind of
seeking to stabilize their own currencies and economies.
investment vehicle. The cost averaging process cushions
With gold one of the few assets that banks are allowed to
investors from short-term fluctuations in the price of gold,
buy (like U.S. Treasuries, Euro bonds and Japanese Yen),
and provides a relatively easy way to accumulate gold.
it’s no wonder gold has become a desirable asset in the
Found all over the world, with a long history of high demand, gold continues to be one of the most beautiful
international banking sector.
and constant assets available. With so many ways to invest in it, gold is well worth considering for your portfolio. Visit The World Gold Council (www.gold.org) for more useful information on why, how and where to invest in gold.
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We’re All Going to
Wem-ber-ley! The soccer chant is as irrational as the traditions behind the home of England’s national game. Tucked away beside nondescript business parks and behind a fading, congested highway known as the North Circular Road, this is where the dreams of generations of erstwhile empire builders came to fruition, or morphed into the bitterest and most twisted of nightmares. Paul Trow pays tribute to its unique standing in his country’s sporting landscape
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England captain Bobby Moore celebrates victory in soccer’s 1966 World Cup final
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Ugly! That’s the word. Yet for so many soccer fans, it can seem so beautiful. Beautiful beyond compare! Memories of the day ‘we’ won the ‘Cup’ last forever— whether it was England at the 1966 World Cup, the U.S. women’s team during the 2012 London Olympics, or one of the victorious clubs in the 78 FA Cup finals that have graced its so-called ‘hallowed turf’ to date. But in reality it was always ugly—ugly in appearance, ugly in the way it treated the customer, ugly in location. And despite its facelift of five years ago, it still vies with Rolling Stone Keith Richards as the nation’s honorary gargoyle. Welcome to Wembley Stadium, the most storied sports arena in Europe, if not the world. Short on aesthetics and social graces, but long on history, drama and folklore. The folklore part of the story began when King George V cut the first turf at the Empire Stadium in the blue-rinsed, northwest London suburb of Wembley on April 28, 1923. It had taken a mere 300 days to build at a cost of just $1.25 million, at today’s exchange rates, and was destined for an early demolition after the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-25 for which it was ostensibly constructed. Four days later, it played host to the infamous White Horse Final. Grossly underestimating the number of fans that would turn up, England’s Football Association (FA) had not thought to issue tickets for that year’s FA Cup final, between east London club West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers from the northwest county of Lancashire. The stadium had 104 turnstile entrances for the paying public and the fans simply poured in—way beyond the official capacity of 127,000. Naturally, the crowd spilled onto the pitch as there was no room left on the terraces and nowhere
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else for them to go. We shall never know the exact number of fans in attendance, but estimates place the figure at around 240,000, with at least 60,000 more locked outside. A catastrophe loomed, in terms of spectator safety and the prospect of the game not being played at all. At that point, mounted police, including Constable George Scorey on his white horse Billy, entered the fray to usher the cloth-capped throng to the touchlines. The game started 45 minutes late and the result was a 2–0 victory for Bolton. David Jack, who played nine times for England, claimed the distinction of scoring the first ever goal at Wembley. Following such an unforgettable entrance, the Empire Stadium soon established itself as the home of English soccer’s international and most important domestic games. Its future relatively secure, it didn’t take long for phrases like ‘Road to Wembley’ and ‘Going down Wembley Way’ to become synonymous with a club’s romantic journey through the various knock-out phases of the FA Cup. And the stadium’s distinctive ‘twin towers,’ more Masonic kitsch than Art Deco, became its trademark image, instantly recognizable to every sports fan throughout the land. Also well-known, evoking the contemporary John Buchan novel of the same name, were the Thirty-Nine Steps that players had to climb to reach the Royal Box and collect a trophy (along with their winners’ or losers’ medals). These days at the ‘new’ Wembley Stadium (more of which later), the number is a more prosaic 107. A decade later, the ‘Empire Pool and Sports Arena’ was built beside the stadium to host the swimming at the 1934 British Empire Games. But the next date of real significance was 1948 when the first summer Olympics following World
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Wembley’s original ‘twin towers’ were replaced by a giant steel arch (below)
War II, indeed the first since the controversial Berlin Games of 1936, came to London. Wembley, the main track & field venue, showcased the legendary exploits of Fanny Blankers-Koen and Emil Zátopek in particular, not to mention America’s Bob Mathias who won gold in the decathlon aged just 17. But the 1948 Games were the last for the Empire Pool which subsequently went into dry dock prior to being restyled as the 12,500-seat Wembley Arena in 1978, and receiving a $60 million facelift in 2006. In contrast to its central role in 1948, the stadium was confined to nine soccer matches during the 2012 Games, including the men’s and women’s finals, the latter won 2-1 by the U.S. against Japan, while badminton and rhythmic gymnastics, minor sports in the overall scheme of things, were contested at the Arena. After 1948, Wembley’s next marquee moment came at the FA Cup final of 1953, the most famous since 1923, featuring Bolton Wanderers, again, and near neighbors Blackpool. It was dubbed the ‘Matthews Final’ after Blackpool’s 38-year-old winger Stanley Matthews, who, with his team trailing 3-0, set up a hat-trick of goals for his team-mate Stan Mortensen, and helped convert the deficit into a 4–3 victory. But Wembley’s greatest days as a beacon for the nation’s gaze were still to come. In 1966, the World Cup was held in England and the home manager, Alf Ramsey, heaped pressure upon himself by declaring his side would triumph and then dropping his best player (Jimmy Greaves) having already switched two other leading figures, Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore, into unfamiliar roles. Charlton was transformed from a modest wing into a midfield maestro and Moore from a play-linking half-back to an imperious central defender. But as a result of these various Ramsey
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masterstrokes more than anything else, the Jules Rimet Trophy duly found its way into the FA’s trophy cabinet, thanks to a 4-2 extra-time victory over West Germany. Three decades on, England hosted the European nations’ championship in 1996 (aka Euro 96) and reached the semi-finals before going out, inevitably, in a penalty shoot-out against (a now united) Germany, who went on to win the tournament in extra-time against the Czech Republic. Of course, as Wembley evolved, its remit widened way beyond soccer. In addition to staging rugby league’s Challenge Cup final from 1929, it hosted 24 speedway
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(motorcycling) world championship finals between 1936 and 1981, and the country’s most important greyhound races for 70 years from 1927. Rugby union, women’s hockey, hurling and Gaelic football have also been regular visitors, while the NFL was, and still is, a major source of entertainment. The Live Aid concert in July 1985 featured David Bowie, Queen, Paul McCartney, The Who, Dire Straits, U2 and Phil Collins. Other charity concerts in the stadium included Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday in 1988 and Freddy Mercury’s AIDS awareness memorial in 1992. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson performed there 15 times (selling over 1.1 million tickets), the Rolling Stones 12 times, Fleetwood Mac 10 times, Madonna nine times, and Elton John and Tina Turner seven times each. But in 2003, Wembley, now past its 80th birthday and exuding a paint-peeling, stucco-crumbling loucheness that endeared it to few sports fans despite the lingering romantic appeal of the ‘twin towers,’ succumbed to the
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wrecking crew. While the FA Cup final was briefly exported to the shiny new Millennium Stadium across the border in the Welsh capital of Cardiff from 2001-06, the suburb of Wembley reverted to type—as a sprawling building site. In 2007, 12 months behind schedule, the old stadium’s $1.3 billion successor was unveiled. To describe it as an ugly duckling like its predecessor is a little harsh, but it’s no swan either. In truth, it is functional but soulless—a 90,000 all-seat venue that’s protected from the elements by a partly retracting roof. Replacing the ‘twin towers’ as the new stadium’s ‘calling card’ was a tilting steel arch—440 feet high and 1,040 feet across—that supports all the weight of the north roof and 60 percent of the roof on the southern side. The NFL’s relationship with Wembley began with a pre-season exhibition match in August 1983, but since the new stadium opened, six regular-season games, each watched by crowds in excess of 80,000, have taken place, prompting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to outline a program “that could lead to putting a franchise in London.” With that in mind, Wembley recently hooked up with the St. Louis Rams, owned by Stan Kroenke, the majority shareholder in leading London soccer team Arsenal. But following their 45-7 defeat by New England Patriots in October 2012, the Rams withdrew from their commitment to play further games at the stadium and that deal has now transferred to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who will play at least once there annually up to and including 2016. So what does the future hold? It will certainly be a surprise if Wembley Stadium’s present incarnation survives 80 years before another demolition. Meanwhile, it will continue to witness myriad moments of sporting excellence and an even greater number of shattered dreams. The victors will indulge their fantasies as they climb those 107 steps to heaven, and the vanquished will shed tears over what might have been on the pitch below. As a spectacle for neutrals, though, it will, as ever, seem faintly ludicrous. No, there are better ways to describe the playing out of triumph and disaster at Wembley. Beautiful? For some, perhaps. Ugly? That’s the word.
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Midfielder Shannon Boxx rises above her team-mates to celebrate their gold medal at London 2012
The iconic white horse, Billy, keeps the crowds at bay
REMEMBER THEIR COURAGE By
HONORING their SACRIFICE
As Americans, it is our collective duty to honor those who have sacrificed by serving the families they leave behind. This is our mission. This is your call to duty. Become a Wingman. www.fo ldsofh on or .or g/joi n - m i ssi on
From grape to celebration in a glass, Champagne goes through a kaleidoscope of processes
Champagne is the world’s most popular drink, especially when it comes to a celebration, yet it only exploded into being by accident. Steve Killick uncorks the origins of this fizzy tipple and charts how it became a particular favorite over the centuries with almost every non-abstainer, from monarchs to paupers Who would have thought that we have a widow and a monk to thank for one of the world’s finest wines? Without Barbe-Nicole Clicquot and Pierre Perignon we would not be able to enjoy the sparkling delights that opening a bottle of Champagne can bring. We should start with the monk first, as it was Pierre Perignon who really kicked things off in his monastery at the abbey of Hautvilliers when he was named cellar master in 1668, aged 29. Before then the wines of the most northerly vineyards in France had been made solely from the pinot noir grape, rather than today’s mix of pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. They were both red and still. Dom, from the Latin word dominus or master, Perignon had bottled his harvest and left it to ferment over a cold winter. Being so far north the winter chill caused the fermentation to freeze and it was only in late spring and summer that the wine began to thaw causing a release of carbon dioxide. Dom Perignon only became aware of this when bottles started to explode in his cellar. Unintentionally, in those bottles that did not explode, he had created a wine that sparkled. Legend has it that he cried “Come quickly,” to his brother monks, “I am drinking the stars.” The problem was controlling the bubbles sufficiently so that the wine could be served without developing the sort of froth one gets when pouring a beer. We must thank the Widow Clicquot from the house of Philippe ClicquotMuiron in Reims for sorting that out. Francois Clicquot, the founder’s son, married BarbeNicole Ponsardin in 1798 but died in 1805 leaving his wife to carry on the renamed company business which was doing extremely well as a supplier of Champagne, albeit of
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a sweetness that would shock today’s palates. La Veuve (widow in French) Clicquot’s business expanded hugely during the Napoleonic wars, not least because she began to trade with imperial Russia. The problem at the time was that customers complained about the size of the bubbles. Indeed this was such a problem that the Russians used to stick the bottles upside down in the snow until all the sediment rested in the neck of the bottle which froze. Extracting the bottle and placing it upright they then would sever the neck from the bottle with a dexterous blow of a sabre. This left a wine that was a lot less volatile, but tricky to pour and sometimes dangerous to drink due to the broken glass. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot found a far more effective way of doing things: she invented the riddling rack that is still used today. It is shaped like the type of high writing desk an old fashioned clerk would have used but with sloping side panels and holes set at various levels. The bottles are turned and moved into a more upright position during the second fermentation process, thus allowing all the sediment to be trapped in the neck. The bottles are then opened and the sediment disgorged before re-corking, leaving the wine clear. The Champagne is then left on the rack for however long is considered necessary before it can be served. This gives us the drink we know today, with small, sparkling bubbles rising steadily from the bottom of our glass. So having looked at a brief history of this marvelous drink, it really is time for us to go off and sample some of our favorite Champagnes, and where better to start than at the house where the statue of Dom Perignon stands?
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DOM PERIGNON This is the Epernay-based House of Moët et Chandon’s finest blend, launched in 1936 and the first prestige Champagne to appear on the market. Its flavor is deeper, more rounded and complex than Moët’s non-vintage wines as one would expect. Wine experts identify a variety of flavors—from citrus fruits and minerals to biscuit and apple. To put it simply, it is as delicious as Champagne can be, as well as being a wine that is possible to buy as an investment.
MOËT ET CHANDON BRUT IMPERIAL Named Imperial after Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, this worldwide best seller was first introduced in 1860. It is now the official celebratory drink at all PGA of America championships and a very approachable Champagne which is light, zesty, and tastes of citrus. Its pale, straw coloring delivers a vibrant nose of fresh fruit, but Moët et Chandon chef de cave, Benoit Gouet, is quick to draw attention to its apples and pear flavors as well.
KRUG GRANDE CUVÉE Founded in Reims by a German, Joseph Krug, in 1843, the house is a positive newcomer compared to many of the others. Krug, now owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), is very much a luxury brand. The house offers five different prestige cuvées. The Grande Cuvée is a blend of around 120 wines from 10 or more different vintages. Rarely bettered, it is a fresh, powerful wine with notes of fresh fruit and stone fruits, mild spices and herbs.
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BILLECART-SALMON BRUT RESERVE This family-run Champagne house in Mareuil-sur-Ay, founded in 1818, has beautiful gardens and chalk cellars that date back to the 17th century. The wine contains an above-average level of pinot meunier, up to 40 percent, which gives it a distinct softness and roundness. It has a fine fresh nose with aromas of baked bread and ripe pears. The ‘after taste’ is satisfyingly long with a hint of spice at the finish.
RUINART BLANC DE BLANC Producing Champagne since 1729, this Reims-based house is another member of the highly successful LVMH stable. The Blanc de Blanc prestige cuvée is made entirely from chardonnay grapes—the backbone of the great white wines of Burgundy—that, unlike pinot noir and pinot meunier, are white skinned as well as producing a white juice. Bottled in clear glass, the wine has citrus, white peach and flower aromas and a fresh, vibrant taste with a rich, creamy mousse.
VEUVE CLICQUOT BRUT With its bright yellow label and a portrait of the widow Clicquot on the metal capsule on the cork, Veuve Clicquot is possibly the most instantly recognizeable of all Champagnes. Based in Reims, the pinot noir grape provides the structure of the fruity yet bone-dry flavor of this house’s wine. It has a candied citrus nose with more orchard fruit notes on the ‘after taste’ and a hint of slowly mounting spiciness. A quality Champagne and a most welcoming Chateau to visit for cellar tours and tastings.
Any tasting notes on the Champagnes described in this article are entirely the author’s opinion. The best way for the reader to determine which wines deliver the most satisfying flavors is to taste them personally. In moderation, of course!
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Congratulations to
on its 10th Anniversary from Scotland’s Favorite Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Please Drink Responsibly. Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 43% Alc./Vol., ©2012 Moët Hennessy USA, Inc., New York, New York
www.glenmorangie.com
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p ersistence I have often referred to golf as being a brain game. It takes patience, a solid technique and finesse to become even mildly adequate. The greats have a special gift that is apparent to anyone who has played golf, and those gifts may be innate but still have to be developed. The common denominator among the greats of golf (assuming they have talent and various other attributes) can be summed up in one word: persistence. I’ve realized over the years that persistence is what is required for success, whether in golf or business. It’s a drive that is motivated by a desire for excellence and it allows for a momentum that is necessary to keep going no matter what the situation might appear to be. I’ve often said one way to persist is to focus on the solution, not the problem. Business is about problem solving, and so is golf. Every day, every hole, represents a challenge that must be met intelligently. I’ve played and watched golf for many years and the parallels for success are very similar to that of business. I’ve often emphasized the importance of tenacity—I’ve waited up to thirty years for some things to happen—and there’s no substitute for it. Golf is also a solitary game, as is being an entrepreneur. Even if you head up a large organization, it’s still up to you to get things done, to think creatively—and to persist.
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When I watch someone like Arnold Palmer, it’s clear that he is who he is because he kept at it. There are no short cuts to being on that level, to having such a command of the game. Champions don’t expect or look for the easy way out, ever. I have gone after certain projects that even my father thought were outlandish but I wouldn’t give up and they got done with resounding success. When I renovated the old Commodore Hotel in Manhattan (which became the Grand Hyatt and rejuvenated the dilapidated Grand Central area), my father said “Buying the Commodore at a time when even the Chrysler Building is in receivership is like fighting for a seat on the Titanic.” I had some tremendous obstacles and almost gave up at one point. But I persisted and I’m glad I did. It’s still a beautiful hotel and helped the city rebound from a low point. I’d like to congratulate Arnold and his staff on their tenth anniversary of Kingdom magazine. It’s been an honor to contribute and the magazine is beautifully done. It’s a tribute to the persistence that I know is part of Arnold’s ethos, and I wish you many more years of success.
Donald J. Trump
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COASTAL MAINE Wild, difficult and mostly untamed, it is also inspiring, dramatic and, as we found, charming. Welcome to the Maine coast It’s a difficult place, Maine. A “drowned coast” as geologists have it, where ancient rising seas invaded the land, turning valleys into bays and mountaintops into islands. Algonquin-speaking natives lived here and the French and British tried, but most of the foreign settlements ultimately failed. Blame conflicts among the would-be inhabitants, but in truth Maine itself won the battles. The howling winds and merciless winters, the rocky, ship-hungry waters that saw more provisions sunk than delivered, and the sheer remoteness of the place made it a tough homestead. Today’s inhabitants— “Mainers,” in the local parlance, “Maineiacs” to some who live elsewhere—survive the state’s year-round challenges with a mix of rugged character and hard work, a testament
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to the kinds of settlers who were able to eventually make a go of it here. Year-round Maine is not for the faint of heart, but if you visit in the right season you’ll be treated to straightforward, warm people, great seafood and a landscape that’s inspired countless works of literature and art. As beautiful as it is brutal, Maine is a living glimpse of the America our forefathers first encountered. And in that, it’s a national treasure. In the broadest terms, Coastal Maine was and remains developed from south to north. From York, near the state’s border with New Hampshire, to the wellknown vacation area of Bar Harbor, Maine is classic New England: well-maintained quaint towns that become bustling tourist centers in summer, gentle highways in
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good repair rolling between villages, and charming, clean, well-appointed inns with plenty of smiling people ready to point you in the direction of a nearby lighthouse or attraction. From Bar Harbor north it’s a working and wild state: fishing villages with basic accommodations for visitors, rather utilitarian rental houses near rocky beaches, numerous farms and small roads cutting between the sea and a lot of forested land. The north/ south division is an oversimplification, but one that helps when you’re deciding what kind of Maine trip you’d like to have. Availing ourselves of a Hertz rental car, we shot straight up the coast to begin our trip in Lubec, where you really can see a foreign country from your house, and then drove back down, stopping at various points along the way. The leaves were just beginning to change into their fall colors and most of the tourists were on the way out, giving us the run of Highway 1 and the coastal views.
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LUBEC AND DOWNEAST “Downeast” (or “Down East”) is a term most narrowly used to define the Maine coast from Penobscot Bay to the Canadian Border, though some use it in reference to Maine’s entire coast. At the “top” of the coast sits the town of Lubec, which is weathered but still worth a stop. The easternmost town in the contiguous United States, Lubec sits on a peninsula overlooking a beautiful, ice-free harbor, one of the strengths upon which the municipality was built. Settled just before the Declaration of Independence, the town didn’t really take off until the 1800s, after which it became known for smuggling (especially after the War of 1812), fishing, agriculture and trade. Its grist mills, sawmills, tannery, shipyards and sail-makers established it as another budding coastal community in Maine, but the real star of the town for tourists has long been its distinctive red-and-white-striped lighthouse, which sits on West Quoddy Head, the easternmost point in the United States. There’s been a lighthouse of some sort on the point since 1808, with the current (and photogenic) structure dating to 1858. You’ve likely seen the West Quoddy Head lighthouse in a calendar, on a product label or in paintings, but standing before it as the sea washes over the rocks below is certainly a marvelous experience. Another worthwhile stop is Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s retreat on Campobello Island, accessed via a bridge named for the late president that stretches from Lubec’s main street to the island in New Brunswick, Canada. FDR spent a lot of time here, from childhood summers through the end of his life, and the homes and park offer an intimate look at part of his legacy.
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Canada Day and runs through July 4th, with both sides participating in parades, games, fireworks over the Bay of Fundy and other activities. Eastport’s most attractive areas are easily walk-able, and with a couple of local pubs on the waterfront, the city makes a great lunch stop en route to Canada or south, back down the Maine coast. As you drive past the turnoff for Lubec on your way south, don’t forget to stop at Monica’s Chocolates. Monica herself will greet you when you enter, and immediately tempt you with a sample from her kitchen. A native of Peru who’s been in Maine for over a decade, her flavors tend toward dark, rich chocolates complemented by Maine sea salt, various nuts and spices and even the state’s famous blueberries. Some of those should absolutely find their way into your road trip.
The park itself is unique in that it is jointly maintained by American and Canadian services. Otherwise, as far as we’re concerned, Lubec’s main attractions are the local beers available in its few pubs, the sight of seals playing in the strait between Canada and the U.S. and the whales swimming just offshore. Those, blueberries, and plenty of quiet all make Lubec a valid stop on any trip, though a single or half-day would suffice, we think. A short drive from Lubec, the country’s easternmost city offers a bit more charm than its easternmost municipality. Eastport, which occupies a series of islands, has a historic downtown that’s delightful, with a handful of touristy shops distracting enough but far less appealing than the old architecture and surrounding environment. Enjoy the views from shore or take a quick boat trip to see, among other things, “Old Sow,” the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere. If you’re fortunate enough to visit Eastport on the 4th of July, you’ll see one of the best Independence Day celebrations in the country. Navy ships have docked in Eastport for the 4th since at least 1905, and thousands of celebrants drive in to join the fun, which is shared with the Canadians. The fest actually begins on
factoid Sailors traveling north and east from Boston to ports in Maine had the wind at their backs and were thus sailing downwind, hence the origin of the term “Down East” in reference to coastal Maine
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machias Like many towns on Maine’s coast, those surrounding Machias Bay, which is approximately 30 miles west/ southwest of Lubec, deliver some of the world’s best lobster and clams to restaurants and markets around the world. For this reason alone, the area is well worth visiting. But in addition to being known for great fishing, the town of Machias itself is notable to historians as the site of the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War. Less than a month after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the armed British schooner “Margaretta” arrived in Machias with the intention of taking a load of lumber back to Boston to build barracks for British troops. After hearing of the events at Lexington, Machias locals had erected a “liberty pole” in town, a flagstaff of sorts that symbolized freedom. The British captain of the Margaretta wanted the pole taken down, and threatened the locals with an assault from his ship’s cannons if they did not comply. The locals had a few meetings, voted to keep the pole, then tried to capture the captain, who fled down river in his schooner. The next morning, in a classic story of the Revolution, a handful of locals armed with a few muskets, pitchforks and axes, sailed a few small boats in pursuit of the Margaretta. Finding her in the bay, they attempted to board but were attacked with the larger schooner’s guns. Most of the small boats were destroyed and a few men were killed, but
Bar Harbor (above) and a lobster’s ride to shore
Acadia National Park
those remaining regrouped and, balancing an un-mounted cannon on the rail of a small boat, managed to fire it off and clear the decks of the Margaretta, taking out a number of the crew and the commander in the process. The remaining crew surrendered, and the Margaretta became the first British vessel captured by American revolutionaries. Artifacts from the battle are on display at Burnham Tavern, a museum in Machias that’s registered as a National Historic Site. bar harbor It’s a fair guess that most Maine tourists visit Bar Harbor, an hour and a half south of Machias, and it’s possibly the only bit of the state many of them will see. The town, originally called “Eden,” really hit its stride in the Victorian era, with some 30 hotels in operation and numerous lavish mansions popping up by 1880. The Eden lifestyle was straight out of Gatsby: Yachting, garden parties, horse racing, cocktails at posh local clubs, carriage rides up Mount Cadillac and even a bit of golf. In 1908 the town welcomed its newest resident with the birth of Nelson Rockefeller, two years before President William Howard Taft played a round at the Kebo Valley Golf Club (a links-style course still in operation and open to the public). The “Bar Harbor” moniker came in 1918, but the area’s reputation didn’t change a bit—and it still hasn’t, remaining a popular getaway for Hollywood celebrities, writers and New York elite. For visitors, there’s plenty of information on the quaint inns, readily available lobster restaurants, whalewatching tours and shops that cater to tourists, but our favorite aspect of Bar Harbor and the surrounding area was, as ever in Maine, the landscape, and specifically Acadia National Park.
Balancing a cannon on the rail of a small boat, the Revolutionaries fired, and the Margaretta’s crew surrendered
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Unlike many national parks that can seem overwhelming with millions of square miles of open wilderness, the first national park east of the Mississippi River feels quite manageable, despite its 47,000 acres. Simple afternoon drives are quite enjoyable along the fantastically maintained roads, clear to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point within 25 miles of the coast in the Eastern United States. Though seemingly modest at 1,528 feet, you’re often driving through the clouds and coastal mists to get to the top, and the views—if not obscured—are marvelous. Even with the clouds, it’s lovely. The summit becomes an otherworldly place, with bunchberry, asters, goldenrods and sea lavender bursting from large tapestries of granite and moss. You can smell the salt in the air, and the wind cutting through the spruce-fir forests below is both bracing and refreshing. Carriage rides are still possible here (on carriage roads originally designed and financed by John D. Rockefeller) and there are plenty of cyclists and pedestrians about. A supreme way to spend an afternoon and to work up an appetite for a big lobster dinner, no question. portland , kennebunkport and south Portland, three hours south of Bar Harbor, is a great jumping-off point for Maine excursions, with good dining options, a vibrant downtown and plenty for history buffs to enjoy. If nothing else, stop and see the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, just south of the city. A museum on-site gives a nice overview of lighthouse history in general and offers a solid nautical fix in a concise setting. The lighthouse itself is worth seeing, as well. Another 40 minutes or so south and you’re in Kennebunkport, which, like Bar Harbor, has been a popular summer retreat since the Gilded Age. The Kennedy Compound here is certainly well known, and during our trip it was rumored that President George H.W. Bush was in residence at the Bush version, which sits on a seaside strip of land once named “Point Vesuvius” and later changed to “Walker’s Point.” The residence has been a Bush family getaway for nearly
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a century, and it’s where the 41st President spent much of his childhood. Both 41 and 43 made this their “Summer White House” while in office, and the entire Bush family still visits often. It’s hosted Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev, among others, and its driveway, at least, is visible to tourists from the gated entrance, which is heavily guarded by Secret Service agents.
Much easier to see—impossible to miss, actually—the Wedding Cake House in nearby Kennebunk is likely the most photographed residence in the state. Once viewed, the reason for the name is obvious as the yellow-andwhite structure looks as if it was baked rather than built. Shipbuilder George Bourne was reportedly inspired by Milan’s Duomo when he set to work customizing his manse, and the result is certainly impactful. Far from being mere “touches,” the Gothic adornments here are positively plethoric, with every line of the house festooned in frills that could as easily be fashioned from butter-cream icing as from wood. That this confectionary castle of sorts is made of the latter is fair testament to the carpenter’s skill, to say nothing of his architectural palate or mental state. One more hour south and you’re in York, which is yet another example of a Gilded Age summer retreat. Unlike its cousins to the north, however, York feels a bit more spread out and, with its beach, perhaps more fun. Much of the old architecture still remains, and the beach and historic district make great touristing. The Goldenrod Soda Fountain is a proper old-school place to get an ice cream or a float, though standing outside and watching employees make saltwater taffy (using the same recipe created in 1896 by Edward Talpey) is good as well. The taffy-pulling machine alone had attracted quite a crowd when we were there. Like many of Maine’s coastal communities, York has a lighthouse, and we found it to be our favorite. The Cape Neddick “Nubble” Light was put into use in 1879 and it remains so today. While many lighthouses stand against dramatic seascapes, the Neddick Light’s profile is accented by the fact that it’s on a small island (Nubble Island), a large rock, really, just 100 yards offshore. Due to this setting the drama is nearly constant, with waves crashing on all sides of the island. The Voyager spacecraft mission, which photographed Earth’s most prominent manmade structures, included a photo of the
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Nubble Light along with the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal. With York as charming a town as one could want and the Nubble Light a fantastic finale to a brief but comprehensive road trip, we left Maine satisfied that we’d obtained the flavor, at least, of one of America’s great wilderness states. We’ll be back, and not just for the lobster.
Beach in Acadia National Park and a common roadside attraction
eat here 50 Local, 50 Main St., Kennebunk, ME Localkennebunk.com Owned by Merrilee Paul and her husband Chef David Ross, 50 Local may not be the only restaurant in Maine serving true farm-to-table fare, but it was our favorite. Eschewing overwrought sauces for straightforward complements, Ross gets it right by allowing the fresh ingredients to shine through. “People will be eating green beans or chicken and say, ‘What did you do to these—they’re amazing!’ But it has a lot to do with the fact that the green beans you’re eating were picked this morning just down the road, that the chicken is from a farm nearby and it wasn’t fed genetically modified feed,” says Paul. “To buy local is more expensive, to buy organic is more expensive, but it makes a big difference.” When 50 Local first opened, Chef Ross drove from farm to farm, meeting local organic farmers and establishing relationships and sources for his kitchen, and it paid off. Because the ingredients are fresh and subject to availability, the menu changes frequently, with contributing farms listed in plain view on a chalkboard pillar in the dining room. “Here in Maine, we’re agriculturally blessed,” says Paul. True enough, and one need look no further than 50 Local for proof.
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CRACKING GOOD An empty pot, lots of butter, a few good friends—what to do? Kingdom recently took a trip to Maine, where we rediscovered our love of lobster, crab, and other seafood pulled from the cold Atlantic waters. We also discovered 50 Local, a Kennebunk restaurant owned by Merrilee Paul and her husband Chef David Ross. Serving true farm-to-table fare, the restaurant sources fresh, high quality ingredients and delivers them in a way that highlights Chef Ross’ appreciation for natural flavors. Who better to offer a bit of perspective on Maine’s most famous red product, and a bit more? If you get “Downeast,” as they say, drop by 50 Local and let David do the work. Until then, this should help satisfy any shellfish cravings...
Lobster Do’s and Don’ts DO
DON’T
Buy fresh as possible—the longer in the tank,
Don’t leave them in a bag for too long. You want
the less the sea flavor
to keep them out of moisture. Using a perforated container that can strain the moisture is best
Use as soon as possible Don’t leave them in water after cooking Steam if possible Don’t take the bands off! Use kitchen shears for the knuckles
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Preparing Lobster Buy 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb lobster for best cooking control and meat texture. Steam/boil for 8 minutes if you are going to cook later, 11 minutes if you are going to serve them for salad or whole steamed To precook, boil/steam for 8 minutes, drop them into an ice bath to stop cooking, immediately remove them as soon as they are cool Hard-shell lobsters are tougher to prepare, but have better meat texture and flavor Use tweezers to remove the cartilage from the crusher claw Butter and poach meat slowly at around 110 degrees; never let it get too hot Serve
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Lobster Carbonara Serves 4
• • • • • •
Fresh lobster meat, cooked, 1 pound Spaghetti (dry), 1 pound Salt, 1 tablespoon Fresh peas, cooked tender, 1 cup Pancetta or bacon, diced small, ½ cup Extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon
Sauce
• Heavy cream, 2 cups • Egg, 1 each
1. In a mixing bowl, prepare the carbonara sauce by whisking together the heavy cream and egg until light and fluffy. Set aside. 2. Boil spaghetti in a pot of boiling water with salt. Strain, keep hot. 3. Get a sauté pan hot and add olive oil. Add bacon to the sauté pan and render until semi crispy. 4. Add the lobster, peas and cream, and egg mixture. (Make sure to control the heat so the sauce does not boil; the eggs will overcook and clump.) Stirring the sauce will help prevent the eggs from clumping. 5. Once the sauce is nice and hot, add the spaghetti to the sauté pan and toss until the sauce covers all the ingredients. 6. The carbonara is now ready to serve and may be divided into pasta bowls.
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Crab Apple, Celeriac salad Serves 4
• • • • • • • • •
Fresh Jonah Leg Crab meat, 1 pound 4 Jonah Crab Legs Mayonnaise or aioli, 3 tablespoons Lemon juice, 1 tablespoon Pinch of Cayenne 1 Granny Smith apple 1 small celery root peeled and cleaned Small bunch of watercress or pea shoots Extra virgin olive oil, 4 tablespoons
1. In a small mixing bowl add the crab meat and gently separate, looking for shell pieces that can sometimes be present. 2. Add 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, lemon juice, Cayenne, gently stir together trying not to pull apart the meat. When mixed in, season with salt. Set aside in the fridge.
To Plate — Divide the apple and celeriac mix into four 4” ring molds in the center of the plate. Push down with a spoon to make flat — Add the crab salad on top and press down gently to even the top — Pull off the ring molds and garnish the top with a few sprigs of watercress or peashoots — Add a crab claw to the top of each salad — Finish with a drizzle of olive oil
3. In another mixing bowl, shave the apple and celeriac with a mandoline into fine julienne. If you dont have a mandoline you can cut into thin wedges or strips. 4. Add the rest of the mayonnaise to the shaved apple celeriac mix and add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix together and season with salt to taste.
50 LocaL 5. Crack the Jonah crab claws, leaving the end of the claw on and exposing the meat.
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LiviNg Loud
Like the quintessential fantasy librarian, personalities are not always what they appear to be. The buttoned-up, professional person of few words in the office may go home and become a hero of dynamic expression. if the outside world leaves you feeling a bit grey, make sure your abode recharges your lust for life with furnishings and accessories that inspire as much as they function. Remember: Just because your house looks like any other on the block doesn’t mean you can’t have a playground for the senses waiting behind the front door...
Concert for One Plato wrote that “music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.” Bowers & Wilkins gets the message where it needs to go with the P5 Noise-isolating Headphones. The P5’s scintillating natural sound is due to its incredible technology, backed by Bowers & Wilkins’ well-established legacy. The comfortable experience is due to the aesthetically pleasing metal and sheep’s leather, used in construction. The music, well, that’s up to you. Available at top audio stores.
Bowers-wilkins.com
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Tremendous Light victor Hugo said it best: “To love beauty is to see light.” Forget the naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. Put away the Hula girl Lamp you’ve had since college. And don’t settle for something similar to a hotel room. When it comes to the light in your house, let it wash the rooms in warmth, not merely allow you to see. Thailand’s Ango company says it looks to create “a kind of allegory about nature and technology, a vision of an electric arcadia realized with light.” Why not. We like their commitment to sustainable materials like silk, mulberry bark and sea kelp polymers, their inspirations pulled from nature and their exquisite lighting products—like the Heaven floor lamp pictured here—which are as much art as they are things you switch on because it’s dark. Available at fine interior shops.
Angoworld.com
Hot Seat Barbra Streisand said she had “intense relationships with furniture... probably because we practically had none when i was growing up.” Whether or not you had something to sit on as a kid, it probably didn’t look like the Nube Armchair from STuA. Father-and-son design team Jesús and Jon gasca mixed curves and right angles to make this exceptional chair, which looks great from any angle. Cover it in a solid color or patterns from Sarah Morris to create your desired effect. The only problem we see with this award-winning design is that you’ll need to buy two—one to sit in while you look at the other.
dwr.com
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Freeze Frame Photographer dorothea Lange said, “the camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” By that logic, Hasselblad has been teaching all of us how to see for a very long time indeed. The company’s iconic 500C launched in 1957 and immediately became the go-to tool for top photographers everywhere. inspired by a long relationship with NASA (Hasselblad has been the agency’s camera of choice since 1962), Hasselblad is set to release a new consumer camera called the Lunar, and it’s perfect for capturing exceptional moments in incredible lives. Mirrorless, with a 24.3 megapixel CMoS sensor and italian design featuring options like carbon fiber, titanium, wood, leather and precious metals—including gold—it’s set to be the ultimate luxury (and quality) photo tool. Available soon.
hasselblad-lunar.com
Visual Audio Composer and guitarist Frank Zappa once said that “music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something.” Bowers & Wilkins takes that one step further with the 800 Series diamond speaker range, ensuring that what you see is as beautiful as what you hear. in addition to being visual, the speakers will do for you what they do for Abbey Road Studios: Namely, deliver stunning, clear audio exactly as it was meant to be heard. Available at top-end audio stores.
Bowers-wilkins.com
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The Destination is Worth the Journey!
Located in Texas' historic Big Bend, Lajitas Resort provides the perfect setting for your away-from-it-all adventure. Our 27,000 acre Texas resort is famous for its solitude, natural beauty and rugged desert environment. Add a world-class golf course, spa, hunting, horseback riding, other outdoor activities and western-style accommodations - It is easy to see why Lajitas Resort is now recognized as one of the best resorts in Texas. Lajitas Resort is proud to exclusively serve Coca-Cola products
Call 877-525-4827 Today! www.LajitasGolfResort.com
winter After a blustery day on course, these warm clubhouse fashions are just the thing Photography Me g h an T ille y
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Coats & Knits
tattersall Vest and Madison-Fit Sportcoat from Brooks Brothers; Men’s cotton V-neck sweaters from tommy Hilfiger.
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b r o o ks b r oT h e r s
MarTin
Sweater
Windvest
A sporting look with this Marled wool Cricket Sweater from Brooks Brothers.
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Unbreakably warm: italian Merino Diamond windvest in true navy from Martin.
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MarTin
b r o o ks b r oT h e r s
Cardigan
Sweater
Just enough to kill the chill: the Men’s Full Zip Alpaca intarsia Cardigan in Black, Sunflower and Lilac.
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new take on a classic country club favorite: Country Club Saxxon Argyle V-neck Sweater in Blue.
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a r n i e s kingd om . com
m a ga zin e
Gifts for Life Maybe not everything in Kingdom’s latest luxury display cabinet will last for ever, but the pleasure they give will be remembered always ROLEX DATEJUST The Datejust, introduced in 1945, was the first wristwatch to display the date through an aperture on its dial. Its unique magnifying Cyclops eye, added a few years later, became recognized as a Rolex design standard. Admired for its classic design, the Datejust swiftly became an iconic symbol of style. The Datejust II is presented here in 904L steel with a polished bezel.
rolex.com
BENTLEY BACKGAMMON Designed by Geoffrey Parker Games, one of the finest luxury boardgame makers in the world, this bespoke Bentley Backgammon board draws on a tradition of more than 50 years of skillful and sensitive craftsmanship. From the handbound leather casing to the subtle Bentley branding on each and every checker, absolutely no detail is overlooked. This exquisite set features the exact leather and veneers that are featured in the Bentley range of cars, and can be matched to every customer’s individual choice. Roll the dice and enjoy.
shop.bentleymotors.com
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KITCHENAID WINE CELLAR Storing fine wine in optimum condition requires perfect environment control. With distinct temperature zones, KitchenAid wine cellars allow you to store wines at their appropriate temperature. The model shown here has the capacity for 46 bottles and yet, at 24 inches deep, still manages to fit snugly into the space of a standard base cabinet. We at Kingdom enjoy sliding open the racks all too regularly.
kitchenaid.com
L.V. HARKNESS A stunning piece from world-renowned designer William Yeoward, the Chloe Flagon is 18 inches tall with an intricate basket-weave pattern that creates a style and sparkle all its own. This handmade crystal decanter looks at home in both contemporary and traditional settings. This item and other gift options can be purchased online from L.V. Harkness, who are also the proud provider of trophies to the annual Kingdom Cup.
lvharkness.com
MONTALBERA’S LACCENTO Representing the ‘other side of Piedmont,’ Montalbera’s Laccento has a persuasive bouquet and a long-lasting finish of superlative quality. From the Bricco Montalbera vineyard, some 900 feet above sea level, the winery carefully selects its grapes when very slightly overripe. Maturation takes place first in stainless steel vats and then for at least a further 10 months in the bottle. The 2009 Laccento was awarded 99 points and ‘wine of the year’ accolade in Italy. Visit the website to see Montalbera’s U.S. import selection.
tuttovinollc.com
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ROCKY PATEL
Even those with the smoothest of swings will occasionaly stiffen up after a tough 18 holes. Enter Human Touch. Their ZeroG 4.0 massage chair conducts a gliding, multisensory, mind-and-body-centering experience. It can’t alter your scorecard but it can certainly relieve post-game stress and pain. Take a seat, recline to zero-gravity and simply point to where it hurts, using the revolutionary BodyMap PRO Immersion Director remote. A fully encompassing foot-and-calf massager soothes feet and lower legs while improving circulation. The Smart 3D massage engine leaves you relaxed, rejuvenated and ready to live life to its fullest. Immerse yourself in wellness.
The Humidor Selection features some of Rocky Patel’s most popular and highly-rated blends in the Toro size— Edge Sumatra, Sun Grown, Decade, Burn-Naples and Olde World Reserve. Burn-Naples, a new release filled with sweet, rich, well-aged tobaccco and wrapped in Habano Colorado, honors Rocky’s debut eclectic cigar lounge experience in his hometown of Naples, FL. This pack has a flavor to suit every discerning cigar smoker and is sure to be appreciated!
humantouch.com
rockypatel.com
HUMAN TOUCH MASSAGE CHAIR
GOLFER’S HUMIDOR This beautiful mahogany-finish, cedar-lined humidor is large enough to hold 20 of your favorite cigars at just the right humidity setting, either in the home or the office. The lid can display a panoramic picture of any Stonehouse Collection course—you can choose from more than 500 world-famous images. The courses available are from the United States, Scotland, Ireland, England, the Caribbean and Mexico. Join the Stonehouse Collectors’ Club and receive a discount and free shipping on this and other gift merchandise.
stonehousegolf.com
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BIONIC GLOVE Bionic Gloves are the only golf gloves that come with a patented pad technology that results not only in a better grip but also improved durability. In fact, according to a recent independent study, the Bionic StableGrip golf glove lasts twice as long as a standard golf glove made from leather of premium-grade quality. Featured here is the company’s top-of-the-range Bionic Performance Grip Glove.
bionicgloves.com
CALLAWAY RAZR RANGEFINDER The RAZT, a 2012 release from Callaway’s partnership with Nikon, is 10 percent more compact while providing increased power and greater accuracy than previous designs. RAZR is fully compliant at tournaments where the local rules allow distance-measuring devices in play. Capable of ranging objects as far out as 600 yards, the rangefinder also reads in increments of 3.6 inches. RAZR’s fully elastomer-armored body design is protected by enhanced shock-proofing for use on the course. It is powered by a 3V CR2 Lithium battery and comes in a round case and carabiner for walkers.
callawayrangefinders.com
DAPHNE’S HEADCOVERS Daphne’s Headcovers still lead the market they created in 1979 with top quality headcovers. Their attention to detail, quality and fit are second to none and the company even back each headcover up with a lifetime guarantee. The Weimaraner headcover featured above also reflects Daphne’s core value of “we must do good while doing well,” so part of the proceeds will benefit the ‘pet therapy for children’ charity Gabriel’s Angels
daphnesheadcovers.com gabrielsangels.org
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TAYLORMADE PENTA TP5 BALLS
JONES SPORTS BAGS
To help us celebrate Kingdom’s anniversary the generous folk at TaylorMade kindly supplied us with their new TP5 balls, specially customized with the number 10. TaylorMade offer a superb customization service and this writer also found that the balls cleverly combined feel with distance, although sadly he simultaneously discovered that they are no easier to find off the fairway than any other ball.
Golf-bag manufacturer Jones Sports Co., which originated in Portland, Oregon, have re-released their iconic, vintage carry bag, With 40 years of history, tradition and experience in their locker, Jones are returning to their roots. “It’s not every day an opportunity to reform the way golf clubs are carried presents itself,” said Matt Lemman, co-owner of Jones Sports Co. with his brother Tim and father Dean. Walking down the fairway with a Jones bag is sure to attract attention as well as facilitate a pleasurable round of golf. Jones Sports Co. are also proud to offer a newly-designed website as a golf forum for fans of single-strap bags.
taylormadegolf.com
jonesgolfbags.com
BOWLER & BLAKE From the second half of the 17th century, brass blazer buttons were produced in the City of London for military and civilian wear. Later, blazer buttons became popular with schools and a wide variety of clubs. Blazer buttons have been a primary focus of golf specialists Bowler & Blake, worldwide, for 25 years. Among Bowler & Blake’s other customized offerings are silk ties (above left), blazer crests, money clips and key fobs. The company even makes its own blazers.
bowlerandblake.com
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LEE THOMAS PUTTERS The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, in Monticello, Virginia, has entrusted Lee Thomas Putters to honor the historic status of the giant tulip poplar tree that once towered over its United Nations World Heritage house but was brought down for safety reasons in 2008. Each one of these unique, handcrafted putters is created by hand, so that no two can be identical, and comes with its own serial number along with a letter of authenticity confirming its wooden head orginates from the Monticello tulip poplar. Personalized options include left- and right-handed models, variable shaft lengths, and grip and weight preferences. A portion of the proceeds directly supports the Foundation’s education program.
LeeThomasPutters.com
SHEAFFER TARANIS Bolstered by more than 100 years of craftsmanship, Sheaffer pens are precison-engineered to deliver a superlative writing experience. Featured here is the elegant, groundbreaking, Taranis range. Designed by renowned architect Charles Debbas, the collection is named after the Celtic god of thunder and embodies aerodynamic power. The Taranis, available as a fountain pen, roller ball or ballpoint in five striking finishes, features a high-quality nib, an elongated clip that carries the White Dot mark of excellence, and a gripping section that combines the warmth of resin with the durability of metal.
sheaffer.com
THE CLASSIC PALMER John Feinstein, the celebrated sportswriter for the Washington Post, Golf World and Golf Digest, provides a vivid biographical portrait of golf’s greatest and most beloved living icon. Feinstein’s moving narrative chronicles the life of the legend that is Arnold Palmer, from the moment he stepped onto the world’s sporting stage, whence he captured 92 titles, including seven Major championships. Completing a truly impressive publication, the photography is provided by Walter Iooss, whose images have graced the covers of more than 300 editions of Sports Illustrated, and this very issue of Kingdom.
abramsbooks.com
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*offer ends Jan 31 2012. Calendar ships seperately.
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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.
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Golf-related InjurIes of the
Hand & Wrist one of the first things taught to a new golfer entering the game is the grip. The hand connects us to the club and the game, and therefore is vulnerable to injury. Unlike other games in which collisions are frequent or the primary object (ball, puck, etc.) is moving, golf is unique in that essentially all interaction with the ball is through the motion of the swing and impact transmitted via the club; this puts the hand and wrists in harm’s way during every stroke. Dr. Thomas Graham of Cleveland Clinic has longmaintained one of the premier practice destinations in the world for the care of the professional athlete’s hand and wrist. Among the athletes for whom he has cared are many of the stars of the PGA and LPGA Tours. Recently, Graham discussed hand and wrist injuries in golfers in a Golf Channel interview: “Over the years I have seen an interesting contrast in the types of injuries sustained by the accomplished golfer and the recreational golfer.” Graham described that high-level amateurs and professionals who dedicate considerable time to practice differ in their injury patterns and manifestations from the occasional weekend player. “The pro will often suffer from overuse injuries, like tendinitis and joint inflammation, resulting from the significant amount of practice required to maintain their game at a high level. In contrast, the rest of us weekend players tend to try heroic shots that often result in acute injuries, even fractures and significant sprains”, Graham opined. Dr. Graham further emphasized that it is important for golfers of all levels to pay attention to their symptoms, as persistent pain or weakness may reflect a more serious injury. Graham observed, “If the discomfort is severe enough that a lover of the game elects to cut a round short and walk off the course, that usually reflects something more serious.” He went on to warn that discomfort that doesn’t go away shortly after a shot or even after the round may herald a more serious problem. “Often it is impossible to determine whether an injury is a mild sprain or a fracture by casual observation. I’d suggest that lingering problems be checked out by a physician if it is preventing the golfer from teeing it up”. The Champions Tour has provided the medical community with a new source of data—elite athletes who are competing in their 50’s and 60’s. “We are learning
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more about keeping players in competition with advanced arthritis or more chronic problems, “ states Dr. Graham. “This experience simply underscores the importance of fitness, nutrition and a proper approach to the game”. One of the wonderful things about the game of golf is that it is a “lifetime sport”; following some simple recommendations can extend our enjoyment safely and injury-free.
No PatieNt too Sick or too Far Most premium credit cards cover air ambulance transport. But have you ever read the fine print? Your coverage may get you to the “nearest appropriate facility”, but you have no control over the quality of your care or destination. If you have a medical emergency away from home, you want to see your own doctors at a top medical center close to the loving support of your family. Cleveland Clinic’s Global CARE program gives you that peace of mind. Members of Global CARE are assured that if they are ever hospitalized while traveling more than 150 miles from home, and are unable to fly home commercially, they can be transported to Cleveland Clinic for specialized care. There are no preexisting condition restrictions (see the details at clevelandclinic.org/cct). Cleveland Clinic provides transport from anywhere in the world. Members of Cleveland Clinic Global CARE include businesspeople, professionals and others whose lifestyle calls for them to travel frequently or far. Many parents enroll their children in the program during overseas study or travel—or if the children are simply attending college out of town. Why take the chance of getting substandard care? Cleveland Clinic’s fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and ground transportation are virtual mobile intensive care units. Global CARE medical teams are able to transport patients safely from continent to continent, where local doctors have been unsure about moving them from bed to bed. To sign up today or for membership information, visit clevelandclinic.org/cct
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It’s a Who’s Who of outstanding human achievement, and Arnold Palmer’s place in this pantheon was ratified on September 12, 2012. Since America won its independence in 1776, there have been fewer than 150 recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal, so the honor bestowed on Mr. Palmer by the House of Representatives was, self-evidently, one of the highlights of his life
Ever tried to join an exclusive club into
Palmer receives the Medal from House Speaker John Boehner
which you can only be invited? Ever tried to fathom the logic that decides one person is worthy and another, seemingly as qualified, is not? Prior to the evolution of more formal qualifying guidelines, that’s how the leading golfers of a generation ago felt when it came to receiving their Masters invitations (or not). In this particular club, there’s no place for JFK, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby or Clint Eastwood, but Robert Kennedy, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and John Wayne all make the cut. The names of Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower are conspicuously absent, not so Generals Ulysses S. Grant, Douglas MacArthur, Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson have been overlooked, but Harry S. Truman and Ronald Reagan are on the team. So are Winston Churchill and Simon Wiesenthal. Philanthropists, we have a few, most notably George Peabody and the reclusive Howard Hughes, but not yet Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. Religious leaders Mother Theresa, Pope John Paul II, Billy Graham and the Dalai Lama are among the honorees, as are the political hero and heroine of our time, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Charles Schulz, Robert Frost, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gerschwin, and Aaron Copland are among those who represent creativity, while the late Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, and the Wright Brothers, inventors of the airplane, are among the ordained adventurers.
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No one in their right mind would argue against the inclusion of these luminaries of human history and endeavor. Nor could there be any quarrel with the sports personalities who have received the Medal. Roberto Clemente was the Pittsburgh Pirates ace who died in a plane crash delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Jesse Owens was the man who defied Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by bagging four gold medals. Joe Louis was undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion between 1937 and 1949. Jackie Robinson was Major League Baseball’s first black star. Byron Nelson, ‘Lord’ Byron, was the golfer who won 11 successive tournaments, and 18 in total, in 1945. And now Arnold Palmer has joined this select company. Despite the absentees, this sounds like the top table for Heaven’s ultimate banquet. Leonardo da Vinci is preparing the canvas, Mozart tuning the violins, Shakespeare polishing the eulogies, and Escoffier plumping the vol au vents. Meanwhile, Groucho Marx at last yearns to join a club to which he doesn’t belong, and Orson Welles dreams more than ever of ‘Rosebud.’ The fact is, fewer than 150 people, or groups of people, have won the Congressional Gold Medal across its 236-year lifespan, and Mr. Palmer is one of them. Why? The story begins in 1776, soon after the United States achieved its independence from the British. Naturally, the nascent American nation wanted to bestow its appreciation on the man who had led them to their promised land: George Washington. So the Continental Congress Gold Medal was struck in his honor… and there it might have remained had it not been for the excellence of numerous outstanding men and women ever since. John Paul Jones, the Scottish sailor and rabblerouser, received the seventh and last Continental Congress Gold Medal in 1787. Then, after a 13-year hiatus, the first U.S. Congress Gold Medal (the official title remains to this day) was awarded to U.S. Navy hero Thomas Truxton. Palmer became the sixth athlete, and only the second golfer, to be nominated for the award, on 30 September 2009 (by Rep. Joe Baca from California), and received it on 12 September 2012, two days after his 83rd birthday. He was lauded in “recognition of his service to the country in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship,” and, well
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aware that sponsorship by two-thirds of the membership of the Senate and House is required before the bill goes to committee, quipped: “I’m particularly proud of anything that the House and Senate agree on.” During a ceremony in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. that lasted one hour 15 minutes, House Speaker John Boehner said: “What makes this medal unique is that any American can win it, whether it be a general, an artist, an astronaut, or an athlete. Arnold Palmer is a model of integrity, passion and commitment. He democratized golf, made us think that we too could go out and play, made us think that we could really do anything. All we had to do was to go out and try. “Arnold, you’ve struck our hearts and our minds, and today your government, your fellow citizens are going to strike a gold medal for you.” Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Senators Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid, who commended Palmer for leaving “his mark off the links” through his charities and philanthropic outreach, were also involved in the presentation of the medal. “Golf made you famous, but your tireless efforts to save lives, not your short game, will make you immortal,” Reid added. Palmer added: “I like to think and truly believe golf and golfers promote human values—such characteristics as honesty, hard work, dedication, responsibility, respect for the other guy, playing by the rules. I am very humbled, thank you very much.” Nicklaus and country music singer Vince Gill, along with two Republican and two Democratic members of the Senate and House, also took part in the ceremony. Nicklaus briefly choked during his speech, saying, “Arnold Palmer was the everyday man’s hero. From a modest upbringing, Arnold embodied the hard-working strength of America. The game has given so much to Arnold Palmer but he has given back so much more. He’s a golf icon to the world, and a good friend to me.” The Congressional Gold Medal—each one is created by the U.S. Mint individually—is bestowed by Congress as its “highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.” Along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which Palmer received from President George W. Bush in 2004, it is the highest civilian award in the United States. Baca, who has played golf with Palmer, said: “Although he doesn’t feel comfortable being called the King of Golf—and he truly is the King of Golf—Arnold Palmer is royalty in the eyes and hearts of those that he has helped.” Not for the first time, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem had the last word: “Arnold Palmer is a legend both on and off the golf course and we are deeply appreciative that Congress has recognized his achievements and his character in giving this prestigious award. “His impact on players, tournaments, fans, sponsors, sports television, volunteers and perhaps most importantly on communities where he worked, lived and competed cannot be measured, but is deeply felt and will continue to have a tremendous impact for generations.”
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Turning gold inTo Bronze A Congressional Gold Medal is created by the United States Mint to commemorate the person and achievement for which the medal is awarded. Each medal is therefore different in appearance, and authorized via a separate law. In Palmer’s case, it was Public Law 111-65, signed in 2009 by President Barack Obama. Gold Medals are not meant to be worn on a uniform or clothing, but rather displayed like a trophy. A bronze duplicate, the same diameter (three inches) and thickness as the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Arnold Palmer, is available from U.S. Mint. The obverse, designed and sculpted by United States Mint sculptor-engraver Don Everhart, features an image of Arnold Palmer finishing his golf swing with the inscription “ARNOLD D. PALMER.” The reverse, designed by Phebe Hemphill and Joseph Menna, depicts a pair of crossed golf clubs and a golf ball on a tee with the inscription: “In recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship, 92 professional golf victories, 7 major championships.” A duplicate of the medal can be purchased from the United States Mint. See: usmint.gov
Jack nicklaus was one of the speakers at the medal ceremony
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Celebrating 50 years of service to the business aviation industry
Congratulations to Arnold Palmer from the Rolls-Royce CorporateCareŽ team We have great pleasure in congratulating Arnold Palmer on his significant contribution to business aviation, and on his continuing role as an ambassador for the industry. At Rolls-Royce, we understand the importance of leadership and consistency. Fifty years ago we introduced the civil aviation industry’s first Power by the HourŽ
www.rolls-royce.com
engine maintenance program. Today, we deliver the highest quality engine care through CorporateCare, the world leader of business jet engine maintenance programs. For more on CorporateCare, contact Steve Friedrich, Vice President - Sales & Marketing, at +1 (703) 834-1700, corporate.care@rolls-royce.com. Trusted to deliver excellence
InstructIon
Grip, Let Rip and Enjoy the Trip Opinion has always been divided over whether Arnold Palmer’s golf swing was a thing of beauty to be admired and emulated, or something that should not be taught to anyone. It was indeed unique, one that required exceptional strength, and few would argue with the results and victories it produced. The power the King generated helped to usher in a new generation of golfers who were determined to hit the ball further while remaining unconcerned about what they looked like—players like Seve Ballesteros, Hubert Green and Lanny Wadkins. This sequence of photographs, filmed at Riviera Country Club in 1974 when Palmer was in his mid-40s, demonstrates that his was a swing for life, one that remained highly effective way beyond the first flush of youth
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The greatest untutored swing the game of golf has ever known begins with a textbook grip, one that no less an expert than Johnny Miller believes is “the best-looking hold of all time.” “My father put my hands on the club when I was a boy and said, ‘Don’t you ever change them,’ and I never did. That was my golf grip for life,” recalls Palmer. Certainly, very few swings can develop effectively from a flawed grip, and Miller pinpoints Mr. Palmer’s conventional and largely neutral grip as the platform from which the rest of his swing could flow. “If you look at old footage of Arnie,” Miller says, “you’ll catch him staring down at his hands before his swing. I think [he] knew he had a great grip and loved to admire
his work. Plus, that waggle, like a gunslinger coolly pushing open the swinging doors to a saloon. Perfecting your grip and waggling the club will give you the tightness you need to control the clubhead, yet free up your wrists to hinge and unhinge freely—and add speed—from start to finish.” Among the principles behind Palmer’s grip are: the left hand should wrap around the shaft; the right thumb should be set just left of center with the right index finger cocked as if on a trigger; the Vs formed by both thumbs and index fingers should point in the same direction. Now, with his waggles completed, his pants hitched up and his head steady and centered within his stance, the time has come to pull the trigger and release the tracer bullets that brought the curtain down on the sweetswinging era of such stylists as Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. Palmer changed all that with his in-your-face power game and the high drama—sometimes glorious, sometimes disastrous—this approach invariably created. He is slightly hunched over at address, suggesting that an enormous amount of power is about to be uncoiled and his takeaway does nothing to dispel that impression. As he draws back the club from address, a trifle inside his intended line and with the face slightly closed, his right leg straightens and his left knee moves out toward (and inside the line of) the ball. As his left shoulder coils beneath his chin, his left arm is ramrod straight and his left heel rising off the ground. His hands follow the path of a wide arc and his hips rotate markedly to create increasing torque. At the top of his backswing, his hands have finished above his head and right shoulder, and the shaft of his club
England captain Bobby Moore celebrates victory in soccer’s 1966 World Cup final
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has reached a horizontal position. At this point, his shoulder plane (almost vertical) is steeper than the plane of his arms (a slight diagonal pointing at his left foot), his left wrist is bowed and his head is slightly dipping in preparation for the release of power through the downswing. From this freeze-framed moment, the downswing begins, starting with the lower body (specifically, the left knee moving toward the target). The hands, still unhinged with the club pointing skywards, are the last component to move through the hitting area. It’s important to note that the swing is not a “hit” so much as a “move” starting with the lower body. One school of thought says that if Palmer is really “hitting it hard” in this sequence, there would be less leg movement or shoulder turn. Of course, he did hit it very hard, especially as his hands unhinged, but this effect was a result of the complete move. Technically, this process in the downswing—the separation in movement between the legs, hips, shoulders, arms and hands—remains a holy grail for many young players out on Tour today as they seek to generate maximum clubhead speed and distance. Palmer regularly used to drive the ball over 300 yards despite using woodenheaded clubs and wound balata balls, so he must have been doing something right. Certainly this swing is in effect as fast as it gets through impact and one observer during Palmer’s heyday claimed his drives
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always started off low before taking off “like an F-80 jet fighter plane.” Another observer said Palmer had the most efficient golf swing he had ever analyzed in slow motion. Returning to his initial observation, Miller takes up the story: “Although Palmer came into the ball with the shaft perfectly in line with his left forearm, he held the face slightly shut, which forced him to hang on for dear life through impact—a compensation that resulted in his unique, helicopter-style finish. What made the whole thing work was his grip.” Any theory that Palmer put undue physical pressure on himself with his swing should be tempered by the fact he still plays regularly at Bay Hill and has suffered few injuries throughout his career. Given that the sport generates a lot of injuries to the back, wrists, shoulders and elbows, this suggests his swing has assisted his longevity as a player, not hindered it. The final word should rest with the man himself, whose own observations about his swing are always refreshingly clear and straightforward: “Once you’ve developed the style you’re going to use, you stick with it. Nobody ever fooled with me [my method].”
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On behalf of everyone at Arnold Palmer Enterprises, my design company and all my other partnerships and organizations, I would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to everyone at Kingdom on the 10th anniversary of this esteemed and well-established publication. We are all tremendously proud of our partnership with Kingdom and what we have achieved together over the past decade.
APDC’s
Top 10 Design Tenets A little over 10 years ago, the head of the Arnold Palmer Design Company, the late, great Ed Seay, sat down with publisher Matthew Squire. Between them, they agreed on the concept of the production of a members’ magazine for Arnold Palmer-designed courses. And so was born Kingdom. Coinciding with Kingdom’s 10th anniversary, APDC celebrates its 40th year of designing golf courses throughout the world. Looking back over a portfolio of more than 300 golf courses, each one a creation as unique as the site on which it is laid out, APDC’s architects are often asked, “what sets an Arnold Palmer Design apart?” In other words, what is the Arnold Palmer Design Company’s philosophy of golf course design? APDC’s two senior architects, Thad Layton and Brandon Johnson, reply: “Although we implement many different design ideas on our courses, there are a few that show up in everything we do. These principles, timehonored and tested, are a direct reflection of the man from which they flow, Arnold Palmer.” Over the next three issues of Kingdom, these two course designers will outline and illustrate the 10 design tenets that drive the courses of Arnold Palmer Design and the golf holes that exemplify each principle. In this issue of Kingdom, they look at classic examples of three principles of APDC course design: Fun, Strategy and Risk-Reward.
Wexford Plantation—Hole 15
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The Pure Scene Golf Club—Hole 15
FUN
STRATEGY
That is the whole point, isn’t it? Spending the better part of a Saturday afternoon chasing a little white ball ’round the links should be an exercise in enjoyment, not futility. At Arnold Palmer Design Company, we believe that fun is the most important ingredient in creating great golf. As an industry, there is an undeniable movement back to the design principles employed during its “Golden Age.” These principles not only deliver golf that is more fun to play but courses that are less costly to build and to maintain, creating a virtuous cycle that brings people back to the game and increases rounds played. APDC’s overriding goal for all of our designs is to deliver a fun golf course, and our recent work at Wexford Plantation offers it up in spades. From super-wide fairways guarded by strategic bunkers set up along the line-ofcharm, to a set of greens inspired by the classic template holes from the past, there are as many different ways to get the ball in the cup as there are golfers. The second shot on the par-5 fifteenth typifies our approach. After a good tee shot, the golfer has a decision to make: go for the green by utilizing the ridgeline short and left of the putting surface that funnels shots onto the green or lay up to a comfortable distance to attack the array of distinct pin positions. Once near or on the green, there are myriad ways to get the ball close to the hole. Golfers of all skill levels will have a ball as they navigate the many permutations that the 15th at Wexford (left) presents.
This is the essence of good golf and the soul of the game. Without it you might as well go to the driving range. Sound strategic design separates average courses from the great ones. It’s more than just where the bunkers go—it’s every element of the golf course, and how these elements aggregate to create a meaningful experience. A good litmus test if your course is strategic in nature is your answers to the following questions: Does the course in question grow more interesting the more you play it? Would it suit you if you had to play this course for the rest of your life? If the answers are “yes,” you most likely have a strategic course on your hands. From the initial routing to tilling the last sprig of grass, we are constantly on the lookout for ways to incorporate the natural features of the site or to create new ones to add strategic interest to our courses. Some folks call this minimalism but this really doesn’t get to the heart of the matter because there are times when the architect must adapt the landscape in a significant way to accommodate golf. The trick is to make these bold strokes in a way that blurs the line between the natural and the man-made. Our latest creation in China, The Pure Scene Golf Club in Kunming (above), is a testament to this balanced approach.
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RISK—REWARD Arnold Palmer has always been identified by his “go for broke” style. When Palmer successfully drove the green on the first hole at Cherry Hills Country Club in the fourth round of the 1960 U.S. Open, he kick-started a final round of 65 that propelled him to victory. From short par-5s to drivable 4s, we have been designing golf holes for four decades that tempt golfers to swing for the fences, just like the King. The seventeenth hole at The Tradition Golf Club in La Quinta, California, will prompt even the most timid of golfers to reach for the driver. The stage is set by the elevated tees perched over 100ft above the fairway, providing a bird’s-eye view of the challenge that lies ahead: 354 yards from tee to green with a putting surface sloped from back to front, protected by water left and desert right with the option of a layup to a wide, sloping fairway that leaves a full wedge to the green. A range of scores from 1 to 8 are possible on this dynamic par four.
The Tradition Golf Club—Hole 17
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If life gives you lemons...
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Arnie invented it, AriZona Beverages popularized it: The Arnold Palmer Half & Half is the best incarnation of two old-school classics
Summers in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, can be brutal. The daytime temperature hovers near 90 degrees, and the humidity makes it feel a hundred times worse. For a boy hauling golf clubs around a course in July, a cold glass of iced tea or lemonade would be a welcome treat indeed—and so they were for a young Arnold Palmer, who caddied at the Latrobe Country Club. Arnie spent his childhood enjoying both drinks, but it wasn’t until he was married to his first wife that he ever thought of putting the two together. The idea that the combination would eventually bear his name and become one of the most popular drinks on earth, was a million miles away. “True,” Mr. Palmer said recently. “I used to go home and have Winnie make me some iced tea, and one day I said, ‘Let’s put some lemonade in it.’ It all stemmed from there.” Today, the “Arnold Palmer” beverage—half iced tea, half lemonade—is as famous as the man himself. It’s become so big, in fact, that it often transcends the connection to its namesake. Ironically, that was the case with AriZona Beverages founder Don Vultaggio, who knew the drinks as a “half and half.” “In 2000, 2001 when we started [working with Arnie]. I didn’t know that a ‘half and half’ was called an ‘Arnold The first Palmer,’” Vultaggio told Kingdom recently. Roughly ten years man to make tea? later, the beverage CEO isn’t letting anybody forget it. The (left) and an AriZona Iced Tea brand, which he created in 1992 with old-school lemonade friends in his native Brooklyn, sells approximately 500 stand million cans of Arnold Palmer-branded iced tea drinks per (below)
year, with nearly 1.25 billion sold to date—and that’s just the cans! Including the other packaging options, AriZona has sold billions and billions of Arnold Palmer-branded beverages, and in the process has made Palmer’s likeness one of the most distributed faces in history, and the Arnold Palmer drink one of the most popular beverages on earth. Of course, the basic ingredients were fairly popular to begin with...
Iced Tea It’s generally believed that tea originated in China’s Yunnan Province, where the world’s oldest cultivated tea tree still stands, some 3,200 years old. One of the more popular legends has it that in the 28th century BC, Chinese emperor and herbalist Shen Nong was boiling water to drink when leaves from a nearby tea tree blew into his cup. He tried the brew, liked what he tasted, and tea was born. As for enjoying the drink over ice: while it’s inevitable that someone’s tea eventually cooled off and was consumed nonetheless, it’s difficult to ascertain when people started cooling tea on purpose. What is known is that when they did, they were adding more than ice. The creatively named “Tea Punch” that showed up in the 1839 cookbook, “The Kentucky Housewife,” offered a recipe indicative of the kinds of spiked ice tea recipes common at the time, which were usually made with green tea: “Make a pint and a half of very strong tea... and pour it boiling on one pound and a quarter of loaf sugar. (2 ½ cups of white sugar). Add half a pint of rich sweet cream, and then stir in gradually a bottle of claret or champaign [sic]. You may heat it to the boiling point, and serve it so, or you may send it round entire cold, in glass cups.” Black tea (most often used today) started showing up in the late 1800s, along with ice tea recipes calling for “broken ice” to be added with a slice of lemon, instead of booze, though that remained—and remains—a popular variation as well.
Lemonade Like tea, lemonade’s history is a bit difficult to track. It might have originated in Asia or in the early Arab world, most likely North India, China or Burma, as lemons commonly appeared in recipes there and it’s no great stretch to believe they would’ve found their way into beverages. In terms of a definitive history, Italian and Mediterranean food specialist Clifford A. Wright, who’s won a Beard Award for Best Writing on Food, offers on his website (cliffordawright.com) that the first recorded history of lemonade is found among writings from a Jewish community living in 12th century Egypt. According to him, records from that period in Cairo make references to “qatarmizat,” bottles of lemon juice, which were made with lots of sugar, consumed locally and exported. From there, as they say, the rest is history.
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THe aRnoLd PaLmeR In the early 1970s, by the time Don Vultaggio and his friend John Ferolito graduated high school and founded Ferolito, Vultaggio & Sons, the distribution company that would eventually create the AriZona Iced Tea brand, Arnold Palmer was already a household name, even if his drink of choice was more of an associated preference than a global brand. When the iconic golfer paired up with Vultaggio’s crew in the early 2000s, all of that changed. “I could never guess it would become as big as it is,” Palmer said. “I started it at home with my wife Winnie, then I ordered one in a restaurant in California and it caught on. The lady called it an ‘Arnold Palmer.’ I got Cori [Britt] and Alastair [Johnston] and the whole gang who work with me together to talk about the possibilities, and here we are. It’s a multi-million dollar business.” While any combination of iced tea and lemonade is bound to taste ok, you don’t sell billions of “ok” drinks. The official incarnation of the Arnold Palmer is successful because AriZona got it right, and they got it right because Don Vultaggio really, really cares about his products. The
ARNOLD PALMER HALF & HALF The AriZona Beverage Co. has created a number of variations on the Arnold Palmer theme. Among their current offerings: • Arnold Palmer Half & Half: The original, tea and lemonade • Lite: 1/3rd the calories of the original • Zero: Same great taste as the original, with zero calories • Lite Green Tea: “Lite” with green tea • Peach: The taste of orchard-fresh peaches, sweet tea and lemonade • Pomegranate: “Palmergranate” is a combination of pomegranate-flavored green tea and lemonade • Strawberry: Nicely balanced version of the original with a hint of strawberries • Southern Style: Sweet tea and pink lemonade
BILLIONS OF FANS CAN’T BE WRONG: ARIZONA BRINGS THE ARNOLD PALMER TO THE WORLD company head is known to look through trash cans to see what people have been drinking. If he sees an AriZona product and it’s half full, he considers the recipe. “All of the flavors have to pass through me,” he told Kingdom recently. “We go through hundreds of flavor variations.” Strawberry, the latest variation of the Arnold Palmer Half Half, took 40 versions to get right, he explained. The key is getting it so that the last sip is as satisfying as the first. Too much flavor might yield a great first sip but won’t be drinkable for the full drink. Too little and what’s the point? What goes into the tea is also important, Vultaggio said, explaining that AriZona uses top ingredients for all of its products. All of those ingredients are kept fresh because the company uses top tier packaging and packaging methods, ensuring the drinks taste as good as they did the day they were made. In addition to keeping the drinks fresh, the packaging is also tremendously appealing, and that, again, is due to Vultaggio. At AriZona’s company headquarters on Long Island, there are more design awards in glass cases than most companies will win in a lifetime—and those are just the ones that are visible. They have boxes full. Even before Arnie, the company had a history of dynamically designed packages. Known artists, talented friends and even Vultaggio’s wife (who’s responsible for the artwork on some of the brand’s best bottles) have all contributed, and the results are as eye-appealing as the drinks are enjoyable. Great marketing, great product, great business leader and a great bunch of people working in a family style atmosphere at AriZona all come together to answer a question Arnie once posited to Don Vultaggio: “It was a funny thing,” Vultaggio remembers. “He pulled me aside and said, ‘Kid, how do you sell so much of this stuff?’”
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usty utters
The new 2012 Musty Putters are created with patented technology that will have you putting with confidence—no matter how intimidating the putt. With a superior feel and legendary forgiveness, Musty Putters must truly be the first name in finesse and accuracy
Each Musty Putter is custom-built to the client’s specifications. Laser engraving allows us to personalize each putter, making it the ideal corporate or personal gift
Musty Putters, proud supporter of the Kingdom Cup
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A perfect combination… ARNOLD PALMER , SPRINGHILL SUITES by Marriott LATROBE and LATROBE COUNTRY CLUB
Experience the SpringHill Suites by Marriott, inspiring design and refreshing accommodations
N
!
• 109 Spacious Guest Suites, 25% larger than standard hotel rooms • Complimentary Hot Breakfast Buffet, Complimentary Wi-Fi Internet Access • Microwave and Refrigerators in every Guest Suite • 24hr access to indoor swimming pool and fitness center
Enjoy delicious salads, soups, sandwiches or appetizers off of the SpringHill Suites 19th Hole Menu. Dine and relax on the Palmer Patio or inside the lounge amongst Arnold Palmer’s memorabilia, including a Masters Trophy commemorating his wins in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964.
O W O
SPRINGHILL SUITES BY MARRIOTT PITTSBURGH LATROBE. 115 ARNOLD PALMER DRIVE, LATROBE, PA 15650. DIRECT DIAL 724-537-7800.
N
SpringHillSuitesLatrobePA.com or Call 1- 800 -971-3981
PE
Book Latrobe Country Club Golf Packages at
course directory Courses around the world designed by the Arnold Palmer Design Company KEY: + Remodel
@ Certified Audubon Sanctuary @* Certified Audubon Signature Sanctuary
ALABAmA Craft Farms
Cotton Creek and Cypress Bend Gulf Shores, Alabama
www.craftfarms.com
ARIZONA Arrowhead Country Club
Glendale, Arizona
www.arrowheadccaz.com
Mesa del Sol
Yuma, Arizona
www.mesadelsolgolf.com
Starfire at Scottsdale Country Club
Scottsdale, Arizona
www.starfiregolfclub.com
Starr Pass Resort
Tucson, Arizona
www.jwmarriottstarrpass.com
Wildfire at Desert Ridge
Phoenix, Arizona
Hiddenbrooke Golf Club
Vallejo, California
www.hiddenbrookegolf.com
Indian Ridge Country Club
Arroyo and Grove Courses Palm Desert, California www.indianridgecc.com
Mission Hills Country Club
The Arnold Palmer Course Rancho Mirage, California www.missionhills.com
Mountain View Country Club
La Quinta, California
www.mountainviewatlaquinta.com
Pebble Beach Golf Links +
Monterey, California
La Quinta, California
www.traditiongolfclub.net
COLORADO Bear Creek Golf Course
Denver, Colorado
www.bearcreekgolfclub.net
Cherry Hills Country Club +
Englewood, Colorado
www.chcc.com
Eagle Ranch Golf Course @
Eagle, Colorado
www.eagleranchgolf.com
Lone Tree Golf Club
Littleton, Colorado
www.pebblebeach.com
www.golfcolorado.com/lonetree
PGA West
CONNECtICUt
The Palmer Private Course La Quinta, California www.pgawest.com
www.wildfiregolf.com
The Presidio Golf Course +@
CALIFORNIA
www.presidiogolfclub.com
Aviara at Park Hyatt Resort
The Tradition Golf Club
San Francisco, California
Rancho Murieta Country Club
Gillette Ridge Golf Club
Bloomfield, Connecticut
www.gilletteridgegolf.com
FLORIDA Adios Golf Club
Coconut Creek, Florida
Rancho Murieta, California
www.adiosgolfclub.org
www.parkaviara.hyatt.com
www.ranchomurietacc.com
The Classic Club
Rolling Hills Golf Club
Orlando, Florida
Carlsbad, California
Bay Hill Club and Lodge +
Palos Verdes Estates, California
www.bayhill.com
www.classicclubgolf.com
www.rollinghillscc.com
Empire Lake Golf Course
SilverRock Resort
Boca Raton, Florida
Palm Desert, California
Rancho Cucamonga, California
www.empirelakes.com
La Quinta, California
www.silverrock.org
Pga national – laKe coUrse, fl, hole 18
Boca West #1 and Boca West #3 www.bocawestcc.org
Deering Bay Yacht and Country Club
Mill Cove Golf Club
Spessard Holland Golf Park
Coral Gables, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Melbourne, Florida
www.dbycc.com
www.millcovegolfcourse.com
www.golfspessardholland.com
Frenchman's Reserve
Mizner Golf and Country Club @
St. Andrews Country Club +
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Delray Beach, Florida
Boca Raton, Florida
www.frenchmansreservecc.com
www.miznercountryclub.com
www.standrewscc.com
The Golf Club at North Hampton
Monarch Country Club
Suntree Country Club
Fernandina Beach, Florida
Palm City, Florida
Melbourne, Florida
www.northhampton.com/golfclub.asp
www.monarchclub.com
www.suntree.com
Hidden Hills Country Club +
Naples Lakes Country Club @
Jacksonville, Florida
Naples, Florida
Tesoro The Palmer Course
www.hiddenhillscc.com
www.napleslakesfl.com
Isleworth Golf and Country Club
Orchid Island Golf Club
Windermere, Florida
Vero Beach, Florida
www.isleworth.com
www.orchidislandgolfandbeachclub.com
Port St. Lucie, Florida
www.tesoroclub.com
Wildcat Run Country Club @
Estero, Florida
www.wildcatruncc.com
The King and The Bear
Palmer Legends Country Club
St. Augustine, Florida
The Villages, Florida
GEORGIA
Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club
Pasadena Yacht and Country Club +
Cypress Links and King's Dunes Bradenton, Florida
Augusta, Georgia
www.pyccgolf.com
www.kingandbear.com
www.lakewoodranchgolf.com
Legacy Golf Club
Bradenton, Florida
www.legacygolfclub.com
Legends at Orange Lake
Kissimmee, Florida
www.orangelake.com
Lost Key Golf Course @*
www.thevillages.com
St. Petersburg, Florida
PGA National
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
www.pgaresort.com
Pine Lakes at Palm Coast Resort
Marsh Landing Country Club www.marshlandingcc.com
Matanzas Woods, Palm Coast Resort
Palm Coast, Florida
www.palmcoastresort.com
Cherokee Run Golf Club
Conyers, Georgia
Woodstock, Georgia
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Majors Golf Club at Palm Bay
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
www.championsretreat.net
The Plantation at Ponte Vedra
Ponte Vedra Golf & Country Club at Sawgrass +
www.majorsgolfclub.com
Champions Retreat
Augusta, Georgia
www.cherokeerungolfclub.com
www.theplantationpv.com
Palm Bay, Florida
www.thefirstteeaugusta.org
Palm Coast, Florida
www.palmcoastresort.com/golf.html
Perdido Key, Florida
www.lostkey.com
Augusta First Tee
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Eagle Watch www.eaglewatchgolf.com
Forest Hills Golf Club +
Augusta, Georgia
www.theforesthillsgolfcourse.com
www.pontevedragolfandcc.com
Landings on Skidaway Island @
Reunion Resort & Club
Magnolia Course Savannah, Georgia
The Legacy Course Orlando, Florida
www.reunionresort.com
Saddlebrook Resort
Wesley Chapel, Florida www.saddlebrook.com
Sawgrass Country Club +
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
www.sawgrasscountryclub.com
www.thelandings.com
Stouffers Pine Isle +
Lake Lanier Islands, Georgia Whitewater Country Club
Fayetteville, Georgia
www.whitewatercc.com
HAwAII The Hapuna Golf Course
Kamuela, Hawaii
www.princeresortshawaii.com
bay hill club and lodge, fl, hole 5
mASSACHUSEttS
Osage National Golf Club
Lake Ozark, Missouri
www.princeresortshawaii.com
TPC of Boston at Great Woods
Kapalua Golf Club @
www.tpcboston.com
mONtANA
mICHIGAN
Big Sky Golf Club
The Bay Course Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
www.hawaiigolfacademy.com
Turtle Bay Resort
The Palmer Course Kakuku, Hawaii
Norton, Massachusetts
Coyote Preserve Golf Club
Fenton, Michigan
www.osagenational.com
Big Sky, Montana
www.bigskyresort.com
www.coyotepreserve.com
NEBRASKA
www.turtlebayresort.com
The Legend at Shanty Creek
Arbor Links Golf Course
ILLINOIS
www.shantycreek.com/golf
www.arborlinks.com
Manitou Passage Golf Club
The Players Club at Deer Creek
The Den at Fox Creek Golf Club @
Bloomington, Illinois
www.thedengc.com
Hawthorn Woods Country Club
Hawthorn Township, Illinois
Bellaire, Michigan
Cedar, Michigan
www.manitoupassagegolfclub.com
Northville Hills Country Club @
Northville, Michigan
www.hwccgolf.com
www.northvillehills.com
Spencer T. Olin Community Golf Course
Ravines Golf Club
Alton, Illinois
www.spencertolingolf.com
White Eagle Golf Club
Naperville, Illinois
www.whiteeaglegc.com
Saugatuck, Michigan
www.ravinesgolfclub.com
mINNESOtA Deacon's Lodge
Nisswa, Minnesota
www.deaconslodge.com
IOwA
Minnesota Valley Golf Club +@
Tournament Club of Iowa
Bloomington, Minnesota
Polk City, Iowa
www.tcofiowa.com
TPC of the Twin Cities @
Nebraska City, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
www.playersclubomaha.com
NEVADA Angel Park Golf Club
Palm Course and Mountain Course Las Vegas, Nevada
www.angelparkgolfclub.com
ArrowCreek Country Club
The Legend Course Reno, Nevada
www.golfarrowcreek.com
Dayton Valley Country Club
Dayton, Nevada
www.daytonvalley.com
Oasis Golf Club
Mesquite, Nevada
Blaine, Minnesota
KENtUCKY
www.tpctwincities.com
www.theoasisgolfclub.com
Lake Forest Country Club
mISSISSIPPI
Arroyo Course and Mountain Course Las Vegas, Nevada
Louisville, Kentucky
www.lakeforestgolf.com
LOUISIANA The Bluffs on Thompson Creek
St. Francesville, Louisiana
www.thebluffs.com
mARYLAND Country Club at Woodmore
Mitchellville, Maryland
www.ccwoodmore.com
The Bridges Golf Club at Hollywood Casino @*
Red Rock Country Club
www.redrockcountryclub.com
www.hollywoodcasinobsl.com/golf
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
NEw HAmPSHIRE
mISSOURI
Greenland, New Hampshire
Big Cedar
Arnold Palmer Practice Facility* Ridgedale, Missouri www.big-cedar.com
Golf Club of New England www.golfclubne.com
NEw JERSEY Laurel Creek Country Club @
Mt. Laurel, New Jersey
www.laurelcreekcc.org
Photo by Evan Schiller / golfshots.com
Hawaii Prince Golf Club
Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Regency at Monroe
Woodlake Resort & Golf Club
Laurel Valley Golf Club +
Freehold, New Jersey
Vass, North Carolina
Ligonier, Pennsylvania
NORtH CAROLINA
White Oak Golf & Equestrian Community
Oakmont, Pennsylvania
www.regencyatmonroe.com
Balsam Mountain Preserve
Sylva, North Carolina
www.balsammountain.com
Birkdale Golf Club
Huntersville, North Carolina
www.birkdale.com
Brier Creek Country Club @
www.woodlakecc.com
Tryon, North Carolina
Treesdale Golf and Country Club @
NORtH DAKOtA
www.treesdalegolf.com
King’s Walk Golf Course
Grand Forks, North Dakota
www.kingswalk.org
OHIO
The Carolina Golf Club
Loveland, Ohio
Pinehurst, North Carolina
www.thecarolina.com
Cullasaja Club
Highlands, North Carolina
www.cullasajaclub.org
Mid South Club
Oasis Golf Club www.oasisclub.com
TPC River’s Bend
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.tpcatriversbend.com
Tartan Fields Golf Club
Dublin, Ohio
Southern Pines, North Carolina
www.tartanfields.com
NCSU Lonnie Poole Golf Course
Running Y Ranch Resort @
www.talamore.com
Raleigh, North Carolina
www.lonniepoolegolfcourse.com
Oak Valley Golf Club
Advance, North Carolina
OREGON
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
www.tpcpiperglen.com
The Club at Blackthorne
Quail Hollow Country Club +
www.theclubatblackthorne.com
www.river18.com
Musgrove Mill Golf Club
Clinton, South Carolina
www.musgrovemill.com
Myrtle Beach National
King’s North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
www.mbn.com
Old Tabby Links @
Okatie, South Carolina
www.springisland-sc.com
The Reserve at Lake Keowee
Sunset, South Carolina
PENNSYLVANIA www.bluebellcc.com
Shallotte, North Carolina
Bluffton, South Carolina
www.crescentpointegolf.com
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
www.runningy.com
TPC at Piper Glen @
Rivers Edge Golf Club
SOUtH CAROLINA Crescent Pointe Golf Club
www.reserveatlakekeowee.com
Blue Bell Country Club
Charlotte, North Carolina
Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
Klamath Falls, Oregon
www.oakvalleygolfclub.com
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.oakmont-countryclub.org
www.whiteoaktryon.com
Raleigh, North Carolina
www.briercreekcc.com
Oakmont Country Club +
RiverTowne Country Club www.rivertownecountryclub.com
Wexford Golf Club
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
www.wexfordhiltonhead.com
Penn Township, Pennsylvania
SOUtH DAKOtA
Commonwealth National Golf Club @
Dakota Dunes, South Dakota
Horsham, Pennsylvania
www.commonwealthgolfclub.com
Scotch Hall Preserve
Merry Hill, North Carolina
www.scotchhallpreserve.com
arrowcreek country club, nv, hole 14
Dakota Dunes Country Club www.dakotadunescountryclub.com
The Governors Golf Club
Brentwood, Tennessee
www.thegovernorsclub.com
The Woodlands
The Palmer Course The Woodlands, Texas www.thewoodlands.com
wASHINGtON Seattle Golf Club + Seattle, Washington
www.seattlegolfclub.com
King’s Creek
UtAH
Spring Hill, Tennessee
Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club @
Jeremy Golf and Country Club
Blaine, Washington
www.kingscreekgolf.com
Ridgeway Country Club
Colliersville, Tennessee
www.ridgewaycountryclub.com
tEXAS Barton Creek Resort @
Palmer Lakeside Course Spicewood, Texas
www.bartoncreek.com
Twin Creeks Golf Course
Allen, Texas
www.twincreeksgolf.com
The Golf Club at Fossil Creek
Fort Worth, Texas
www.thegolfclubatfossilcreek.com
Lakecliff on Lake Travis
Spicewood, Texas
www.lakecliff.net
Newport Dunes
Port Aransas, Texas
www.newportdunesgolf.com
La Cantera Resort @ The Palmer Course
San Antonio, Texas
www.lacanteragolfclub.com
Park City, Utah
www.thejeremy.com
VIRGINIA Bay Creek Golf Club @*
Cape Charles, Virginia
www.semiahmoo.com
Suncadia Resort The Prospector Course
Roslyn, Washington
www.suncadia.com
www.baycreekgolfclub.com
wESt VIRGINIA
Belmont Country Club @
Speidel Golf Club The Palmer Course
Ashburn, Virginia
www.belmontcountryclub.com
Dominion Valley Country Club Regency at Dominion Valley
Wheeling, West Virginia
www.oglebay-resort.com/golf/index.cfm
Stonewall Jackson Lake Resort
Haymarket, Virginia
Walkersville, West Virginia
www.dominionvalley.com
www.stonewallresort.com
Fawn Lake @
wISCONSIN
Spotsylvania, Virginia
www.fawnlakevirginia.com
The Bog
Keswick Golf Club @
www.golfthebog.com
Keswick, Virginia
www.keswickclub.com
Kingsmill on the James @
The Plantation Course Williamsburg, Virginia
Saukville, Wisconsin
Geneva National Golf Club
The Palmer Course Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
www.genevanationalresort.com
www.kingsmill.com
wYOmING
Signature at West Neck
Teton Pines Resort and Country Club @
Virginia Beach, Virginia
www.signatureatwestneck.com
Jackson, Wyoming www.tetonpines.com
Photo by Aidan Bradley
tENNESSEE
international
GERmANY
AUStRALIA
Hannover
Sanctuary Cove Pines Golf Course
Sanctuary Cove, Queensland
www.sanctuarycove.com
BAHAmAS Ginn Sur Mer (formerly West End)
West End, Grand Bahama Island
CANADA Northview Golf and Country Club
Rethmar Golf Links
Golf Club Le Pavoniere
Prato
www.golfclublepavoniere.com
www.rethmar-golf-links.de
JAPAN
Sporting Club Berlin
Adonis Garden Club
Bad Saarow
www.sporting-club-berlin.de
Gifu Prefecture Ajigasawa Kogen Golf Course
GUAm
Aomori Prefecture
Leo Palace Resort
Asahi Miki
The Palmer Course Yona
www.leopalaceresort.com
Osaka Aso Prince Hotel Golf Course
Kumamoto Prefecture
Ridge Course and Canal Course Cloverdale, British Columbia
INDIA
Forest Miki Golf Club
DLF Golf Club
Hyogo Prefecture
Whistler Golf Club
www.dlfgolfresort.com
www.northviewgolf.com
Whistler, British Columbia www.whistlergolf.com
CHINA Beijing Cascades Golf Course
Beijing
www.cascadesgolf.cn/index_2.html
Chung Shan Hot Springs Golf Course
Guangdong Province
www.cshsgc.com.cn
Pure Scene Golf Club & Resort
Kunming
New Delhi
INDONESIA Emeralda Golf and Country Club
Desa Tapos, Cimanggis (Jakarta)
www.emeraldagolfclub.com
IRELAND Kildare Hotel & Country Club
The Palmer Course & Smurfit Course Straffan, County Kildare www.kclub.ie
Tralee Golf Club
Fuji Excellent Ono Club
Hyogo Prefecture Furano Golf Course
The King & Palmer Courses Hokkaido Prefecture Japan Classic Country Club
Iga Ueno Kanegasaki Golf Course
Iwate Prefecture Manago Country Club
Tochigi Prefecture Minakami-Kogen Golf Course
Ardfert, County Kerry
COStA RICA
www.traleegolfclub.com
Gunma Prefecture
Four Seasons Resort Peninsula Papagayo
ItALY
Gifu Prefecture
Papagayo, Guanacaste
www.fourseasons.com/costarica/golf
FRANCE Crecy Golf Club (Domaine de la Brie)
Crecy–la–Chapelle
www.domainedelabrie.com
Ca’della Nave Golf Club
Misawa Adonis Golf Club Niseko Golf Course
Martellago
Hokkaido Prefecture
Castello di Tolcinasco Golf and Country Club
Tochigi Prefecture
www.cadellanave.com
Milano
www.golftolcinasco.it
craft farms – cypress bend, al, hole 6
Shimotsuke Country Club Shin-Foresta Country Club
Mie Prefecture
Shin-Yubari Golf Club
Sun Valley
Hokkaido Prefecture
Kingsville
Tsugaru Kogen Golf Course
Sun Valley Golf Course
Aomori Prefecture
Antipolo City, Luzon
Wakasa Country Club
Suigetsuko Course Fukui Prefecture Wakasa Country Club
Hyugako Course Kukui Prefecture
www.sunvalleyphilippines.com
PORtUGAL Oceanico Victoria
Vilamoura
www.oceanicogolf.com
REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHStAN
mALAYSIA
Zhailjau Golf Resort
Damai Golf & Country Club
Almaty
Sarawak
www.damaigolf.com
The Legends Golf & Country Resort
www.zgr.kz
SOUtH KOREA
Sedenak, Johor
Eunhwasam Country Club
www.legends-resort.com
Seoul
PHILIPPINES
Muju-Gun
Caliraya Springs Golf & Country Club
Barangay Cavinti, Laguna
Muju Resort www.mujuresort.com
www.calirayasprings.com
SINGAPORE
Imperial Golf & Country Club (formerly Cebu Mactan)
The Legends Fort Canning Park
Cebu
www.theorchardgolf.com
Evercrest Golf Club and Resort
Nasugbu, Batangas
www.evercrestgolfclubresort.com
Forest Hills Golf & Country Club
Antipolo, Luzon Orchard Golf and Country Club
The Legacy Dasmarinas, Cavite
www.theorchardgolf.com
www.legendsfortcanning.com
SPAIN La Manga Club Resort
Cartagena, Murcia
www.lamangaclub.com
tAIwAN Formosa First Country Club
Taoyuan County Formosa Yangmei Country Club
Taoyuan County
tHAILAND Bangpoo Country Club
Bangkok
www.bangpoogolf.com
URUGUAY Las Piedras
Punte del Este
Iconic Anniversaries It’s a fact that more people than one would think travel by Rolls-Royce every day. Separate from the iconic auto maker, the Rolls-Royce engine company builds the engines that power more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 4,000 marine customers (including 70 navies) and energy customers in more than 80 countries. One of their most prominent customers is Arnold Palmer, who this year received recognition from the company in the form of an award that acknowledged his role as a longstanding ambassador for business aviation. Presented at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Orlando, the award was a specially mounted AE3007C Citation X fan blade. It was similar to one that would have been in the engine of the first Cessna Citation X business jet delivered, which went to Palmer in 1996. Arnie then became the first operator of the Rolls-Royce AE3007C1
engine when he upgraded to a new Citation X in 1999, an aircraft he’s still flying in today. Throughout this time, Palmer used Rolls-Royce CorporateCare, a service which maximizes engine availablilty for customers. “Over the past 50 years Arnold Palmer has had an immensely positive impact on both the world of golf and business aviation,” said Scott Shannon, Rolls-Royce, Executive Vice President, Civil Small & Medium Engines. “He has consistently extolled the virtues of the use of private aircraft, which have enabled him to enjoy a global career. From the outset of his relationship with Rolls-Royce, Mr. Palmer has been a CorporateCare customer, trusting us to deliver excellence just as he has delivered excellence in golf. RollsRoyce itself celebrates a 50th anniversary this year, recalling the debut of ‘Power-by-the-Hour’ in our engine maintenance services, so it is fitting that we honor Mr. Palmer today. We wish him continued success in all his endeavors.”
Scott Shannon, Rolls-Royce Executive Vice President, Civil Small and Medium Engines (left), Palmer, and Russell Buxton, Rolls-Royce President, Civil Small and Medium Engines
Palmer and hotel industry icon Bill Marriott
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2012
kingdom
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