TPC Signature: Issue 5 by North & Warren

$20 where sold # 5 — s u m m e r 2015

RICKIE FOWLER

CARIBBEAN GOLF WITH TPC AMERICAN HEARTLAND

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publication

Reade Tilley

Matthew Squire

Robin Barwick

Matthew Halnan

c o n t r i b u t i n g e d i to r

a r t d i r e c to r

e d i to r

publisher

 group art director

Leon Harris junior designer

Kieron Deen Halnan founding contributor

Arnold Palmer special contributors

Mike Farese, Ginny Sanderlin Donald Trump contributing photographers

Patrick Drickey & Dan Murphy / stonehousegolf.com, Getty Images, Howdy Giles, Beatrix Tilley, Meghan Tilley, USGA vp , operations

Joe Velotta head of advertising sales

Jon Edwards advertising sales

Deric Piper Dean Jacobson Patrick Cadore executive assistants

special thanks & contributors

Lisa Albert Samantha Arth Ross Buckendahl Joe Buttitta Rich Claussen Peter Dawson Ray Easler & his great team at Bay Hill David Fleming Rickie Fowler Ken Goodwin Betsy Hunewill Richard Johnson Alastair Johnston Chris Johnston Jane Kozich Andrew Lochhead Kathy McKillip Dan Nichols Matthew Range Chris Rodell Joey Sprayberry Rick Stanoff Victoria Student Paul Trow Kristen Wagner Michelle Wait Mike Woodcock

cov e r i m ag e

sam greenwood , getty images

Rickie Fowler, THE PLAYERS Championship

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tpc foreword

Summer

t was a spring to remember for the TPC Network, as we hosted several incredible PGA TOUR events, including three in consecutive weeks at TPC Louisiana, TPC Harding Park, and TPC Sawgrass. And while the tournaments alone were fantastic, I don’t think we could have asked for a more distinguished group of winners in what proved to be one of the most entertaining tournament stretches in recent memory. The run started in March with hometown favorite Jimmy Walker winning the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio after a close finish versus Jordan Spieth. A few weeks later we saw a wet and wild Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana, where Justin Rose captured his 7th PGA TOUR victory. The following week we watched as World No. 1 Rory McIlroy closed out Gary Woodland in the finals of the World Golf Championships–Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park, featuring a new format for 2015. The grand finale came just one week later on Mother’s Day, with Rickie Fowler defeating Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner in a three-way playoff at THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass, making for one of the most exciting finishes in PLAYERS history. It’s safe to say that the game of golf is in great hands for the foreseeable future. Beyond tournaments, the spring also marked the continued expansion of the TPC Network’s international portfolio with the launching of TPC Dorado Beach, located at Dorado Beach Resort, a luxury integrated beachfront resort and residential community in Puerto Rico. Debuting in April 2015 under the TPC banner, TPC Dorado Beach

will eventually be home to three world-class Caribbean golf courses: the East Course, West Course and Sugarcane Course. The property’s recently updated East Course will play host to the 2015 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica Tour Championship December 3-6, where five players will be awarded status to the Web.com Tour in 2016. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome TPC Dorado Beach to the TPC family. The summer months bring plenty to look forward to, from longer days perfect for getting a quick round in after work, to more exciting PGA TOUR tournaments featuring your favorite players. Be sure to tune in to all the action leading up to the FedExCup Playoffs, including a stop at TPC Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship and then culminating at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola in Atlanta. No matter where you are this summer, I invite you to make our Network yours, whether by attending or tuning in to one of the many tournaments we host, or by enjoying a PGA TOUR-approved round of golf at one of our 34 properties. It certainly is an exciting time to be a golf fan, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with golf at the highest level from the PGA TOUR’s TPC Network.

Charlie Zink Co-Chief Operating Officer PGA TOUR

summer 2015

editor’s

letter

Boots & Hat

egendary British rocker Paul Weller once said that “No man should have cowboy boots in his wardrobe. That’s fair enough, isn’t it? Unless you’re a cowboy, of course.” After this summer, I’m not so sure. Ever since Stetson popularized the cowboy hat and the first Western film was released (The Great Train Robbery, 1903), people all over the world have been appropriating the “cowboy” look, which certainly includes at least one pair of boots. While these folks may not have spent a freezing day knee-deep in cows**t and bramble trying to wrestle a trapped cow from a ridiculous situation, I think their celebrating the style is fine as long as it’s done honestly, i.e., with respect for real cowboys. Committing to a genuine cowboy’s life—and that life is still going strong, by the way (p34), at places like the Hunewill Ranch—is a big commitment, with big risks and big rewards. Accordingly, I’ve come to see “cowboy” as a designation of respect and skill, not a character. If those with clean boots haven’t necessarily felt the sudden terror of their horse trying to catch its footing on slickrock, neither have they experienced the joy of helping to bring a new calf into the world or spent each of their days in glorious, wide-open spaces (most likely). Big risks, big rewards. But so it goes with commitment to anything, really: a profession, a relationship or even a game. For every Arnold Palmer, there are so many others who dedicated their lives to golf and then disappeared. Like them, I wear golf clothes sometimes, but anyone who’s seen me

play will tell you that I’ll never hold a tee to the likes of those guys, Palmer or the numerous scratch golfers who sacrifice to excel at golf (p94). Likewise, I occasionally wear a business suit but I wouldn’t call myself a proper businessman like Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, who committed to his dreams and was able to build the magnificent Big Cedar Lodge (p140) along with a sporting goods empire. I have all kinds of clothing I wear for all kinds of occasions, and a lot of it was intended for people who use it professionally or at least seriously (running shoes, anyone?). If I can’t claim the same authenticity when I dress the part, I will say that I’m always in the spirit, and so it is with my Western wear. For everyone who’s ever committed to a high risk/reward situation and is willing to put it on the line, I think it’s worth having a pair of cowboy boots in the wardrobe. Mine are straightforward, high quality boots from Justin, and while I’d never call myself a real cowboy, I plan on happily wearing them—and my Stetson hat—whenever I please. If you don’t like it, don’t let the saloon doors hit you on the way out. With a tip of my hat,

Reade Tilley

summer 2015

publisher’s foreword

More than just a game

n my position as publisher I am very fortunate to be invited to review a lot of great golf courses with my colleagues, and I am equally fortunate to get to play several more as part of business with clients. I would hardly be betraying a confidence when I say that for me, this is far and away the most enjoyable part of “work.” This year, however, I was also able to take an extended family vacation in Florida. First at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, and then at Disney—two very different experiences, of course, but both equally enjoyable. It was wonderful to be able to play, interact and relax in each setting with my wife and children, both on and off the golf course. It took me back to playing with my own father at a time when I still dreamed of emulating Arnold Palmer, when the only thing in single figures was my age and not my handicap. In today’s world, where mom and dad often both work—and certainly both work as parents—and where children are often screen-ensnared, spending time outside on and around the golf course as a family is arguably more important than ever. Golf is a fun, healthy, competitive, educational environment where lessons of respect, manners and self discipline are easily taught and understood. Not to mention all the benefits of being outside enjoying the fresh air. For us in the golf industry, family golf and women’s golf are both essential to the growth of the game. With that in mind, it is encouraging to see golf’s authorities looking to develop women’s and family golf with such initiatives as the PGA of America’s 2.0 program and its collaboration

summer 2015

with the LPGA to stage the highly successful Women’s PGA Championship. Also, men’s professional golf is in rude health of course, so in some ways it’s even more encouraging to see the vision of the PGA TOUR with their women’s initiative. Long one of golf’s great innovators and philanthropists, Mr. Palmer has recently announced that the Arnold Palmer Cup—previously the Palmer Cup—otherwise known as the Ryder Cup of collegiate golf, will, in the future, feature men’s and women’s teams in one global event: American colleges against an international student team. Lastly, on the subject of Arnold and international development, it is wonderful that he will soon be designing his first-ever signature course in Scotland, at Castle Stuart. Long overdue, it will no doubt be a tremendous destination and, with Royal Dornoch, Nairn, Skibo and the Glenmorangie distillery all in surrounding area, it is fast becoming a must visit area—truly fast in my and Mr. Palmer’s cases as we’ll be there by the time you’re reading this. Enjoy the rest of the summer,

Matthew Squire

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Issue 5 Summer 2015

TPC Dorado Beach

TPC at Baha Mar

Rickie

The most storied course in Puerto Rico offers top-quality play and dramatic beauty for TPC members and fans

The Bahamas will soon have one of the most incredible properties in the Caribbean— and great TPC golf

Believe the rock-star hype: Fowler proved he’s a force in the game—and he’s nowhere near done yet

34 52 58 70 78 84 92 94 100 106 108 115

Two Cowboys How to tell one man in a hat and boots from another Big Sur A world away, right in the heart of California’s Central Coast No.14s The next chapter in our series of dream courses Nebraska We visit the Cornhusker State—quietly Peter Dawson One of the game’s biggest figures readies to step down Old Tom Journey through golf’s original history with a legend Open Journey The courses that made the Championship Scratch Golfers What would you be willing to sacrifice for the game? Adapt Playing through physical changes to stay in the game Trump How long vision can see you through Bay Hill 50 years ago Palmer first stepped onto Bay Hill, and everything changed TPC Signature Golf Holes Epic examples of TPC golf

summer 2015

Issue 5 Summer 2015

132

144

164

King of Beers

Comeback Courses

Rye

We visit the flagship St. Louis brewery of one of the world’s best-known beers and enjoy a glass or two of history

Mother Nature can hurt, but these tracks refused to stay down. Courses that came back after heavy hits

An expert at Omaha’s Grane bar spices up our love of good whiskey and good stories with a bit of a kick

123 136 138 140 150 154 160 170 178 182 186

Gift Guide Hot season for cool gifts Folds of Honor Helping the foundation to achieve its important mission Patriotic Game The ways in which golf gives back to those most deserving Big Cedar Disappearing into America’s Premiere Wilderness Resort Health Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s overview of golf-ready health Grill Short ribs, good friends and an excellent new grill Ice Cream West Coast treats to keep your summer chilled Fashion Duck and cover with these sheltering options Palmer Design Scotland, West Virginia and more big announcements Angry Pro Six things your pro hates about you, plus one more Last Page The Greenbrier

summer 2015

TPC ON THE BEACH With its deep Florida roots and numerous coastal properties across the United States, the TPC Network has never been far from water, but recently it’s taken a love of sun and sand to another level. With two new TPC destinations in The Bahamas and Puerto Rico, the beach love is getting serious—and we couldn’t be happier.

summer 2015

Golf—and TPC Network golf, specifically— has always been associated with beautiful places, and many of those happen to be near the sea. (It’s no coincidence that the PGA TOUR’s headquarters is in lovely Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, at TPC Sawgrass.) Likewise, as the TPC Network grows it makes sense that some of its newest and brightest gems will be found along the beach. Most recent among those gems are TPC Dorado Beach, in Puerto Rico, and TPC at Baha Mar, in The Bahamas. Both offer superlative golf and top-notch amenities with plenty of local flavor, and each delivers in its own specific way. With completely different personalities but the same great effect of leaving visitors relaxed, fulfilled, and perhaps a little sun-kissed, these new TPC properties offer more reason than ever to pack up your clubs and hit the beach—just don’t forget your sunscreen.

T P C DOR A D O BEAC H For years, if you were talking about golf in Puerto Rico then you were talking about Dorado Beach Resort & Club—and thank the stars nothing has changed. Just half an hour west of the island’s capital of San Juan, the best golf on the island is at the newly renamed TPC Dorado Beach. Long the home of superlative golf, the addition of Dorado Beach to the TPC family is just the latest in a long line of successes for the property. “Dorado Beach is a very, very special place,” says General Manager David Tyson. “It’s a little under 1,500 acres of land that has the Atlantic to its north and mountains to its south. More than anything else it’s a tropical park, with amazing levels of landscaping and a beautiful seven miles of trails; and of course we have the three golf courses.” Naturally stunning since it was first imagined by Laurance Rockefeller in 1955, the property has always been one of the best places to golf. That’s because Rockefeller—a pioneering venture capitalist and member of the storied Rockefeller family—hired Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to create the finest golf resort in Puerto Rico, and that’s exactly what Jones did. After Dorado Beach opened

summer 2015

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We’ve always been a high-end resort but now there’s even more accountability because we’re a TPC

in 1958, the resort and its original four courses hosted For all of its history, TPC Dorado Beach’s future is PGA TOUR tournaments and entertained the likes of even more exciting, especially for TPC members. John F. Kennedy, Ava Gardner, and Elizabeth Taylor, “We’ve always been a high-end resort, but now there’s to name just a few. In the process it established itself even more accountability because we’re a TPC property,” as the region’s finest resort and a Caribbean home says Jeff Willenberg, Director of Golf at TPC Dorado Beach. for world leaders, VIPs, and serious golfers. One of “While we haven’t made many changes to our philosophies— those, Puerto Rican golf legend Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez, providing excellent services at the hotel and golf course—I got an early start here, first as a caddie and later as think that in the eyes of the guests, the TPC logo means a the club’s longtime pro. Flamboyant and charitable, the lot, and they’ve made that known to us. World Golf Hall of Fame member earned eight wins It’s a higher standard and so you have to ask every day, on the PGA TOUR and 22 more on what is now the ‘Is this TPC-worthy or is it not?’ We’re considered a very Champions Tour. In 1964, he battled Doug Sanders here in high-level course and hotel, so people that are coming in are Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf, which Chi Chi won with already expecting high-end facilities, but even more so now.” a score of three under. Sam Snead made a mark here as well, For many, those facilities begin and end with the golf, teaming up with Jimmy Demaret in the 1961 Canada Cup which is in great shape and only getting better. In 2011, after (World Cup of Golf), which the duo won over Australians years of relative quiet, the property was returned to form Kel Nagle and Peter Thomson. when another Trent Jones restored the club’s crown jewel,

summer 2015

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the East Course. Robert Trent Jones, Jr. took the project very seriously, issuing a statement in which he said, “It was truly an honor to restore one of my father’s original masterpieces. The restoration of the East Course has enhanced the natural beauty, playing conditions, and flexibility that my father had originally envisioned over 50 years ago.” The flagship course at TPC Dorado Beach is joined by two others: the West Course members’ track and the Plantation Course, a resort course that is as beautiful as it is enjoyable. The property’s new leadership is getting set to renovate the West Course, and there’s talk of building new holes. Additionally, the Sugarcane Course is in fine shape, “wide open, not tight, easy to play,” Tyson says. “Green speeds might be in the 9s and 10s, compared to the ones at the East Course. Sugarcane is enjoyable for the player that wants to get in, have

a round of golf, and get out. There are wider runs up to the green, as opposed to East where it’s tight and you have to chip—you’re not going to roll the ball up there. They’re three very distinctive golf courses, and each is amazing.” Each is amazing, indeed, but many visitors will have their sights set on the storied East Course. With regard to the renovation, Willenberg says Trent Jones, Jr. added more drainage and restored the bunkers and greens complexes. For the latter, Champion Bermudagrass was put in, which is partly responsible for the unusually high (for the Caribbean) speeds. “In an amateur tournament there, they were running 11.5 to 12.5,” Willenberg explains. Challenging for sure, the course is also a stunner, with a few holes playing along the ocean, the first of which happens to be the opening hole.

TPC Dorado Beach TPC Dorado Beach is home to the only Ritz-Carlton Reserve in the Western Hemisphere, and if you’d like to stick around there are plantation-style resort residences as well. More information regarding membership and vacation packages can be found online at tpc.com/doradobeach

summer 2015

“A par-5 that’s a beautiful golf hole,” says Willenberg. “It’s considered a birdie hole for better players, and if you get a couple of good shots you can get par there.” Another hole that has the water in view is also the course’s signature hole: No.4, also known as “The Z Hole” for its distinctive layout, which resembles … well, you can figure it out. “The green sits against the ocean, maybe 50 yards from it,” Willenberg explains. “A par-5, it’s a really great risk-reward hole. A player that hits a good drive may have 190 to 215 yards out and an opportunity to go for it in two, but the green is heavily bunkered and there’s a lake that fronts it as well. You can birdie it, but you can also easily make double bogey if you end up in the water. Still, it’s the hole everyone comments about, with a great backdrop. You have the ocean views and these beautiful palm trees, 100 to 120 feet high.” Hole 6 is a tough one but makes great use of Atlantic views from the green, while No.14 is a truly tough par-5 that has you hitting a second shot downhill into a narrow valley that’s heavily bunkered. Miss that, and the third shot—uphill to an elevated green—is going to pose a problem. As one would expect, the finishing hole is exceptionally beautiful with a huge green complex and tremendous views. All in all the East Course lives up to its legend—and there are still two more courses to play! Both Tyson and Willenberg say that joining the TPC family will expand Dorado Beach’s appeal beyond the usual East Coast audience, and there’s no doubt about it, with new visitors already showing up and the existing membership starting to enjoy the benefits of the TPC Network.

summer 2015

“Vacations here overall are even higher-end now because of the brand,” says Willenberg. “We’re seeing that already … and the members are very excited because of the benefits that are provided to them through the TPC Passport program—everybody’s signing up for that, and we already have a lot of members that have traveled to play other TPC properties and a lot more that are planning to go.”

New visitors are showing up and the existing membership is starting to enjoy the benefits of the TPC Network

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T P C AT BA HA MAR One of the places they’ll be traveling to soon is TPC at Baha Mar in Nassau, The Bahamas. The first Caribbean golf course in the TPC Network is situated within the $3.5 billion Baha Mar development—the largest single-phase luxury resort project in the history of the region; and, more than being just an exciting new golf destination, it’s set to be a thrilling full-service island experience. With top accommodations and a host of amenities, the property is aiming to be a cultural bridge between the American mainland, Latin America and the Caribbean, with aspects of all three cultures flavouring the music, cuisine, entertainment, and more. Still, as a TPC course, most of the focus for TPC members will be on the golf, and that is shaping up to be absolutely exquisite. “It really is an interesting course,” says TJ Baggett, TPC at Baha Mar’s Director of Golf. “It’s one of the more unique layouts I’ve seen in terms of the front nine and the back nine being completely different experiences.” As Baggett explains, the front nine on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Design layout is mostly flat, with an amazing eight holes playing along the water. “There’s a lot of water,” he says. “A lot of waste bunkering, a lot of bunkering, green grass, blue water, white sand… what more could you want?” Indeed. It sounds like a tropical paradise, and it is. That’s not to say it’s a simple resort course. “On the front nine you have to be very careful with tee shot placement. It’s not that the approaches are easy, but

There’s a lot of water, a lot of green grass, bunkering, blue water, white sand... What more could you want? you have to be careful with your tee shots.” If the front nine is a tropical beach excursion, the back nine shows you a different side of the Caribbean. In complete contrast to the relatively level front nine, the second half of the course winds through a forest of native trees and fauna. Roughly 15 species of trees are here, including protected Mahogany, Caribbean Pine, Buttonwood, and Silk Cotton. Red and Black Mangroves twist and wind here as well, providing a safe haven for some of the more than 70 species of wildlife on course. All of this is set along rolling topography, and it completely transports golfers from one world into another, from wide open beach landscapes to shaded and shadowy forest. Hardly a subtle shift, it begins immediately after the turn.

summer 2015

“Probably the most visually intimidating hole, and what will probably become our signature hole, is Hole 16. It’s a par-3, 165 yards to a peninsula green. It’s not an island green, but it looks like it. It’s connected to the mainland on the right-hand side of the hole, but on the entire front, left and back it’s surrounded by Lake Cunningham. It’s truly special.” Another beautiful but challenging hole is the par-4 Hole 8, which plays 504 yards from the championship tees and has water down the entire right-hand side. “We definitely have some healthy trade winds, which are certainly a factor here,” Baggett says, “especially on the back nine where you have these holes that have some undulation changes, the wind is going to come into play even more.” As difficult as the course can play, it will be fun for guests of all abilities as it can stretch to 7,300 yards from the back or play 4,800 yards from the forward tees. In the end, Baggett calls it “a very fair experience.”

“On the front nine you’re getting nice, long peripheral views of the ocean along the way, and then as you make the turn to the 10th hole it immediately changes,” says Baggett. “Right away you have a downhill tee shot to a treeline with lots of limestone formations—we call it monospacing because it looks like the surface of the moon. Then you’re into the Bahamian native forest, with a lot of those limestone formations visible throughout.” Unsurprisingly, there are challenges throughout, as well. “We’ve pegged the 14th as the No.1 handicap hole,” Baggett explains. “It’s a par-4 dogleg right, uphill that plays 438 yards from the championship tees into a prevailing wind. It’s surrounded by bunkers at the approach and there’s a bit of a false front on one side. The uphill second shot will be a longer iron or hybrid, and you can’t really see the surface of the green, so it’s tough.

More than that, it’s responsible. The course serves as a preserve for numerous bird and animal species as well as protected trees. The turf is Platinum Paspalum and once the resort is fully up and running (planned for later this year) Baggett says that 100 percent of the irrigation will be able to be sourced from treated water from the hotel—an important factor for an island nation that’s always mindful of potable water. Additionally, Baggett says that the carts in use at TPC at Baha Mar are outfitted with solar panels on their roofs that deliver supplemental power to the battery systems, “which take some of the load off of the island.” So, a beautiful and responsible course, but it’s also a luxury destination. “Very upscale,” says Baggett. “For example, we have what we call hydration therapy. We have one of our assistant golf professionals greet you on the 12th tee with

summer 2015

lovely plated cubes of watermelon soaked with coconut water, which helps hydrate the guests. On a warm Bahamian day, it’s a nice little touch.” A nice touch, and hardly the only one. TPC at Baha Mar is a complete experience, meaning that the luxury, fun, and nice touches don’t end with the golf course. “This is probably the premiere gaming resort in the Caribbean,” explains Michael Goodwin, Vice President of Entertainment. Pointing out the extensive tennis facility with nine courts, the ocean and numerous pools on property, and the luxury on-site shopping (not to mention the golf), Goodwin says TPC at Baha Mar will complete the full luxury resort experience. The on-site casino covers roughly 100,000 square feet—“virtually the same size as what you’d see at the Wynn in Las Vegas,” he says—and due to recent changes to local laws the gaming action will be of the highest caliber, attracting high rollers and serious players. Also, there will be “50-some high-end retail stores throughout the property and another 40 outlets in which to eat and drink,” Goodwin says. “Tiffany, Hublot, Cartier … they all have stores here.” The dining and drinking establishments are spread throughout the property, with waterside restaurants, bars, and cocktail areas that feed into pool areas as well as indoor bars and restaurants. The majority of it will showcase live entertainment as well, “a lot of local talent,” Goodwin explains. “We’ll have everything from jazz and standards that you would normally see in big-city lounges, but we’ll also be tied into the spirit of junkanoo—the street parades—and the Caribbean vibe as well … We want you to know that you’re in a luxury resort in the Caribbean, not just anywhere, and so there are going to be a lot of things on the property that let you know where you are: more than 2,700 pieces of art from Bahamian artists around the property, plus the music and local types of food on offer. You’re in The Bahamas,

summer 2015

not in New York City. But also Baha Mar we’re going to bridge that with When it’s completely up and international appeal, and so we’ll running, Baha Mar will include the be bringing in acts and shows from Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, a Grand all over the world, Latin American Hyatt, an SLS Lux and a Rosewood acts, European acts and more, all hotel. It’s the largest development mixed together to create a truly of its kind in the region, and it’s international experience.” stunning. Find out more at Goodwin says that local acts tpc.com/bahamar and known acts from the U.S. will be bolstered by the occasional big Also Visit: act—and he means big. TPC Cartagena at Karibana in “Once or twice a year Colombia, another new beachside we’re going to throw something member of the TPC Network enormous,” he says, “like U2 or The that’s quickly earning accolades. Rolling Stones or Justin Timberlake. The first South American TPC, the That will happen here.” property is looking forward to the Still, Goodwin acknowledges opening of a five-star 270-room that one of the main attractions Conrad hotel by Hilton, where for visitors will be The guests will enjoy playing privileges Bahamas itself, and the resort at the first international standard will provide the true resort and real estate development Bahamian experience along with in Colombia. Find out more at tpc. everything else. com/cartagena “For example,” he says, “we have a pool called the sanctuary where you can swim with sea rays, sharks, and turtles. And on the other side you can jump off rock formations we’ve created into blue holes, which are deep swimming holes known in the Caribbean. Only 400 acres were used for the resort property proper, with another 600 kept as pristine natural habitat, like the lake attached to us, which you can enjoy with a canoe, see indigenous birds and critters … You’re submerged into the Bahamian world, and you can take it to whatever level you want.”

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Forty feet or so to my left, a member of our crew slowed her horse as a cow and calf stopped in front of her, and so I slowed Ruby as well. As the girl whooped at the pair, trying to get them moving again, I adjusted myself in the saddle, patted Ruby’s neck and looked over to see the young calf, not a month old, pushing her nose at something on the ground. It turned out to be a sun-bleached cow skull, which she flipped over and then licked. After a moment staring at it, she lifted her head and ran off to catch her mother. The gesture struck me as profound and briefly took me out of the sun-drenched meadow: how do human children touch death, or does it touch them first? And isn’t life short. But then, like the calf, Ruby and I got moving again. The cows weren’t through the gate yet

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omedian Stephen Colbert once said, “Thankfully, dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses.” After a month or so talking to cowboys, I’m not so sure a world full of them would be such a bad thing. But of course there are all kinds of people, and so there are all kinds of cowboys—two at least, as it turns out. “No single story encapsulates the complexity of his origin or the riches of his heritage,” begins a recorded message at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. “Some grew up on ranches in the west, some ran away from homes in the east, some crossed the Atlantic … Some grew up in the saddle, most were taught by older hands … Most spoke English, others Spanish, German or an Irish brogue. Some spoke with the Southern drawl of Texans, with the broken English of Native Americans or former slaves … Working side by side with Midwest stock farmers or cattlemen from Carolina, these men, whatever their origins, training or accent, came to share the same identity: cowboys.” Before visiting the museum, I thought I knew what a cowboy was: a guy with a hat, boots, a horse and rope who works with cattle, and that is part of it. But by the time I left, I realized I had only the most basic picture, and that the cowboy who’d had a massive impact on global cinema, music, literature, fashion, art and more, was a completely different guy and lived a fair piece from the man working

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Two horses, Hunewill Ranch

The cowboy who’d had a massive impact on global culture lived a fair piece from the other guy

cattle. So where did these two cowboys come from, and how do I tell them apart? “The question of ‘where did the cowboy come from’ is the same as ‘where did the sailor come from’; it’s a vocation,” says Don Reeves, curator at the museum for more than 35 years, anthropologist, gentleman, and one heck of a smart guy. “And to your other question, the first cattle drive was when you had the first cowboy.” This wasn’t going to be easy.

Briefest History Cattle were likely domesticated sometime near 7,000 BC, probably in the Middle East near what is now Iraq or in Western Asia. Wherever it was, the people taking care of them could reasonably be called the original cowboys. By the 16th century, at least, cattle work was an official vocation, with drovers from the Scottish Highlands regularly taking their “heilan coos” down to city markets. At the same time, the Fulani people of West Africa were busy with their own herds. Living primarily in highland areas near Nigeria and Cameroon, the group counted wealth by herd size and had regular inter-clan battles over grazing rights and cattle ownership. It’s still said that a person cannot speak the Fula language if he does not own a cow.

In the ensuing centuries the vaqueros and the cattle spread all over, resulting in gauchos in Argentina, llaneros in Venezuela and Colombia, huasos in Chile and so many more types of cattlemen. And so it was that by the mid 1800s California had buckaroos (an aberration of vaquero, which itself comes from vaca, Spanish for “cow”), Florida had crackers (from the sound of the whip), Texas had its own cattle tradition, as did the Great Plains, the upper Midwest and so on. As the museum has it, these guys really did come from everywhere, and there was a hierarchy and differences among them, including how they dressed, how they worked cattle, and how proficient they were at their jobs. “For the vaqueros … it was societal, just like nobility in Europe. In California and the West they believed, ‘We’re of status here and you’re just a peon, a person of the country, you have nothing, you know nothing,’” says Reeves. “‘We’re nobility, I’m a caballero! [a knight].’ Up until the 1820s

At the museum: hats and Robert Redford’s Electric Horseman outfit

Spain’s cattle culture goes back to the medieval period, when haciendas and ranching proliferated. And more than any other, it’s the Spanish tradition, with all of its Moorish origins, that would most influence American cattlemen. If you want to trace the American cowboy’s arrival to a particular moment, one might argue that it was Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate’s 1598 expedition that saw 7,000 head of Spanish cattle and a number of highly trained cowboys, called vaqueros, sent north from Mexico across the Rio Grande.

they tried to control it. You had to be of Spanish descent, actually, even to ride or to own a horse … But then they needed the labor and so they went ahead and trained the Native Americans, who became incredible horsemen.” While this was happening in the West, a different sort of cowboy culture was rising in the East, one that included experienced cattlemen from Europe, guys who knew nothing but needed jobs, and slaves who’d been brought from Africa, including members of the Fulani.

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“They’d sell them on the market as people who had talents and knowledge of herding beef cattle,” Reeves explains. “They had a tradition. It wasn’t a horse culture like the Spanish, but they were used to the different aspects of keeping cattle, keeping them safe, keeping the herd at night. They were good breeders and practiced calf castration, which the Spanish didn’t. They had a lot of veterinary techniques.” Viewed as a big picture, it wasn’t that the American cowboy was emerging so much as it was that various cowboy traditions were emerging at different times in different places across North and South America. “When they say ‘the cowboy,’ who, where and when?” asks Reeves. “They’re completely different worlds. They all worked cattle from horseback, they all pretty much had spurs, not all wore boot, and so on.” Hardcore vaqueros used to wear their hat strings under their noses with the tassel hanging over their lips, not under their chins as often pictured in movies. “It was really odd but it’s an affectation, just like modern guys wearing their pants all baggy,” says Reeves.

Vaqueros were different; they weren’t considered cowboys until they could make their own rope

“There’s nothing functional about it, but it says something … What this would mean when the vaqueros would show up, this little thing hanging down across their lips, that meant ‘I’m better than most and I can do anything you throw at me.’” California buckaroos rolled their pants and used to ash their cigarettes into their cuffs to keep from starting fires. (They were often asked to empty their cuffs before entering a house.) And so it went: jacket lengths and materials, hat types, bridles and bits, boots and shoes, and even rope—each tradition had its own style and equipment. “On the Great Plains … they ended up using a lot of sailing ropes because the people on the ranches could buy manila rope being produced in Massachusetts inexpensively,” says Reeves. “And little MacDonald or whoever shows up from Scotland, he’ll work for little to nothing. They have a big bale of rope, they cut him off 30 feet and hand it to him and ‘Hey, you’re a cowboy.’ “Vaqueros were different. These guys weren’t considered a cowboy until they could make their own reata (a type of rope) from rawhide: get the fresh hide, cut it, braid it, make their own reins... They had to prove it.”

Cattle Drive One of the most enduring images of the Old West is the cattle drive, but drives only lasted in earnest from 1866 to 1886, before the railroads all but eliminated their need. At this time “cowboy” was a negative word, often associated with rustlers and criminals; various types of cattlemen were

Glennville Rodeo

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Moving cattle at the Hunewill Ranch (above); bronc rider at the Glennville Rodeo (right)

called various things, based on their jobs. The men who drove cattle were called drovers, and their job was to move large herds great distances from ranches to railheads, where the cattle could be loaded onto trains and taken to markets in cities like Chicago and Omaha. Like highways of sorts, cattle trails emerged (e.g., the Sedalia Trail) on which numerous drives would be running at the same time. The trails were constantly being re-routed further west as farmers from the east arrived and came into conflict with cattlemen, but the need for the trails eventually disappeared as railways expanded closer to ranches, eliminating the need for large-scale drives. This coincided with the blizzards of 1886 and 1887, which essentially closed out the era. “‘The big die-off,’ as they called it,” Reeves says. “The blizzards of 1886 and 1887. So many people lost so much money and so many animals in those years that it started to wind down. As the ranches started to become smaller, well, you needed less help. Now that’s just the Central Plains story, which was different from the California story at that point.”

The Other Cowboy The California Story, as Reeves calls it, has two parts: one having to do with cattlemen and one having to do with people knowing about them. And if the end of the 19th century marked the end of the drover, one might say it marked the beginning of the cowboy—the other cowboy, that is. The one with a silver pistol, a killer smile and a white hat. Dime novels and dime Westerns, inexpensive works of fiction targeted at young boys, emerged near 1860 and immediately began sensationalizing the “Wild West.” The novels popularized dashing heroes fighting off Indians and saving damsels in distress, and it wasn’t long before the characters rode off the page. In 1910, a Western-themed opera appeared in Europe, La fanciulla del West, by Giacomo Puccini, of La Bohème fame. More popular, certainly, were the movies,

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starting with Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery in 1903, which established the formula “of crime, pursuit and retribution for the Western film as a genre,” according to critics George Fenin and William Everson. Following Robbery, Westerns started galloping out of the studios and movie stars soon followed, showing us how cowboys should walk, talk and act. Riding with them were gangs of extras who showed us how cowboys should look. The former’s impact came from simple charm, while the latter’s came down to two things: the extras were real cowboys, and movies are made in California. “If they wanted cowboys on camera where did they go?,” asks Reeves. “They didn’t send off to New Jersey for them, didn’t send off to Texas. If cowboys were out of work they’d wander down to different places, see if they could get picked up for a film. ‘We need 20 mounted cowboys for a film: you, you, you, and you.’ And they’d go, and if they showed up looking like [they looked], why would you pay somebody in wardrobe to dress ’em? So they showed up dressed the way a California buckaroo would be dressed, and it influenced things.” On the “star” side, one of the earliest was Tom Mix, who made his first film appearance in 1909. His “white hat” movies, in which he appeared as a clean-cut cavalier with blazing pistols saving the day, didn’t come along until the 1920s, and Mix made nearly 200 such films in that period. Between Mix’s white hat in the 1920s and Clint Eastwood’s “man with no name” in the Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s (so called because of their Italian directors), Gene Autry, John Wayne, Gary Cooper and numerous others so altered the image of real cowboys that one could forgive 20th century tourists in Texas for walking up to any hatted man on the street, telling him of a gross injustice, then handing him a guitar and expecting a song. And then came 1980, Urban Cowboy, and John Travolta as a man in a cowboy hat and boots who gets angry that his wife (Debra Winger) can ride a mechanical bull better than he

can. When Winger first meets Travolta at a bar (the real-life Gilley’s), she asks him, “You a real cowboy?” To which he replies, “Well that depends on what you think a real cowboy is.” She asks, “Know how to do 2-step?” He says, “You bet,” and it’s Roy Rogers and Dale Evans all over again. Kind of. With Travolta lines like, “All cowboys ain’t dumb. Some of ’em got smarts real good, like me,” it’s hard to believe this movie spawned a worldwide movement that saw Ralph Lauren prairie dresses and giant silver belt buckles retailing for thousands of dollars and Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers topping global pop charts with a song written by The Bee Gees (Islands in the Stream). But that’s what happened.

Dead and Gone This might have been the point at which one could assume the American cowboy, the real American cowboy, was dead. But as it turns out, he was still there—and he still is. “It never stopped,” says Jon Elliott, a real cowboy and one of the proprietors of the Hunewill Ranch in California’s High Sierra town of Bridgeport. “‘The Old West isn’t gone, you just can’t see it from the road.’ That’s a common saying now.” Elliott is married to Betsy Hunewill, and along with the rest of the Hunewill family and their spouses the ranch is run much as it has been since Napoleon Bonaparte Hunewill founded it back in 1861. Running cattle on the property’s 4,400 acres, Jon, Betsy, Betsy’s sister Megan and the others continue a tradition that dates back to the earliest days of California ranching, and Jon believes that cowboys from the original operation would recognize it today. “If they didn’t see planes flying overhead or things like that, then yeah, they’d think, ‘Ok, this is a little different, but otherwise it’s basically the same,’” he says.

Around the time of the Great Depression, the ranch started taking in guests to supplement income, another tradition it maintains. While there’s ample opportunity to relax, many of the paying visitors come here to work cattle, cutting cows and calves, gathering cattle from the various corners of the property and getting them to where they need to be, and doing whatever work needs doing. Of the guests I spoke to during my three days in the saddle (as an awkward but willing participant, described at the beginning of this article), most said working at the Hunewill Ranch provided a kind of therapy, a departure from their everyday routines. Jon agrees, but thinks there might be more to it. “Well, maybe it goes back to DNA,” he opines one night as we’re sitting by a campfire. “That being out here calls to something in them. It’s only recently that it’s different, but for so long, for thousands of years maybe, if you were going to get somewhere or get something done it was on a horse, for travel or work or whatever, and maybe they get here and it speaks to them, the little hairs on the back of their neck stand up and they feel that it satisfies something, maybe something they need.” So there might be some cowboy in all of us? “Yes, I think that maybe that’s so.”

First Step “They classify it in psychology class as an archetype, a stockman archetype, a wish to control livestock,” says Mike Capron, a genuine cowboy in Texas who’s also an artist. “It’s something that is very natural, and I think it’s God-given.” Capron, who says he spent his school days “looking out the window,” wanted to ride and rope as early as age 5, and indeed he’s spent most of his life working cattle. After high school in New Mexico and with no serious cattle experience,

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he threw himself into the deep end and got a job on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in New Mexico. “There were 7,000 cows and somewhere around 15 men who stayed out basically all year ’round working cattle in the harshest extremes,” he says. “I’d finally found where I fit in and so I was perfectly happy to stay right there, but I got drafted in ’64.” Capron joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam before returning to life as a cowboy. During his time in the military, he took a few art classes and discovered how to embrace his love of drawing and painting, now expressed in works informed by his personal experiences and his commitment to an authentic life. “Never forsake your boss, never forsake your outfit, and always get your job done,” he tells me. “All cowboys think that way, no matter the horse or the cow. Ride every horse, or at least be willing to get on it, and you have to be willing to gather every cow, no matter what.” Mike had tried rodeoing for a while, and I asked him about it. Rodeo is a tricky subject with some cowboys. What started as a goodnatured ranch activity in the 1800s evolved into competitions, at which point a divide began to open between cowboys who focus on rodeo and cowboys who work cattle. Sometimes they’re the same thing, and sometimes they’re not. “I have a good friend,” Mike says, “who is a six-time World “Minus a Load” Champion All-Around by Mike Capron Cowboy [a competitive rodeo category]. I help him and work with him and admire him, but he’s not a cowboy.”

Making a Cowboy What about urban cowboys or folks who mostly just dress the part. Can they be real cowboys? “I love ’em, dearly love ’em. Tickles me to death. I was with this crew of hard, tough cowboys on a ranch in Texas. The man owned five ranches. Everybody wanted to go to work for him because there was a lot of cowboyin’, but there were a lot of guys competing for the jobs so you had to be good. So there we were, north of Van Horn about 50 miles, it was early morning, some of us had saddled and were kickin’ the fresh off our horses. There were horses kickin’ and buckin’, guys walking around. The day before the boss showed up, he’d picked this man up who had the prettiest outfit I ever saw. I mean, he looked great, with the best-looking clothes. So the boss had picked this

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young man up in town, and he had every possible piece of gear you could ever want. We were all there, grungy, dirty, all going ‘Wow! Man! Look at this guy! He must really be something…’ So the boss roped this big roan horse who was buckin’, blowing snot, really kickin’ around. It looked like the devil himself at the end of the rope. And this kid steps back, ‘Oh Mr. Boss, don’t let this outfit fool ya—I just bought it in town a couple days ago, I can’t ride that horse.’ Well the boss just absolutely sank, he just sank, it ruined his day. He was thinking, ‘Oh man, finally I found somebody who can do it all, even dress the part.’ You see, back in the day there weren’t many of those men coming through our part of the country, and there wasn’t as much fancy gear available back then, so when we saw these clothes we were all going ‘Wow!’ The kid didn’t last long, but we didn’t condemn him or hold it against him because he showered on himself, he rained on his own parade. And that’s the bottom line: you can show up with $50,000 worth of spurs and gear but you better be ready to ride whatever the boss gives you. “I was on another crew of extreme cowboys, a tough crew working big, bad cattle in brushy country, and you really had to know what you were doing. A young girl showed up. She was trying to fit into the crew, and she was receiving lots of guff from the cowboys. She showed up at a campfire the night before, drank a beer or two with the guys. She was very quiet and pleasant and so forth, not the least bit rude or crude or things of that nature. She was trying to fit in, not being bashful, and she was not running, either. Not running. They’re talking, keeping at it with her, and finally she walked over and got a branding iron and put it in the fire, and I’m thinking, ‘What is she gonna do? Ain’t gonna brand anything at night…’ She left it in there for a while getting real hot, and the guys are still talking, and then she went over and got that iron out of the fire and held it to the cheek of her thigh, on the inside—right through her Levi’s! Then she looked at everyone and she said, ‘I ride for the brand, boys. What about you?’ Wow. That mentality… You can bet nobody said anything to her after that except ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘no ma’am.’ “Now taking it back to what I was saying before, if that kid had done that same thing with that roan the boss roped for him, said ‘No problem, boss,’ swung aboard and did everything he could to ride that horse… Even if he got bucked off, the boss would’ve picked him up and helped him climb back on and they’d have done that again and again until they got that horse rode. That’s the first step to making a cowboy.”

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Visit MyBossyBladder.com for doctor discussion tips. Ask your doctor if Myrbetriq may be right for you. In clinical trials, those taking Myrbetriq made fewer trips to the bathroom and had fewer leaks than those not taking Myrbetriq. Your results may vary. USE OF MYRBETRIQ® (MEER-BEH-TRICK) Myrbetriq® (mirabegron) is a prescription medicine for adults used to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of urgency, frequency, and leakage. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION Myrbetriq may cause your blood pressure to increase or make your blood pressure worse if you have a history of high blood pressure. It is recommended that your doctor check your blood pressure while you are taking Myrbetriq. Myrbetriq may increase your chances of not being able to empty your bladder. Tell your doctor right away if you have trouble emptying your bladder or you have a weak urine stream. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take including medications for overactive bladder or other medicines such as thioridazine (Mellaril® and Mellaril S®), flecainide (TambocorTM), propafenone (Rythmol®), digoxin (Lanoxin®).* Myrbetriq may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how Myrbetriq works. Before taking Myrbetriq, tell your doctor if you have liver or kidney problems. In clinical studies, the most common side effects seen with Myrbetriq included increased blood pressure, common cold symptoms (nasopharyngitis), urinary tract infection and headache. Please see Brief Summary of Prescribing Information for Myrbetriq® (mirabegron) on the following page. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088. Myrbetriq is a registered trademark of Astellas Pharma Inc. *All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2015 Astellas Pharma US, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Myrbetriq® (mirabegron) extended-release tablets 25 mg, 50 mg Brief Summary based on FDA-approved patient labeling Read the Patient Information that comes with Myrbetriq® (mirabegron) before you start taking it and each time you get a refill. There may be new information. This summary does not take the place of talking with your doctor about your medical condition or treatment. What is Myrbetriq (meer-BEH-trick)? Myrbetriq is a prescription medication for adults used to treat the following symptoms due to a condition called overactive bladder: • urge urinary incontinence: a strong need to urinate with leaking or wetting accidents • urgency: a strong need to urinate right away • frequency: urinating often It is not known if Myrbetriq is safe and effective in children. What is overactive bladder? Overactive bladder occurs when you cannot control your bladder contractions. When these muscle contractions happen too often or cannot be controlled, you can get symptoms of overactive bladder, which are urinary frequency, urinary urgency, and urinary incontinence (leakage). What should I tell my doctor before taking Myrbetriq? Before you take Myrbetriq, tell your doctor if you: • have liver problems or kidney problems • have very high uncontrolled blood pressure • have trouble emptying your bladder or you have a weak urine stream • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if Myrbetriq will harm your unborn baby. Talk to your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. • are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Myrbetriq passes into your breast milk. You and your doctor should decide if you will take Myrbetriq or breastfeed. You should not do both. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Myrbetriq may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how Myrbetriq works. Tell your doctor if you take: • thioridazine (Mellaril® or Mellaril-S®)* • flecainide (Tambocor™) • propafenone (Rythmol®) • digoxin (Lanoxin®) How should I take Myrbetriq? • Take Myrbetriq exactly as your doctor tells you to take it. • You should take 1 Myrbetriq tablet 1 time a day. • You should take Myrbetriq with water and swallow the tablet whole. • Do not crush or chew the tablet. • You can take Myrbetriq with or without food. • If you miss a dose of Myrbetriq, begin taking Myrbetriq again the next day. Do not take 2 doses of Myrbetriq the same day. • If you take too much Myrbetriq, call your doctor or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away. What are the possible side effects of Myrbetriq? Myrbetriq may cause serious side effects including: • increased blood pressure. Myrbetriq may cause your blood pressure to increase or make your blood pressure worse if you have a history of high blood pressure. It is recommended that

your doctor check your blood pressure while you are taking Myrbetriq. • inability to empty your bladder (urinary retention). Myrbetriq may increase your chances of not being able to empty your bladder if you have bladder outlet obstruction or if you are taking other medicines to treat overactive bladder. Tell your doctor right away if you are unable to empty your bladder. The most common side effects of Myrbetriq include: • increased blood pressure • common cold symptoms (nasopharyngitis) • urinary tract infection • headache Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away or if you have hives, skin rash or itching while taking Myrbetriq. These are not all the possible side effects of Myrbetriq. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. How should I store Myrbetriq? • Store Myrbetriq between 59°F to 86°F (15°C to 30°C). Keep the bottle closed. • Safely throw away medicine that is out of date or no longer needed. Keep Myrbetriq and all medicines out of the reach of children. General information about the safe and effective use of Myrbetriq Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in the Patient Information leaflet. Do not use Myrbetriq for a condition for which it was not prescribed. Do not give Myrbetriq to other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have. It may harm them. Where can I go for more information? This is a summary of the most important information about Myrbetriq. If you would like more information, talk with your doctor. You can ask your doctor or pharmacist for information about Myrbetriq that is written for health professionals. For more information, visit www.Myrbetriq.com or call (800) 727-7003. Rx Only PRODUCT OF JAPAN OR IRELAND - See bottle label or blister package for origin Manufactured by: Astellas Pharma Technologies, Inc. Norman, Oklahoma 73072 Marketed and Distributed by: Astellas Pharma US, Inc. Northbrook, Illinois 60062 * Myrbetriq® is a registered trademark of Astellas Pharma Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2014 Astellas Pharma US, Inc. Revised: June 2014 13C011-MIR-BRFS 057-0125-PM

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THE R IS E OF R IC KI E At the 2015 Players Championship, the playing record of Rickie Fowler finally matched the brightness of his apparel. Fowler now hopes the biggest win of his career can propel him to success where he wants it the most, in the majors. He spoke to Robin Barwick

t did not look like Rickie Fowler’s week at the 2015 Players Championship. He was running out of holes. No surprise there. Since the rock star of the 2007 and 2009 Walker Cups had turned professional in 2009 he had delivered just a solitary victory on the PGA Tour, at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. Apart from winning the 2011 Kolon Korea Open on the OneAsia Tour, Fowler’s results were not matching the hype. Top-10 finishes galore—10 of them on the PGA Tour in 2014—were not converting into more wins. The most widely reported statistic on the 26-year-old from California is his 2014 majors record: four top-five finishes but no “W’s.” Fowler led during the final round at Valhalla too, in the PGA Championship. As dark, forbidding storm clouds rolled along the Ohio River Valley and over the city of Louisville, Fowler couldn’t clinch the putts to keep up with Rory McIlroy though. Fowler finished two shots behind and found the misses got more painful as they came.

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“The PGA is the one In the playoff with that hurt most for me Garcia and Kisner, Fowler in the majors last year,” had to revisit the 137-yard reflects Fowler in an 17th hole with its green exclusive interview with all but surrounded by Kingdom. “In the first water—the signature hole three it was a lot of fun to at Sawgrass—twice more. be in great positions and to In three visits to the hole have great finishes, but at on the Sunday he birdied it Valhalla I really felt I could three times, and five times win. It stung. Still, to look out of six for the week. back on the year, it was The last of them clinched pretty awesome through the title. “Big thanks to 17,” the majors and something said Fowler afterwards. I can be proud of. Fowler owned the “Rory played great 17th, although the most in the PGA. He was a spectacular shot of his As the shadows lengthened, Fowler birdied the 17th at Sawgrass again deserving champion and late flourish was the right now he is the best 3-wood into the 16th player in the world. I’ll see if I can sneak one away from green in regulation play to set-up his eagle putt. Fowler had him at some point.” 243 yards to the pin, water surrounding the right and back On the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in May’s of the green, and his “choked down 3-wood” pitched a yard THE PLAYERS Championship, Fowler finally found what over the water’s edge and rolled obediently to within two he had been looking for. Not content with just another and half feet of the hole. The crowd nearly erupted into the top-10, he summoned a late charge, one shot of attacking lake. “I was aiming a little further left than that,” Fowler brio after another that sent the boisterous Sawgrass crowd would later admit, but either way, this is the kind of shot for into raptures. The PGA Tour and its broadcast partners which the people pay their money and it is such dramatics must have been pretty ecstatic too. With Fowler’s boy-band that Pete Dye and the PGA Tour envisioned when Dye looks and bright pink shoes (Fowler’s customary Sunday designed the famous Stadium Course, with a broad, highorange was eschewed in honor banked amphitheatre packed of Mothers’ Day on May full to witness Fowler’s strikes 10), and playing Hollywood on 16 and 17. golf in front of a massive, “It beat us up [to have raucous crowd, it made for lost the PGA Championship],” the televised spectacle of the said Joe Skovron, Fowler’s networks’ dreams. caddie, at Sawgrass. “We In case you missed it, thought we were going to the hero of this thriller played the final six holes of the final win that tournament. I wholeheartedly believed it; Rickie round in six under par to steal the clubhouse lead. Six under wholeheartedly believed it. But that’s what golf is. That’s par over one of the most treacherous stretches in American what makes this so much more special. To do it (like this), it golf. Then he outshot Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner to doesn’t get any better.” claim his second PGA Tour title against one of the strongest At Sawgrass, at last, Fowler lived up to the bill, and fields in the game, and collect the biggest paycheck of his the timing could not have better, bearing in mind the media career ($1.8 million). flurry he endured just before THE PLAYERS Championship. Fowler’s last four holes in regulation at Professional athletes are accustomed to taking the Sawgrass really were from a golfer’s wildest dreams. darts of media and public criticism. It goes with the job and He finished 3-3-2-3—birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie—to close anyway, most of the arrows bounce off toughened rawhide. his final round of 67, the low score of the day. No golfer had But when anonymous criticism is published and attributed ever played those final four holes in just 11 shots in THE to fellow professionals—to the guys you tee up alongside PLAYERS Championship, and since hole-by-hole tracking every week, with whom you share locker room jokes and began on the PGA Tour in 1983, no tournament winner clubhouse buffets—the jabs can catch a nerve. had ever finished the final four holes of any event in five And so it was; three days before THE PLAYERS under par. Championship, Sports Illustrated published survey results

It is that kind of shot for which the people pay their money

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showing that 24 percent of PGA Tour golfers rated Fowler as the tour’s most over-rated golfer, tied with Ian Poulter. Bubba Watson was next on 12 percent, by the way. Yes, Bubba Watson, winner of two Masters tournaments in the past four years. Just a one-track pony. To be sure, there were peculiarities in the survey results. Never mind that Fowler was the third golfer of the modern era to finish four majors in the top-five in one year, a feat shared by Jack Nicklaus (1971, 1973) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2005). This achievement is double-sided though; Nicklaus and Woods both triumphed in at least

At St Andrews in the 2010 [British] Open (above) and with coach Butch Harmon (right)

one major in each of their top-five sweeps, unlike Fowler. “I laughed at the poll,” said Fowler, although it must have felt easier to laugh after the tournament than it was before. Tapping his PLAYERS trophy, Fowler added, “If there was any question I think this answers anything you need to know.” Some argue that $1.8 million for a week’s work is over-paid, but Fowler is unlikely to be tagged as over-rated again soon. “If anything, typically my own expectations are the highest,” Fowler tells Kingdom. “I set my goals and focus on them. I don’t worry about outside expectations.” Although Fowler admits that having just the single victory to his name had become a burden: “I was always looked at as only having one win on tour, and I needed to put myself in position to win more often. I challenged last year but wasn’t able to end up as the last guy standing.

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It feels good to win again, and I’m hoping to be back in the same position more often. I have been getting some great work in and I feel like I am rounding in on some good form.”

AT HOME ON THE LINKS Fowler’s triumph in THE PLAYERS Championship pushes him closer to that goal of claiming his first major title, and while he won on the most American of golf courses at Sawgrass, the Old Course at St Andrews might suit Fowler more than some might think. For a tanned dude from the west coast who looks as if he should be surfing off Malibu or skateboarding at Santa Cruz, Fowler is pretty good at playing the [British] Open each year, the type of golf they used to play in tweed jackets and flat caps. On his Open debut at St Andrews in 2010, Fowler emulated Woods in making his way around the Old Course without his ball dropping into a single bunker over 72 holes. Unlike Woods though—who avoided all sand in storming to a record-setting victory in 2000—Fowler stayed out of the traps but shot 79 in his first round. “The key to links golf is staying out of the bunkers,” he says. “I did a very good job of that in my first Open at St Andrews, but 79 is a really high score when you have not even been in a single bunker. I shot 79 the hard way.” There must have been some gorse prickles in Fowler’s slim-fit pants by the end of that day. “It was windy,” he contends. “I played pretty decent until I made a triple and a double coming in, just a couple of mistakes at a bad time. Then I played well in a bit of wind on the Friday to make the cut and I played very well over the last two rounds. In the end it was a nice way to start my Open career.” Fowler posted 79-67-71-67 that week, finished 14th, and then reached a tie for fifth at Royal St. George’s in 2011, showing more impressive guile and patience amid the wind and rain of St. George’s. With a swing tightened by Butch Harmon over the winter of 2013, Fowler finished runner-up to McIlroy in the Open at Royal Liverpool last year, and the world No.10 is secure among this year’s pre-tournament favorites. “The history at St Andrews is unique and that is the special thing,” adds Fowler. “The fact I played my first Open there will always be special and I can’t wait to get back.” Tour golf needs more of Rickie Fowler and his youth appeal, and if it is at all possible, more of what he produced down that final stretch at Sawgrass, with shoes in pink and scores in red.

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Yes Sur

Ironically, it’s easy to miss. That is, you’ll be so captivated by the scenery that you’ll be through it before you’ve realized you were there. But then Big Sur has always been more of an idea, more of an outlook, than it ever was a real place—though it certainly is a real place, and one of the most real places you’ll ever visit, if you visit.

ans of Pebble Beach’s golf or illustrious car show, the Concours d’Elegance, might have driven through, cross the iconic Bixby Creek Bridge (built in 1931) during a day trip from their luxury accommodations in the town of Carmel, just to Big Sur’s north. While drivers traveling between San Francisco and Los Angeles who opted to take the scenic route—Hwy 1, better known as the Pacific Coast Highway—will certainly have added the extra hours to their trip in not taking I-5 specifically because they wanted another chance to marvel at Big Sur’s magnificence, for it surely is magnificent. Lauded by poets like Robinson Jeffers and known as a favorite of such writers and artists as Jack Kerouac and Edward Weston, the area has long held a sense of mystery and inspiration, likely

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due to its rugged-ness, which endures today. Unlike so many other well-known California stops, there’s no big sign, no giant roadside welcome center or plaster dinosaur to let you know you’re here. Big Sur’s crashing waves and dramatic, craggy cliffs are all the roadside assistance you need. The problem is, with very little signage of any kind and few hotels along the way, you’ll be so busy taking pictures out the car window while driving through that you’ll forget to realize you’ve arrived at your destination. Such is the problem with epic beauty along a relatively short stretch of two-lane road, and such is the effect of Big Sur. Here, then, are a few ideas on how to enjoy the area that Henry Miller said offered “abiding peace, the peace of God, and the serene security created by a handful of good neighbours living at one with the creature world.”

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State Parks As quickly as Big Sur might go by as you’re whizzing down the highway, its offerings in terms of natural beauty are vast. Much of this is now harboured in a number of state parks, all of which deliver visitors from their day-to-day routines into otherworldly environments sure to soothe even the most stressed among us, and perhaps to inspire. Andrew Molera State Park preserves a stretch of coast that’s relatively undeveloped, meaning it’s a proper glimpse of how California used to look. Hiking, fishing and beachcombing are all available here, as is great surfing (if you don’t mind the cold water). Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park isn’t far and features McWay Falls, a towering waterfall that drops over a cliff 80 feet into the Pacific Ocean. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, 12 miles north of the falls, covers 1,006 acres is another stretch of beauty and features the Big Sur River. Lastly, Point Sur State Historic Park, holds the 1889 Point Sur Lighthouse, one of the area’s more recognisable features. The “lightstation,” as it’s technically called, sits on a large volcanic rock 361 feet above the ocean, and it’s the only complete turnof-the-century lightstation in the state that’s open to the public. Also on site, the former Point Sur Naval Facility, part of a defensive network of listening stations set up in 1957 to track the movement of Soviet submarines.

performed here, as have numerous leading modern acts, while a who’s who of writers and artists regularly visits the property to speak or to conduct workshops. Nestled in a towering redwood grove, it’s a special place indeed. henrymiller.org

Esalen Institute In the 1960s, famed [and heavily armed] gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson used to roam the grounds as the caretaker here, but don’t expect any frenetic experiences today—quite the contrary, in fact. The modern Esalen Institute is about as “West Coast” as you can get, if you’re the kind of person who uses “West Coast” (in quotes) as a general term of description for anything that might involve wearing loose clothing, sitting in a circle and chanting with fellow humans. And there’s clothing-optional outdoor bathing as well, but then how could there not be at a place that offers workshops in transformational mask making and empowering creativity through movement/ dance and life/art metaphors? But if you’re willing to put your judgements aside and spend some time with open-minded people, then you’ll be awed by the place, which features premium cabins perched on the edge of the Pacific and natural hot spring baths overlooking the ocean in a setting that is best described as transcendental. Set on some of the most beautiful land you’ll ever see, Esalen also offers more conventional classes in yoga and meditation, and you’re sure to leave more relaxed than you arrived, so why not give it a go? You only live once— or do you…? esalen.org

Big Sur holds a vast array of stunning natural beauty and history

Henry Miller Memorial Library Sometimes dismissed as just a socialist and libertine who wrote about sex, American writer Henry Miller was actually a thoughtful literary pioneer who broke open literary structures in the early 20th century, creating a form that mixed autobiography, social criticism, introspective reflection and more. While his works often included sex, it was hardly a gratuitous factor in such works as Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and The Rosy Crucifixion trilogy, all written between the mid 1930s and 1960. While best known for his exploits in New York and Paris, he was equally enamoured with Big Sur, to which he penned an ode of sorts, a collection of short stories and essays entitled Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch. “When I first beheld this wondrous region I thought to myself, ‘Here I will find peace. Here I shall find the strength to do the work I was made to do,’” Miller wrote. He lived and worked here from the mid 1940s until the early 1960s, and the library, housed in the former home of a close Miller friend, keeps the writer’s presence alive in the area. More than just holding books (which it certainly does) the library hosts all kinds of events, including fashion shows, poetry readings, concerts, theater productions and more. Composer Philip Glass has

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Pebble Beach It’s just up the road from Big Sur, and if you’re a golfer you can’t be this close and not visit the site of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. As famous as Pebble Beach is and as long as it’s been around, there are still some who don’t realize that there are actually five golf courses at the resort. The famed and public Pebble Beach Golf Links, in place since 1919, has hosted five U.S. Opens (it will host its sixth in 2019), the aforementioned AT&T Pro-Am and numerous bachelor parties, weddings, friendly get-togethers and legendary golfers as well. Spyglass Hill Golf Course, opened in 1966, takes its inspiration from the classic novel Treasure Island, and it’s said that Robert Louis Stevenson used to roam the coast here in search of inspiration for his books. Whether or not that’s true, this is one of the toughest courses anywhere; during the 1999 United States Amateur, stroke average on the field during medal play was in excess

Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com

Clockwise from top left: McWay Falls, Point Sur Lighthouse, Henry Miller Library, Pebble Beach, Henry Miller

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of 79. Nearby, The Links at Spanish Bay is a true links course, as close to a Scottish track as you’re likely to find in the States. Beautiful with firm surfaces and a steady wind, the Scottish feel persists everywhere here, not least in the bagpiper closing the course each evening. The Del Monte Golf Course may not be the best-known in California or even at Pebble Beach, but it is the oldest. In fact, this course is the oldest course in continuous operation west of the Mississippi, having opened for play in 1897. An inland course, it’s hosted the California State Amateur, among other tourneys. Lastly, Pebble Beach takes a break from serving up serious challenges with its Peter Hay Golf Course, a charming nine-hole track that offers a great place to work your short game or to share an afternoon with family. pebblebeach.com

and walking sticks, along with the latest modern amenities as well. Standalone cottages are offered, as are suites, which include hot tubs or fireplaces. Daily yoga and Tai Chi classes are complemented by wine and cheese receptions, and the free breakfast is a beautiful touch, if expected considering the costs. In line with the area’s ethos, the general feel of the place includes environmental responsibility and a dedication to the arts and to personal well-being, but this is no chic hippy retreat. It’s a luxury resort in every way, and well worth a visit. Similarly, Post Ranch Inn offers 39 rooms set 1,200 feet above the Pacific Ocean, and its luxury perfectly complements the incredible natural beauty. As with Ventana, Post Ranch is committed to the environment as well as to providing a top experience, and so the guest limo is a Lexus Hybrid, a solar array helps to provide power, the landscaping is drought-resistent, and the property acts as a kind of santuary for the endangered Smith’s Blue Butterfly, the California Condor and more. Among the rooms, our favorite has to be the available Cliff House, with its deck suspended over the cliffs. As the property has it, “this extraordinary free-standing structure seems to soar,” and that’s true. Featuring exquisite modern design like the other accommodations, the views here might be the best anywhere. Heated floors, deep-soaking tubs, wood-burning fireplaces and more round out the experience, as does the pool, which gives new meaning to the word “infinity,” whale watching, fitness opportunities and the complimentary breakfast. Finally, no visit to the area is complete without stopping in to dine at Post Ranch Inn’s Sierra Mar, a beautifully situated restaurant and winner of Wine Spectator’s prestigious Grand Award. Neither of these two retreats is inexpensive, but then you get what you pay for and both offer quite a lot for the mind and the soul.

Ventana room (above); Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn (right)

While there are a number of charming cabins available in the area and a couple of roadside hotels that might be called “authentic,” Big Sur’s main attractions in terms of accommodations run neck-and-neck in terms of quality. Both the Ventana Inn & Spa and the Post Ranch Inn could be said to be the area’s “best”; and personal preference will determine which you prefer. Ventana, which means “window” in Spanish, is exactly that, offering incredible views from its 243 acres above the Pacific. There’s an excellent farm-to-table restaurant here, a clothing-optional pool, dry sauna, fitness centre and spa and so much more on the modern-design grounds. All rooms have private balconies and are equipped with a host of perks to make your wilderness stay that much better, including binoculars

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Photo: Kodiak Greenwood

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Welcome to the home stretch. In our series of fantasy golf courses comprising holes of the same number, here we offer 18 of the world’s finest number 14s. Some are old, some are new, and all have been carefully selected with complete disregard for geographical practicalities. Note that many of our holes can be played at ‘championship’ yardages longer than listed here, but we are generally bidding for the men’s medal yardages. It just seems more civilized when we are contemplating some of the toughest holes in world golf. Enjoy your round

14 Holes th

The King’s course, Gleneagles

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Trump International Golf Links, Aberdeen, Scotland PAR 4, 410 YARDS

In typical Donald Trump under-statement, the New York real estate tycoon describes Trump International Golf Links as “The World’s Greatest Golf Course”. That’s just how ‘The Donald’ rolls. In fairness, this mighty 7,400-yard, par-72 championship golf course near Aberdeen, designed by Martin Hawtree (the man now tasked with renovating the historic links at Trump Turnberry, on the opposite Scottish shoreline) is both spectacular to look at and offers a fantastic golfing test. And so it is to Aberdeen where we land for the first of our great 14th holes. The 14th is one of seven holes at Trump International that run parallel to the beach and the North Sea, and the back tees here offer golfers one of the most striking North Sea views of the round. Measuring 410 yards off the men’s medal tees, golfers are presented with an elevated tee leading to a fairway banked on both sides by stretches of high dunes. The fairway can seem a narrow target but looks are deceiving from this tee, and the fairway is reasonably wide at its landing area, with some mounding on the right-hand side that brings back a few shots that would otherwise finish in sandy wilderness.

The King’s course, Gleneagles, Perthshire, Scotland PAR 4, 309 YARDS

In the name of fuel economy we stay in Scotland for our second hole. The King’s Course is no longer the most famous of the three championship courses at Gleneagles— since the PGA Centenary Course staged the 2014 Ryder Cup—but it is the original layout here, having been designed by James Braid and opened in 1919. In fact it was on the King’s Course where the first ever match between teams of professionals from Great Britain and the United States took place, in 1921, predating the Ryder Cup by six years. In 1966 the King’s Course was selected as a venue for the televised ‘Big Three in Britain’ series, for which Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player toured. Palmer’s good friend, the comedian Bob Hope, went as far as to say: “If only they had the Californian weather, I’d move there. I’ve played all the finest courses, but there is nowhere like the first tee of the King’s.” The 14th tee is not bad either. A short and enticing, downhill par-four at 309 yards from the medal tees, ‘Denty Den’ should provide an excellent scoring opportunity for golfers who can avoid the band of bunkers that run across the fairway. An early guide to the King’s Course described the 14th as “an idyll of sylvan beauty”.

Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com

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Dan Murphy / stonehousegolf.com

4 3

Royal Dornoch Golf Club, Sutherland, Scotland PAR 4, 445 YARDS

Oakmont Country Club, PA PAR 4, 340 YARDS

On the eastern shoreline of the Scottish Highlands, curving around Dornoch Firth and in view of the famous Glenmorangie distillery, Dornoch Golf Club was not established until 1877, although it is thought golfing on this enchanting stretch of linksland dates back to 1616. Titled ‘Royal Dornoch’ by the decree of King Edward VII in 1906, the club will mark the 400th anniversary of the golf course in 2016. Possibly a good year to visit the Highlands. Old Tom Morris had a hand in shaping the 18-hole championship course and it was upon these links that local boy Donald Ross learned his trade as professional and greenkeeper before departing to become the greatest course designer of his generation and creating timeless masterpieces such as Pinehurst No. 2. The 14th at Dornoch—‘Foxy’—which plays to 445 yards on the championship card and the medal, is memorable in that it doglegs gently from right to left off the tee, and then from left to right to the green, as there is a giant hummock blocking golfers’ path on the right side of the hole. This is ancient links at its most natural, whereby golfers must negotiate the natural lie of the land one way or another, whatever it may be. Finding the green in two here is an achievement to savor.

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Other than Augusta National, Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has hosted more major championships than any other American golf club. A total of 14 men’s majors alone include a trio of PGA Championships dating back to 1922 and a run of 11 U.S. Opens dating back to 1927. U.S. Open number 12 will unfold at Oakmont in 2016. All this on a golf course designed by the club’s founder, Henry Clay Fownes—his solitary course design—when he converted a plot of disused farmland. The course opened in 1904, and while golfers have virtually no trees to navigate around, a battalion of 210 bunkers places a premium on accuracy on this 7,250-yard, par-70 golf course. A premium on both distance and accuracy, then. Oakmont’s 14th is an intriguing, short par four at 358 yards from the back or 340 from blue tees, and true to form, it features 15 bunkers, many of which are positioned up both sides of the fairway, ensuring a narrow target for golfers off the tee. Even with a favorable breeze golfers are unlikely to be tempted to try for the green in one in the U.S. Open. It would be a brazen play in a major, with the green even more jealously protected than the fairway.

Mid South Club, Talamore Resort, NC PAR 4, 425 YARDS

Staying in the eastern United States and to the neighborhood of Pinehurst, North Carolina, the Mid South Club occupies a stunning expanse of 545 acres of longleaf pine forest, lakes and rolling hills, which provide an idyllic setting for this Arnold Palmer Signature golf course. The course has earned widespread media acclaim and has also impressed the USGA, serving as a qualifying course for the U.S. Amateur Championship from 1996 to 1998, as a U.S. Senior Open qualifier in 1996 and as a U.S. Open qualifier four times between 1996 and 2000. If there is a signature hole at the Mid South Club it must be the par-four 14th. From the back tee, from where the hole plays to 452 yards, the carry to the fairway is a knee-buckling 225 yards over a sea of sand, while another long curling bunker is located short of the green, which will collect any approaches left short, and particularly short and right—every inch the high handicapper’s demise. This pine-lined hole features the best part of 11 acres of bunkering to avoid. There are deserts with less sand.

Royal Portrush Golf Club, County Antrim, Northern Ireland PAR 3, 202 YARDS

Royal Portrush, which sits like a golfing crown on the northern shoreline of Northern Ireland, is the only golf club outside Scotland and England to have hosted the [British] Open, which it did in 1951. In a widely applauded move by the R&A, the Open is set to return to Portrush—a club that local world number one Rory McIlroy has known basically all his life—with 2019 or 2020 the likely years to see the battle for the Claret Jug cross the Irish Sea once again. Offering a pair of 18-hole courses, the Dunluce and the Valley, Harry Colt designed the championship Dunluce in 1929 and produced one of the great, natural and rugged links layouts in the world. The 14th hole on the Dunluce has one of the great hole names in golf too, ‘Calamity Corner’, and the name could not be better suited. Playing 210 yards from the back, but 202 yards from our medal tee, a tee shot sliced to the right is dead, down a steep chasm and into land where man rarely treads. As with all genuine links holes, the wind is a critical factor, and with ‘Calamity Corner’ on high ground and exposed, unfriendly gusts can make par three virtually impossible to achieve.

Stadium Course, TPC Scottsdale, AZ PAR 4, 461 YARDS

Since opening in 1986, the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale has become one of the world’s most famous golf courses. TPC Scottsdale is home to the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour, which has become renowned for its massive fan attendances, and in particular for the raucous, beer-fuelled atmosphere that wraps around the par-three 16th hole—‘The Coliseum’—which is almost entirely surrounded by grandstands when the tour is in town. The Stadium Course was designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf specifically as a tournament course, and TPC Scottsdale takes pride in preserving tour conditions for regular golfers to enjoy for the remaining 51 weeks of the year. Weiskopf led an extensive renovation of the Stadium Course in 2014, which included lengthening the already-long par-four 14th hole, which now reaches 490 yards for the Phoenix Open, and plays to 461 yards from the blue tee. With the fairway running uphill to a completely new green location that veers left at the top of the fairway, the green now offers golfers a great view of the Superstition Mountains in the distance. This is a par ‘four-and-a-half’ if there ever was one. A four here feels almost as good as a birdie, with two great strikes required to allow for two putts at the hole.

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The European Club, Dublin, Republic of Ireland PAR 3, 165 YARDS

There is something very rare about The European Club, perched above the Irish Sea, 35 miles south of Dublin. It is not an ancient links, although it looks and plays like one, but it was genuinely built like one. Like Old Tom Morris built Prestwick with his own hands in 1851—with the concentration on locating greens first and foremost—The European Club founder Pat Ruddy went through much the same process here in 1987. The 7,380-yard, par-71 course remains owned by Ruddy and operated by him and his family, with the course record of 67 held by Tiger Woods. High, peaking and dipping dunes can be the golfer’s friend on the 14th at The European Club, as they provide cover when a stiff breeze blows in off the Irish Sea. The dunes also serve to frame this perfectly proportioned par three, with a spacious green that is harder to find than it sometimes looks at first, with a cavernous bunker offering no respite to the tee shot landing short and right of the green.

Royal St. George’s Golf Club, Kent, England PAR 5, 533 YARDS

The 14th at Royal St. George’s should have provided the runway for Dustin Johnson’s [British] Open challenge to take flight in 2011. He had already cut Darren Clarke’s final-round lead from four shots to two and this par five was begging to be birdied by this big hitter. But the thing about the straightaway 14th is that the long row of white out-of-bounds stakes tight to the right of the fairway are immoveable. To make it worse for Johnson, it was not his drive that floated foul of the posts but his two-iron second shot. Johnson’s worst swing of the week resulted in a double bogey and another missed chance in a major. Johnson’s heartbreak is a salutary lesson to all who step onto the tee of the ‘Suez Canal’. Running to 545 yards in the Open, or a 533 yardage on a medal scorecard short on forgiveness, the 14th is not so much a test of the swing as it is of nerve. Hit the ball straight and true and there is nothing to worry about, but those white stakes are the devil’s work.

Old Course, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland PAR 5, 530 YARDS

Golf has been played on the Old Course at St Andrews for so long that no-one is really sure when it began. We know locals started playing golf on the links at least 600 years ago, as King James II banned golf on the links in 1457—558 years ago— because he decided it was too distracting to his archers. He’s not the only one: Sir Alex Ferguson, the former manager of soccer team Manchester United and another Scotsman, once banned his players from playing golf too. The Old Course first hosted the [British] Open in 1873, and it will do so for the 29th time this July. The famous 14th hole—simply called ‘Long’, which is apt as for the Open this year it will be the only hole on the Old Course to top 600 yards—will play to 614 yards for the Open field, but from the medal tees it comes in at a more civilized 530. Beyond the ancient stonewall along the right of the hole is out of bounds and off the golf course, so golfers need to find a section of fairway known as the Elysian Fields ideally. The left side of the fairway is well-protected by pot bunkers, allowing little room for error, and Hell Bunker captures many second shots that veer left, and is one of the biggest and meanest traps on the course. In the first round of the 1995 Open, Jack Nicklaus took four to get out before carding a 10.

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Dan Murphy / stonehousegolf.com

It’s knowing you’re not perfect. Yet hoping that maybe, just for one swing, you can be. It’s gaining complete focus. Pristine, laser-fine focus. Because that focus isn’t just what’s required, that focus is why you’re here. Everything else dissipates into nothing. Sounds muffle. Touch is sharpened. Every detail is in the highest definition. And there you are. In the moment. After this you can go back to all the flaws, the fears, the doubts and the doubters. But not now. Now there’s you and the ball. And the opportunity for a split-second of perfection. Wouldn’t that be nice?

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Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, NY PAR 4, 438 YARDS

Chiricahua course, Desert Mountain Resort, AZ PAR 3, 136 YARDS

Founded in 1891, Shinnecock Hills is one of the oldest golf clubs in the United States and one of five founder clubs of the USGA. It hosted the second U.S. Open in 1896 and has held the event three times since, including the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Open in 1995, with the 2018 chapter also slated for the Long Island club. The existing 18-hole championship course was designed by William Flynn and opened in 1931, and it occupies an exceptional parcel of land with Peconic Bay to one side and the Atlantic Ocean to the other. An open course over which winds frequently change direction—as do the holes—and with over 150 bunkers, Shinnecock is often likened to the finest British links layouts. Its 14th hole is called ‘Thom’s Elbow’, named after Charlie Thom, who was club professional at Shinnecock for 55 years and who lived out his retirement in a cottage behind the 14th tee. The 14th is one of the great par fours, with a back tee at 447 yards and our medal choice at a miserly 438. From an elevated tee, golfers must drive down to a narrow fairway that can offer favorable bounces from some gentle slopes on its fringes. Either side of the fairway though, bunkering and woodland will issue strict punishment. A broad, raised green welcomes low, running approaches, which are sometimes the answer in windy conditions.

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The renowned Desert Mountain resort covers an 8,000acre expanse in the high ground and rolling hills of the Sonoran Desert, to the north of Scottsdale. Home to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the grand finale to the Champions Tour season, Desert Mountain is the only private resort in the world with six Jack Nicklaus signature golf courses, and the Chiricahua is the fifth of the six to be built, having opened in 1999. Chiricahua is the highest of Desert Mountain’s six golf courses, with altitude ranging between 3,000 to 3,300 feet, and the course offers golfers panoramic views over Phoenix and the dramatic surrounding landscapes. Golfing drama is ensured by Nicklaus’s use of elevation changes on many holes on this 7,197-yard, par-72 course, as the course wends through desert canyons and with holes decorated by stunning rock formations. The par-three 14th runs to 159 yards from the tips, but to just 136 yards from the blue tees, so it is a short to mid iron for many golfers. A clear birdie opportunity, this is an all-or-nothing hole, as golfers who miss the target could be in serious trouble amid the rocks, cacti and rattle snakes. Tee shots dropping short and right might find solace in a run-off landing area, so forgiveness will be granted to some.

Royal Adelaide Golf Club

PAR 4, 420 YARDS

PAR 3, 160 YARDS

Like Shinnecock Hills, down the Long Island Expressway, The Maidstone Club was established during the formative days of American golf, in 1891. Like Shinnecock, Maidstone is distinctly linksy, built upon sand and dunes. The course was created by Willie Park Jr in 1922, twice a [British] Open champ and son of the first Open champ, Willie Park Sr. Wisely, the club recruited Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to restore its treasure, working through an extensive project from 2012 to 2014 to clear out masses of unfriendly and unnecessary bushes, brambles, trees and scrub. The course was opened up to ensure less golf balls are lost, but the trade-off has been bringing the bunkering closer to play, as should be the case with a course amid this landscape. The 14th hole here is a stunning, old-school par three, with a tee pointing towards a green without much of a bailout area to speak of. 170 yards from the back but 160 for our card, the tee also points out to the blue yonder of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a stunning hole but don’t be short.

Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com

Royal Adelaide is one of the grand old courses of Australia, having been established in 1896, while its famous Seaton course was reworked by Alister Mackenzie—he of Augusta National fame—in 1926. Mackenzie wondered at the “magnificent sand craters” that have lent themselves so naturally to creating one of the outstanding golf landscapes of the southern hemisphere. The course has held nine Australian Opens to date. The 14th hole on the Seaton links is rated as Stroke Index one on the club card, and off the back tee its yardage reaches right up to a punishing 490 yards for a par four. It demands a tee shot of 250 yards to clear a cluster of three bunkers around the elbow of this dogleg right, but we will accept the grace of the medal tee at 420 yards—still a formidable two-shotter. The approach to a raised green must be played between flanks of pine tress, and the shot will need to fly to the green to avoid a deep swale lying in wait, short of the putting surface.

The Maidstone Club, East Hampton, NY

15 Baltimore Country Club, MD PAR 5, 603 YARDS Founded in 1898, Baltimore Country Club is another one of the oldest golf clubs in the United States, and its original Roland Park Golf Course—which is sadly no longer with us—was the first golf course in Maryland to hold a major championship, when the fifth U.S. Open was played there in 1899, won by Scotland’s Willie Smith. The club’s current East Course at Five Farms in Timonium was designed by A.W. Tillinghast and opened in 1926, and by all accounts was superior to the original golf course from the outset. Like with its predecessor, it did not take long for the Five Farms East course to gain major recognition, with the 1928 PGA Championship going there. Under the direction of Keith Foster, restoration of the East Course was completed earlier this year. The 14th is called ‘Hell’s Half Acre’, after a hilltop bunker complex that must be avoided by what would typically be a second shot. At 603 yards from the tips, this is a genuine three-shotter today and must have seemed like a par-six in 1926.

summer 2015

Links at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, California PAR 5, 546 YARDS

The Links at Spanish Bay returns to our links theme through this journey of 14th holes. Created through collaboration between Robert Trent Jones Jnr, Tom Watson and former president of the USGA, Sandy Tatum, the golf course brings Scottish links tradition to California’s Pacific coast. When the course opened in November 1987, Watson shot 67, five under par, which we understand remains the course record to this day. Well, four of Watson’s five Claret Jugs were won in Scotland after all. The final par five of our layout, the 14th at Spanish Bay—‘Wind and Willow’—is a mighty stretch of land that tumbles downhill towards the ocean. 576 yards long from the back, our yardage of 546 is plenty long enough because if the wind picks up off the Pacific this could be a long walk down to the green, even if it is downhill. There is little room for golfers to swerve away from the fairway either, with ‘OB’ to the left, and unhelpful marsh and willow trees to the right. If the hole offers any sense of relief, it is that golfers at least have the option of running their ball into the green.

Cherry Hills Country Club, Englewood, Colorado PAR 4, 463 YARDS

Cherry Hills was established in 1922 by a group of Denver businessmen, and William Flynn, of Shinnecock Hills fame, was recruited to design the championship golf course. The golf course soon received acclaim, and it only had to wait until 1938 to host the first of its five men’s major championships, the 1938 U.S. Open. The U.S. Open returned in 1960, when reigning Masters champion Arnold Palmer mounted the most famous comeback charge of his illustrious career. After three rounds Palmer was seven shots behind leader Mike Souchak, and his friend and Pittsburgh sports writer Bob Drum famously told Palmer he had no chance in the final round. Suitably stoked, Palmer opened his final round by driving the green on the 346-yard, par-four first, and the resulting birdie set the tone, as he birdied six of the first seven holes, eventually winning by two from young amateur Jack Nicklaus. Some say the 14th at Cherry Hills is the toughest hole on the course, and we think it is a perfect finale to our imaginary 18. It is a mighty par four that plays to 520 yards off the championship tee today, but even at 463 from the ‘Member’ tee, it remains anything but a push over. A dogleg left with a wide fairway, golfers must avoid Little Dry Creek to the left of the fairway and green. The hole averaged nearly 4.6 in the 1960 U.S. Open, although Palmer secured his par on his charge to the title.

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The Coeur d’Alene Resort, Idaho PAR 3, 175 YARDS

The 6,803-yard, par-71 golf course at The Coeur d’Alene Resort in northern Idaho occupies an idyllic woodland setting by Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Cougar Bay Nature Reserve. Part of a family resort that offers a range of outdoor activities and luxury accommodation, the 200-acre golf course was designed by Scott Miller and offers golfers lake views from every hole. With every hole framed by verdant woodlands, golfers need to negotiate their way around Fernan Creek on some holes, although the outstanding water feature of this course undoubtedly arrives at the 14th. The hole is a par three with the tee on the lakeside, and the green on a man-made moveable island in the lake. The championship yardage is stated as 218 yards, with the medal yardage at 175, but in truth, the yardage varies day-to-day, depending on where the club places the green. The 15,000-square-foot island makes for an intimidating target although it is generously proportioned. Less generous are the bunkers protecting the front and back of the putting surface. Once tee shots are played, golfers are shuttled to the island green via the wooden ‘Putter’ boat.

“We live in a nice house and have a beautiful boat, but my family always says our most precious possession is

our way of life.”

Along with a unique way of life, Ocean Reef Club offers all the comforts and services of a small but sophisticated town. Airport • Marina • Golf • Spa • Fitness Center • Tennis • Theater • Medical Center • Restaurants • Inn • Pre K3 thru 8 Academy There are also comforts of a different kind. Among them, a tangible sense of privacy and security, tradition and values, and perhaps most important, a sense of belonging unlike any other club on earth.

There are only two ways to experience our legendary private club – as a guest of a Member or through the pages of Ocean Reef Club Living Magazine and our Real Estate Guide. Visit our website to request your copy or call our Membership Department to explore the possibilities.

OceanReefLiving.com 305.367.5921 N EW H O M ES

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MARINA DOCKS

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Near Silence 70

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Peace comes easily here, just settles in and makes itself at home during one of the long, loping miles, driven in by the steady whump, whump, whump of the car’s tires across the highway’s cracked surface, the rushing wind outside and the vision of sand hills to the horizon burnished like copper waves under the sun. This is a quiet place, a landscape of lines that softly bend and blue skies that don’t move. It seems the clouds are cut from bright white paper and hung on strings, the small towns built yesterday and painted to appear old. It’s clean vintage: perfectly faded overalls on the gas station attendant, perfectly gold prairie grasses. Like a movie set—no, like a stage set. And so it is with the golf and the way the courses reveal themselves, appearing like Zen gardens in the desert as one crests a large hill or turns a remote corner. Walking any of the tracks carved among the dunes of Nebraska’s Sandhills region, it’s easy to imagine Machrihanish Bay or the Firth of Clyde just over the next rise, but of course we’re just north of America’s center, roughly 1,600 miles from any ocean and just under 1,200 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. And yet being here is like being at sea, especially at twilight when the hills in silhouette could be waves and the stars look like falling snow caught high in the air, everything frozen in an unblemished moment, one among many in the centuries-old quiet

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Wild Horse Golf Club

given that two of the crew that built the Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw-designed Sand Hills GC designed and built Wild Horse (David Axeland and Dan Proctor). Accordingly, it’s been among Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses since it opened in 1999, hitting No.27 in 2009 over Pete Dye’s Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, Monterey Peninsula Country Club in Pebble Beach and numerous other better-known (and far more expensive) courses. With affable staff, unpretentious personality, a friendly snack bar, views for miles, high quality of golf and low price point, this could be the best deal in the game—anywhere.

Wild Horse Golf Club

Dismal River Golf Club

Gothenburg

Mullen

Country road followed by country road, turn left at the weathered pump that sits on the corner of yet another wide-open field. Look for the hand-painted sign with the horse on it, and if you don’t see that then look for its sister on the opposite corner. Miss the turn and there’s more country. Make it and you’ll crest a hill, and then another, and then suddenly, abruptly even, the course appears. What I thought was going to be rather flat turned out to be anything but, with rolling hills and even a small rift-like cut in the course over which two locals hit beautiful drives in challenging wind (not uncommon here, it seems). The windmill and clubhouse break the contoured horizon, standing tall over a course that bears more resemblance to the decidedly upmarket and better-known Sand Hills Golf Club in nearby Mullen than to anything else in the area (or in Wild Horse’s overly reasonable price range; total build cost, including land, was somewhere near $1.6 million). The top quality of the layout perhaps shouldn’t be surprising,

Walking on Dismal River’s Doak Course at sunrise was an experience akin to visiting an immense Gothic cathedral in the earliest hours of morning, at the time when it is quiet but fresh with possibility, stained glass windows filling the sunlight with color before the day properly begins. The course’s vast swaths of green are seemingly in motion, churning and crashing against the high bluffs that buttress fairway edges before settling into a rushing calm that spills over and down hills, flows across sand and wild grasses and then empties into a broad pool of cool, soft shadows. But of course it is all still, and when one blinks and arrests the sense of the earth in motion, there’s a peace here unlike many to be found. The quiet, the absolute stillness of all save the tips of grass blades flicking in the wind, the remoteness of the place and the sheer scale of it combine to provide, if not revelation, then a place for meditation, certainly. Despite its dramatic name, Dismal River holds in its most quiet hours a profundity of beauty that is a

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The absolute stillness of all save the tips of grass blades flicking in the wind

Doak Course, Dismal River

Dismal River cabins

privilege to behold. I was better upon departure than upon arrival, more clear, less troubled, and cannot remember when a visit to a golf course left me so completely thus. Both courses here—the Red (Tom Doak) and White (Jack Nicklaus)—are sublime, the cabin accommodations offer the perfect balance of luxurious and rustic and the staff consists of people with whom you’d gladly open a beer. It’s what Scotland must have looked like when Queen Mary was golfing, it’s nowhere near the sea but the sea is exactly what comes to mind when standing high atop the property watching the grass move. The sleep you’ll have here is as good as any enjoyed upon gentle waves, as are the tales you’ll tell upon your return home.

The Prairie Club Va l e n t i n e If Dismal River is a meditative walk, then The Prairie Club is a giant playground. Like the best kind of amusement park it has something for everyone, and all of it is great fun. The golf is of the highest quality, and every detail of the

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property is incredibly well considered. But they’ve managed to keep the resort approachable in a way that suggests this isn’t the place to be overly serious. Let loose, let it go, have a ball! And so we did, charging through the woods of the Pine Course, taking a slight detour to an overlook where two Adirondack chairs provide an ideal spot to regard the clubhouse and the canyon-sized ravine below. The pine trees are as thick and heavy as a Christmas tree forest in the Alps, interrupted only by gorgeous wide fairways that swoop up or down to tiered greens, clever bunkering and lush rough. Then it was on to the Dunes Course, with its audacious network of roller-coaster-track cart trails ratcheting up steep slopes before diving quickly around thrilling turns and breathtaking straights where the glory of the Nebraska Sandhills are on full display. Here there are immense bunkers and greens the size of Paul Bunyan’s dinner plate. The whole thing feels prehistoric in a good way, like Land of the Lost, and indeed you feel dwarfed by the tremendous landscape and scale of the course. The space is liberating, exhilarating, enlivening in the extreme. One feels like he could hit the ball to the horizon here,

B E YO N D G O L F. . .

Waterfalls

Sushi In Nebraska

Nebraska has more miles of rivers than any other state, and so a few waterfalls are to be expected. There are more than 230 along the Niobara River alone, and some are quite dramatic. Case in point: Snake River Falls near Valentine, the largest waterfall by volume in the state. Viewing requires driving down a private dirt road and, on your honor, leaving a few dollars in a lockbox as the access point is owned by a local sportsman’s club.

As an LA resident who’s enjoyed sushi in Tokyo, Honolulu and other cities nearer oceans, I stepped into Omaha’s Hiro88 as much out of curiosity as anything. Turns out it was a good move. The ikura was bright and salty, the hotate crisp and clean, and standards like yellowtail/jalapeño sashimi were good. A few regional curiosities (e.g. the “Husker Roll”: tempura beef tenderloin, asparagus, cream cheese and eel sauce) plus great service make it well worth a stop.

Thunderhead Brewing Company Ke a r n e y I hope the good people of Kearney know what a wonderful thing they have in Thunderhead. The food is good (+1 for the pizza) but that’s not really the point. Typical of a microbrewery there are just-for-funs (e.g., Jalapeño Ale, which is oddly nice), alchemists’ follies (e.g., Grail Ale Grand Cru, alternately described by online critics as tasting of coriander, tangerine, biscuits, blood orange, grapefruit, syrup, hops, caramel,

cloves and bananas) and the irreverent (e.g. Hardassed Henry’s Permanently Pissed-off Pilsner). But there are also solid examples that rival the best beers anywhere, including Cropduster IPA, Leatherhead Red amber, easy-drinking Golden Frau Honey Wheat (made with Nebraska honey) and more. If there’s anything wrong with Thunderhead’s beers, it’s that they’re not widely available outside of Nebraska.

drive it to the ends of the earth, and the generous fairways do encourage adolescent boldness. Finally, the brilliant 9-hole HORSE course and its lack of tee boxes (remember the old basketball game? I make a shot, then you have to make the same shot or you get an “H”?) kept the grins plastered on our faces for at least a week after we left, never mind the simply massive practice area and range, enjoyed with a great lesson from Club Pro Loudan Steffs. There’s just so much SPACE and fantastic golf here, it’s like you could play forever—and we say why not. Great clubhouse accommodations, friendly staff and a solid kitchen round out the top-drawer experience. But really, Prairie Club is all about playing golf, with an emphasis on the “play.”

Other Can’t-Miss Nebraska Courses •

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Sand Hills Golf Club, Mullen: With its impeccable reputation and appearance on so many “best courses” lists, there’s not much left to be written about this top track. That we didn’t make time to play here is the only regret of our otherwise fantastic trip in Nebraska. ArborLinks, Nebraska City: Host to numerous U.S. Open and Amateur qualifiers, the landscape at this Arnold Palmer-designed layout is more Deep South than Midwest, and it’s one of the area’s best. Arborlinks.com Indian Creek, Omaha: Three 9-hole options make this Omaha’s largest public course. Well-considered design make it one of the most challenging. Well worth a day out with friends. Golfatindiancreek.com Wildnerness Ridge GC, Lincoln: Site of U.S. Open qualifiers and many tourneys, there’s plenty of wind and water here, especially at the No.15, which has wet stuff actually running under the green. Wildernessridgegolf.com

To learn more about amazing Nebraska vacation opportunities, see visitnebraska.com

summer 2015

You feel like you could hit the ball to the horizon here, there’s just so much exhilarating space Prairie Club Dunes Course (above) and Pines Course

#4 Green, Dunes Course

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“Best Courses You Can Play”

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“Greatest Courses You Can Play”

#74 dunes course

Links Magazine, 2013

#35 dunes course | #75 pines course

Golf Magazine, 2014

Golf Digest, 2015

summer 2015

“ Time to take the sack off the back” At the 2015 [British] Open Championship, Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A, will feel a strong sense of his career turning full circle. The first Open with Dawson in charge was in St Andrews in 2000—when Tiger Woods was busy re-setting some of golf’s greatest records—and as Dawson approaches retirement, his final Open will again be at St Andrews. Peter Dixon travelled to St Andrews for an exclusive interview with Dawson in perhaps the most desirable office location in all of golf

or the past 16 years, Peter Dawson has occupied the “best office in the world,” a large wood-panelled room in the iconic Royal and Ancient Clubhouse overlooking the first tee and the 18th green of the Old Course at St Andrews. “Not a bad place to come to work, is it?” Dawson says when asked to reflect on his time as chief executive of the R&A, the body which organises the [British] Open Championship and governs the sport worldwide in conjunction with the United States Golf Association. On September 25, after overseeing his final Open at the Home of Golf, Dawson will retire from the position and hand over the reins to Martin Slumbers, his recently appointed successor. “When we announced the appointment of Martin, I got a text from my son saying, ‘It’s good to see they’ve gone up market,’” he says, laughing. But by any yardstick Dawson’s tenure, particularly on the commercial front, has been a successful one. If he harbours any doubts, he keeps them hidden. And such is his air of confidence that it is almost surprising to hear him say that he gets tense in the week of the Open. But then again, who wouldn’t? “You’re always nervous,” he says, nodding his head to emphasise the point. In the build-up to the Open, and in the week of the championship itself, Dawson runs on adrenalin. It has helped him to fend off anything the world, or the media, has thrown at him—from contentious issues such as Muirfield’s men-only membership policy, to the suspension of play because of high winds at St Andrews—and it has allowed him to stand firm. At times the media can be bullying, but Dawson is not one to be intimidated. “The press often confuses the fact that I am the spokesperson and assume I make all the decisions,” he says. “That is not the case. The R&A operates a very powerful board and committee structure and decisions are taken by these bodies, not by me.” So when he says the R&A tries “to keep away from the cult of personality,” this is not false modesty on his part. He will suffer the slings and arrows that come the organisation’s way primarily because it comes with the territory. “I don’t want people to think I have left a legacy,” he says when asked what he would like his 16-year term in office to be remembered for. “It’s all about the R&A and what we do. It has been a privilege to be part of it, but we don’t ‘do’ legacy. It’s not an ethos that we encourage here. I have no pretensions about that.”

summer 2015

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Dawson at work

Whether or not he “does” legacy, Dawson will be wellremembered by those who love the game, a king among them. “Peter Dawson is one of the great men of golf,” Arnold Palmer told Kingdom recently. “He has helped make the game better during his tenure at the R&A. And do I personally like him? Very much! His governance of the Open Championship has been fantastic and his contributions to the betterment of the game generally have been outstanding and very well accepted, as they should be.” “We on the eastern side of the Atlantic owe Arnold a great debt,” responds Dawson, in reference to Palmer’s decision to enter the Open for the first time in 1960, in an attempt to complete what Palmer considered to be a “grand slam” of four modern major titles, as he was the reigning Masters and U.S. Open champion at the time. He finished runner-up to Kel Nagle in 1960, but returned to win the Claret Jug in 1961 at Royal Birkdale and in 1962 at Royal Troon. “Arnold encouraged many other Americans to come over to play in the Open. [Ben] Hogan and [Sam] Snead played and won in the forties and fifties, but mostly the fifties were dominated by Thomson and [Bobby] Locke, before the Americans started to come. It goes without saying that they have enhanced the championship since Arnold’s intervention and they have provided many worthy winners over the last 50 years. We are very much in Arnold’s debt for that.” Dawson’s self-assurance is borne of success at an early age. Playing off scratch, he captained Cambridge University golf team in 1969 while studying for a degree in engineering, and was managing director of Worcester Parsons, a small manufacturing firm in Birmingham, by the age of 24.

“The company was part of the McKechnie Group and they took a chance on me,” Dawson recalls. “Boy, you learn a lot pretty quickly. There were about 150 members of staff and in that situation you have to grow up fast. The employees were probably right to think I was wet behind the ears.” In a business career spanning 34 years, Dawson went on to work with Grove Worldwide, an American company that manufactures cranes and earth-moving equipment, and was running the company’s operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He switched careers at 51 to become secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1999. His business acumen has since turned the Open Championship into a huge commercial success, with the aim being to plough the money back into the game worldwide. “I look back fondly on my business career,” he says. “I miss the cut and thrust of dealing with the unions as well as the engineering side, the product development. But while I think of the welding shop from time to time, it’s not very often.” Among his many traits, Dawson has been variously described as stubborn, guarded, fiercely private, selfdeprecating, bright and witty. He has had to develop a thick skin to deal with the criticism that has come his way over such issues as women’s membership of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the equipment debate, and the remodelling of some parts of the Old Course. And yet he would rather bite his tongue than betray a confidence. A traditionalist at heart, he also knows that you stand still at your peril. He may seem old-fashioned—and even plays up to the image—but he spent too long in the business world not to be constantly assessing the big picture. He accepts change, but all in good time. More haste, less speed.

We on the eastern side of the Atlantic owe Arnold Palmer a great debt

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He laughs at the thought of having a Twitter or the sack off the back. I’m going to have a really good try at Facebook account—“Not for me. Gosh, no. I can see no doing nothing but catching up with my own golf. Actually, upside to that”—but fully understands the power of social I’d like to do nothing serious until I get bored with that and media and the Internet and the speed at which news is then I’ll think about what I’m going to do.” disseminated around the world. “Things spread so quickly now. A word to someone in St Andrews—let’s say a local paper puts it on its website— and suddenly it’s out in California. That never used to be the case. You have to assume you are talking to the world all the time, even though you might think you are talking to someone next door. “I remember in a previous job someone suggested that we were about to introduce Dawson’s ‘QPA4P’ system, That said, he is likely to remain busy over the next 12 which I eventually discovered was ‘Quill, Pen, A4 Paper.’” months in his capacity as president of the International Golf What he most dislikes about the modern world is Federation, which is overseeing the game’s reintroduction to the constant bombardment of emails. “You can never the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. hide from them,” he laments. “It has been a big change in So, between games of golf at St Andrews (he lives working practice because everyone wants instant replies. five miles down the road), can he be expected to put quill Years ago, if you got a letter, you could think about it. Now to parchment and write his memoirs? “Certainly not,” he if you haven’t replied to an email within five minutes you get snorts. “What goes on the road, stays on the road. I’ve another one. People make a lot of mistakes and take hasty interacted with a lot of people (he has played host to Bill decisions that way.” Clinton and Clint Eastwood, among others) and those Born in Aberdeen in 1948, Dawson spent his early things deserve to remain private.” And as frustrating as that years in Edinburgh, where he attended George Heriot’s school and first took up golf, and then moved at the age of 14 to Essex when his father, an executive with the GPO (latterly British Telecom), was relocated. Surprisingly perhaps, considering his lifetime involvement with a game he has come to love, Dawson was not part of a golfing family. That said, his father was a high achiever in the world of sport, and his dedication rubbed off on his son. “My father was not a golfer, but he was a very good swimmer,” Dawson says. “In fact, he was the British record holder at the 100 yards breaststroke in 1939. And if there had been an Olympics in 1940, he’d have been there. I was force-fed swimming as a child and was quite good at breaststroke. But when we moved to Essex there was no indoor pool anywhere near. So, having started golf, I stuck with it.” Dawson joined Thorpe Hall Golf Club, which was the home course of Michael Bonallack, one of the best British amateurs of his, or any, generation. What a coincidence, Tiger Woods presented with the Claret Jug by Sir Michael Bonallack in July, 2000 then, that it was Bonallack, now Sir Michael, whom Dawson replaced as secretary of the Royal & Ancient Golf intransigence has been to elements of the press over the Club all those years later. years, it remains one of his strongest qualities. “We played together when I was a schoolboy, but Among his favourite memories is Tiger Woods’s runaway after that we hardly saw each other until I came back here,” victory in the Open Championship at St Andrews in 2000. Dawson recalls. In 1964, both flew the flag for their club at “That was my first Open in my new role and it was Tiger’s first the same time, Bonallack winning the Essex amateur crown, Open win,” he recalls. “I’ve loved all the Open venues, but that Dawson the Essex boys’ title. first one had a lot going for it. I was more on edge than normal. So, what next for the man who, whether he agrees or “It would be nice to see Tiger here again this year. not, has been the face of The R&A for the past 16 years? There could be nothing better than seeing Tiger and Rory “I’ll miss it hugely, but I do feel the time is right to go,” [McIlroy] coming down the 72nd hole neck and neck.” he says. “It’s time to hand over to a fresh pair of legs, to take And what a send-off that would provide.

Things spread so quickly now, you have to assume you are talking to the world all the time

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The bronze of Old Tom Morris on the R&A Clubhouse, St Andrews

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Old Tom’s Return In the fall of 1864, Old Tom Morris left his job as Keeper of the Green at Prestwick Golf Club to return to the golf course by which he was born and bred, the Old Course at St Andrews. 150 years later, plus a few months, we followed in the footsteps of golf’s original club professional Words : Robin Barwick Pictures: Leon Harris

pring is being kind, and there is the gentlest of prevailing breezes sweeping across Prestwick Golf Club from the Firth of Clyde. The skies are blue and surprisingly warm for April—perfect conditions for a game—but we are not here to play golf, we are here to embark on a journey from one side of Scotland to the other, from Prestwick on the west coast to St Andrews on the east, as Old Tom Morris did himself 150 years ago (plus six months). “I tend to warn visitors who don’t know the course,” starts Ken Goodwin, secretary at Prestwick Golf Club, “that when they stand on a tee, if they can see a flag ahead they are probably not facing in the right direction.” And therein lies the essence of this historic golf course. It is eccentric by modern standards, but when Old Tom Morris came here in 1851 to lay out the course, he set the standard for the design of links courses for generations to come. “Prestwick was the first course Tom laid out, and his approach to golf course design was to first find a good place for a green,” adds Goodwin. “Once he had identified that, he would find another good place for a green, and so it went on.

If there happened to be a sand dune or a depression on the road to the green then it was up to the golfer to negotiate it, one way or another.” The golf course at Prestwick, which started as 12 holes in 1851 and was partly re-routed and expanded to 18 holes 30 years later, includes a rare treasure of golf design, a blind par three: the Himalayas. “Himalayas has a big sand dune between the tee and the green,” explains Goodwin. “You would never be allowed to build that hole today. Modern pros would hate it in a tournament, but when the Open is at Troon or Turnberry we get a lot of them coming here to play the course for fun, and they think it’s great. Golf in the early days was all about negotiating obstacles like the one on our fifth hole.” As a young club and ball maker of St Andrews, and not long married, Morris was keen to broaden his experience and made the bold decision to accept the job of “Keeper of the Green” at Prestwick, a new club all the way on the opposite coastline of Scotland, at “a place in the vicinity of Ayr, called Prestwick,” as one Fife newspaper reported in 1851.

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The 110-mile journey from St Andrews to Prestwick, east coast to west, was into the unknown in many ways. “Morris was well liked at St Andrews and I think he surprised a lot of people when he moved to Prestwick,” starts Andrew Lochhead, a member at Prestwick GC and the club’s archivist. “He didn’t have any previous connection with the town and it was a long journey from home: a day’s travelling incorporating trains and horse and cart. He did it with a young wife and newborn child too—‘Young’ Tom was only a couple months old. He took a bit of a gamble leaving all his existing friends and customers behind for the unknown quantity of Prestwick.” Morris’s move would ultimately be vindicated by the inauguration of the Open Championship, in 1860, upon the very links he created with his own hands. The members of Prestwick organised the first Open in the hope of proving that their man, Morris, was the best golfer of his day, but Musselburgh’s Willie Park—the great rival of Morris— refused to fall into line and won the Champion’s Belt for the first time. But that is another story. Morris earned an annual salary of £36 (around $175 at 1860 exchange rates) at Prestwick, and always with a keen sense of his own worth, he would supplement his income with exhibition and challenge matches (see story on page 94), and from selling clubs and balls. It was this position that established the role of the club professional. Morris was the first. It was at Prestwick that Morris discovered that laying sand onto greens improved their condition. “Morris would fix any problems on the course with ‘sand, sand and more

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“Morris would fix any problems on the course with ‘sand, sand and more sand’” Birthplace of the Open: the third green at Prestwick (top), club secretary Ken Goodwin by Prestwick’s original first tee (left) and the 17th green (below)

“I think Morris was always destined to return to his hometown at some point” Sign here: Tom Morris’ paperwork from 1855 at Prestwick (left), club archivist Andrew Lochhead (below, left) and club professional David Fleming (below, right)

sand,’” says Goodwin. “That still holds true today. We still top dress our greens with sand.” “It is amazing how the game has evolved since Old Tom Morris came here and designed the golf course, worked as greenkeeper, professional and club maker,” says David Fleming, who took up the baton at Prestwick as club professional in 2004 and is only the club’s eighth professional since 1851. “I would love to know how Old Tom managed his time! With the exhibition matches I honestly don’t know how he managed it all. To be such a great course designer, player, greenkeeper and club maker, Old Tom was incredibly gifted. He puts us all to shame today!” From 1861, Morris won four of the next seven Open Championships, all at Prestwick, and he was such a success in terms of playing, greenkeeping and his other extended duties, that the gentlemen members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club wanted him back in St Andrews. The offer of a £50 annual salary and a return home was too good to refuse.

“I think Morris was always destined to return to his hometown at some point,” adds Lochhead. “I expect he missed St Andrews by the time he returned in 1864. Prestwick Golf Club was grateful to receive the benefits of his services for 14 years.” “In those days there were two distinct social classes,” adds Goodwin, “and for the gentlemen members of Prestwick Golf Club to hold a farewell dinner to honor Tom Morris before he left, that shows you how highly he was regarded.” For Morris and his young family, that journey back to the east coast of Scotland would have taken all day, picking up trains from Prestwick to Glasgow, Glasgow to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Granton, and then by train ferry to Bruntisland, and then up to Leuchars Junction and St Andrews. About as complicated as a 110-mile journey could be. The railways do not run those connections any more, so to follow the footsteps of Morris from Prestwick to St Andrews we were forced to travel by car. Morris was nothing if not a progressive thinker, and we like to think he would have approved in the advances from horse drawn cart to motorized car, slashing the coast-to-coast journey time by at least 80 percent. It’s a bit like comparing one of Morris’s handmade hickory clubs to Callaway’s latest Big Bertha. So 14 years after Morris left St Andrews, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club lured him back. He was comfortably the best qualified and proven man to run the Old Course and serve the golfers of St Andrews. As detailed in ‘Tom Morris of St

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Andrews, The Colossus of Golf’ by David Malcolm and Peter Crabtree, The Fifeshire Journal reported Tom’s return thus, on 24 November 1864: “Tom Morris has arrived to enter upon his duties as Conservator of the Links and we doubt not that his return amongst us will add more item to the popularity of the national game.” They got that right. Morris officially began his new job on December 19, 1864, although Malcolm and Crabtree write that it was not until the New Year of 1865 that Morris was “presented with the tools of his office—a barrow, spade and shovel.” In 1866, the well-established Morris joined the property ladder for the first time and moved the family into No. 6 Pilmour Links, and his business into a new shop on The Links. Morris’ work was based in that shop for the next 39 years, until his reluctant retirement in 1903 at the age of 82, and he lived at No. 6 until his death in 1908, at the age of 86. Owned by the St Andrews Links Trust, the “Tom Morris” shop remains open to this day, and, fittingly, it retails the Tom Morris clothing brand. It occupies a prime spot in St Andrews, overlooking the 18th green of the Old Course, just down from the prestigous burgundy-brick Hamilton Grand redevelopment at one end of the road and the Old Course Hotel at the other. The Old Course Hotel— the discerning golfer’s hotel of choice in St Andrews—offers a level of comfort and luxury that Old Tom probably could not have imagined, but also one that he would surely enjoy, given the chance. Nine years after Morris’ return to St Andrews, the Open was held on the Old Course for the first time, in no small part due to Morris’ expertise as “Conservator of the Links.” Without Morris the history of golf’s oldest major would be very different. The residents of St Andrews thought so, and after Morris died the town’s golf clubs collaborated to commission a bronze of Morris, which was installed beneath the clock on the outside of the R&A clubhouse, in fitting isolation, overlooking the first tee of his beloved Old Course.

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Journey’s end: the 18th green on the Old Course (below), where the 18th is named “Tom Morris” (top left). His house on Pilmour Links (top right)

GOLF’S FOUR CORNERS With little more than a golf bag slung over his shoulder, Tom Morris journeyed extensively to compete in challenge matches, through which he could earn considerably more than his £36 annual salary at Prestwick or £50 at St Andrews. In the middle 19th century, interest in golf for golf’s own sake among gentlemen with disposable income was growing, but gambling on golf was addictive. In the mid 1850s, with Morris settled at Prestwick, there emerged from Musselburgh Golf Club near Edinburgh a young golfer said to drive the ball further than anyone had ever seen; Willie Park. Born in 1833, Park was 12 years younger than Morris, and the two would remain each other’s principle rivals for three decades. The appetite among gentlemen for betting on matches between the two great players of the day was insatiable. Prior to the inauguration of the Open Championship in 1860, Morris and Park were enticed by golf’s gambling gentlemen into many challenge matches, the most famous of which would consist of 144 holes of accumulative match play, with 36 holes played at each of Scotland’s pre-eminent clubs; Musselburgh, North Berwick, Prestwick and often culminating at St Andrews. Today, bringing these four courses into one journey is arguably the ultimate historic Scottish golf odyssey. Given seven days, it is comfortably achievable.

You don’t get to be Scotland’s favorite single malt by being ‘quite’ well made

Unnecessarily Well Made

The test of time Where ‘Old’ Tom Morris trod, the [British] Open seemed to follow. He built his first golf course at Prestwick and that is where the Open began in 1860. Morris returned to St Andrews in 1864, and the Open soon arrived. He designed Muirfield in 1891, and it hosted the Open a year later. Here we follow the journey of the Open Championship

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The founding fathers Before Old Tom Morris there was Allan Robertson. A St Andrews ball maker and mentor to Morris, Robertson was the finest golfer of the mid-19th century, and he had taught Morris everything he knew by the time Morris left to build the golf course at Prestwick in 1851 and become golf’s first genuine club pro. Robertson died in 1859, aged 44, and his death spurred the members of Prestwick into establishing a tournament to identify, beyond argument, golf’s best player. Prestwick put up £25 for the Challenge Belt, a prize in keeping with prize-fighting, and the game’s best players were invited to Prestwick for three 12-hole rounds of strokeplay. In the 1860 inauguration, Musselburgh’s Willie Park defeated the home pro Morris by two shots, much to the consternation of Morris’s Prestwick faithful (Morris would make amends a year later).

The Claret Jug Any golfer to win the Challenge Belt three years in succession was entitled to keep the prize permanently. ‘Young Tom Morris’, son of Old Tom and the greatest golfer of his generation, won the Open at Prestwick in 1868, 1869 and 1870, and was carried on the shoulders of caddies from the train when he returned to St Andrews. So after 11 years of playing for the Challenge Belt

Timeless beauties The Open Championship golf courses, with the year the golf course opened (where applicable) and the year it first staged The Open.

The 18th green at Muirfield, home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers

Course

Opened

First Open

Age at 1st Open

No. of Opens

Prestwick Old Course, St Andrews Musselburgh Links Muirfield Royal St. George’s Royal Liverpool Royal Cinque Ports Royal Troon Royal Lytham Carnoustie Princes Royal Portrush Royal Birkdale Turnberry

1851 N/A N/A 1891 1887 1869 1892 1879 1897 N/A 1906 1888 1897 1899

1860 1873 1874 1892 1894 1897 1909 1923 1926 1931 1932 1951 1954 1977

9 N/A N/A 1 7 28 17 44 29 N/A 26 63 57 78

24 28 6 16 14 12 2 8 11 7 1 1 9 4

the Open needed a new prize, yet no-one offered a solution in time for a championship to take place at all in 1871. An agreement was eventually reached between the Royal and Ancient at St Andrews, Prestwick and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers—based at the time at Musselburgh—to share the cost of commissioning a £30 Claret Jug in silver, the ‘Golf Champion Trophy’. With shared cost came shared hosting rights, and after the Open was revived at Prestwick in 1872, it was played for the first time at St Andrews in 1873 and at Musselburgh in 1874. For two decades these three clubs alternated hosting the Open, with stability feeding its stature. The Honourable Company brought controversy to the Open in 1891, when the club commissioned Old Tom Morris to layout a new course at Muirfield, 14 miles east of Musselburgh. With nine-hole Musselburgh considered by some as unfit to stage the Open, the Honourable Company insisted its new, 18-hole course host the Open in 1892, when it would have been Musselburgh’s turn. Musselburgh would not host the Open again, even though Muirfield only received luke warm support at first, with leading player Andrew Kirkaldy describing Muirfield as nothing more than “an old water meadow”. As more golf courses joined the Open rota in the ensuing years, never again would such a young course be granted the privilege.

South of the border John Ball was the first Englishman to win the Open, in 1890, and another, Harold Hilton, won in 1892, and the English wanted to host the Open. In June 1893, Prestwick, the Royal and Ancient and the Honourable Company agreed to bring St. George’s Golf Club (as it was then called)—in southeast England—and Royal Liverpool Golf Club—in England’s northwest—onto the Open rota, in a move supported by the leading players, including Morris. When the Open arrived at St. George’s in 1894, the move was vindicated by a record field of 94, surpassing the 83 at St Andrews in 1891. Royal Liverpool received its first Open three years later, before Royal Cinque Ports—just down the road from St. George’s in Sandwich— joined the club in 1909. These successful championships in England confirmed to its organizers that for the Open to continue to grow and flourish, its venues required a broad geographical spread. As the arguably unready links at Chambers Bay illustrated at the 2015 U.S. Open—Henrik Stenson said it was “like putting on broccoli” on this eight-year-old course—there is nothing like time and a few changes of season to settle a course into a reliable championship test. That’s why over the past century, the youngest newcomer to the Open rota has been Princes GC, literally next door to Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, which was 26 years old when it hosted its solitary Open in 1932.

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Rick Johnson discovers that getting to scratch takes good equipment, natural ability, focus—and a teeny tiny itsy bitsy little touch of complete and utter obsession

cratch amateurs are as rare as a hole-in-one on Oakmont’s eighth hole. Rare, yet we all know they’re out there. Of the 3.5 million golfers in the United States with an official USGA handicap, less than one percent are scratch or better. That is roughly 23,000 male and 1,500 female golfers playing to zero or better. So who are these people and how did they get so good? Are they naturals or nurtured? Intellectuals or jocks? And do they all have well-worn range cards? The consensus is that this rare breed habitually spends five to eight hours a week practicing and that they play at least twice a week. Also, they tend to be gifted all-around athletes, according to some of the game’s top instructors. But that’s just part of it. “It has to do with balance, timing and rhythm,” says Michael Hebron, a teacher at Smithtown Landing CC in New York and a former college basketball player. “What you learn from making foul shots makes you a better putter.” Also, athleticism often comes with a degree of strength, which helps with another factor: distance off the tee. “All the statistics show the greater the driving distance, the lower the scores,” says Hebron. “A 15 doesn’t hit it as far as a 7 or 8. That’s what the research says. They have different scoring clubs in their hands.” Of course, at scratch level, shot distance has to be complemented by a sharp short game. “Three times more practice on the short game than on the long game,” recommends Hebron. “That’s the ratio.” Jimmy Ballard, a legendary swing doctor for more than a half-century—who tutored Curtis Strange among others—says scratch players work on their short games “a minimum of 50 percent of the time.” The “x factor” with some scratch golfers is an obsession with the game. To a vast degree, golf is their life. They will go anywhere and do anything to improve. Some love to experiment: trying new clubs, new exercise programs, new teachers, new psychology, new energy drinks—anything.

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Most tend to be “left-brained,” analytical and ambitious. Some dream of playing on the Champions Tour. Some are successful in business. They are all focused, and a few might boast healthy egos—case in point: a relatively successful man whose name you probably wouldn’t recognize, yet who nonetheless insisted that it not be used. “I like to fly under the radar,” he says. A +3 handicap and student of noted instructor Jerome Andrews, this 50-year-old entrepreneur from Southern California offered his take on reaching scratch, and said that it starts with dedication. “To get from two or three to plus-two or plus-three

their lives around golf. They have a golf personality so it can become hard for them not to identify with golf in some way. So yes, be warned, a scratch golfer may exhibit signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior. “I’ve worked with a number of corporate amateurs who are really good, and first and foremost they are passionate,” said Andrews, a teacher at the Altadena Golf Course in California. “But it goes beyond passion; they are all-in, all-in on the process.” While a senior instructor at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy at Lake Nona, Florida, a few years ago, Andrews began working with two brothers in their 30s who quickly improved. One of the brothers, who played to nine when he linked up with Andrews, wanted to go further. “The third time he came he booked two days, two personal training days, and we were in the video room and he sees the results and he says to me: ‘I want to be a scratch player and I will give you two years. What do you need from me?’ He did it in a year,” Andrews said. “Was he incredibly athletic? No. He was not gifted in that way but he was a ‘Type A’ personality.” The player has now held his scratch handicap for several years, and Andrews says that it wasn’t down to practice so much as that “he had an incredibly high IQ.” High IQ? So is intelligence the name of the scratch game? Do smarts matter that much? “It’s not about high IQs,” counters Hebron, who once authored a book called The Art and Zen of Learning Golf. “But they are more balanced emotionally; they have a high emotional IQ.” you have to decide to focus on this,” he says. “Once you Well-regarded teacher Bill Davis (at the Jupiter get to single digits it takes a lot of time to see improvement. Hills Club in Tequesta, Florida) once said: “To go from six You have to keep chipping away at the areas that are your to scratch you need to have a lot of ability and you need weak points. If you are a 20-handicapper you are going to to have a lot of knowledge. You have to understand the see improvement quickly. It takes maintenance if you are science and math of the game. You can have an IQ of 753, going to be a plus golfer or a scratch golfer. but without ‘golf knowledge’ it doesn’t do you any good.” “You lay out a tournament schedule so you have something to practice for and improvement just comes along with that. If you just have scratch golf as your goal it’s kind Andrews adds that his fast-improving scratch player was of tough because you are never going to see what difference “very successful from a career standpoint,” and that could it makes. “The biggest awakening is when you think you’re good... matter as successful people can be high achievers anyway who work hard at everything. Also, they’ll likely have the You’ll come to a realization that you’re not. You look around ability to invest in their game. and ‘good’ is always relative. I have friends who are PGA “They have the means to seek out the best information,” Tour players, some who are scratch handicappers and others Andrews says, “and they also have the ability to shape their are 15 handicappers, but the underlying factor for everybody schedules somewhat to fit their goals.” is that we like the action and we want to get better.” “The 10 or 12 top clubs in the country have more low-handicap players,” says Hebron. “But these people have a full life. They have limited time, but they always have a plan. Dr. Jim Suttie, a respected teacher, calls amateur scratch Good players are people who make progress in any field.” players “golf digits” because the game occupies such a Andrews concurs: “They often travel a lot, but they major part of their being. Scratch golfers generally arrange travel with a small club and they check their swing in a hotel

Some love to experiment: trying new clubs, new exercise programs, new teachers...

Finding time

All or nothing

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room mirror or they do a conference call with a headset and a club in their hands.” Even if they can’t get to the course or sneak out to the range, they find ways to work on their games. “A lot of them practice mentally,” says Ballard. “They are sitting down and picturing the golf swing.”

The Zen mind

Some say that scratch players are better learners. They are more willing to devote themselves to the process of improvement. “If you can embrace and accept a new picture—a different feeling—you can change very quickly,” says Andrews. “It is an acceptance or a belief. You have to believe in what you’re doing. You have to understand the process, have a blueprint, and you have to be sold.” “It’s mindset before skills sets,” says Hebron. “It’s the lessons you take away from the struggle. The most important skill is the ability to handle inconsistency because there is nothing consistent in golf.” Davis defines a scratch player as a golfer who can shoot 72 three days in a row, in three different ways. On the first day he will hit most fairways and most greens and shoot a comfortable 72. On the second day he gets the ball up and down and gets his even par. On the third he’s terrific from tee to green but can’t putt a lick, otherwise he would have shot 66. Renowned teacher T.J. Tomasi said being a scratch golfer depended on a player’s ability to have “complete access” to their swing while on the course. “Most golfers,” Tomasi says, “are denied access to the internal model or template they have learned. They have access on the driving range, but on the course the interference of stress and pressure blocks retrieval. Playing with unconscious competence is a learned skill.” Says Ballard: “The thing about a scratch player is that they know how to play one shot at a time. They can stay in the present.” At times, all golfers are on their own. Hebron says scratch players draw from something within because the game can be a lonely endeavor. “It’s about competitiveness,” he says. “Some of us are interested in it and some of us aren’t.” Some instructors say modern scratch amateurs can be roughly divided into two categories: players in their mid-40s and up who mostly learned on their own, who dug their games out of the dirt, and a younger generation who grew up with youth sport becoming increasingly specialized and heavily coached, an era when early evidence of talent in any game is met with pampering and prodding. “If the scratch player is 30, 40 or 45 they probably came up through the ranks,” says Puggy Blackmon, director of golf at the University of South Carolina. “They grew up

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with a lot of instruction, maybe too much, an overload of information. Parents got them specialized and they got the latest everything.”

The Natural

And then there are the pure accidents, or partial accidents, anyway. Steve Anderson, managing director at a private banking firm in Detroit, is a driven guy, but he hardly would’ve been voted “most likely to be scratch” in high school. The 42-year-old had never had a lesson until last summer, after he got red-hot in the Michigan State Amateur tournament and beat a pack of flat-belly college golfers (he lost at the last hole of the championship match to 19-year-old Henry Do, from the University of North Carolina). In fact, Anderson didn’t play much golf at all until his late 20s, although he played tennis in college at Eastern Michigan. When he found golf he was a solid player, often breaking 80, but a decade ago something happened and his game went into high gear. “I went snowboarding out West and busted my shoulder,” says Anderson. “It was right before the golf season and I couldn’t swing hard any more. So my swing slowed down and I found that you’re not supposed to swing hard,” he said. “I took 10 shots off my handicap.” We can’t all expect to improve like Anderson did, unfortunately, but given some time, dedication and faultless organization, the club of scratch golf takes all shapes and sizes. Lesson number one: if you want it enough, don’t be told you can’t do it.

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ADAPT & OVERCOME Golf pro Joe Buttitta had been teaching the game for years when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. After getting the news, he wasn’t sure what the future held. But, like Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and numerous others who’ve faced movement disorders stemming from age or from health issues, putting down his golf clubs was never an option.

100

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Can you recall the exact moment you began to feel old, as in old-old? I know exactly when it happened to me. It was shortly after my 64th birthday, and here’s what happened: I finished setting up my teaching area and headed for the pro shop, as I had done for years. Everything about my routine seemed normal: put one foot in front of the other and get a bucket of range balls. But it didn’t go like that. En route to the shop—a distance of 50 yards— I felt my gait change. As the saying goes, “I had a hitch in my giddyup.” I was walking in another gear, one I didn’t recognize. There was no warning. No hint at all. It was as if someone had flipped a switch, and it changed my life. In the time it takes to swing a club (about 1.3 seconds) I developed a movement disorder. For the first time ever, I felt old. At some point Arnold Palmer dealt with a movement disorder as well, and to me that made his well-known “swing your own swing” axiom all the more inspiring. Perfect, I thought. Simple and to the point.

Ben Hogan never quit, despite severe injuries

“There are different ways and different thoughts on how to go about hitting a golf ball,” Palmer told me recently. “Each individual has his own way of doing it. You know, if golfers used their own natural talents they would solve a lot of their own swing problems. There is no such thing as the perfect swing.” Palmer’s own style was highly individualized, as he explained: “My father gave me a proper grip early on, which served me very well. But my way of playing was my own. I was a blocker and that’s the way I preferred to play.” With regard to his “blocker” mention: Palmer didn’t release the toe of the club in the so-called conventional manner, which led to his iconic “whirlybird” follow-through. But even The King had his own version of a movement disorder that forced him to adjust his swing. “I had a right hip injury caused by a back situation,” he said, “and I had to adapt my swing so I could get through the ball. There are always adjustments to make.” Though the injury compelled him to withdraw from the 1969 PGA Championship, he was soon back on course.

Arguably the golfer with the most serious movement disorder might have been Ben Hogan, whose car collided with a bus in 1949. Hogan sustained a number of careerthreatening injuries, including a broken pelvis, broken collarbone, damage to his bladder, and very serious injuries to his left leg. Forget playing golf—doctors said he might not even walk again. But he did. And after some very painful rehab he re-joined the tour and won again as well. The 1950 U.S. Open was his after a playoff victory over Lloyd Mangrum at Merion. Again: Hogan didn’t quit. Or how about Erik Compton, the remarkable young man who received two heart transplants and today plays on the PGA TOUR? Compton had good reason to quit, but like so many others he didn’t. The point is that, whatever adjustments you’re forced to make, there are many different ways to keep you playing this very difficult yet wondrous game of golf. I just didn’t think I’d have to be adjusting quite so much. At my first visit to the doctor a neurologist said straightaway, within 30 seconds of seeing me walk into her

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office, that I had Parkinson’s Disease. That was the last thing I expected. Those words hit me hard, like you can’t believe. I didn’t feel any different than usual, but something about my walk gave it away. Further tests confirmed her diagnosis and, just like that, I joined the nearly 1 million Americans with PD, the disease that caused my movement disorder. Deep down I wondered how much my golf swing would be affected by this foreign invader. Would I teach again? Could I swing again? An image of Mohammad Ali flashed through my mind. PD transformed that alpha-male into a mere shadow of himself, but actor Michael J. Fox has PD and continues to work in television. PD affects everyone differently. What would it do to me? A shortage of the brain chemical dopamine is the cause, and how I leaked dopamine over the years is a mystery. I checked, and nobody else in my entire family suffered from PD. There is no cure for it. It plods on every hour of every day determining how you move, how you

just to see what will happen. “How will this concoction of moves and ideas affect ball flight?,” I wonder. I started with the conventional swing, then gave Moe Norman’s Single Plane a try. Hogan’s iconic flattish swing got a shot, followed by Stack and Tilt and Square to Square. I experimented with the Vardon grip, 10-finger grip and interlocking grip. My own swing path went from flat to more vertical and to all points in between. I even gave The Gravity Swing a try. I was eager to see what would happen. There were days when I would take only a 3-iron to work and experiment with open faces, closed faces, punch shots, pitching out of green-side bunkers, adding loft, reducing loft and anything else you can think of. All of this was always fun, as it should be! Every swing method I tried has real merit. They are all good, but they are not all good for everyone. As I began to find my new swing, I started to realize sincerely that while Parkinson’s would force me to modify how I played, it wasn’t going to rob me of my fun, of my livelihood. I would find a way to play effective golf, then teach others afflicted with some sort of movement disorder. And I think I actually became a better teacher when I began to examine the swing from different perspectives. Of course PD isn’t the only source of movement disorders. Anything that restricts movement and possibly produces pain can be put in that class. Bum hips, frozen shoulders, tender knees, sprained wrists, bad backs, and so on, but PD is the big one—and don’t forget age. In golf, age is not “just a number,” and everyone needs to keep an eye on the relentless Father Time. The point I make is that, no matter the challenge, there is usually a way to keep playing golf if your passion level is high, if you need the game—and I needed it badly. Dr. Ralph Weiss of Oak Park, CA, recently turned 89 and reports generally sound health. He was a tennis player most of his life who began playing golf when he retired in 1996. “I was on call too often and golf never fit my schedule,” said the former pediatric cardiologist. “The only thing that gets me these days is a nagging back when I bend to tee up a ball. “I’m lucky, I guess,” he says. “My movement disorder is a shorter backswing these days, but I think that comes with age. I used to hit a 2-iron between 180-190 yards years ago, but I can’t anymore. My swing speed just isn’t there.” At 89 it’s no wonder! Another “poster boy” dealing with movement disorders is Dr. Howard Hirsch, a former UCLA water polo

There is usually a way to keep playing golf if your passion level is high, if you need the game— and I needed it Erik Compton

think, how you feel. It runs your life. It stinks, but I never believed it was a reason to quit playing golf. PD has left me with a tremor in my right hand and an overall feeling of stiffness and slowness in my muscles. My once long and languid golf swing is now much shorter. My swing speed is down, but age is partly to blame for that as well. I was angry that the PD had robbed me of normal movement, but I never considered quitting golf. Golf is the reason I get out of bed every day. Has been for years. I love the game and enjoy teaching it, and so when I learned I had PD I was determined to find another way to hit a golf ball. I was sure that it was possible, even though I knew that it definitely would be different. Still, I was open to change. I’m what you call a major tinkerer when it comes to golf: I enjoy trying different types of swings, like a baker without a recipe. I take what I can from one swing theory, and combine it with a few elements from another swing

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letterman. The 80-year-old retired orthopedist gets around ONE APPROACH TO CHANGE If you are 50-plus with any kind of movement disorder try this these days with two artificial knees, an artificial hip, and no prescription for continued golf: Take a short iron in your lead hand (that’s rotator cuff muscles in his left shoulder. Yet he golfs, skis the left hand if you are right-handed). Set up in a one-armed address and snowboards regularly. position. Reach your lead arm across your chest until the arm is parallel “With no rotator cuff muscles in my left shoulder I to the ground. Then, with your trail arm, reach up and grip the club. can’t follow through,” he told me. “But that’s no reason not That should be the extent of your backswing. For the over-50 gang this to play. I just do what my body will allow; I still have fun at backswing will work consistently for all clubs. Anything more might be it. These days I play the forward tees,” he added with a wink. beyond your body’s limits and lead to all-too-familiar errant shots. Here’s Hirsch tells of a friend with polio who twice a week the catch (you knew there would be one): you will probably lose some golfs despite wearing two heavy leg braces and holding a distance, but maybe not. Remember that eventually you must accept a crutch. The guy is pretty good, I’m told. new reality. Some things must change because you will change. And Former Major League Baseball players Jim Abbott if you hit the ball on the sweet spot, you may be surprised how far the and Pete Gray found ways to beat very long odds. shot will go with a shorter, more efficient backswing. This three-quarter Abbott, a pitcher and member of the 1988 Olympic backswing is far more realistic as we age (again, keep that ego stuffed Gold Medal team, was born without a right hand. in your bag) and in time it will keep you in the fairway playing quite well. As a New York Yankee he no-hit Cleveland in 1993, However you handle life’s challenges, for Pete’s sake don’t quit. Do what and pitching in the 1988 Olympics, he helped the Arnie and so many others have done: Adapt! Americans win an unofficial Gold Medal (baseball was an exhibition sport that year). Gray, a St. Louis Browns outfielder in the Glenn Miller Big Band era, had only a left arm, yet he, too, made it to baseball’s highest level. Still another story about movement disorders involves the late PGA TOUR golfer Calvin Peete. He fractured an arm so severely as a child that it grew much shorter than the other. He had a permanently bent left arm yet had a very solid professional career, winning 12 tournaments, including the 1985 Players Championship. Peete remains one of the most accurate drivers of all time. I’ve encountered all kinds of golfers who suffer from one kind of movement disorder Jim Abbott, Pete Gray and Calvin Peete or another. I have also worked with blind golfers, wheelchair golfers, one-legged golfers, and even a one-armed caddie. roam the fairways, breathe in the fresh morning air, and still He was incredible. compete for an occasional $5 Nassau. I knew there was a way to keep teeing it up. You have As for my game, all of my tinkering finally paid off to admit to yourself that you are not 25 any more. Keep Mr. and I found a swing that worked for me. Now I swing my Ego stifled in the bag. The golf ball doesn’t care that you way, and in some ways my swing might have improved. were once an All-America high school wrestler. You have It’s slower, more controlled, uses less effort. to be willing to accept fewer yards off the tee. You might In the end, adapting to your challenges, whether have to use softer shafts, ladies’ shafts even. Maybe replace they come from age, an injury or some other health issue, those long irons with hybrids, lose the 3-wood in favor of is worth it. Golf is worth it. The amount of joy the game the much friendlier 5-wood, use a ball you can compress, gives back is far beyond whatever effort you put in, whether play the forward tees and absolutely use a three-quarter you’ve got Parkinson’s or something else. And personally swing. Don’t freak out if your 7-iron carries only 115-yards speaking, I find it amazing that my tremor stops when these days. Count your blessings that you are still able to I hold a golf club.

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Big Thinking

Dan Murphy / stonehousegolf.com

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Turnberry Ailsa No.12

donald trump

ne of the quotes that has been associated with me for many years is “Think big.” The full quote is, “I like thinking big. I always have. To me it’s very simple: if you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.” Thinking big incorporates a thorough and comprehensive approach to projects, goals and long-term planning. But it’s not always a straight line of accomplishments that takes us to our destinations. I’ve been nicely dubbed a visionary but I think anyone who looks ahead in a substantial way, or gets the big picture, is a visionary. It’s a creative approach that can result in innovation. For example, when I built Trump International Hotel & Tower, New York, at 1 Central Park West, I decided to introduce the mixed-use concept of a hotel and private residences in one building. To me, it was common sense, I wasn’t trying to be ingenious. Everyone said it was wonderfully innovative, and the concept has since been copied around the world. Sometimes we can be accidental visionaries. When I built my first golf course, close to 20 years ago, I had no idea I would become a major force in golf course development worldwide. What happened is that I took a passion of mine, which is golf, and went with it. I learned everything I could about golf course design, and spent years looking for the right locations. It has been a labor of love, and it took on a life of its own as I got more and more involved with it. I can’t say I had a vision for what evolved—there wasn’t a plan. It just progressed that way. In fact, while it is not my primary business, if someone had told me a few decades ago that I’d become a major golf course developer, I would not have believed it. But since I have

a tendency to think big, it makes sense that I would ultimately take this passion to international proportions. Planning ahead is a pragmatic approach to our lives and careers, but what I like to emphasize is the importance of remaining open to new ideas at the same time. Too much planning can result in doors remaining closed when they could have been opened. In other words, missed opportunities. Life is largely about choices and when I reflect on the arc of my career, I realize that many things that turned out to be fantastic were those things I had never imagined or counted on happening. When Mark Burnett first approached me in 2003 about doing a reality show, I was very surprised. Pleasantly surprised, but everyone advised me not to do it. It was a risk for me, but I went ahead with it. It turned out to be phenomenal for me, for NBC, and for all those involved. The “one season wonder” has thus far had 14 successful seasons. Having a hit television show really wasn’t in my game plan when I started out. But I kept that door open and it’s a choice I’m glad I made. My advice is that we should have specific goals and also non-specific goals. Do not box yourself in. Keep your big picture big enough for a few surprises along the way. The best long-term planning is to keep an open scorecard—and to keep it open for the long term. Fate has a way of filling it in as it should be, and it can be wonderful.

Donald J. Trump

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Bay Hill Effect

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On March 1, 1965, the Orlando Sentinel inadvertently announced the arrival of big changes to Central Florida with the headline, “Palmer brings Bay Hill to knees.” The day before, Arnold Palmer had made his first visit to the course to play an exhibition match against Jack Nicklaus, Don Cherry and Dave Ragan. And while the competition was the focus of the Sentinel article, it ended up being only the first chapter in a story that’s still being written. Here, we turn the clock back 50 years and rediscover the moment when Arnold Palmer walked onto Bay Hill for the first time and declared, “I’m home.”

Bay Hill #5

y definition, exhibition matches are not meant to be pivotal moments. But on February 28, 1965—50 years ago— Arnold Palmer stepped onto the rugged and undeveloped property of a young and littleknown golf club near Orlando that was trying to make a name for itself: Bay Hill. What happened next was one of the biggest moments in history for golf, for Central Florida and for Palmer himself. Palmer, 35 at the time and a seven-time major winner, was more than “just” the biggest draw in golf: he was probably the biggest draw in all of American sports. He was one of the busiest man in sports, too, forced to turn down countless invitations to play, and so it happens that the team at Bay Hill had made quite a catch. Of course, they were offering more than just sunshine. For Palmer, the attraction of this particular exhibition came with the other names on the bill: Jack Nicklaus, Don Cherry and Dave Ragan. The prospect of taking on Nicklaus always lit a fire under Palmer. Contrary to occasional media reports of the time that looked to stoke

controversy, Palmer and Nicklaus actually enjoyed each other’s company, and each man inspired the other. Both golfers enjoyed nothing more than going toe to toe, be it in the final round of a major championship or in an exhibition match with nothing more at stake than pride (and maybe a few bucks off a private wager). “Much has been made of ‘the rivalry,’” starts Palmer. “My take on the subject is fairly simple: Jack Nicklaus was my greatest competition in golf, both on the course during my peak years and off it years later as our separate interests evolved in the business world. Honest competition is a wonderful thing, and as central to the American way of thinking as anything. “On the course there was nobody I ever wanted to beat more, and I think Jack and I have been very good for each other and very good for the game of golf in general. Our rivalry happened at a time when golf was just beginning to take deep root in the broader American sports psyche, and the intensity of our competition, as well as the distinct differences in our personalities,

Patrick Drickey / stonehousegolf.com

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created tremendous natural drama and a fan interest in the professional game that had never been seen before. “We knew we were good theater, and we enjoyed it at least as much as the fans and reporters. Believe me when I say, despite the pain of losing major tournaments to each other and the wild swings in fortune that defined our relationship, we had a lot of fun being in the center of all that attention. But most of all, we wanted to beat each other to a pulp. That’s the nature of healthy sportsmanship and the spirit of tournament golf. That’s just the way it should be, too.” The rivalry between Palmer and Cherry had some history as well. Cherry’s professional life was distinct in as much as he forged a successful career as a crooner and recording artist while concurrently playing on the PGA TOUR. It’s been said that some people in the 1960s enjoyed Cherry’s music and also enjoyed watching Don Cherry the golfer without realizing that they were the same man. Palmer and Cherry first crossed swords in one of the great formative weeks of Palmer’s career, in the 1954 U.S. Amateur Championship. Cherry was the reigning Canadian amateur champion and the two golfers met in the 18-hole quarterfinal at the Country Club of Detroit. Two holes down at the turn, Palmer scrapped his way back to make it all-square after 16, and when Cherry bogeyed the 17th he opened the way for Palmer to edge ahead and complete a 1-up victory. Two days and four rounds of match-play golf later, Palmer was crowned U.S. Amateur champion. Cherry was also in the reckoning in the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills in Colorado. After three rounds he was on the leaderboard, but while Palmer produced the most electrifying round of his career in the afternoon’s final round, shooting 65, six under-par to set a clubhouse lead of 280 that ultimately no-one could match, Cherry stumbled on the closing holes to finish four shots behind in a share of ninth place. Nicklaus, still an amateur at the time, finished runner-up to Palmer that day in 1960, while Florida’s Dave Ragan finished in a tie for 38th after a third-round 78 effectively ended his challenge. Ragan was born in Daytona Beach and was a standout golfer at the University of Florida before turning professional in 1956. A three-time winner on the PGA TOUR, he finished runner-up behind Nicklaus in the 1963 PGA Championship before playing on the American Ryder Cup team that year, which was led by a playing captain for the last time in Palmer.

The event program (right) and Palmer with Don Cherry (below)

ROUTE 66 Ragan was a firm favorite in his home state, so in February of 1965 the three-year-old Bay Hill—which was not enjoying the real estate interest for which the original owners had planned, despite boasting an exceptional golf layout designed by Dick Wilson—could not have brought together a much better fourball for its day in the sun. The strategy worked better than the club ever could have expected. In A History of Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club, Bruce H. Matson writes: “Over 5,000 people traveled the limited roads to the Bay Hill Club. The Orlando Sentinel reported that it was ‘probably the largest golf gallery in Orlando history.’” “The place was little more than a still-raw golf course with a tiny pro shop, a small guest lodge, and a few modest bungalows carved out of the orange groves and desolate razor brush of central Florida,” recalls Palmer. “It was a true wilderness area, home to a few pristine freshwater lakes filled with waterfowl, snakes and gators. In other words, it was nearly perfect. A golfer’s paradise, in my book.”

“It was a true wilderness area, home to … snakes and gators. In other words, it was nearly perfect. A golfer’s paradise in my book” 110

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Bay Hill, early days (left) and a proud Palmer there with his family (below)

“I’ve just played the best golf course in Florida, and I want to own it” A golfer’s paradise, perhaps—if not a driver’s, exactly. With only a rudimentary road system and no parking facility of any scale at the remote course, many fans had to park in sandy areas by the roadside, the softness of which was only apparent once cars had driven onto them. This resulted in more than a few stuck cars, and so tow truck drivers enjoyed a roaring trade later that day, and into the early hours of the next. Still, it’s unlikely that many of the towed were complaining. As Matson describes the match, it was a thrilling display for Palmer fans played on an idyllic, sunny Florida spring day, “Palmer stole the show almost immediately. He birdied the first, third and fourth holes, and never looked back. His only bogey for the day came on the 10th hole. If any of the other competitors thought this created an opening, all doubt was quickly erased… Palmer proceeded to birdie 11, eagle the 12th, birdie 13… and complete the round at six-under par, the only participant to finish below par.” Palmer posted a score of 66, seven better than Nicklaus’ one-over 73, with Ragan struggling to an 80. It seems Cherry may not have recorded a score, although he reportedly led the field in one-liners. The match was a great exhibition of great golfing skills (and particularly Palmer’s) but for the winner—and for Orlando—it ended up being much more than that. As it happened, at the time Palmer and his late wife, Winnie, had been searching for a winter retreat in Florida, and on that day, in the midst of a commanding victory and in perfect conditions, Palmer found what he was looking for. He said to Winnie, “Babe, I’ve just played the best golf course in Florida, and I want to own it.” “With its splendid isolation and Eden-like abundance of wildlife, it really was a little bit of paradise on Earth,” Palmer explains. “We envisioned ourselves being happy there for a very long time, building a second home where we could go to relax before beginning the madness of another tour season, where I could practice to my heart’s content, with only a few club members and their guests around to interrupt my concentration. Best of all, we could adopt a slower pace of life—something we greatly needed at this hectic point in our lives.”

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The Palmers returned to Bay Hill in the winter of 1965-66 for Palmer to prepare for the 1966 season amid Florida’s winter warmth, and Arnold Palmer Enterprises immediately set the wheels of acquisition in motion, although it was not until 1969 that the company finally secured a five-year lease for Bay Hill. The company would assume complete ownership of Bay Hill in 1976, and Arnie had his second home. If Bay Hill had a big impact on Palmer, it was nothing compared to the impact Palmer would have on the Orlando area. In 1979, Bay Hill took on the PGA TOUR’s Florida Citrus Open, eventually changing the name to the Bay Hill Invitational, which it continues to host. Now called the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the tournament is one of the most beloved stops on the PGA TOUR and it’s had a dramatic economic impact on the city. In addition to supporting growth among a number of local businesses, the tournament has raised millions for two other Palmer contributions to Orlando: The Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. Both are among the highest-rated facilities of their kind, and while both are in Orlando they serve families from across the country and even the globe. Today Orlando is home to Golf Channel, which Palmer helped found, the hospitals, the tournament, the incredible hospitality and quality at Bay Hill Club & Lodge and so much more connected to Palmer. Would any of it have happened—have happened here—had he not visited Bay Hill on February 28, 1965? Hard to know, but on that day, for the city, for golf, for everyone involved at Bay Hill and for Palmer himself, an exhibition match changed the world.

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TPC S I G N AT U R E HOLES TPC properties open a whole world of fantastic lifestyle possibilities for their members and guests, and chief among them is good golf. With courses and clubs that are among the best anywhere, there are sites to fit every personal taste and style of play. Here, we look at just a few signature holes from the TPC landscape. As it turns out, in the TPC Network inspiration is everywhere.

TPC SNOQUALMIE RIDGE

TPC BOSTON

TPC RIVER HIGHLANDS

TPC TWIN CITIES

TPC JASNA POLANA TPC DEERE RUN

TPC MICHIGAN

TPC POTOMAC

TPC STONEBRAE TPC SUMMERLIN TPC HARDING PARK TPC VALENCIA TPC STADIUM COURSE AT PGA WEST

TPC LAS VEGAS TPC SCOTTSDALE

THE OLD WHITE TPC AT THE GREENBRIER

TPC RIVER’S BEND

TPC WAKEFIELD PLANTATION TPC PIPER GLEN

TPC SOUTHWIND

TPC MYRTLE BEACH

TPC CRAIG RANCH TPC SUGARLOAF TPC FOUR SEASONS TPC SAN ANTONIO

TPC SAWGRASS

TPC LOUISIANA

TPC TAMPA BAY TPC PRESTANCIA

TPC EAGLE TRACE

TPC TREVISO BAY

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TPC CARTAGENA AT KARIBANA

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA

TPC AT BAHA MAR

NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS

TPC DORADO BEACH

DORADO, PUERTO RICO

TPC Harding Park HOLE 14 TPC Harding Park’s 14th hole marks the beginning of an exciting finish to a historic track. With beautiful Lake Merced to the players’ left, two accurate shots are needed for a good look at birdie on this tough par-4. Host of this year’s World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play, the history and playability of TPC Harding Park continue to make this course a must play in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dyeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass HOLE 14 Showcasing the same standards of excellence found on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course, Dyeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass underwent a significant renovation in 2014 ahead of the Web.com Tour Championship, and received rave reviews from both players and guests alike. Playing as the finishing hole during the Web.com Tour event, the 436-yard par-4 ninth hole is a beautiful test from architect Pete Dye, featuring a looming water hazard up its right hand side.

TPC Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bend HOLE 7 The shortest hole on this Arnold Palmer design, the 158-yard, par-3 7th hole features a scenic tee shot over water to a shallow but very wide green protected behind by a host of bunkers. With the historic Little Miami River serving as a breathtaking backdrop, the championship layout at TPC Riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bend, located just 25 miles northeast of Cincinnati, offers a compelling test of golf that will challenge yet provide many scoring opportunities for golfers of all levels.

gift guide

Sumertime Hues Gifts that will strike the right tone this summer

JOHNNIE WALKER Renowned for its remarkably smooth signature taste, Johnnie Walker Blue Label represents the pinnacle of Blended Scotch Whisky distilling. The rare casks used in the creation of Blue Label are hand-selected for their quality, character and superlative flavor from the largest reserves of whisky in the world. Each cask is matured to perfection and then skillfully blended in small batches to create this most intense and complex of whiskies. For a luxurious touch or the perfect gift, it is now possible to have your bottle of Blue Label engraved with an inscription of your choosing.

THE FUJIFILM X100T

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The FUJIFILM X100T marks the evolution of the highly acclaimed, award-winning X100 Series. This premium and compact digital camera is equipped with the world’s first Advanced Hybrid Viewfinder with an electronic rangefinder feature. It also offers an electronic shutter mode to enable shutter speeds up to 1/32,000 second for fast, completely silent shooting. Ultimate camera control is added with the new 1/3 stop aperture ring, command dial, four-way controller and seven customizable Fn buttons. You can even control the X100T remotely from your smartphone or tablet with the Wi-Fi app. The X100T features an APS-C size X-Trans CMOS II sensor, high-speed EXR Processor II image processing engine and FUJINON 23mmF2 lens offering the unsurpassed image quality that is synonymous with Fujifilm X-Series cameras.

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STETSON PARAGON In 1865, with $100, John B. Stetson rented a small room in Texas, bought the tools he needed, bought $10 worth of fur and started the company that would crown cowboys and presidents alike. Now based in Garland, in the same state where the iconic brand first began, Stetson continues to make top-shelf headwear. Case in point: the 150X Paragon, one of the company’s best examples of quality, instantly recognizable and showcasing very well the reason that Stetson has endured and why it will continue to do so for generations of Western fans to come.  stetsonhat.com

MIKE CAPRON TEXAS COWBOY ART More than just the creator of Texas cowboy art, Mike Capron is a genuine Texas cowboy who just happens to be an artist. As a man who’s worked cattle along the Rio Grande and across America’s Southwest for almost all of his life, his work is informed by his personal experiences, as stark or as lovely as they may be. Oil paintings, watercolors and pen-and-ink art is all available from a man as genuine as his work both on and off the range.  mwcapron.com

JUSTIN GOLF In 1879 H.J. Justin mastered the craft of boot-making and founded the brand that would go on to become an American legend. For more than 130 years the company’s handcrafted boots have used the finest leathers and materials available, and it’s no different with Justin Golf footwear. Built with the idea that classically crafted golf shoes shouldn’t be a thing of the past, Justin Golf uses fine leathers and exotics in handcrafting footwear that honors golf’s grand tradition while utilizing modern technology to deliver top performance. They even do a golf cowboy boot, in case you can’t make up your mind what kind of Justin to purchase.  justingolf.com

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gift guide

MAUI JIM - LIGHTHOUSE SUNGLASSES

LEISURE SOCIETY BY SHANE BAUM

The Lighthouse sunglasses stand out as year-round best sellers among Maui Jim's 112 styles, thanks to their lightness, comfort, style and ultra-clear lenses. They are built with durability to withstand the rigors of all kinds of action, whether it is on the golf course, tennis court or speedboat. The unisex, rimless glasses are available in a range of lens colours that are designed to enhance vision in various light conditions: “Neutral Grey” is intended for the highest light reduction; “HCL Bronze” for improved colour and clarity in variable light; “Maui HT” for the highest usable light transmission to enhance contrast and depth of field; and “Maui Rose,” which is best suited for fast-moving activity. All Maui Jim lenses feature the company’s proprietary PolarizedPlus2 lens technology that promises to reduce harmful glare by 99.9 percent and to cut UV rays by 100 percent.

Leisure Society by Shane Baum, the high-quality, hand-crafted eyewear specialist, has introduced five new styles for summer. Inspiration for the new line comes from a study of the pioneers of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 1900s, when artists and craftspeople re-committed to handcrafting techniques and decorations against a tide of industrialization and massmanufactured goods. The concept of heirloom design emerged from this collective effort, and Baum has commited to it since the brand’s inception in 2011. The line incorporates materials such as gold-plated titanium, cotton-based Zyl and top-ofthe-line CR-39 polarized lenses. Of the highest quality with timeless elegance, these make a convincing stand against the modern world’s flood of disposable consumer products.  baumvision.com

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BOSTON BAG COLLECTION Vessel is the world’s premier custom golf bag company, and with the American company’s new Boston Bag Collection for Summer 2015 it is a case of ‘classic design gone modern’. Marrying traditional design with innovation and high-quality, durable materials and components, the Boston Bag (pictured) features a 300-degree bottom zip shoe compartment, welded velour lined valuables pocket and an easy access front slip pouch, to ensure it meets all active lifestyle needs.  vesselbags.com

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KITCHENAID PRO LINE SERIES ESPRESSO MAKER The KitchenAid Pro Line Series Espresso Maker is built with Dual Independent Boilers so users can brew espresso and steam milk at the same time, and switch from one to the other instantly. This premium unit features innovation throughout, including an adjustable frothing arm that swivels horizontally and vertically to ensure ease of use, a cup warmer and rail that can accommodate up to six espresso cups, and even a frothing pitcher designed to enable users to indulge in latte art. The unit boils water in less than six minutes, and its hot water dispenser allows the flexibility to make Americano, tea and hot chocolate, among other drinks. The Pro Line Series Espresso Maker is pictured here in Empire Red, and it is also available in a darker shade of Candy Apple Red, Onyx Black and Frosted Pearl White.  kitchenaid.com

AMBA TOWEL WARMERS In a market that offers many options, AMBA towel warmers stand out through their high quality at affordable prices. Made almost exclusively from 304 Stainless Steel, a top-grade material, AMBA towel warmers are strong and durable. Their advanced heating technology ensures they are the fastest and most efficient cable heating systems available, and unlike other towel warmers that are made of nickel, brass or a coated, mild steel and with older technology, AMBA towel warmers are not prone to chipping, corroding, flaking or rusting. And they come with a three-year warranty. The units are efficient sources of heat and yet they use minimal energy to operate. Depending on the unit and its location, AMBA towel warmers consume approximately the same amount of energy as a few light bulbs, while accessories such as timers and digital heat controllers make it easy for users to maximize energy savings. AMBA towel warmers meet stringent safety standards for the U.S. and Canada and are perfectly safe to use indoors when correctly installed. Maximum temperatures reach no higher than those of regular radiator heaters. AMBA towel warmer units have no exposed heating elements, and surface temperatures remain within the safe range of 136 °F and 167° F.  ambatowelwarmers.com

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gift guide

GLENMORANGIE TÙSAIL

GLENCAIRN CRYSTAL Glencairn Crystal, named in May 2009 as Scottish Family Business of the Year, boast an extensive range of engraved and highly decorated products, be it one-off special presentations or high-volume decanter and glass production. We feature the “Glencairn Glass” a product for which they won the company Queens Award and which is recognized as the official whisky glass. A wonderful product, even if this writer is normally more concerned with the contents than the container.

Glenmorangie Tùsail is the sixth release in the award-winning Private Edition series, in which an intriguing, limitededition single malt has been released every year since 2010. This year’s release pays homage to the Maris Otter traditional barley varietal by using it to create an artisanal, one-of-a-kind single malt. The barley imparts rich, rustic flavors that produce tastes of nut toffee, sweet barley malt, ginger, cinnamon, molasses and dates to complement the more familiar Glenmorangie notes of peaches, oranges and smoked pears. The overall result is astonishingly polished in the mouth, smooth on the nose and satisfyingly long in the finish. Tùsail is a limited edition release, not to be repeated, and is only found in specialist whisky stores—buy while you can.  glenmorangie.com

 glencairn.co.uk

STONEHOUSE IMAGERY This summer, The Open Championship returns to the home of golf, St Andrews and its Old Course, and Stonehouse is ready for all the excitement with five fantastic new images of the Old Course. Photographer Dan Murphy recently returned from Scotland with these beautiful views, one of which—Number 17—has been recognized by St Andrews in honor of the Open’s return. Select yours now and, if you have been fortunate enough to play the Old Course or any of the other fantastic courses shot by Stonehouse, you may want to personalize your picture with names, dates and scores. Make sure that your most treasured and vivid golfing memories are preserved with Stonehouse.  stonehousegolf.com

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EPSON M-TRACER MT500G Leveraging Epson’s leadership in advanced sensing technologies, the M-Tracer MT500G is a club-mounted golf swing analyzer designed to give golfers unprecedented insights into every element of their swing. The M-Tracer securely attaches to the golf club grip to capture and send data to an iOS or Android smartphone in real-time via Bluetooth at the rate of 1,000 samples per second. With a built-in Inertial Measurement Unit developed by Epson for industrial applications, the M-Tracer tracks and records the swing path of the club, club-head speed, club-head path, face angle at the time of impact, tempo and more. The app shows the golfer’s full swing path in 3D and offers the ability to rotate the view and compare swings with the pros.  epson.com/golf

CALLAWAY UPTOWN STAND BAG Callaway has turned back the clock with its UpTown Stand Bag, which combines retro styling—evoking halcyon golfing days of a bygone era—with its latest material and construction technologies. The lightweight bag features a broad variety of pockets to cope with the storage demands of the modern golfer, and a dual and adjustable shoulder strap ensures comfort and carrying ease for as many holes as the golfer can fit into a long summer’s day.  callawaygolf.com

UPPER DECK SIGNED MEMORABILIA A golf memorabilia collection of merit needs to feature the best players, and having claimed his third and fourth major titles in 2014 and becoming world number one, Rory McIlroy is not just a future Hall of Famer, but he has also become the most collectable golfer since the emergence of Tiger Woods. Featured here are a ‘Dual Signed Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy Limited Edition 18x24 inch Image’ and a pair of limited edition Nike Lunar Control II’s, with the left shoe autographed in black paint. Both are authenticated, with each signature witnessed and put through a five-step authentication process by Upper Deck.  upperdeckstore.com

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Original Craft Brewer

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The King of Beers didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t assume the throne for no reason. Here, after a visit to the iconic Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, Missouri, we take a quick look at one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best known beers and one of its most innovative products, Michelob ULTRA

he second half of the 19th century held good years for American beer lovers. European immigrants, many of them Germans displaced by political upheavals at home, had moved into the industrial northeast and set to work brewing beer to serve the growing country. In the City of St. Louis, Missouri, that included Eberhart Anheuser, a former soap-maker turned brewer when he became part owner of the Bavarian Brewery, which had opened its doors in 1852. It was one of more than 50 breweries in the area, and so competition was fierce. Perhaps ironically, despite the large number of available labels variety among the beers themselves was scarce. That’s because the majority of the brewers at the time were serving their fellow Germans and so they adhered to the familiar. That meant that they adhered to the Reinheitsgebot, or what’s called the “German Purity Law,” a 1516 decree mandating that only barley, malt, hops, yeast and water be used when brewing lager. Subsequently, the available lagers tended to be rather similar. That changed when Anheuser, who by 1860 had bought out his partners and changed his brewery’s name to E. Anheuser &Co., met Adolphus Busch. Adolphus had been a clerk working on the Missouri Riverfont but managed to secure

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a partnership in a brewery supply business. Through that, he met Anheuser, and then Anheuser’s daughter, Lilly. In 1861 Lilly and Busch were married and the son-in-law went to work for the family business, eventually purchasing half ownership in the brewery. Busch immediately set to work implementing innovations, and what happened next changed the business— and beer itself—forever. Believing that the brewery had to distinguish itself from the numerous other St. Louis-area operations, in 1876 Busch decided to abandon the Reinheitsgebot and add rice to the recipe for a beer he coined “Budweiser,” a name he felt would appeal to both traditional Germans and to non-German Americans. Lighter and more refreshing than standard lagers, it was an instant hit. Around the same time, Busch introduced pasteurization, becoming the first American brewer to do so. This allowed the beer to be shipped long distances without spoiling. Artificial refrigeration, refrigerated railcars and rail-side icehouses followed, allowing the new beer to extend its appeal far and wide, and so it did. In recognition of his contributions, in 1879 the company was renamed the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association—the same year it broke the 1 million barrels of beer mark, putting it among the top breweries in the nation. In 1896 Michelob was introduced, America’s first specialty beer, and the growth continued with innovative giveaways and contests and brewery tours drawing the public and the brands together.

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MICHELOB ULTRA FAMILY Ever the innovator in brewering, Anheuser-Busch introduced Michelob ULTRA in 2002. With 95 calories and 2.6 grams of carbs per 12 oz. serving, the brand became the fastest-growing new brand in the industry shortly after its introduction, due to its appeal among fitness enthusiasts, actual consumers living an active lifestyle and those looking for a great-tasting beer with lower carbohydrates and fewer calories. Popular among golfers for its refreshing taste as well as for its fitness-oriented numbers, the full family of Michelob ULTRA offerings has something for everyone. Michelob ULTRA Amber features a beautifully rich, deep amber color with a complex, malty, full-flavored taste that is also low in calories and carbohydrates. Michelob ULTRA Light Cider is a light, naturally-sweetened and gluten-free cider made from crisp apples. It has a slightly sweet taste and one-third fewer calories than traditional ciders, giving Michelob ULTRA Light Cider a lighter, more refreshing taste. Michelob ULTRA 19th Hole Light Tea & Lemonade is an iced tea and lemonade flavored malt beverage inspired by the golf course classic. ULTRA 19th Hole is a lighter alternative to traditional flavored malt beverages that is perfectly suited for all outdoor occasions. Michelob ULTRA Fruit Lime Cactus has an exotic fruity aroma with a clean citrus finish. Visit michelobultra.com to learn more

BREWERY TOURS

Prohibition

There are six Budweiser breweries in the United States; we visited the original, in St. Louis, Missouri. The historic architecture tells its own story as you walk through the seven-step brewing process that results in one of the most popular beers of all time—one that hasn’t changed since it was created and perfected more than 100 years ago. Highlights are the Clydesdale stables and period art and stonework throughout the large facility. For information on when, where and how you can tour not just a brewery, but a fundamental piece of our nation’s history, visit budweisertours.com

The period known as Prohibition wasn’t much fun for anyone, but brewers had it bad. Many breweries went out of business after January 16, 1920, when the new law went into effect. Others, like Anheuser-Busch diversified and remained in business. Under the leadership of August Busch, Sr., son of Adolphus, the brewery created and marketed more than 25 different non-alcohol products such as soft drinks, ice cream, baker’s yeast and more. For a time, they even built truck bodies in one of the brewery’s buildings. product called Bevo appeared for a while, a non-alcoholic cereal beverage, but thankfully Prohibition was lifted on April 7, 1933 and Anheuser-Busch got back to work doing what it does best. Incidentally, the company was in the baker’s yeast business right up until 1988.

The Future In 2008 Anheuser-Busch combined with InBev, creating a company that is now the world’s largest brewer and one of the top five consumer goods companies in the world. Anheuser-Busch InBev has more than 200 beer brands and employs more than 155,000 people across 25 countries. In 2014 it boasted revenues of more than $47.1 billion, and it continues to be a force. For a company that began as one of America’s original small breweries, there’s no doubt that the great accomplishments will keep coming as it continues to produce “The King of Beers.” For more information visit Anheuser-Busch.com

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For the Americans that suit up and put their lives on the line to serve the country, the Folds of Honor Foundation says “thank you” with scholarship programs for children in military families that have been touched by combat in the hardest ways, and with a top golf tournament, The Patriot Cup. More than just delivering great golf, top pros and celebrities and plenty of fun, the tournament and Folds of Honor’s mission remind us all that freedom comes with a price

ach summer Americans fire up their barbecues, water their backyards and perhaps enjoy time around the pool with family and friends. Far too few will pause to consider that all of that comes with a price that relatively few are willing to pay. The men and women who serve in our armed forces have been engaged essentially since the country’s earliest beginnings, and in recent decades that engagement has been formidable indeed. For all of the families of those who are deployed to combat regions or who have been touched by their service, there are organizations seeking to help. One of them with which most golfers will be familiar is the Folds of Honor Foundation, which hosts the annual Patriot Cup. Held each Memorial Day, the tournament is a kind of monument in action, celebrating and thanking those who have put their lives on the line for our country, and solemnly honoring those who have paid the ultimate price. “The impetus is revitalizing the meaning of Memorial Day,” USAF Maj. Dan Rooney, Patriot Cup creator and founder of the Folds of Honor Foundation, told us some time ago. Maj. Rooney was unavailable to chat with Kingdom for this issue as he had been called back to duty, but we’ve spoken with him numerous times and have been honored to feature Folds of Honor in our publication for

years. “[Memorial Day] is just such a special moment in our country that has been relegated to ‘the day the pool opens’ or ‘the family BBQ,’ and that’s not what it’s about.” The Patriot Cup golf tournament is held at The Patriot Golf Course in Owasso, OK, which also serves as the Foundation’s headquarters. Over Memorial Day weekend, both the Patriot Cup Invitational and The Patriot Cup are staged, showcasing patriotism, camaraderie and the epic golf course. For the first event, a PGA professional joins two military golfers and two Folds of Honor guests for a

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THE PATRIOT GOLF CLUB Set amidst the rolling countryside of northeastern Oklahoma, The Patriot Golf Club, 20 minutes from Tulsa in Owasso, is a special place indeed. Headquarters to the Folds of Honor Foundation, which helps the families of veterans killed or disabled in service to their country, the club also offers an award-winning golf experience and a proud community. The golf course is a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design that makes epic use of the area’s lowland marsh, heavy woodlands, high prairie and dramatic limestone cliffs. For a world-class facility such as this, membership initiation is a reasonable $10,000, half of which immediately goes to fund a scholarship for the child of a veteran killed or disabled in service to the country. “There’s no golf course like it in the world,” says Maj. Dan Rooney, an F-16 pilot and Major in the Oklahoma Air National Guard who served three combat tours in Iraq and who founded the Folds of Honor Foundation. “It has truly great golf, and a greater purpose.” A tribute to America’s heroes, the spirit of patriotism, golf’s greatest traditions and home to the Folds of Honor Foundation, The Patriot Golf Club isn’t just a top club destination, it’s a living and active monument to this country’s best and brightest. To learn more about membership, Patriot Golf Club and how you can help support those who serve so that all of us might live free, visit patriotgolf.com for more information.

full day of golf. For The Patriot Cup itself, three-person teams consisting of a tour player and/or celebrity, a military golfer and one Folds of Honor guest compete in a threeperson scramble. The “Flyboys” (pilots) face off against the “Groundpounders” (boots-on-the-ground and Naval forces) in a tough, televised competition before enjoying a black tie gala and concert. While the day is full of fun, the importance of the event as a memorial to those who have served sits behind every smile. This year, for the first time, the tournament was broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. Previously, Golf Channel had broadcast the event on Veteran’s Day in November, but the live broadcast was an important point for Rooney. “It’s always been our goal to get this live,” he said, quoted on TulsaWorld.com. “Because [it’s] Memorial Day, and reminding people that without this holiday, the holidays as we know it—and this country—would not exist.” “Most of the country wakes up and they’re going to hang out,” he told us. “The realities are, if you’ve been there and you’ve seen firsthand the price of freedom and the fact that it’s not free, if your loved one has lost a brother, a child or a parent, it’s a really tough day, and that is the spirit in which we come together.” And what a gathering it is. Celebrities like actor Craig T. Nelson, country music legend Vince Gill and NFL quarterback Brandon Weeden are just a few of the wide variety of notables who’ve shown up to play in The Patriot Cup. On the pro side it’s a formidable list as well, with the likes of Zach Johnson, Corey Pavin, Bo Van Pelt and Rickie Fowler showing up, among many others. In addition to showcasing some great golf and good times, The Patriot Cup raises money for the Folds of Honor Foundation, which, through scholarships and other assistance, gives back to the spouses and children of soldiers killed or disabled in service to America. Rooney himself is an F-16 pilot, a Major in the Air National Guard and a decorated military aviator who served three combat tours in Iraq and who recently has been called back to duty. Returning from his second tour, he saw an irreverence toward U.S. service men and women that was unacceptable, and decided he wanted to help. It wasn’t long before he identified a need in support for education. Many veterans’ dependents do not qualify for federal scholarship assistance and, despite some support from the government, many could miss out on the American dream for which their loved ones had fought so bravely. As of this June, the Foundation has handed out more than 10,000 scholarships, helping the children of those killed or disabled in combat to pursue education and to achieve their dreams. To find out how you can help Maj. Dan Rooney and the Folds of Honor foundation achieve their important mission, please visit foldsofhonor.org.

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Golf in Service For all of the joy and excitement that golf offers to its players and fans, the game also serves as a fantastic path to personal achievement. Its physical and mental demands underscore a Zen-like spiritual aspect to the game that can help golfers to find peace and satisfaction in personal achievement. For veterans and their families touched by service and sacrifice, the game delivers what it can. Whether that be through fundraising for organizations or from the personal benefits it offers, when it comes to the best and bravest among us, golf gives back BIRDIES FOR THE BRAVE Named by the White House as one of the top 20 charities to support military families, Birdies for the Brave has raised more than $13 million for 11 military homefront groups supported by TOUR players, all of which support wounded veterans and military families. Phil Mickelson—son of a Navy pilot—launched the project in 2006 with his wife, Amy, to support wounded veterans, and the PGA TOUR quickly adopted and expanded it to include a wide spectrum of initiatives. Providing assistance such as service dogs for veterans with PTSD and TBI, in collaboration with K9s For Warriors; clubs and lessons with the Callaway Warrior Club Fitting Program; Operation Shower group baby showers for military moms-to-be whose spouses are deployed; complimentary or discounted admission for military members, veterans and families to most tournaments; and many more services and benefits, Birdies for the Brave is one of the most effective efforts in the game. birdiesforthebrave.org

BATTLE BACK PROGRAMME For our friends across the pond who’ve served their country, the UK’s Battle Back Programme (under the UK’s Help for Heroes Charity) uses Adaptive Adventure Training and Sports Rehabilitation to help seriously wounded service personnel gain independence and confidence. This year, for the first time, the inaugural Chateau du Coudreceau Invitational Golf Tournament in France will combine the best European collegiate golf talent with wounded service personnel in both individual and team competitions. With the theme “Overcoming Adversity,” the

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event will give wounded veterans a chance to focus on their abilities and possibilities, and should offer elite student golfers a bit of perspective on life. For Battleback, Paul Swain joined the army in 1995 serving on operations in Kosovo and Iraq, progressing on to become a tank commander in Afghanistan. During an intense ten-day operation he was involved in a series of conflicts with the Taliban and was severely injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). He spent several days on a life support machine, lost his arm and had to endure over 25 surgical operations. After months of intense physical and mental rehabilitation, Paul is now fully recovered, frequently representing Great Britain internationally against other wounded soldiers and veterans in golf tournaments. For Stirling University, Cormac Sharvin from Ardglass, Northen Ireland is currently ranked as the 32nd amateur golfer in the world at age 21. Cormac has won the British University Championship for the last two years and is also a recent winner of the Irish Amateur Championship, and has represented Ireland all over the world. His start to the 2015 season has been exceptional and selection onto the GB&I Walker Cup Team to face the USA in September at Royal Lytham is looking extremely positive. Cormac has one more year as an undergraduate student athlete. He only started to play the game of golf aged 15. In the Chateau Tournament, they play together as one team. No matter on which side of the Atlantic one sits, the Tournament and the Battle Back Programme are certainly inspirational and another fine example of the game at its best, honouring and serving those most deserving. cduc.net

WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT This year, Billy Casper Golf received The Talkhouse Award from the Wounded Warrior Project, signifying Casper’s longtime support for the effort to “honor and empower Wounded Warriors,” as the group states. WWP works to raise awareness and aid for the needs of injured service members, helping veterans who have sacrificed so much to thrive via a holistic approach that nurtures both the mind and body. Golf is a natural fit for such efforts, and so it’s no wonder that so many tournaments and projects work to raise money for WWP. Billy Casper Golf alone has raised more than $2 million with its World’s Largest Golf Outing project and other efforts, the PGA TOUR’s TPC Network has extended memberships and playing opportunities to Wounded Warriors, and others have helped as well, using golf for a fantastic cause. With a number of programs and support opportunities, WWP is a great resource for vets. woundedwarriorproject.org

VETERANS GOLF ASSOCIATION The VGA’s mission is straightforward: promote the game of golf to veterans and their family members, and help members to socialize and to remain physically active through the game of golf. There’s a world of good being done in that the VGA provides a networking opportunity to veterans (and to their families) without any requirements beyond having served. For those new to the game or who might not be members of a golf club, the VGA is a resource offering camaraderie, benefits (like a free USGA handicap for one year) and competition. While the physical and mental stimulation of golf are no doubt positive effects, for many veterans the greatest benefit of the VGA will be the chance to get together with others who understand, and to enjoy a great day on course. vgagolf.org

These amazing shafts not only improve performance, they help give back to those who deserve it most. There’s a reason Fujikura shafts are the No.1 performance shafts in the world— they improve ball striking, accuracy and distance. And with a variety of weights and flexes, you can customize your game and show your patriotism each time you address the ball. Now, Fujikura has teamed up with The Folds of Honor Foundation to make the Patriot Edition shaft. All Patriot Edition shafts are shipped with tip and grip attached for easy installation, so if you have a club with an adjustment tool, you’re ready to power up your game. We are proud to stand with our friends at The Folds of Honor Foundation, and hope that you will join us. The mission is clear: to provide scholastic support to the families of our fallen and wounded soldiers. We will honor their sacrifice, and educate their legacy. Go to the website and order direct because now, more than ever, your country needs you to play better golf.

fujikuragolf.com

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BigCedar Lodge There’s an old saying in the Ozarks that goes something like this: “There never was a lane so long it doesn’t have a turning,” and anyone who’s ever visited the wilderness of Missouri’s southwest will know that to be true. The Ozarks—whether you call them mountains or highlands (the latter of which is technically correct)— are a storied and important part of our country, full of twists and turns that carve through both the landscape and the folklore. More than just forested hills, the Ozarks are a showcase of living beauty, and no place makes that more readily apparent—and accessible—than Big Cedar Lodge

here’s welcome, there’s neighborly, and there’s downright hospitable. And then there’s Big Cedar Lodge, which takes it to a whole new level. The Missouri getaway that’s part wilderness lodge, part golf resort and part luxury retreat is all of those and more, but it’s the hospitality that I’m thinking about a month after visiting, and that’s what’s going to get me back. Well, not just that. Any place that bills itself as “America’s Premier Wilderness Resort” better bring the fun, and Big Cedar Lodge certainly does. The brainchild of Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, the resort was originally pegged to be a getaway for his employees. Morris grew up fishing and enjoying the outdoors and he wanted families to enjoy the same quality experiences he’d had. Thankfully, he decided to open Big Cedar Lodge to everyone, and so America’s Premier Wilderness Resort was born. Eight miles south of Branson, Big Cedar has fishing, boating, golf, caving, fine dining, family activities and so much more. You couldn’t possibly enjoy it all in one day, and yet that’s exactly what I attempted to do. I was going to show the Show-Me State how to have fun—and fast.

SETTLING IN Beyond Big Cedar’s entrance, a nicely paved road immediately puts you in the “wilderness” mindset, rising and falling through forest before climbing to a lookout that gives you a panoramic view of the stunning property. From there it’s a short drive to the main lodge, where I checked in. Once sorted with an electronic key to my cabin, I was given a map, which I needed as the property is quite large, more than 800 acres in fact. Stream crossings and a slow drive across a covered bridge and I found my cabin, which faced the lake.

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SPA After three weeks on the road I decided my back could use some attention and so I headed for the spa. This turned out to be a great idea for my body, but disastrous in terms of getting anything else done that day. Open the door and you’re facing what appears to be softly lit forested walkway, with branches framing the path to reception. By the time you arrive at the check-in desk, the relaxation has already started. The massage itself was great, taking place in a sensually lit and scented room, and it nearly knocked me out. But it’s also worth mentioning the locker room, relaxation areas and pools, which were all clean, well designed and perfectly functional. I was so relaxed, in fact, that I barely made it back to my cabin to get some work done. Upon entering I was truly surprised: while the property has a “rustic” air to it, the cabin was anything but. Pure luxury, with elegant lighting, a full kitchen, a barbecue grill on the deck, deep soaking tub, fireplace and a few “wilderness” touches to set the scene. Very nice.

FISHING If you’re a wilderness lodge it helps to be owned by the guy who started Bass Pro, and of course Big Cedar Lodge is that. Accordingly, every aspect of the lodge is outfitted with the best possible equipment, and our watercraft was no exception, a top-drawer Nitro performance fishing boat equipped with the latest electronics, which I boarded at Big Cedar’s Bent Hook Marina. My first day started at 6am on the 43,000acre Table Rock Lake, around which Big Cedar is built. There was too much rain for good fishing, but I was with an expert guide who did his best to keep me on the fish. A professional fisherman who’s won numerous fishing competitions, he caught more than a few bass despite the poor conditions. I managed one and was happy with that because, as they say, a bad day fishing beats a good day in the office.

ARNIE’S BARN After coming off the lake I headed back to my cabin to clean up, then drove over to Top of the Rock, the amazing golf course and complex that Morris built next to Big Cedar. I wasn’t golfing—yet—but I wanted to visit because someone told me there was an interesting barn there. The barn turned out to be Arnie’s Barn, a restaurant built in a restored barn found in Arnold Palmer’s back yard in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. A local Ozark craftsman named Danny Schwartz and his family disassembled the barn in Pennsylvania, carefully numbered each piece, then brought it all back to Missouri and re-built it. Some of the barn’s 46-foot timbers are made from the now-extinct American Chestnut and, following Schwartz’s work, the restaurant is amazing. Excellent modern Mexican food and great views of the stunning Palmer-designed practice facility as well.

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OSAGE RESTAURANT Work done (well, attempted anyway), I continued on my lush schedule of eat, massage, eat again, and headed for Osage Restaurant. The cornerstone dining experience at the resort, it serves up beautifully executed examples of American fare. I enjoyed a 28-day aged filet with cracked pepper cream, potato gratin and charred asparagus (complemented by a beautiful wine) and settled in to enjoy the exquisite view of Table Rock Lake visible through the restaurant’s glass front. Suddenly, a few men in Civil War attire appeared below, loaded a large cannon and, just as the sun set, fired it off—a celebration of sorts that honors both the day and the region’s history. Spectacular. If I didn’t have an early wake-up call, I’d have spent time in the Buffalo Bar, located on a lower level of Osage, or in the End of the Trail All-American Wine Cellar, located below that. Beyond a fine selection of top wine and a Wine Tasting Bar, the cellar also contains a well-stocked Whiskey Room and a Cigar Room, making it difficult to know where to turn first.

GOLF I wasn’t going to leave Big Cedar without playing the Jack Nicklaus Signature Top of the Rock golf course, and so an early morning wake-up call found me already showered and ready to go. There’s no sense my writing again what so many have already expressed so well, including Fred Funk, who told the Springfield News-Leader: “It’s over the top, everything’s over the top, from the time you drive in and see the driving range to the unbelievable clubhouse and the par 3 course… you look at it and just go ‘wow.’” Of the 9-hole par-3 golf course, Gary Player said it was “way better” than Augusta’s, while Tim Finchem himself declared it “an outstanding

venue.” Accordingly, the course hosts a PGA TOUR tournament, and it’s the first par-3 course to be included in a professional championship, the Bass Pro Legends of Golf at Big Cedar. The course is spectacular, beautiful, clever, properly challenging and ridiculously fun. Likewise, the Arnold Palmer-designed practice facility is jaw-droppingly beautiful, and the Tom Watson-designed “Himalays” one-acre putting complex is a treat. I’ve never played a par-3 like this, and I can’t wait to get back to play it again (and to try out the Tom Fazio-designed Buffalo Ridge Springs Golf Course, which was rated the No.1 Public Course in Missouri by Golf Magazine).

AND THERE’S MORE After playing I just had to stop by the on-site Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum, which defies description in an article of this length. It ended up taking me a few hours to see, and I was going fast. With exceptionally well-done dioramas of prehistoric Ozarks flora and fauna, a collection of Native American artifacts that matches anything in the Smithsonian or anywhere else, and what likely is the largest private collection of Civil War-era munitions and other bits, including a lock of Abraham Lincoln’s hair, the museum might be the deepest and best-executed example of its kind outside of Washington, DC. On the way out I stopped by the Lost Canyon Cave & Nature trail. Over two and a half miles traversed in a golf cart, I enjoyed rock formations, lake views and covered bridges. The highlight was Lost Canyon Cave itself, four stories high with cascading waterfalls and even a bar!

FINALLY Any single component of Big Cedar Lodge would make a worthy feature, and everyone I met was incredibly hospitable. But beyond that, the resort itself is welcoming, with inviting walking paths and touches like covered bridges and running water. No doubt it lives up to its billing as America’s Premier Wilderness Resort, and while I didn’t manage to squeeze everything into a single day, I have all the more reason to return. Without any hint of a pause, I can tell out that I certainly will.

SIDEBAR Each night at Big Cedar Lodge, a little packet of gingersnaps was left on my bed. Called “Pepparkakor,” they’re Swedish Wish Cookies, according to a note left with them. As the note has it: “Place a Swedish Pepparkakor in the palm of your hand. Then, make a wish. Using the index finger of your free hand, tap the cookie in the middle. Swedish tradition states that if the Pepparkakor breaks into three pieces, your wish will come true. If the Pepparkakor does not break into three pieces, you’ll just have to savor the cookie in smaller portions.” Wishes aside, they make a perfect treat before turning in. Big Cedar Lodge thoughtfully offered the recipe (makes seven dozen): • • • • • • • • • •

2/3 cup light brown sugar 2/3 cup light molasses 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cardamom 1/2 tsp ground cloves 12 tbsp butter, cut up 2 eggs 51/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking soda

Combine brown sugar, molasses and spices in 1 1/2 qt saucepan. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, then remove from heat. Place butter in large mixing bowl, add hot sugar mixture and stir until butter melts. Blend in eggs. Stir 2 cups flour and the baking soda together. Gradually mix into the butter mixture. Mix in enough additional flour to make dough stiff. Shape dough into ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Cut dough into quarters. Shape one quarter at a time into balls (refrigerate other dough). Use rounded teaspoonful of dough for each ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in preheated 350˚ F oven until light brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container.

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Hurricane Andrew, 1992

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Comeback Courses

Mother Nature can hit hard, but these courses didn’t stay down. Here are a few inspiring stories of golf courses that faced the storms and survived

ou know the old Lee Trevino joke about how you should hold up a 1-iron if you’re ever caught in a lightning storm because not even God can hit a 1-iron? Trevino can make the joke because, as it is well known, he himself was struck by lightning during the 1975 Western Open near Chicago. He survived, of course, and thankfully such incidents are rare. Less rare, unfortunately, is damage to the courses themselves, which are frequently assailed by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires and even sinkholes. Such acts of God interrupt play, obviously, but the resulting damage can also be disastrously expensive to fix. Here, then, is a selection of courses that nearly met their ends but which were pulled back from the brink of destruction. Each a potential tale of woe, their ultimate successes demonstrate both the practical realities of business and, on another level, the relationship golfers have with their home tracks as each act of rebuilding is in some part an act of love for the game. And as for the 1-iron trick, don’t try it. We’re betting God could hit that club fairly well if he wanted to.

Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles Rancho Palos Verdes, California When lauded architect Pete Dye designed Ocean Trails Golf Club in California, he surely hoped the sight of Pacific waves crashing against the sharp bluffs would fill golfers with awe and wonder, not least because this sure-to-bestunner was going to be a public course. Dye never could have known just how jaw-dropping his course would prove to be—but unfortunately the dropped jaws belonged to bankers. On June 2, 1999, just one month before Ocean Trails’ grand opening, the last hole on the dream course washed away into the Pacific Ocean due to what local media then called “a geologic event.” The design that some had pegged as Dye’s answer to Pebble Beach lost its No.18 when the land under the last fairway and green gave way, and suddenly the future of what could be the last epic coastal golf course in California was in jeopardy. After years of study and speculation (and spending) by various entities, Donald Trump purchased the project in 2002, exclaiming at the time that it was the best piece of golf property he’d ever seen. Four years later the re-named Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles opened, with the total cost of the course—initial investment plus Trump refurbishments, restoration and enhancements—approaching $264 million, making it one of the most expensive courses built with one of the most expensive holes ever. Restoration of No.18 specifically was said to have reached more than $20 million. Today the course realizes Dye’s dream (with a few Trump embellishments) of a top Pacific property delivering as much emotional impact as it does great golf. Host to this year’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf, as well as numerous other past tournaments, this is one of the most beautiful courses anywhere, and it’s a great rescue for the game.

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TPC Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana Getting The Big Easy’s best golf course up and running was anything but, no thanks to one of the biggest storms ever to hit the U.S. (and a follow-up punch a few years later). Designed by Pete Dye in consultation with Steve Elkington and Kelly Gibson, TPC Louisiana opened in 2004 and hosted its first PGA TOUR event shortly thereafter. Just four months later, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the City of New Orleans along with much of the Gulf Coast. While loss of life and personal property damage were obviously (and deservedly) the focus of attention in the wake of the storm, numerous businesses suffered as well, and golf was no different. More than 2,000 of the oak and cypress trees at TPC Louisiana were destroyed in the storm, not to mention the course’s Bermuda grass, which suffered as 40 percent of the course sat underwater for weeks after the sky had cleared. More than just damaging the course, Katrina completely changed the layout, which had made up for a lack of elevation changes by forcing players to be precise and to shape shots around trees. No trees meant less of a challenge, especially for the PGA pros who played in the annual Zurich Classic, and so a massive replanting campaign began as soon as things dried out. But mother nature wasn’t done: In 2012, just as some of the replacement trees were starting to grow in, Hurricane Isaac came in and hit the course again. While Isaac didn’t pack Katrina’s punch, it certainly didn’t help. Still, the people of Louisiana are resilient, and so TPC Louisiana once again rose from the flood. With new replants now coming in nicely and with changes made to the course’s design, TPC Louisiana is one of the South’s best tracks, and it’s set to continue its role as host of the Zurich Classic.

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Dakota Dunes Golf Club Dakota Dunes, South Dakota In 1991, with paint drying on the new homes in the Dakota Dunes Country Club neighborhood and the the club’s Arnold Palmer-designed golf course set to open, the accolades were quick to come. Golf Digest ranked the course as the best in the state, and the future looked bright—and it was, for 20 years. But in July of 2011 the Missouri River flooded, and all hell broke loose. Suddenly, the 18th hole was under six feet of water and residents were boating over their front yards. The course was almost entirely wiped out, with 18 washed away, the green at No.17 gone and other holes affected. Brandon Johnson, a Senior Design Architect at the Arnold Palmer Design Company, was quoted at the time as saying, “This isn’t something you see every day, and it is a bit of a unique challenge.” Johnson and other APDC team members worked with locals to restore the course, after a new levee system was put in place. Today the course is in fine shape, hosting local tournaments and once again earning accolades.

TPC Harding Park San Francisco, California Just off the Great Highway and behind San Francisco’s beloved zoo, TPC Harding Park shares a stretch of land (and course designers Willie Watson and Sam Whiting) with nearby Olympic Club, which sits to its south. A West Coast fixture since it opened in 1925, the course runs along the edge of Lake Merced, cutting a beautiful path along the city’s southwest corner. In 1937 Harding Park hosted its first “big deal” tournament with the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, and it went on to host many other events and top players. Ken Venturi often played here in his youth, as did Johnny Miller and Michael Allen. Sadly, by the late 1960s the course was falling apart, and while nature wasn’t as much to blame as politics, conditions grew so bad that the TOUR bid it farewell following the 1969 San Francisco Open Invitational. From there it only got worse. Budget cuts, bickering politicians and a perceived lack of public support saw Harding Park continue to fade, with its greatest humiliation coming in 1998 when it was used as a parking lot for the the U.S. Open hosted at Olympic Club. A 2001 effort to revitalize the course and to save it fell apart due to more political infighting and continued budgetary issues, but the following year a ray of hope appeared and renovations began. Amazingly, nearly a year and a half later the course was back to PGA TOUR standards, which were maintained well enough that Harding Park hosted the 2004 WGC-American Express Championship (won by Tiger Woods). In 2010 the course joined the TOUR’s TPC Network and the future continues to look ever brighter as it hosted this year’s WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship (won by Rory McIlroy) and it’s set to host both the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2025 President’s Cup.

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Deering Bay Yacht & Country Club Coral Gables, Florida If you live on the Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes aren’t a question of if, but when. And so it was with Deering Bay Yacht & Country Club in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew came to town in Coral Gables. In the early morning of August 24, 1992, the Category 5 storm tore through South Florida and wreaked havoc. By the time it was done, it had caused 65 deaths and $26.5 billion worth of damage to the areas it hit. Waves had done damage to second floors, high winds had torn apart trees, landscaping, and structures, and standing water from the storm reached more than 16 feet above sea level in some areas, resulting in major flooding all over. As a waterfront property on the western shore of Biscayne Bay, the 220 acres of Deering Bay Yacht & Country Club were hardly spared, and that included the Arnold Palmerdesigned golf course. The club was just north of the storm’s path, which left it vulnerable to the strongest winds, away from the hurricane’s eye, and so Deering Bay was hit hard. In the buildup, staff had moved maintenance equipment indoors and did what they could to protect assets on property, but there was nothing they could do as the storm came through and tore everything to pieces. When it was all over, there wasn’t a single tree or shrub left intact. A Florida Green article by Joel Jackson had it that “debris literally covered every square foot of the project. A high-water mark left on the interior walls of the maintenance building was 8.5 feet off the ground. Since the maintenance building was located on some of the highest ground in the project, it was estimated that most of the [golf] course was inundated by 12 to 15 feet of water for a period of 10 to 12 hours.” All of the turf maintenance equipment had to be junked after so long in salt water, as did the entire irrigation system. Trees had shredded the course and were piled everywhere, bunkers were blown out of shape and the turf was seriously scarred. When course personnel began arriving, they couldn’t even get onto the course due to the amount of debris. Soon, volunteers from other courses arrived with chainsaws and the long, hard job of clearing the place began. That was followed by a restoration, which was made more difficult as local nurseries’ stock had been wiped out as well, leading staff to search out other options in Carribbean and South American countries. As Palmer himself told us, “Deering Bay was serious, but we returned wherever we could to the original design.” The club was thrilled with the result, which not only fixed Deering Bay but which added an aquatic driving range and saw the re-routing of three holes, which the club says improved the layout. In early 1993, when the course was again playable, Palmer returned to play a round and celebrate the restoration with President George HW Bush, who’d just left office, Jeb Bush (who’d co-developed Deering Bay) and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio.

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COLLATERAL DAMAGE Sometimes when weather strikes, courses survive but beloved landmarks are lost. Such was the case with the Eisenhower Tree at Augusta National Golf Club. Named in the 1950s for President Dwight Eisenhower, who’d long lobbied for the tree’s removal after it proved a constant problem for his golf game, the loblolly pine was a fixture at Augusta and practically a celebrity among anyone who followed golf. Roughly 65 feet tall and quite wide, the tree guarded the left side of the fairway at No.17, roughly 210 yards out from the Masters tee. In February 2014, following an ice storm that damaged it beyond saving, the tree had to be removed, prompting lamentations from Masters greats including Jack Nicklaus, who said, ”The Eisenhower Tree is such an iconic fixture and symbol of tradition at Augusta National. It was such an integral part of the game and one that will be sorely missed.” This year, at the annual Masters Champions Dinner, Arnold Palmer was gifted with a piece of the fallen tree, prompting an emotional speech from the legend. The tree’s legend will live on in the National Archives, also tapped to receive a piece.

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Golf Fit As a low-impact sport golf has many benefits, including improved stamina, increased heart health and improved muscle tone. However, extensive play and attempting to play through minor aches and pains can, over time, cause overuse injuries. The doctors at the lauded Cleveland Clinic want to keep you on course as fit as can be, and so they’ve offered us some information and a few strategies. With just a bit of simple selfmaintenance, you’ll play better and stay in the game—for life

5 STEPS TO INCREASING PLAY TIME

Be “golf fit”: Have a regular, year-round fitness routine

Pre-game warm up: Warm up for 30 minutes prior

• • •

to each round.

Walk for at least 5 minutes. Perform simple stretching exercises focusing on your shoulders, back and legs. (Hold stretches for up to 10 seconds.) Hit a few golf balls on the driving range for 10-15 minutes. Start with half swings, working from your short to long clubs.

The right equipment: Have your clubs fitted specifically

Know your mechanics: To learn swing mechanics and

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designed to prepare you for the game. Walk more often than using a golf cart.

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to you.

the right grip, see your golf teaching professional. Ask for a video analysis.

Care for injuries: Pay attention to early warning signs of injury. Don’t play through pain. You will prolong or inhibit optimal healing.

FACT 80% of golfers spend less than 10 minutes warming up before a game

INJURIES

Serious golfers tend to have more overuse injuries due to many hours of play. Those who golf less often are more likely to get injured from: • lack of conditioning • poor swing mechanics • improper club grip or club fit

FACT The best golfers can generate club head speeds of more than 120 mph

WRIST The cause: • Overuse To avoid: • Alter swing mechanics • Strengthen forearm and hand muscles

LEAD SHOULDER The cause: • Constant rotation To avoid: • Do a good warm-up routine with exercises that target the shoulder

ELBOW The cause: • Poor swing mechanics causing you to hit the ground first or over swing (These can increase with age and frequency of play.) To avoid: • Do good pre-round stretching of the upper extremities • Practice a regular strengthening program

LOWER BACK The cause: • The powerful rotation and extension of the golf swing puts pressure on the spine and muscles To avoid: • Increase the range of motion in your lumbar spine and the rotation of your lead hip If you carry your bag: • Alternate shoulders with each hole or use the double-shoulder straps • Maintain an upright posture

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ON BEING GOLF FIT

A regular exercise program should include core strengthening and stretching for flexibility. Why?

• • •

A strong core provides stability for rotation, power and balance. Strong quadriceps and glutes help you maintain posture and prevent back pain. Good flexibility helps you play consistently and avoid injury.

The best exercises for this are:

• • • •

Abdominal bracing. Planks on for arms. Light, active rotational stretches. Slow, full swings with one or two clubs. Pilates and/or Yoga. Regular aerobics. Light resistance training. A fitness program or certified fitness pro that is recommended by a healthcare provider Always at entry level when you start to decrease risk of injury

TIPS FOR YOUR OVERALL GAME

• • • • • • •

Practicing one shot over and over? Do a maximum of 5-10 swings only. Vary your clubs. Don’t grab the large bucket of balls at the range. Mix in putting and chipping within your full swings. When practicing your putting, straighten and stretch regularly. When picking up your ball, always bend your knees and use your club for support. Don’t over-swing. It leads to poor golf shots and an increased risk of injury. If the game is slow, don’t stand still. Take the time to do gentle stretches or walk in circles. While playing, avoid excessive alcohol and junk food. These will zap your energy level in the middle to the end of the round.

FACT More than 80% of injuries are due to overuse

FACT Amateur golfers are 2-3x more likely to be injured compared to pro golfers

FACT Nearly 10% of the U.S. population plays golf

Sources: The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) and the Better Health Channel.

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J AY H AAS

CO L IN M O N TGOMERI E

F RE d FuNk

LEGENDS. RIVALS. BUDDIES. CHAMPIONS.

FOLLOw tHE 2015 SEASON-LONG RACE tO SEE wHO wILL tAkE HOME tHE NExt CHARLES SCHwAB CUP.

Where There’s Smoke There’s A Whole Mess of Good Eatin’

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The Ribs When it comes to backyard grilling, we like Baby Back Ribs because they’re smaller than Spare Ribs, packed with meat and easier to handle. Also called “Loin Ribs,” these are what’s left once a boneless roast has been cut, and they’re good eatin’, no question.

The Rub There are as many BBQ rubs as there are hairs on a pig’s back—and that’s a lot. You can make your own, but with so many available on store shelves anyone but a top chef is likely better off using his time in other ways. Our favorite rub is a simple affair, a Santa Maria-style seasoning that imparts just enough salt, onion, garlic and more without overly disguising the flavor of the meat.

The Sauce Like rubs, there’s a sauce to suit every taste. And again, while we occasionally throw one together, for this particular meal we couldn’t be bothered and so we bought one. We like Stubb’s, created by the man himself (Christopher B. Stubblefield, God rest his soul) who opened his legendary live music venue and BBQ joint in Texas back in 1968. A balanced blend of tomato, vinegar, molasses and black pepper, it adds just enough of what’s needed without stealing the flavor spotlight.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, is as satisfying in summer as firing up a new grill and cookin’ a slab or two of some sweet, succulent, savory, mouth-watering, smoked-all-day, finger-lickin’, fall-off-the-bone beautiful baby back ribs. Whether you’re a sweet-toothed Kansas City type of guy, a mesquite-loving Texan, a sauceon-the-side fan of dry rub or a lover of any of the other bajillion ways to serve pork ribs, getting them right is the crowning achievement of so many backyard buckaroos. Here, using the brilliant—and easy-on-the-eyes—Pro Kamado Grill from Caliber Range Corporation (caliberappliances.com), we offer our take on stackin’ racks and throwing down a perfect summer spread. Clear the table and get the napkins ready, it’s time to smoke some ribs!

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TEE UP YOUR NEXT ROUND.

HALF A MILLION TEE TIMES. DEALS you won’t find anywhere else.

The Cooker We’ve tried them all, and nothing comes close to the Pro Kamado Grill (aka the Thermashell Pro) from Caliber Range Corporation. Looking like a modernized version of a first-class space capsule from a time when cars had fins, this incredibly well-considered kamadostyle cooker is light enough to be moved around by one person, so well insulated that it took only a couple of pieces of hardwood charcoal to smoke our ribs, and so precise and easy to use that it was a piece of cake to achieve and to maintain our optimum cooking/ smoking temperature. With plenty of patent-pending technologies and one-of-a-kind options like a rotisserie and “rear blaze basket,” numerous powder-coated colors and trim options, and some of the best engineering we’ve ever seen in something that would at first appear to be simple (but which isn’t), we heartily recommend this absolutely fantastic piece of backyard gear, and consider it essential for any serious grill master.

The Method Now every man has his own way to smoke ribs, and we’re not going to tell you that ours is better than yours, but there are some basics that everyone follows and the method we outline here pretty much covers them: A little bit of prep work, a long time cooking and smoking at a low temperature, finishing with the ribs wrapped in foil and then eating. If we all can’t agree on the particulars of the process, at least we can come together on that last part. So here you go…

What we used: • • • • • •

Baby Back Ribs — Figure 1lb per person Rub Sauce Apple wood chips + bowl of water Aluminum Foil Spray bottle filled with apple juice

If your butcher hasn’t already done it, peel the membrane from the ribs. Some guys use pliers, some use a paper towel to gain traction, some just have nimble fingers (we guess). However you do it, it’ll help the ribs hold the rub, allow them to cook more evenly and make them easier to pull apart. Throw some hardwood chips in a bowl of water. We used apple wood, but you can use whatever you like. Making sure the chips are soaked for at least 30 minutes will help them smoke (not burn) once you throw them on the coals. Get the coals cookin’ so the grill can warm up. We use hardwood natural charcoal.

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Just before or just after you get the grill going, prep the ribs with a dry rub (just rub it into the meat, both sides) and let them come to room temperature. Some people do all-night marinades in the fridge with the ribs in plastic wrap, and that’s fine, but we don’t know if we could sleep with those ribs just sittin’ there in the fridge. We’d likely get out of bed and go cook ’em in the middle of the night, so we figure a dry rub 30 minutes or so before cooking is just fine. Get your grill heated to somewhere between 225˚ and 250˚ and keep it right there. Throw the ribs on the cooker. You can also toss ’em, chuck ’em, drop ’em or carefully arrange ’em, as you like. We used Caliber’s Rib Rack, which holds the ribs vertically and helps them stay moist and cook more evenly. Figure that this is going to take you roughly four hours. For the first three and a half hours, we sprayed the ribs with apple juice every 20 minutes or so. After three and a half hours, we wrapped the ribs in aluminum foil and returned them to the kamado for another 30 minutes. Pour some apple juice (or beer) in the foil with the ribs if you like. Sauce ’em and serve ’em!

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We don’t know why anyone wouldn’t be satisfied with just ribs (and a cold beverage), but if your ribs need a little company, try this simple recipe:

Lemony Smashed Potato Salad 2lbs Russet potatoes, cut into chunks ½ cup mayonnaise zest of 1 lemon juice of ½ a lemon 3-4 green onions, finely sliced 2 ribs celery, diced salt pepper Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and combine with all remaining ingredients so that the potatoes are mostly smashed with some larger chunks for texture. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill before serving.

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Cool West If you don’t have a beach house in Malibu (yet), let these modern ice cream flavors from California cool you down. After all, too much sun isn’t good for you, and ice cream is summer’s best friend

Eureka Lemon and Marionberries From Malibu’s Beachy Cream Organic Ice Cream, Eureka lemons shine here with their crisp, beautiful tang softened by the marionberries. A fruit-forward name had us nervous this would be sharp like a sorbet, but it ended up being fantastically creamy.

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Brown Butter Pecan Too often Butter Pecan ice creams err on the side of pecans. Not so here. Santa Barbaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s McConnellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fine Ice Creams gets it right with a buttery thick creamy beauty of an ice cream that serves up the pecans in all of their sweet Southern glory. The official new dessert of the South, straight out of California.

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Sea Salt Cream and Cookies The sweet/salty combination has long favored desserts, and this one rewards with a hint of the sea plus cookie crumbles. Not overly sweet, so severe sweet tooths need not apply. From McConnelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fine Ice Creams, a Santa Barbara institution.

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Balsamic Strawberry Swirl From Beachy Cream, this flavor takes us to Florence, Italy, and to fresh strawberries and cream drizzled with an ancient balsamic vinegar. Timeless, but frozen in time here to be enjoyed at your leisure, preferably in the sun, with a glass of Prosecco.

beachycream.com

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ong the territory of men who raised hell and women who raised eyebrows, whiskey long ago evolved into something enjoyed by any and all at the bar. But while bourbon and Scotch consistently poured off the shelves, bottles of one of America’s earliest whiskeys—rye—mostly collected dust until recent years. Unlike bourbons, which often are celebrated for smooth and sweet notes of vanilla and oak, the far-more-dry ryes might have a little kick to them, which can scare the uninitiated, says Devon Mundt,

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executive bartender at Grane in Omaha, Nebraska. Grane offers 490 whiskeys among its huge selection of spirits and craft cocktails, and so Mundt and the other bartenders there know their pours. He explained that at least 51 percent of an American whiskey’s mash must contain rye before the spirit can be called a “rye whiskey” (bourbon’s mash is 51 percent corn) and that means more spice, some fruit, less sweetness, and often the aforementioned “kick.” That’s not to say that all rye whiskeys are harsh—far from it, actually. Many are beautiful expressions of the spirit,

as eminently drinkable as the finest bourbon or Scotch (and rye has been compared to Islay whiskys due to its full-bodied nature). But people don’t know that, and so they’re hesitant to order rye. “It’s a weird sell,” he says, explaining that those who love it, love it, and those who think that they don’t likely haven’t tried rye—but should. We thought we might like it and had no problem giving it a shot. As it happens, Mundt was right: Rye is good. Here, we share with you a few ryes that have our bourbons headed for the back shelves.

R I T T E N H O U S E ST R A I G H T RY E Heaven Hill Distillery

Bardstown, KY

Whether you call it a bartender’s best friend or a serious pour, Rittenhouse Rye (from Heaven Hill brands, which also has Elijah Craig, Evan Williams and more) is about as straightforward as it gets if you want the old-school taste of rye. Learned critics will use words like “bold” and “intense”; we’ll go with “honest” and “no-nonsense.” To be fair there’s a lot going on in here, with the woody caramel and maple brown sugar one looks for in a whiskey meeting up with toast and fruit, but it’s the old school rye character that shines, aged for four years and ready at a great price to take your cocktails to another level—or, on its own, to remind you that you’re having a drink, not a dessert.

VERDICT

Yes. And do you always talk this much?

LO C K STO C K & BA R R E L Cooper Spirits

If the marketing for this is smooth (and it is very smooth, with a name borrowed from popular culture and keywords like “artisanal” and “farm-sourced” saturating press materials) at least the stuff in the bottle is as well. The whiskey is sourced from Alberta Distillers, but unlike many Canadian ryes, which don’t need to fulfill the 51 percent rye mash standard to which American ryes are held, Lock Stock is 100 percent rye aged for 13 years. Cooper Spirits (of St. Germain fame) calls itself the “curator” of the brand, and that’s right. They source it, bottle it and market it. Any skepticism resulting from the polish and price (near $120 a bottle) mostly washes away when it’s opened. Think a lush mouthful of spiced caramel and honey enjoyed in a cozy cabin in front of a wood-burning fire. There’s pepper and fruit, but they’re tucked under a warm blanket—and yes, this is getting ridiculous. This whiskey is so nice it makes otherwise straight-dealing writers wax on like romance novelists, which might lead us to forgive whomever’s responsible for Cooper’s rich marketing copy. It was a dark and stormy night when we poured our first glass…

VERDICT

A friend, an open bottle of this and nowhere to be in the morning would be dangerous.

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O L D SCO U T RY E Smooth Ambler Spirits

Greenbriar County, WV

With 95 percent rye in the mashbill and seven years of aging, Old Scout isn’t trying to be clever. Like Rittenhouse, it’s in the family of ryes that are as straightforward as a gun-toting preacher on horseback, and that’s just fine with us. No pretty language means no words to get in the way, which makes it easier to appreciate this whiskey’s qualities. Spice, honey, tea and… is that mint? There’s bite but no pain, meaning it’s great neat for those who like flavor and great mixed in cocktails that need a little something.

VERDICT

Just guitar, bass, drums and vocals.

R E U N I O N RY E Dark Horse Distillery

Lenexa, KS

Dark Horse rides the full race here, using 100 percent rye mash to make its Reunion Rye and producing something rather exceptional in the process. This might be our favorite from the ryes we tasted, not because it’s particularly smooth (it’s not) and not because it’s particularly explosive (it’s not) but because it left us feeling like we’d enjoyed a proper rye that neither held our hand nor kicked us in the teeth. The company’s tasting notes include “a rich combination of spice, butterscotch and citrus… surrendering to a smooth and memorable finish,” and that’s about right. We’d add cloves and dark cinnamon to that and offer that a drop of lemon came to mind, though it certainly wasn’t overpresent. Thoughts of saddle leather might have been more inspired than tasted (or they might have been tasted), but the surprise was the faintest bit of rye bread lingering after the finish, which was surprisingly nice. Made by the Garcia siblings, three brothers and a sister, and tough to find outside of the Kansas City area, this mid-priced rye is on our minds long after leaving Omaha.

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Neat, rocks or in a cocktail, you’ll find a bottle on our shelf if you drop by.

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CO C KTA I L S Whiskeys of varying forms appeared in America around the same time (late 18th century), created from what was on hand. Thus, rye-producing regions used rye mash, cornproducing regions made corn whiskeys, and so on. By 1808, southwestern Pennsylvania producers were selling a half barrel of rye whiskey for each man, woman and child in the country, and accordingly, rye was used as the base ingredient in many better-known whiskey cocktails, including the Manhattan, the Old Fashioned and Whiskey Sours, among others, in which its spice and bite cut through the other flavors. However, as the smoother, sweeter bourbon’s popularity grew, bartenders starting using it in place of rye, changing the drinks somewhat. Grane offers top-drawer Old Fashioneds on tap, mixed fresh and kept ready for appreciative customers. It’s a new way to serve the drink, but the recipe is as old-school as it gets, with rye as the whiskey of choice.

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Whatever your whiskey cocktail pleasure, if you want to experience it in its original form, leave out the bourbon and try rye next time.

OT H E R Whistle Pig’s lauded 10 Year (which received the highest-ever rating for a rye from Wine Enthusiast) and its serious Boss Hog, aged for more than 13 years, often are said to set the bar for other ryes. To date, Whistle Pig have sourced their ryes from Canada, but they’re nearing production in their home state of Vermont and we can’t wait to taste what they distill. Absolutely one of our favorites. Hudson Manhattan Rye from Tuthilltown Distillers is another worthy mention. Sold in distinctive small bottles, Hudson puts a premium on organic ingredients mostly sourced from within 10 miles of its upstate New York distillery. Lastly, two classics deserve mention: Old Overholt has been produced since 1810 and was reportedly a favorite of Doc Holliday’s. The kick is here and the price is right, making it great for cocktails. Templeton Rye also claims heritage and gangster provenance, with a version perhaps debuting as a bootleg during Prohibition and becoming a favorite of Al Capone’s. While the current product is a fine rye, we suspect there’s as much story here as history—which only means that it’s continuing in the wink-and-nod “tall tale” tradition of many other whiskeys, and we can’t fault it for that.

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T7 Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker. Hi-Fi untethered. T7 is the most portable standalone speaker Bowers & Wilkins has ever produced. It combines Micro Matrix™ technology, Bowers & Wilkins’ legendary approach to high-quality sound, 18 hours of battery life, and Bluetooth aptX® wireless streaming. The result: genuine Hi-Fi sound, with no strings attached.

$349.99

from authorized retailers Buy direct from bowers-wilkins.com/T7 Two-year warranty Free delivery

Open Sky Coates Golf, the first company to engineer and manufacture golf clubs specifically for women, is serious about its game and the quality and integrity of its equipment. Turns out that attitude extends to all of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s products, including these beautiful and incredibly wellconsidered umbrellas. Think of them as portable pieces of a rain-free sky.

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Duck & Cover For summer sun, summer rain and any time you feel like youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re too exposed. After all, finding shelter should always be a top priority.

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Top Up New Era has been making top-shelf headwear for more than 90 years and is best known as the official on-field cap for both MLB and the NFL. Now they’re covering golfers as well, with new caps designed for the course. Featuring heat-reducing technology and incredible attention to detail, the caps in New Era’s golf range are lighter, stronger, and more capable than any other golf hats we’ve seen. All of that, and style too.

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Club Love Mike Buchfuhrer loves his country, his job and his grandmother Rose, a former fashion designer whose name he combined with a play on his own to create the moniker for his company, Rose & Fire. Simply put, Mike designs and creates the best club headcovers in the world. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re handcrafted in California of materials including motorcycle leather, waxed canvas, field camouflage, Italian leather and more. Offered in a variety of colors and designs theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re exceptional in every way, which leads us to offer this advice wholeheartedly: If you own golf clubs, buy these.

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Silver Lining Simple and to the point. That’s how we like it, and adidas’ Climastorm Provisional Rain Jacket does the job with no fuss. Light, easily packable and reasonably priced, it also keeps you dry—which is the point, after all.

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Easy 18 Just a quick trip around the pitch ’n’ putt, maybe spend an hour or two on the range, we’re chilling out at the resort and don’t want to lose the vibe on course... For all of these scenarios and more, we love the adicross SL. Thing is, it’s actually a pretty good golf shoe as well, and you can’t go barefoot, so...

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Golden Eye Shane Baum has great vision. In addition to handling eyewear for brands like Paul Frank and Rebecca Minkoff, his own Leisure Society marque is the perfect combination of cutting-edge style and top luxury, utilizing materials like gold and titanium and being handmade in Japan by artisanal craftsmen. Wear these, and the world will look that much better.

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Go Noted Cover yourself in brilliant sound with Bowers & Wilkinsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; T7, a portable wireless speaker from the company that built the speakers for Abbey Road Studios. Running 18 hours on a single charge, this will stream music fom any Bluetooth device, meaning you can stay in your music all day.

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Legendary Builds In business as in life some years are bigger than others, and 2015 is proving to be a very big year indeed for the crew at the Arnold Palmer Design Company. In addition to seeing years of hard work about to pay off as various course projects ready for opening day, staff are buzzing over two huge announcements, including news that Arnold Palmer is to design and build his first-ever course in Scotland. Fire up the bagpipes and open the Glenmorangie, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re ready to celebrate the new track and so much more as APDC continues to shape the future of golf

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Dan Murphy / stonehousegolf.com

P Castle Stuart

layers on the PGA TOUR are happy to play in every tournament they enter, but it’s fair to say they’re especially excited to participate in majors. Similarly, while golf course architects enjoy the challenge of creating top designs in a variety of countries and conditions, every now and then a project comes along that really gets the engines firing. For the architects at APDC, one such project is the newly announced Palmer golf course at Castle Stuart in Scotland. Beyond the confines of the APDC office, the first-ever Palmer design in the home of golf is exciting everyone in the golfing world, not least the King himself. “I have had a strong affection for Scotland since I first went there in 1960 to play in the Open at St Andrews,” Palmer said in a statement. “I have returned many times since, including a memorable victory in the Open Championship at Troon in 1962. The opportunity to build an iconic golf course in Scotland would be the culmination of all these great experiences.”

The new links design is set to appear on the Moray Firth near Inverness, and should complement the existing course at Castle Stuart, which was built by Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse. Construction could begin as early as next year, ahead of the Scottish Open’s return to Castle Stuart (for the fourth time in six years), and it’s hoped the course would be open for use by 2019. “It’s a dream project,” says APDC senior golf course architect Thad Layton. “We were over there for an intensive two-week visit, we walked the site and came up with multiple routings, and we settled on one that we’re all happy with—though it continues to evolve.” Layton says a few features make it unique for a links land course, including an ancient copse of trees on the property, which may come into play. Also, there’s a bit of shoreline that golfers will enjoy seeing; though it likely won’t be a major factor it will certainly add to the emotional effect of the course. More than any particular features, though, Layton says the true star of the course is going to be the land itself. “It’s pure sand, which is an architect’s dream, really. You can do things with it and create shapes that you otherwise couldn’t do. With many courses, where there’s clay or firmer ground, you have to create basins so that water can drain—a golf course is no better than it’s drainage—and that can result in areas that don’t look that natural. Here, you don’t need artificial drainage, it just percolates down because of the sand, which makes for firm conditions. The site is really going to carry the day.”

The opportunity to build an iconic golf course in Scotland will be the culmination of so many experiences

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Greenbrier and Beyond front nine is so beautifully integrated into the landscape that As if one huge announcement wasn’t enough, APDC also it looks as if it’s been there forever. In contrast, the back let it be known that Palmer will be joining his Big Three nine heads up into the foothills above the creek and features companions Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player to design a new 80-100 foot elevation changes. course at West Virginia’s legendary club The Greenbrier. “On the front nine there are 20- to 25-foot elevation Working with Lee Trevino (making it a “big four”?), the group changes, gentle, nothing abrupt,” Layton told us last year. aims to build a mountain course worthy of hosting majors, and “The rugged bunkers look like they’ve always been there, in fact Greenbrier owner Jim Justice has said he wants just that and the land around them is rolling. It has an aged look to it, as he intends for the course to be a U.S. Open venue in less even though it’s completely new. The back nine is completely than a decade. Palmer says the crew is up to the task, telling us, different: it goes up into the foothills away from the creek “Jim wants the course to be a U.S. Open venue by 2023, and and has 80-100 foot elevation changes.” that’s our goal, too. We four have every intention to create a APDC was able to utilize native grasses and vegetation, course that will be ready to host a major championship from and Layton said the result is a course that offers numerous Day 1, and I’m confident that’s just what we’ll do.” colors and textures, along with being ecologically sensitive Layton says the current plan is for Palmer, Nicklaus and incredibly beautiful. and Player each to design six holes, while Trevino—who was He and fellow APDC Senior Golf Course Architect recently appointed The Greenbrier’s Golf Pro Emeritus and Brandon Johnson just returned from playing the course, and will be spending his summer months there—will work with the Layton told me it’s even better than expected. team, adding his perspective and perhaps building a practice “We’re really happy with the way the course has grown facility. While the collaboration will no doubt produce an out,” he said. “It’s one of those courses you don’t really get tired amazing result, Layton says it definitely changes the process. of playing, with a lot of width, a lot of strategy and a lot of fun. “There are challenges with projects like this, three architects “Everyone worked so hard on it, and the contractor with three different styles. You want cohesiveness, not just three did a really great job, they were really dedicated and made sets of six holes, and each will be bringing his respective skill sure it was done right. We’re really excited about this one.” set. When the King & Bear came along (St. Augustine course Fazenda Boa Vista joins the Palmer course at Las designed by Palmer and Nicklaus that opened in 2000) I was Piedras in Punta del Este, Uruguay, as another example of at an intern level, and it was interesting to see the interaction how APDC is one of the leaders in the expansion of golf in between Nicklaus and Mr. Palmer. That turned out very well, South America. The course at Las Piedras opened last year and I’m excited to see how The Greenbrier will look.” and is earning rave reviews, many likely from golfers excited From work that’s just getting started to work that’s about the sport’s return to the 2016 Olympics in Rio. just getting finished, APDC’s latest design in Brazil is nearly Whether you’re golfing there on the cutting edge of ready for its big premiere. In fact, as of press time Fazenda the game, playing a round closer to home or teeing it up Boa Vista was just 90 days out from its grand opening, and in golf’s ancestral home, the experts at APDC have you don’t we wish we had a plane ticket to Brazil! covered with top courses that are sure to endure for many The private course roughly 70 miles outside of São generations to come. Dust off your passport and open up Paulo rolls through gentle farmland along a creek, and the that Glenmorangie—the years ahead look bright indeed!

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The Greenbrier

Six Things Your Pro Hates About You (Plus one more really annoying thing)

By Joe Buttitta,

The Non-Bather

veteran sports journalist and current golf pro

This guy or gal annoys me and makes me sick to my stomach. Imagine standing on the range and smelling a mix of sweat, cigarette smoke and rotten potatoes, only this human stench is much worse. Problem is, everyone thinks it’s me. Moral of the story: Shower before your lesson—please

DISCLAIMER: I am a teaching golf professional who really loves his job. I am not a licensed sports psychologist. But some of the things about some of the people I teach just plain p*** me off. Kingdom kindly offered me a place to vent, and so with a mind to perhaps making you a better student (and thus a more improved golfer), and on behalf of teaching pros everywhere, here are a few things to keep in mind next time you’re headed to a lesson. My tongue is firmly planted in my cheek… Or is it?

In reverse order of annoyance:

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The “Yes, But…” Guy Every teacher has one of these, and I’m cursed with several of them. This is the person who is certain he knows more than the pro. Let’s take the grip, for instance. You spend lesson after lesson shaping a personal grip for this guy or gal and they always respond by saying those two miserable words: “Yes, but…” “Yes, but it doesn’t feel comfortable. Let me show you how I want to grip the club.” “Yes, but I like to position my feet like that.” “Yes, but I’ve always been told my wrists should do this.” Of course they never improve to their satisfaction, to which I say, “Yes, but… you never listen to me!” It’s like constantly treading water, and so making progress is impossible! Invariably they pass the word that Joe doesn’t know what he’s talking about. How can I? I’m too busy listening to their “Yes, buts.” Moral of the story: If you knew better, you wouldn’t need a lesson

The Dreamer It happens a few times each year: An obvious non-golfer shows up and wants a lesson because his annual company tournament is next month. I ask him to take a few swings with a 9-iron. “Whattaya think?” he wants to know. I think he should suddenly develop an elbow problem just before tournament day. “I just want to be respectable,” he says, quite seriously. He asks me to hit a few. I do. “See, now that’s how I want to hit it,” he says. If I think this guy’s check won’t bounce I say, “Well, let’s get to it.” I certainly hope his tournament is a Scramble. Moral of the story: Have realistic expectations. Getting “respectable” in golf can take months. Or years. Or a lifetime.

The Letterman

The Liar This person shows up for the lesson with fresh-outof-the-box Miuras, a giant leather Tour bag and an alpha-male attitude. He claims to be a plus-two handicap, but immediately he produces four ground ball 9-irons off the mat. His 7-iron is good for three textbook shanks, and his 5-iron is destined never to leave the ground—he’s a born curler if I ever saw one. Then he wants to hit a driver, and boy I can’t wait to see this. By now my annoyance is turning into a kind of amusement as the charade persists. This is getting entertaining! With all of the high-end equipment, clothing and crazy shots bouncing all over the place, these newbees invariably draw a crowd, so roughly 20 people stop practicing to watch. And to paraphrase former St. Louis Cardinal baseball announcer Jack Buck, “they can’t believe what they just saw.” Five times the student in question raised his driver in a high arc and—so help me Babe Ruth—three times he whiffed the ball. Complete mosquito killers. Then he hits two pop-ups that any decent catcher could handle. God help me, then he wanted to know when we could hit the course. “As soon as you can hit the ball,” I replied. Nice clubs, though. Moral of the story: Come humble. There’s no shame in needing help with your game—that’s what keeps us pros employed! So be honest with your pro. In the end, it will save you a lot of embarrassment and it will save us both a lot of time.

And I don’t mean David. This former athlete from a galaxy far, far away lettered in Greco–Roman wrestling in high school and somehow made the All-City team. This was 30 years and 40 pounds ago. But by all rights, he should be great at golf, right? I mean, what the heck?!! Both sports are so similar! In truth, golf is a hand/eye coordination game, so I give him my instant test: I soft toss him a golf ball. If he snatches it out of the air without so much as a fumble, he’s got my attention. If he bobbles it against his chest, drops it to the ground, kicks it and takes three subsequent bounces to corral the thing, I refer him to another teacher. He doesn’t have a chance, and I don’t have enough time. “But I was an All-City wrestler,” he pleads. Yeah, so wrestle the ball! Moral of the story: Ever seen Charles Barkley’s swing? Right. Being a former athlete might indicate that you have an advantage in learning golf, but only if your former sport was golf.

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Wedge? What’s A Wedge ? As far as this guy knows, a wedge is a fancy salad. He wouldn’t know a golf wedge if it bounced off his noggin (see what I did there?). He just doesn’t give a darn. His short game is generally ignored despite my attempts to convince this golfer that it’s the surest way to a lower score, guaranteed. “Give me the driver,” he demands. He says he wants to lower his handicap but he doesn’t enjoy chipping, pitching or putting. He doesn’t even know the difference between a chip and a pitch (though I can’t blame him here: so many TV golf announcers don’t either). He averages 42 putts for 18 holes and yet when he gets back on the range, yep, he grabs the driver! Highly annoying. Moral of the story: “Drive for show, putt for dough” didn’t come from nowhere. Yes, whacking the dimples off the ball is great if you can keep it straight, but ignore your short game at your own peril. Scores drop (or rise) quickly closer to the hole.

And headlining my all-time list of annoyances is far the most odious of all golf species. He causes the most grief to teaching professionals everywhere, and the hubbies are all the same. He wants his wife to learn golf so together they can travel the world visiting all of the outstanding golf destinations he sees on TV. It soon becomes obvious that the farthest they should go is Disney World. Nonetheless, he signs up his wife for a series of six lessons. Yep, that oughta do it! Right about the third lesson you notice that you are repeating much of what you already covered in the first two lessons. Ah, the poor woman. She has trouble remembering simple things, like how to hold the club. Basic stuff, like where you point your toes. Undaunted, you continue because his check didn’t bounce. But one day, suddenly, it all makes sense. The girl isn’t the problem. You notice that hubby dear has hung around closely during her lessons, watching like a hawk. And when the lesson is over and I leave, he swoops in. Boy, does he! Like it’s mandated in the marriage license. All of a sudden he’s the expert, he becomes the teaching pro, and just like that he does his best to undo just about everything you taught his wife. He changes the grip you think she should use. His kind of stance should work better. Don’t focus so much on posture, dear. And balance? Don’t worry about that either. Just swing hard, darling, in case you hit it. Red flags appear everywhere. The woman we thought was a bit simple is revealed to be a confused victim caught in the instructional crossfire, with bad information being heaped on top of good. She’s doomed. She listens to him. I got no chance. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s sleeping with the guy!

THE HUSBAND —By

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Moral of the story: If you’re the student, trust your pro and ignore everyone else. If you’re the hovering husband, stand down and don’t confuse your wife or friends. And if you really want to give golf lessons, “Becoming a PGA professional unlocks the door to a rewarding and exciting career in a sport that spans the globe.” That’s from the PGA’s website. But then you knew that already, didn’t you.

The Barclays August 27-30, Plainfield CC, Edison, NJ Deutsche Bank Championship September 4-7, TPC Boston, Norton, MA BMW Championship September 17-20, Conway Farms GC, Lake Forest, IL TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola September 24-27, East Lake GC, Atlanta, GA

Justice for the U.S. Open Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino have all been recruited to collaborate on a new course design in West Virginia owned by Jim Justice—who also owns The Greenbrier— which Justice hopes will one day host the U.S. Open

ometimes the best things in life happen when someone stands up and refuses to accept ‘No’ for an answer. “No” is what Jack Nicklaus first said to Jim Justice when the owner of The Greenbrier told Nicklaus he wanted the ‘Golden Bear’ to collaborate with Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Lee Trevino to design a golf course of such undeniable quality and striking beauty that the USGA could not resist sending the U.S. Open there, and thereby to West Virginia for the first time. “There is no way it can be done,” said Nicklaus, a man who has forged a career out of going about his business in his own inimitable way. He is also the man who designed The Greenbrier’s championship course which staged the 1979 Ryder Cup. So Justice directed his pitch to Palmer, Player and Trevino. He was clearly more convincing the second, third and fourth times around, and with everyone else on board, Nicklaus was persuaded to join ranks. “Why not have the U.S. Open in West Virginia?” demands Justice, who is also trying to utilize his

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persuasiveness in running to become state governor. “How could the USGA turn their back on these four icons and their golf course? We can do these things in West Virginia.” Coal-mining baron Justice bought The Greenbrier out of bankruptcy in 2009, gave the 10,000-acre property a comprehensive facelift, built an underground casino and has plans for ski slopes. The expansive resort already boasts five distinct golf courses too, including The Old White TPC, which stages The Greenbrier Classic on the PGA TOUR. “Collaborations work better than one might think,” Palmer tells Kingdom. “We have different styles [but] there is respect for other opinions and it will be very co-operative. It’s a very enjoyable process and I’m looking forward to what will be an enduring and memorable contribution to golf. Jim wants the course to be a U.S. Open venue by 2023 and that’s our goal too.” Ground on the new golf course, which is located near the existing Greenbrier property in the Allegheny Mountains, is scheduled to be broken this summer, with course opening planned for Fall 2016.

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