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7

InsideContents

30

74

15

37

26

41

F e at u r e s

In Every Issue 12 Forethoughts What’s a CAGGY?

By Jon Rizzi 15 Gallery Wounded warriors tournaments, Golf by Numbers.

84 The Games of Golf A Hall of Fame quiz Player’s Corner 25 Home Course Cordillera’s comeback.

26 Lesson How to stop hitting popups and ground balls.

By Geoff Greig 28 Gear Swing and a Myth.

By Ted Johnson 30 Play Away Trump International in Scotland. By Tony Dear

8

66

Sidebets 37 Nice Drives Hits and misses from the North American International Automobile Show.

Plus: The Hyundai Santa Fe

66

41

Colorado’s High-Flying Match-Play Maestro Larry McAtee’s feats on the golf course and in the cockpit put him in a class by himself. By Scott Gardner

The Golfer’s Guide to Spring Training Where to tee off in the preseason home of the Rockies and 12 other Major League Baseball teams.

55

Tournament Time A guide to planning and playing a memorable day of golf.

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

The CAGGY Awards Which instructors, destinations, courses and clubs did you vote the best in Colorado? And which did our staff pick?

74 80

Change of a 20 Thanks to Mark and Lynn Cramer, over the span of two decades, the Denver Golf Expo has gone from a quiet trade show to a must-attend kickoff to the Colorado golf season. By Jon Rizzi

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Gather Around Our Table!

Spring 2013 Volume 11, Number 8 publisher

Allen J. Walters editor

Jon Rizzi associate publisher

Chris Phillips art director

Jeremy Cantalamessa editor-at-large

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

coloradoavidgolfer.com Colorado Avidgolfer (issn 1548-4335) is published eight times a year by baker-Colorado publishing, llC, and printed by American Web, inc. volume 11, number eight. 7200 s. Alton Way #b-180, Centennial, Co 80112. Colorado AvidGolfer is available at more than 250 locations, or you Winter order your personal subscription by calling 720-493-1729. subscriptions are available at the rate of $17.95 per year. Copyright © 2013 by baker-Colorado publishing, llC. All rights reserved. reproduction without permission is prohibited. postmaster: send address changes to Colorado Avidgolfer, 7200 s Alton Way #b-180 Centennial, Co 80112.the magazine welcomes editorial submissions but assumes no responsibility for the safekeeping or return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other material.

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Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

11

Forethoughts

What’s a CAGGY?

I

n 1969, I became a fan of the new York mets and New York Knicks, both of which would win championships within a seven-month span. My fandom imprinted itself unquestioningly. Which explains why it took me years to ask what the heck a “Met” and a “Knick” was.

For the record, both abbreviate names connected to the city. The “New York Metropolitans” is fairly self-explanatory. “Knickerbockers” refers to a common Dutch surname that became synonymous with well-to-do New Yorkers. It’s also the root of “knickers,” the baggy men’s knee trousers that became popular in this country at the same time golf did—and that golfers made fashionable with the introduction of the four-inches-below-the-knee version known as plus fours.

So, what the heck is a CAGGY? It’s the new name we’ve given to the awards known generically for the last ten years as “The Best in Colorado Golf.” At the risk of stating the obvious, CAG stands for Colorado AvidGolfer. Expand it and voilà the catchy CAGGY. Like the Knicks and Mets, the CAGGYs are winners—at least in my nostalgically delusional mind.

You weren’t deluded when you selected the first CAGGY recipients.

More than 750 of you voted in our online poll, which we conducted exclusively through digital channels. I suspect far more will participate in the next one after seeing the results on page 66.

The CAGGYs represent a shift in not only the name of the awards but in how they are decided. Moreover, it reflects a transition to digital the entire publishing industry has had to make—a transition that involves you.

Come April, expect to see major changes at CAG. As we move deeper into the digital world, more of our magazine content will derive from what we learn from our Facebook friends and followers, your Twitter feeds and posts to coloradoavidgolfer.com. We invite you to engage with us. We will also “publish” far, far more frequently than the eight times a year the magazine comes out. Our deal-packed e-newsletter will arrive regularly, and expect new Web content daily: blogs, videos, slideshows and expanded coverage of equipment, instruction, courses, travel and the people who animate the game we love.

We won’t forsake our print product, of course. This year’s story lineup is as strong as ever, starting with the issue you’re holding. In addition to the CAGGY winners, you’ll get, among other treats, an inside look at Donald Trump’s celebrated new Scotland course (page 30), 20 years of the Denver Golf Expo (80), how golf helps wounded warriors (15) and an encomium to the legendary Larry McAtee (74).

There’s also “The Golfer’s Guide to Spring Training” (41) in Arizona, the pre-season home of 13 Major League Baseball teams. The New York Mets aren’t one of them, but the Colorado Rockies are. A championship seems like a stretch for New York native Walt Weiss’s team. Then again, nobody gave the ’69 Mets a chance either. —JON RIZZI

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

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theGallery |

NOTES

|

NAMES

P H O T O G R A P H C O u RT e s y O f VA i L V e T e R A n s P R O G R A m

NEWS

BAND OF BROTHERS: Participants in the Vail Veterans Program at Red Sky Golf Club.

No Handicaps

T

he term “recoverY shot” carries added significance for severely injured military veterans.

Losing limbs, suffering severe burns, or enduring any catastrophic injury or trauma makes leading a functional life—let alone playing golf—an accomplishment in itself.

Since, 2004, the vail veterans Program has taken servicemen from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Brooke Army Medical Center and the Naval Medical Center San Diego through individualized world-class outdoor programs. At no cost to them, hundreds of wounded warriors have rehabbed with family members on skis and snowboards in the winter, and on horses, ziplines, mountain bikes and rafts in the summer. They fly-fish too, and, thanks to red sky Golf club and its members, last August they played two rounds of golf.

“We had nine veterans join three pros in a three-team tournament over two and a half days,” explains Red Sky member Cheryl Jensen, who founded the Vail Veterans Program and serves as its executive Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

director and chairman. “For these guys to have the opportunity to play with one another in competitive setting was wonderful for them and really fun to watch.”

The club, its vendors and membership offset all the costs associated with what Jensen calls “a feel-good event for the entire community.” The vets took on each Red Sky course and took lessons with former PGA Tour player and Director of Instruction Larry Rinker. “I played tournament golf for a living and now I teach golf, not really living in the real world,” he says. “I’m proud to do anything I can do for these guys.”

Red Sky’s PGA Director of Golf Jeff Hanson seconds that emotion: “I could not think of a better way to share the lifelong therapeutic benefits of the game of golf.”

One of the surprising benefits, Jensen discovered, comes from the uniquely mental side of the sport. “We try to quiet our mind when we play golf. As one of the guys told me, ‘This is the first time in a while I haven’t thought of me and my buddies. It takes golf to shut off our brains.’ To be able to focus is another step to normalizing them.”

And for these vets, “normal” also means golf with just the guys.

“When we asked them if they’d like their spouses to join the golf outSpring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

15

theGallery ing, like they do in our other activities, the answer was no,” she explains. “They never get to have this kind of quality time with one another.”

Jensen, an avid golfer, admits the event was an experiment. “But the outcome,” she says, “was better than I ever thought it would be.”

and tournament organizer Dan McGrath.

To help Johannsen accomplish his mission, Spring Valley owner Tim Haynes donates his course for the day, the club’s vendors provide free food and services, participants

TJ Tees Off

Among the participants in the Vail Veterans Program event was Army Sgt. Tim “TJ” Johannsen, who spent 2½ years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after losing both legs in an IED explosion in Iraq.

Johannsen provides further proof of golf ’s power of to help fellow wounded warriors. He and his wife Jackie live in Elizabeth in a house provided by Homes for Our Troops (HFOT), a national nonprofit that builds specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans. HFOT has built 120 homes across the nation, with 12 in Colorado and six in Elizabeth and Parker. Shortly after moving into his house in 2011, Johannsen started the Mulligans for Military tournament at Spring Valley Golf Club in Elizabeth.

“This is TJ’s way of paying it forward for the next wounded hero,” says his friend

HIGH FINISH: Marine Derek Goodridge follows through in Vail.

and donations pour in from the local community, and world-class auctioneer John Korrey volunteers his “chant of a champion” to the live auction. As a result, all $56,000 the tournament has raised to date has gone directly to HFOT. “And our goal this year is to break the $100,000 mark,” says Haynes, who still marvels at his first encounter with Johanssen and another wounded warrior at the

To Alms!

To Alms!

A number of Colorado tournaments benefit disabled military personnel. As of presstime, sponsorship details on some of the following events were still being worked out.

Mulligans for Military Tournament August 26 Spring Valley Golf Club Contact: Dan McGrath 303-881-1472; d.mcgrath42@yahoo.com

WALKING TALL: Johannsen (here and right) wants to “pay it forward.”

16

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

Gary Sinise Serving Honor and Need Tournament

club. “The lot was packed, and those boys didn’t park in the handicap spot. They parked in back and walked all the way in.”

To expand the field outside of the immediate community will require similar perseverance. But Spring Valley’s PGA Head Professional Justin Cirbo promises everyone who attends will “be overwhelmed” by the experience. “TJ is an inspiring person who has already given so much and wants to do more,” says Cirbo. “So every year we make the event even more special.”

For more on Homes for Our Troops and the Mulligans for Military Tournament, visit homeforourtroops.org. For more on the Vail Veterans Program, visit vailveteransprogram.org.

GALLERY CONTINUED on PAGE 22.

May 19 & 20 Colorado Golf Club, Parker Contact: Veronica Destefano 303-840-4705; veronica@irisfire.com

Wounded Warrior Project Tournament August 12 The Club at Flying Horse, Colorado Springs Contact: Jay Kvale 719-548-9712, x305; kvale@infinity.aero

Tee It Up for Wounded Warriors & Keystone Adaptive Center August 26 Keystone Ranch Golf Course Contact: Marci Sloan 970-453-6422; marci@boec.org

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Some courses may require a credit card to secure a tee time prior to play. If a tee time is cancelled, the golf course may charge for its discounted fee. Colorado AvidGolfer reserves the right to make reasonable modifications to the Golf Passport, effective upon notice by e-mail or first class mail to the Golf Passport member. A Golf Passport member may reject any such modification by responding in writing to Colorado AvidGolfer and returning the Golf Passport within ten (10) days. The Golf Passport member will receive a prorated refund. The Golf Passport member agrees that he or she is not entitled to any additional compensation. Colorado AvidGolfer disclaims all liability for damage or loss or property or injury to any person occurring while using the Golf Passport. The subscription expires with the Winter 2013 issue. One subscription per household. If ordered online, please allow up to 10 days for delivery of your Golf Passport.

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theGallery continued from Page 16.

Golf By Numbers 2

courses now uphold Colorado’s golf Heritages: Westminster’s Heritage at Westmoor and Aurora’s Heritage Eagle Bend. In January, Thornton’s Heritage Todd Creek Golf Club announced it will become the Links at todd creek. The challenging 7,435-yard Arthur Hills-designed course at Yosemite and Highway 7 features water on six holes, including three of the last four.

3

Colorado courses landed in Golf Digest’s biannual ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses: castle Pines Golf club (No. 33), cherry hills country club (64) and ballyneal Golf & hunt club (78). Ballyneal jumped 17 spots, leapfrogging such major

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championship sites as Sahalee, Hazeltine and Valhalla. Coloradan Jim engh’s Golf Club at Black Rock clocked in at 58. For the first time, Golf Digest also rated America’s Second 100 Greatest. Colorado representatives include colorado Golf club (131), the broadmoor (east) (135), sanctuary (139), red sky ranch (norman) (194) and country club of the rockies (197). The full list appears in the February 2013 issue.

4

highly recruited preps signed letters of intent to play for the University of Colorado men’s golf team this fall: Two-time high school 3A state champion ethan freeman (Kent Denver), Junior Golf Association of Northern California player of the year andrew bonner (Modesto, Calif.), & German National Junior Team members Jeremy and Yannik Paul (Viernheim, Germany). Coach roy edwards appears to have his strongest recruiting class since taking over the program in 2006.

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THINK LINKS: Todd Creek has a new name.

43

years after joining the Hyland Hills Park and Recreation District, Executive Director Greg mastriona has retired, leaving a legacy that goes way beyond last year’s renaming of the 54-hole Greg Mastriona Golf Courses at Hyland Hills. Mastriona was essential in growing the district, which covers 24 square miles in parts of five municipalities and includes Adventure Golf and Raceway, Water World and dozens of other facilities. Former Deputy Director Yvonne fischbach succeeds Mastriona, and allen brown, formerly the director of golf at Grand Lake Golf Course, will assume the same title at Hyland Hills. Cag

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player’sCorner COURSES | LESSONS | GEAR

OUT OF THE ROUGH: Cordillera rises once again.

Cordillera’s Comeback The four-course Vail Valley enclave reemerges after a tumultuous two years.

Y

ou don’t have to hold a degree in geography or geology to know mountain ranges called cordilleras are extensive and complexly structured. You just had to follow two years of complicatedly litigious twists and turns that plunged The Club at Cordillera into financial turmoil, leading to a bankruptcy filing and the shuttering of all but one of the club’s four courses last season.

The nightmare, however, appears to be over.

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

That’s the word from California-based Wind Rose Holdings, which paid $14.2 million at a December 28 bankruptcy auction for all the operational assets of the 12-square-mile exclusive Vail Valley golf community. Wind Rose outbid, among others, Trump Golf Acquisitions, thus ending an arduous process involving litigation between club owner David Wilhelm and 610 club members. “Our goal is to restore our courses, facilities and the overall energy of Cordillera to its former magnificence,” says Dan

Fitchett, CEO of the club comprised of three distinct 18-hole golf courses (designed by Tom Fazio, Hale Irwin and Jack Nicklaus) and a short course designed by Dave Pelz. To this end, he’s signed on Arizona-based Troon Golf to manage all aspects of the club’s operations as part of its Troon Privé division. Among other amenities, full golf members gain immediate access to more than 30 other world-class Troon Privé clubs. For details on membership and pricing, visit cordillera-vail.com; 970-569-6460.

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

25

player’sCorner Lesson

Spot Training How to stop hitting high pop-ups and grounding into double-bogeys.

By Geoff Greig

D

o your short-iron shots fly really high, really short and never seem to stop on the green? Do your long iron shots look afraid of leaving the ground? The keys to hitting longer, lower short irons with more bite and hitting higher, longer long irons that land softer are the same:

1. Hit the Sweet Spots

The first key to better trajectory is to strike the sweet spot of the ball (the midpoint) on the sweet spot of the clubface (the fourth groove), Anything below groove four of the club and below the midpoint of the ball will produce “balloon” trajectory short irons and thin “gopher killer” long irons. Contact above groove four will result in chunked shots with all clubs.

Most high-handicap golfers try to help the ball in the air with all clubs (fig. 1). This leads to contact low on the club face and incorrect shaft lean at impact, resulting in added loft but decreased control and power.

INCORRECT

2. Lean Into It

In order to strike the sweet spot of the ball with the sweet spot on the face, your club shaft must lean toward the target at impact.

Leaning the shaft, or getting the hands ahead of the ball at impact, is one of the pro secrets to hitting long shots with spin that stop where they land.

When you lean the shaft correctly you compress the golf ball at impact, adding spin and distance. Tour pros lean the club so much, the loft of their 8-iron becomes that of a 6-iron at impact.

To promote sweet spot contact and correct shaft lean, focus on correct hand position at address and on recreating it at impact (fig. 2)

fig. 1

CORRECT

fig.2

3. Good Hands: For the irons, set up with your hands in 4. Swing Easy: front of the ball (closer to the target) at address and practice making very slow swings to ensure your hands come back to the same place at impact.

The ideal amount of shaft lean (hand lead) you are striving for is when groove four of the club contacts the back center of the ball.

You will notice the short irons require the most lean and the long irons require the least.

Slow swings will help you retrain your muscles to the correct movement before you work your way back up to full speed. Full speed swings are much harder to execute correctly and this causes a slower learning curve.

When the ball is on the ground, getting your hands in front of the ball at impact will guarantee you sweet spot contact, correct shaft lean and a powerful controllable trajectory for every shot. Cag

A PGA Class A Teaching Professional with more than 20 years of teaching experience, Geoff Greig is the inventor and founder of EvoSwing and staff instructor at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver. 303-569-2389; evogolfgg@gmail.com.

26

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

player’sCorner Gear

Swing and a Myth

Before you scour the stores for the latest and greatest clubs, consider these five fictions.

By Ted Johnson 1. The head is the most important part of the club.

When you drool over the newest high-tech driver, remember the shaft has more to do with your performance than the clubhead. Off-the-rack clubs usually feature shafts that are too stiff, which means poor launch angles and spin rates that reduce carry distance. But a too-soft stick means lack of consistency because timing becomes much more critical. Here’s what most don’t know: Softer shafts are able to produce greater distances because the head kicks through faster. It’s all in the timing.

2. The lighter the clubhead, the better.

TaylorMade Golf ’s Rocketballz line is about 15-percent lighter than other clubs. This translates to faster clubhead speed and greater distance, right? But be warned. They aren’t for everyone.

Stronger golfers with faster transitions from backswing to downswing might find they “can’t feel the clubhead” at the top of the backswing. The timing and mechanics have a greater chance of being off, reducing consistency and accuracy. Faster swing speeds also mean more wildly inaccurate shots.

3. Metal heads = longer shots.

An old persimmon-headed driver attached to a traditional 43-inch shaft does not compare in disdis tance to the modern 45-inch metal driver. But it’s not the size of the head or the material. It’s the length of the shaft that accounts for the difference. Shorter shafts mean less arc for the clubhead to gather speed before impact.

4. Post-2010 wedges don’t produce as much spin

Wedges conforming to the USGA rules regarding groove sharpness, the cross-sectional area of grooves and and the width between them still induce a good amount of spin—when they’re new. All the new regulations do is make the grooves dull in a shorter period of time. Duller grooves indeed induce less spin for less control around the green. The pros counter this by changing wedges every three or four weeks as opposed to every six months or year.

5. High-performance balls give you distance

If your driver swing speed is slower than 105 mph, your pricey golf ball is costing you more than $45 per box; it’s costing you distance if not accuracy. High-performance balls like the Titleist Pro V1 have cores that need high swing speeds to induce increased lift. That’s why Gary Woodland’s tee shots stay in the air longer than an I Love Lucy rerun. Slower swingers can’t produce proper spin for optimum carry. Moreover, that thin cover on the ball is meant to induce more spin on approach shots. But on tee shots it can mean bigger hooks and draws into parking lots, ponds and protected environmental areas. Mid-range balls (Bridgestone E6, Srixon 333, Callaway Warbird) do better for slower swing speeds and still offer good control into greens. And they cost about half as much. Cag Contributing Editor Ted Johnson lives in the Bay Area and will regularly report on golf equipment at coloradoavidgolfer.com.

28

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

player’sCorner Play Away

Trumping Scotland Not without controversy has the world’s most voluble businessman created one of the world’s great new courses.

By Tony Dear

HARD BY THE SEA: Massive dunes cradle Trump International’s 445-yard 14th.

30

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

is Martin Hawtree, and rightly so. In the future, however, architecture aficionados who pick apart the course’s genesis will debate at length the involvement of Tommy Fazio.

They will know that Tommy, nephew of the better-known Tom Fazio and who now goes by Tom Fazio II, designed and built a few courses in America for the famously outspoken real estate mogul/developer Donald Trump—the same Donald Trump who apparently said his links on the dunes of Menie Estate near Aberdeen was the “greatest golf course in the world” long before it actually opened. The more learned will also know that the excellent working relationship Fazio had built with Trump over the course of seven or eight years made him Trump’s original choice for his Scottish course. But the facts will likely become a little blurred, and a good deal of contention will arise, when they start deliberating on exactly what Fazio accomplished before handing over the reins to Hawtree.

Fazio, who first visited the site at the end

of 2005 and made seven or eight trips over the next 18 months, is anxious to credit Hawtree and says his relationship with, and respect for, Trump remains firmly intact.

But you don’t have to read too far between the lines to sense his disappointment at not ultimately creating the course. “Certainly I would love to have built it,” he says. “It was an amazing site. I really couldn’t believe anything like it existed on earth. The dunes ranged in height from several feet to over 100, and they looked like they were thousands of years old. A 12-year-old could have designed dozens of really good holes. There were literally a thousand holes out there among those dunes.”

In his time on the Menie Estate, Fazio drew up plans for a dozen or more routings, each one a potentially great course. One of his earliest arrangements is remarkably similar to that of the course that was eventually built, but the one Fazio favored the most offered a few more views of the ocean.

“Although the course sits hard against the ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o G r a p h by b r i a n M o r G a n / C o u rt e s y t r u M p i n t e r n at i o n a l

G

olf architecture geeks like nothing better than discussing the history of classic courses. They scrutinize the origin of every tree, bunker, and bend in the fairway, and dissect the comings and goings of every architect who may or may not have altered the layout.

For instance, most golfers seem content knowing that two amateur designers, Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, created the links at Pebble Beach. But any historian worth a lick will tell you that, while the skeleton of Neville and Grant’s course is still evident today, numerous others—Harold Sampson, Herbert Fowler, Alister Mackenzie, Chandler Egan and Jack Nickalus—have left strands of DNA all over it.

This leads us to the curious case of Trump International Golf Links Scotland, which shortly after its highly publicized debut last July actually became one of the top ten courses in the UK, according to a British golf publication. The Architect of Record

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A SHOT AND A SPLASH: The 205-yard third dramatically straddles the shore.

32

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

couple of specific jobs. A great example, says Fazio, is Trump National in Bedminster, N.J., where he believes he saved Trump several million dollars in construction fees. “I hoped that was going to be the arrangement in Scotland,” he adds. But, largely because of the site’s sensitivity (it was designated an SSSI – Site of Special Scientific Interest – and therefore protected), it took a long time to for local and national authorities to green-light Trump’s ambitious $1billion, 1,400-acre project, and Fazio couldn’t hang around forever.

“Forever” amounted to more than two years of permitting rejections and approvals that reached the highest level of Scottish government. “When the permitting process began, there was no way of knowing how long it would take,” says Fazio. “I have two daughters who are my priority, so I couldn’t commit to a job that far from home…So although it was very difficult to leave such an amazing site, it actually wasn’t that tough a decision in the end.”

But it may not have been Fazio’s decision to make.

To understand the decision, listen to Ashley Cooper, the man perhaps most instrumental in persuading Trump to extend his golf brand overseas. Shortly after leaving his Wall Street job in 2000, Cooper and a group of investors purchased Lamington Farm in Bedminster, N.J., the 434-acre estate of bankrupt car company founder John DeLorean that would in 2005 become Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, and in 2017 will host the U.S. Women’s Open and, after that, quite possibly a U.S. Open.

Cooper spent three years alongside Carolyn Kepcher leading global development for Trump Golf, and by 2004, he believed the company was ready to expand. “We already had many exceptional golf venues in America,” he says. “So I thought it was time to start looking overseas. Ireland and Scotland seemed like logical places to search for potential sites,

especially Scotland given that Mr. Trump’s mother was a native.”

Word got out that Trump was interested in developing property somewhere in the UK, and at the 2005 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando respected golf photographer Brian Morgan approached Cooper about “the best linksland he’d ever seen” near Aberdeen. Cooper was soon on a plane to Scotland to meet Menie Estate owner Tom Griffin.

“It was every bit as good as Brian had described it,” says Cooper. “Mr. Trump purchased the land, and I was there once every three weeks for a year.”

During one visit, Cooper and Trump took a helicopter to St Andrews to meet with R&A Secretary Peter Dawson who asked them who was going to design the course. “Mr. Trump told Peter he had lined up Tommy Fazio,” says Cooper. “Peter wasn’t familiar with Tommy and instead suggested Martin Hawtree who, he said, did a lot of work for the R&A on Open Championship courses.”

It was perhaps at this moment that Trump, who would soon learn just how tough getting his course through the courts was going to be, and who clearly had his sights set on hosting an Open Championship or Ryder Cup, began to see Fazio as a liability.

“It didn’t take Mr. Trump long to change his mind,” says Cooper. “I was disappointed because Tommy’s a great friend and had come up with so many solid routings. But I respected the decision to go with Hawtree.”

Trump to Fazio: “You’re fired.”

So in October 2007 the responsibility for making the most of this magnificent site now fell squarely on Hawtree’s shoulders.

A modest and reserved man three generations of whose family have been involved in over 800 golf course projects dating back to the early 20th century, Hawtree had been working alongside Fazio as a consultant when he got the nod from Trump. Just as Fazio had been before him, Hawtree was struck with a ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o G r a p h by b r i a n M o r G a n / C o u rt e s y t r u M p i n t e r n at i o n a l

North Sea, the dunes at Menie are so high, it was sometimes tricky finding great holes from which you could see the water,” says Fazio.

“The routing I liked best had the 8th and 9th holes next to the Balmedie beach, as well as the 14th and 18th.”

Fazio also says this routing would have required less earth-moving than what actually happened. At the time of his commission, the Florida-based designer said the key would not be what he was going to do, but rather what he wasn’t going to do. “On a typical course project with Mr. Trump, we move millions of cubic yards of dirt,” he said. “But I don’t anticipate moving over 50,000 here.”

Fazio now looks back and agrees with his previous assessment. “The course I wanted to build was going to be the ultimate in minimalism,” he says. “I just wanted to raise a few areas to build up the site of the clubhouse, and give one or two flattish areas a bit more character.”

The boss didn’t concur, however, and during his time in Scotland there was, says Fazio, “tons of arguing” between the two men. Fazio happily concedes Trump has plenty of good ideas about course design, and has become quite knowledgeable on architectural matters.

But in this instance, he didn’t feel comfortable with the routing Trump was championing. “I just didn’t think it made the most of the land, and might have resulted in a couple of logistical problems,” he says.

On the surface, it may seem obvious that Fazio never got the chance to complete the job he had started because of the discord between him and the man paying the bills. But, he insists, the reason he left is actually quite different. “It was all to do with the permits and how long it took to get them,” he says. “The timing just didn’t work for me.”

Unlike most other designers, Fazio takes on only one project at a time and moves everything, including his family, to the location. He and his associates also build everything more or less themselves, sub-contracting out only a

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34

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

And with the same chilling, horizontal, July rain your correspondent had to deal with, and were he to play from the very back tees, even Rory McIlroy at his fluent best would be hard-pressed to break par.

The scale of the dunes might make Trump Scotland a little intimidating for some, but no one will deny the designer(s) made very good use of them. Deciding how much of the final result is a product of Tommy Fazio’s input and how much can be attributed to

NO PIPE DREAM: Trump got his way.

Martin Hawtree will keep architecture fanatics amused for decades. But then, golfers who care not a jot for who actually designed the thing will enjoy just as much its considerable challenge. No matter how much you dislike Trump’s arrogance and bluster, and no matter how indifferent you want to feel about his golf course, the fact is Trump Scotland possesses 18 fantastic holes, about 14 of which could realistically end up being your favorite (though many go for the Par 4 14th which begins on a high tee overlooking the sea and plays uphill slightly through a valley with mountainous sandhills left and right).

It isn’t too much of a stretch to predict it will win every ‘Best New Course in 2012’ poll, ahead of other candidates like Cabot Links, the two courses at Streamsong in Florida (which open in late December) and 13-hole Bandon Preserve.

The only apparent weaknesses during its first season were the unlinks-like bounces, or rather lack of them, off the dampened fairways, and the heinously thick marram grass a few yards either side of the mown areas that consumed golf balls in much the same manner as a Venus flytrap devours unsuspecting insects.

Superintendent John Bambury says he has both problems in hand. “To my knowledge, we had the most successful mass marram planting in Britain,” he says. “ As for the fescue on the fairways, Bambury says it is only a matter of time before it dries out and golfers start seeing the random bounces, and get the extra roll, they might expect. “We have 64,000 linear meters of irrigation line which helped us establish the fescue so quick-

ly,” he says. “We’ll use less irrigation from now on to firm things up.”

Firmer fescue and thinner marram will certainly enhance the experience at Trump Scotland, and so too will taking one of the 60 or so caddies expertly-trained by former European, LET, and European Seniors Tour bagman Fraser Riddler, who recounts “during our first summer, we received outstanding reviews from guests all over the world, many of whom say their caddie made them feel at ease, especially for the daunting 1st tee shot, and helped them save at least five shots during their round.”

Trump International is very demanding, Riddler stresses, and it definitely pays to get as much help and local knowledge as you can. My caddie, Douglas Falconer, was undoubtedly the finest I’ve ever had the pleasure of hiring. Efficient, knowledgeable, calming, encouraging, and sympathetic in all the right places, Douglas eased me through the frigid rain and inevitable bogeys with his elegant burr and the dry sense of humor so typical of loopers from this part of the world.

If a brilliant design, wonderful views, fastimproving playing surfaces, and genial caddies don’t convince you that you need to add Trump International Golf Links Scotland to your bucket list, then heed the words of Martin Hawtree. “When I simply stand back and take in the enormity and majesty of the site, I realize just how privileged I have been to walk, work, live, and play here,” he says. “I regard it as the high point of my life and career, and believe that once it settles down and begins to play like an established links course—firm and fast—it will be admired far and wide.”

He’s not kidding. Future architecture geeks can quarrel over which designer did what at Trump International. But they will surely be of one voice in proclaiming just how good it is.

Cag

Tony Dear is a Washington-based CAG contributor. The most recent of his four books is The Golfer’s Handbook: Tips, Wit, and Wisdom to Inform and Entertain.

TEE IT UP

trumpgolfscotland.com; 011-44-1358-74-33-00 Rates: £195.00- £215.00 ($315-$345)

Trump International is located on Scotland’s northeast coast in Aberdeen, eight miles north of Royal Aberdeen Golf Club and 14 miles south of Cruden Bay Golf Club. Aberdeen International Airport is 12 miles southwest. For lodging, visit aberdeenhotels.org.

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o G r a p h by b r i a n M o r G a n / C o u rt e s y t r u M p i n t e r n at i o n a l

huge sense of obligation. “By the time I was taken on, I had been working with Tommy for a year so was wrapped up in the project,” he says. “But the feeling of being appointed lead architect was still one of pure exhilaration. The thought that I could throw away a heaven-sent opportunity was ever-present in the back of my mind, because it was an awesome responsibility. It was the most dramatic, spectacular links site I had ever encountered— Ballybunion, Royal Birkdale, Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay magnified I don’t know how many times. But, to be honest, I was swept up in the excitement and enthusiasm of Mr. Trump and the team in Aberdeen.”

Hawtree says a number of the holes were obvious from the start and, indeed, some are apparent in Fazio’s early drawings. A rendering of his 14th hole is very similar to the hole in play today, for instance, and, though some of holes’ lengths and pars are different, one of Fazio’s preferred back-nine routings closely matches that of the back nine that now moves north from the clubhouse and ends with an eye-popping 651-yard par 5.

Stabilization of the dunes began in October 2009, and the course opened to the public on July 15th 2012, five days after Colin Montgomerie and Martin Laird had played alongside Trump in the first official round. Montgomerie called it a “marvel’”of a course and said he would be able to “go back to the rest of the professionals playing in the Scottish Open (at Castle Stuart) and tell them how wonderful it is’.

“I do hope this is the start of something very large here,” he added. “And I do hope we have many tournaments here in the future.”

Trump Scotland certainly appears to be the ideal venue for a club championship, a Ryder Cup, an Open Championship, and everything in between. The layout isn’t terribly wide–the two nines form a narrow figure-eight with the clubhouse at the intersection of the loops—but there is plenty of room for spectators, grandstands, tented villages, corporate hospitality units and television trucks. And the course itself will surely provide all the challenge tournament organizers could possibly wish for.

Even without wind or rain, and from the 6,329-yard White tees (other yardages are 5,215, 5,845, 6,602, 7,025, and 7,428) Trump Scotland may well be too much to handle for the majority of golfers. That’s not to say they won’t have fun. There are just too many great views, enticing drives, inviting approach shots, and engaging green complexes not to. The odds of them returning a score that might nudge their handicap downward, however, are slim.

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RED ALERT: The controversial new Corvette

What’s Up the Road?

Hits and misses from the North American International Auto Show.

By Isaac Bouchard

T

his year’s North American International Auto Show exuded a relaxed air of confidence, reflecting five years of increasing sales and growing profits, which culminated in 14.5 million sales last year, up 13 percent on 2012.

Most of the actual vehicle launches were understated affairs that emphasized real product, not grandiose fantasies of some hybridized future. Other themes: luxury brands are hot (the European recession and problems in China put the focus back on the U.S.) and cross-

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

overs will continue to be one of the fastest growing segments. And with housing coming back, pickup trucks are important moneymakers again. Here are some highlights.

2014 Chevrolet Corvette (C7) The Detroit Auto Show’s most important debut and biggest disappointment all rolled into one glorious, 450hp package. What a missed opportunity to finally move the iconic American sports car forever beyond association with cheesiness. When I asked GM’s head designer, Ed Welburn, for a comment, his pregnant pause and subsequent nonanswer spoke volumes. Whether the weight of fifty-plus years of Vette history, internal political dissention, or simply an exhaustion of talent are responsible for the gimmicky, unremarkable look of this heavy-arsed machine is unknown. At least the interior is finally worthy of the price point, with real carbon fiber, metal and leather swathing the sexy two seat cockpit, and a spectacular direct-injected small black that cranks out as much torque up from 1000-4000rpm as the current Z06 and probable high-20s economy. Performance to rival the world’s finest, a reasonable price, and a badge that looks like an update of a ’70s Trans Am screaming chicken hood decal ensure that Chevy’s plastic-fantastic will continue to be a controversial topic of gearhead conversation for years.

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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2014 Infiniti Q50

Infiniti’s good-looking Q50 not only will replace the G-series, but signifies a new nomenclature as well. Well proportioned and nicely detailed, it—unlike its Lexus IS competitor—doesn’t challenge visually. Whether or not this will work for or against it in the market remains to be seen, but to these eyes

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

it is a much more nuanced, successful implementation of brand values. Power comes from either of the company’s V6s: 3.7-liter conventional engine or 3.5-liter hybrid. The Q50 also boasts the world’s first productionized application of drive-by-wire steering, tweakable for response and feel by the driver.

2014 Mercedes CLA and E63S 4Matic Supercar detailing (massive front air intakes and rear diffusers) adorn very these bookends of the Benz lineup. The CLA is a slinky yet affordable way for Millennials and Gen-Y to get behind the 3-Pointed Star for the first time, not to mention the company’s first front-drive American offering. At the other end of the spectrum, the adoption of all-wheel drive to the ferocious AMG E63 will be seen as a travesty by crazy auto journalists—who don’t pay for tires or drive like anyone else on the planet—yet a boon to real-world customers will want to deploy 585(!) horsepower without activating their traction control all the time. Available in sedan and wagon forms, this Silver Arrow masterpiece may be the answer to the question: If you could only own one car, what would it be?

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

2014 Cadillac ELR A production version of the plug-in, extended range concept from a few seasons ago, the ELR is one’s chance almost never to put gasoline into a car you actually want to drive. A beautifully wrought interior, sexy shape, and cutting edge tech make the future look brighter than pessimists would project.

2014 Lexus IS

down for production. The IS gives credence to the contention that this should continue.

Much more visually interesting is Lexus’ 3-series competitor— but that’s not necessarily a compliment. Borrowing more than a little from the LF-CC showcar, the IS is chock full of great detailing that simply doesn’t gel at all from certain perspectives.

There are so many oddly unresolved lines—most egregiously represented by the rear bumper/quarter panel interface. And many will be put off by the ultimate expression of the corporate spindle grill, which looks like Batman villain Bane’s facemask.

Inside it’s the same story: great design, undone by poor quality materials and an overreliance on rectangular, Toyota-corporate switches. Journalists often lament that concept cars get watered

For more on NAIAS 2013, go to coloradoavidgolfer.com

Highlands Ranch Golf Club Home of the Denver Pioneers

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Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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Santa Fe Leads the Way 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Price as tested: $35,925

This totally new version of Santa Fe, the crossover which helped put Hyundai on many shopping lists, looks much more upscale than its predecessor, whether in its five-passenger Sport guise or the forthcoming model that features a third row. Its mature detailing and athletic stance are complemented by a very attractive interior of generally high quality materials and an incredible amount of standard or available high tech options.

Highlights on the test vehicle included a panoramic roof, heated seats and wheel, a clear and intuitive infotainment/nav system and something called Hyundai BlueLink, which, amongst other things, allows you to open or close doors or remote start the Santa Fe Sport via a smartphone app. All seats are roomy and comfortable, and cargo room is generous. Noise is generally well suppressed, helping imbue the Hyundai with a pleasing refined demeanor.

Its ride quality bolsters this, with a commendable ability to deal with most surfaces blemishes. Despite its name, the Sport definitely doesn’t lean in that direction dynamically, with soppy handling and limp-wristed electric steering assist that—despite three available

weight settings—never connects the driver to proceedings.

The Hyundai’s powertrain reinforces its feel as more of a Lexus than BMW competitor, with smooth, linear thrust from its 2-liter, 264hp turbo and syrupy six-speed automatic. Best avoided is the other, normally-aspirated, 4-cylinder engine, which doesn’t have the grunt to move the Santa Fe Sport here in the Rockies. Fuel economy ratings for the 2.0T are very good at 19/24, but real world numbers come in lower. Despite this, the latest Hyundai crossover is a compellingly mature product that serves up compelling looks, great tech and plenty of practicality in an affordable package. Cag For more on the Hyundai and its revolutionary BlueLink system, visit coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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303-352-2030 www.RedRocksCountryClub.org 16235 W. Belleview Ave. Morrison Colorado 80465 *Red Rocks Country Club is a private club. All applicants are subject to the club’s membership application and screening process.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

Th e

GOLFER’S GUIDE

presented by

To Spring Training

ARIZONA golf stay eat do Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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TM

Surprise Stadium, Surprise

GOLF: The Wigwam, Hillcrest, Trilogy at Vistancia, Arizona Traditions, Great Eagle, Coyote Lakes STAY: The Wigwam EAT: Vogue Bistro, Irish Wolfhound, New York Flavor, Fresh Wasabi

TM

Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria

GOLF: Trilogy at Vistancia, Quintero STAY: JW Marriott-Desert Ridge, Cibola Vista EAT: Firebirds Wood-Fired Grill, Dillons, Cucina Tagliani

Camelback Ranch, Glendale

GOLF: Golf Club at Estrella, Wigwam, Raven at Verrado STAY: Cibola Vista, Welsch’s Rose Acres EAT: Calico Jack’s, Yard House, Gordon Biersch, Margaritaville

Maryvale Baseball Park, Phoenix

GOLF: Raven at Verrado, Maryvale Golf Course, Desert Mirage STAY: Royal Palms, Arizona Biltmore, Arizona Grand EAT: Chelsea’s Kitchen,Sylvia’s La Canasta, Bikini Lounge The Original Hamburger Works.

Goodyear Ballpark, Goodyear

GOLF: Wigwam Resort, Raven at Verrado, Palm Valley, The Golf Club of Estrella STAY: Wigwam Resort, Holiday Inn EAT: , Bella Luna Ristorante, Caballero Grill, Bill Johnson’s Bill Apple

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe

GOLF: ASU Karsten, Whirlwind, Raven Golf Club-Phoenix STAY: Sheraton WildHorse Pass, The Buttes, Tempe Mission Palms EAT: Caffé Boa, The Tavern on Mill, Four Peaks Brewing

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

Golfer’s Guide To Spring Training presented by

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Scottsdale

GOLF: Talking Stick; TPC Scottsdale, The Boulders, Troon North, Grayhawk, We-Ko-Pa, Wildfire STAY: Talking Stick, Zona, JW Desert Ridge, Fairmont Princess, Four Seasons, The Phoenician EAT: Dominick’s, Mastro’s, Orange Sky, T. Cooks, Italian Grotto, Banderas, Zipp’s, Blue 32, Don & Charlies

Scottsdale Stadium, Scottsdale

GOLF: TPC Scottsdale, We-Ko-Pa, Eagle Mountain, Westin Kierland, Camelback, McCormick Ranch STAY: Radisson Fort McDowell, Phoenician, Fairmont Princess, Royal Palms EAT: Cowboy Ciao, Mastro’s, T. Cooks, Orange Sky, Don & Charliies

Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Phoenix

GOLF: Papago Park, Wildfire, ASU Karsten, Talking Stick, TPC Scottsdale STAY: The Phoenician, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, Royal Palms, Zona Resort Suites, Tempe Mission Palms EAT: The Vig, Majerle’s, Vincent’s on Camelback, Hacienda, T.J. Cooks, Il Terrazzo

HoHoKam Stadium, Mesa

GOLF: Longbow Golf Club, Las Sendas STAY: Gold Canyon Golf Resort, Sheraton Wildhorse Pass EAT: Diamond’s Sports Grille, Vito’s, Macayo’s, Los Dos Molinos

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

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

43

Your breakthrough year starts here.

Get the jump on the season this year at GolfTEC’s Training Camp. While your buddies are on the couch, you’ll be preparing for the best season of your life.

GolfTEC Training Camp includes:

Training Camp ends February 28

• • • •

A complete Swing Evaluation 10 private lessons 18 hours of video-based practice Set Analysis for your equipment

The best part – a Certified Personal Coach will be there to guide you every step of the way. This is not just another lesson, it’s the Proven Path to a lifetime of better golf.

Go to golftec.com/trainingcamp to find out more.

(877) 446-5383 PROVEN PATH. PROVEN RESULTS.®

golftec.com/trainingcamp Offer expires 02/28/13. Prices and participation may vary. Visit your GolfTEC Improvement Center for details.

Proven Path. Proven Results. and GolfTEC are registered trademarks of GolfTEC Intellectual Property, LLC. © 2013 GolfTEC Intellectual Property, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

MP001707_0113

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Swing Training

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GolfTEC’s Training Camp prepares Colorado golfers for the best season of their lives.

t happens every spring. The Rockies and every other Major league Baseball player head to Arizona or Florida to get their games in shape for the upcoming season. These professional athletes will spend weeks working to reach peak performance.

What also happens at this time is that amateur golfers, especially those in Colorado who rarely touch a club between golf seasons, don’t do the same. At most, the majority of us opt for an afternoon at the range or a quick tune-up with the club pro just days (or hours) before the golf season opens.

GolfTEC is trying to change all that with its new Training Camp program. Already underway at its 165 centers nationwide, this program is designed to get golfers off the couch now so they will be ready to play the best golf of their lives come March or April. And keep playing it right through the season.

You won’t have to wait for spring weather to get started, either.

All GolfTEC lessons are taught one-on-one in private, indoor bays.

Founded and headquartered here in Colorado, GolfTEC gives more than 25 percent of all golf lessons in the U.S. annually

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

(3.7 million lessons since 1995) and have the data to back up a 95 percent success rate among its students.

At GolfTEC’s nine locations in Colorado and three in Arizona, its dozens of Certified Personal Coaches use sophisticated technology and years of experience to help golfers improve their skills and increase their enjoyment of the game.

At the heart of GolfTEC’s philosophical approach are five factors: Fact-Based Diagnosis, Sequential Lessons, Video-Based Practice, Advanced Retention Tools, and Precision-Matched Clubs.

Training Camp starts with a complete swing evaluation, followed by a series of 10 private lessons inside specially equipped training bays. Another 18 hours of video-based practice is worked into each golfer’s Training Camp schedule.

Taking a road trip? No problem. Outside of Colorado, you’ll find GolfTEC Improvement Centers in almost all major U.S. cities, including 68 located within Golfsmith stores.

In addition to Training Camp, GolfTEC offers individual instruction programs and custom club fitting Start getting in your swings now. Be ready for the upcoming season. Visit GolfTEC.com/trainingcamp or call 877-446-5383.

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

45

Golfer’s Guide To

Spring Training

I

f Only The Rockies

could move up in the standings as successfully as they moved their Spring Training site from Tucson to Scottsdale’s stunning new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Then we wouldn’t be wondering whether new manager Walt Weiss can improve on last season’s franchise-worst 98 losses.

Even a 20-handicap knows just breaking 100 won’t cut it.

But hope springs eternal among baseball fans. The Rockies’ recent relocation—along with that of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox—puts all 13 Cactus League teams in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. That’s half of Major League Baseball, including the World Champion San Francisco Giants and ever-popular Chicago Cubs.

Factor in the area’s 200 golf courses and its myriad lodging, dining and activity options, and you’ll have a ball of a time. Check options for all teams. The stadiums are all within a 35-mile radius.

Colorado roCkies | arizona diamondbaCks Salt River Fields at Talking Stick 7555 N Pima Rd, Scottsdale saltriverfields.com; 480-270-5000

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

STAY

Talking Stick’s Orange Sky

Adjacent to the ballpark, The $440 million Talking Stick Resort (talkingstick resort.com; 866-877-9897) includes 497 guest rooms, a 240,000 square foot casino, a large pool/garden area with 20-plus cabanas, eight restaurants, and a world-class, 13,000-square-foot, open-air spa.

One of the region’s classic destinations, the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess (fairmont.com/scottsdale; 866-540-4495) comprises 830 stately guest rooms, suites and casitas, several excellent restaurants, five swimming pools and a spa with a rooftop oasis, waterfall and private courtyard.

Located next door to the Fairmont, Zona Hotel & Suites (zonascottsdale.com; 888-222-1059) works well for groups and families. The large suites range from one- to four-bedrooms and the facility specializes in arranging tee times.

The luxurious 950-room JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa (jwdesertridgeresort.com; 800-835-6206) sits on 316 Sonoran acres featuring an expansive spa, numerous swimming pools, whirlpools and the unique Lazy River floating stream.

Tucked into the cacti-studded piedmont of Pinnacle Peak, Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North (fourseasons.com/ scottsdale; 480-515-5700) features 210 generously sized guest rooms, including 22 luxury suites, in 25 mostly one- or two-storey adobe casitas, world-class dining and spa facilities, as well as priority tee times on Troon North’s two courses.

EAT

The Scottsdale area overflows with dining options. The above resorts all feature top-tier restaurants worthy of a week’s worth of unique meals. Right at Talking Stick are the stunning sunsets and sublime meals at Orange Sky. For an upscale steak dinner, try Michael Dominick’s Lincoln Avenue Prime Steakhouse (dominickssteakhouse.com), one of the two Mastro’s steakhouses—near Troon North and in downtown Scottsdale—or the seafood-centered Mastro’s Ocean Club at Kierland Commons (mastrosrestaurants. com). Other recommendations include Culinary Dropout (foxrc. com), T. Cooks at Royal Palms (royalpalmshotel.com), Italian Grotto (italiangrotto.com) and Banderas (banderarestaurants.com).

On the sports bar side, Zipp’s Sports Grill (zippssportsgrills.com) is a short walk from the Salt River Fields. There’s also Blue 32 Sports Grill (blue32sportsgrill.com) and the quintessential Spring Training sports bar, Don & Charlies (donandcharlies.com).

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o g r a p h by r i c h c l a r k s o n & a s s o c i at e s

PLAY

Like a stadium that serves as home to two teams, the best nearby golf facilities feature two courses. It doesn’t get more convenient than the two superbly conditioned courses at Talking Stick Golf Club (talkingstickgolfclub.com; 480-860-2221). Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, the 36-hole facility presents two distinct golf experiences—the more open “links-style” North course (home of USGA qualifiers and Gateway Tour events) and the tree-lined South.

Tougher twins await at TPC Scottsdale (tpc.com/Scottsdale; 888877-9193). The Stadium Course, with its fabled coliseum-like par-3 16th, annually hosts the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Open and costs three hundos to play; the Champions Course, at half the price, has become every bit the challenge of its cooler sibling, thanks to a $12 million renovation in 2007.

Get the Led out and roll some stones on the Rock ‘N’ Roll Range at Grayhawk Golf Club (grayhawkgolf.com; 480-502-2075), which stages the pro-ams for the Waste Management Open. The home of the Tom Fa z i o - d e s i g n e d Talon and Raven courses, Grayhawk until 2009 hosted the PGA Tour’s Frys. com Open.

Wildfire Golf

Club (wildfiregolf.com; 888-705-7775), adjacent to the JW Marriott Desert Ridge, features a Faldo Signature and Palmer Signature courses that annually challenge the participants in the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. On the far north edge of town, the Pinnacle and Monument courses at Troon North Golf Club (troonnorthgolf.com; 480-585-5300) remain the crown jewels in the Troon collection.

A recent polishing by original designer Tom Weiskopf only adds to the luster of these rugged desert layouts.

RULE #9

BRANDEL’S FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS RULES FOR DRIVE...TWICE SCOTTSDALE Hanging with your pals in Scottsdale is always a great time. And, it's even when you can take a little cash off them. That's why there are no GOLF better mulligans in my group. You hit it sideways — you own that one, cowboy.

I Love Scottsdale Golf and I promise you will, too. Learn more about how we play the game and start your next Scottsdale golf adventure at

iLoveScottsdaleGolf.com

— Brandel Chamblee, Golf Channel analyst and part-time rules official

Golfer’s Guide To

Spring Training

san FranCisCO Giants

Scottsdale Stadium 7408 E. Osborn Road, Scottsdale scottsdaleaz.gov/stadium; 877-473-4849

PLAY

Fans of both the Rockies and the defending World Champions can easily avail themselves of the same courses. Additionally, don’t miss the acclaimed cholla and saguaro courses at We-Ko-pa golf club (wekopa.com; 866-660-7700) just east of Scottsdale and Fountain Hills in Fort McDowell. Closer in are the 27 Scott Miller-designed holes at the Westin Kierland resort & spa (kierlandresort.com; 480-922-9283), which you can traverse by Segway, as well as 36-hole faves camelback golf club (camelbackgolf.com; 480-596-7050) and Mccormick ranch golf club (mccormickranchgolf.com; 480-948-0260).

STAY

Located on the Gila River Indian Community near Chandler, the sheraton Wild horse pass resort (wildhorsepassresort.com; 602-225-0100) boasts 500 rooms, an equestrian center, spa, casino and the two Whirlwind courses on its authentically designed and appointed property. For convenience, stay at the Buttes (marriott.com), a Marriott property built right into the outcroppings with pools and a water slide, spa, tennis and volleyball courts. tempe Mission palms (missionpalms.com) right off Mill Avenue near Arizona State University, offers luxury in a college-town atmosphere.

EAT

The tavern on Mill (tavernonmill.com) and four peaks Brewing (fourpeaks.com) vie for title of the area’s ultimate sports bar. caffe Boa (cafeboa.com) will ply you with upscale organic cuisine and a Wine Spectator award-winning selection of vintages.

STAY

In addition to the hotels listed for Rockies fans, check out the luxurious Westin Kierland resort & spa (kierlandresort. com; 800-354-5892) and the intimate royal palms resort and spa (royalpalmshotel.com; 602.840.3610).

EAT

The same upscale Scottsdale restaurants that attract Rockies rooters also welcome Giants fans, as well as many players. Looking for an eclectic wine list? Hit cowboy ciao (cowboyciao.com).

lOs anGeles anGels OF anaheim Tempe Diablo Stadium 2200 W. Alameda Drive, Tempe tempe.gov/diablo; 888-796-HALO

PLAY The Angels play at a stadium named after the devil?

Reinforce that irony by heading to the home course of the Arizona State University Sun Devils, the asu Karsten course (asukarsten. com; 480-921-8070). The 7,002-yard Pete Dye design that challenged co-ed Phil Mickelson features three of the state’s toughest holes (nos. 9, 16 and 18). Go further south to Chandler and try the Gary Panksdesigned devil’s claw and cattail courses at Whirlwind golf club (whirlwindgolf.com; Raven Golf Club 480-940-1500). The Cattail Course hosts the Nationwide Tour’s Gila River Classic.

Southwest of Tempe, raven golf club-phoenix (ravenphx.com; 602-243-3636) is the home course of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Unlike most desert layouts, this Gary Panks-David Graham layout features Georgia pines along the fairways and multi-tiered greens.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

Wigwam

ChiCaGO CUbs

HoHoKam Stadium 1235 N. Center St., Mesa hohokamstadium.com; 480-644-4451

PLAY

HoHoKam’s proximity to the Angels facility in Tempe makes Whirlwind, ASU Karsten and Raven-Phoenix viable options here. The course of choice for most Cubs fans, however, is longbow golf club, (longbowgolf.com 480-807-5400), a dramatically bunkered Ken Kavanaugh (Murphy Creek) design just minutes from the stadium with views of Red Mountain and a perpetual spot among Golf and Golfweek’s top Arizona courses.

Slightly further east lies las sendas golf club (lassendas.com; 480-396-4000), a true sleeper etched into the Usery Mountains.

STAY

Mesa isn’t Scottsdale or even Tempe (though staying there is convenient). Chains like Marriott, Hilton and Holiday Inn offer good deals. The gold canyon golf resort is a half-hour east of HoHoKam.

EAT

diamond’s sports grille (diamondssportsgrille.com) bills itself as “the winter home of Chicago Cubs” and has shuttles ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

GOLF PACKAGES FROM

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YOU ON TARGET

Two championship golf courses to challenge you all day. World-class gaming, dining and entertainment to thrill you all night. Talking Stick Resort invites you to Play In Style.

S C O T T S D A L E | 8 6 6 . 8 7 7.9 8 9 7 | T A L K I N G S T I C K R E S O R T. C O M *Package rates from $ 279 based on availabilit y Februar y 1-28, 2013. Not valid for groups or with any other of fer. Proudly owned and operated by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Communit y. Š2013 Talking Stick Resor t

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Golfer’s Guide To

Spring Training

to and from HoHoKam. Vito’s (vitospizza.com) serves its Chicago-style pizza here and in Scottsdale. For affordable Mexican, head to Macayo’s (macayo.com) or Los Dos Molinos (losdosmolinos.com).

CinCinnati Reds | Cleveland indians

PLAY

With 54 holes lined by mature trees and marbled by canals, streams and lakes, The Wigwam Resort (wigwamresort. com; 800.909.4224) serves up one of the area’s more delightfully traditional golf experiences. Designed by Jack Nicklaus II in the foothills of the Sierra Estrella Mountains, The Golf Club of Estrella (estrellagolf.com; 623-386-2600), provides great desert golf at a fraction of the price of the better known layouts.

STAY

The Wigwam’s 440 acres and 331 intimate casitas and suites make it the perfect retreat for post-game cocktails.

EAT

The fine dining at Bella Luna Ristorante (bellalunaaz.com) and Caballero Grill (caballerogrill.com) makes them the area’s best non-chain options. Bill Johnson’s Bill Apple (billjohnsons.com) is good too. Note: The ballpark serves Stadium Mustard for Cleveland fans and Skyline Chili for Reds rooters.

Peoria Sports Complex 16101 N. 83rd Ave., Peoria peoriasportscomplex.com; 800-677-1227

TM

Peoria sits on the 101 Loop, which makes just about any course accessible. But Peoria is home to Trilogy Golf Club at Vistancia (trilogygolfclub.com/vistancia; 623-328-5100), a 7,200-yard Gary Panks stunner that has earned a highly coveted five stars from Golf Digest. Another option is Quintero Golf Club (quinterogolf. com; 928-501-1500), an exquisite Rees Jones design that started life as a private club.

STAY

The national hotel chains all have Peoria outposts and North Scottsdale’s resorts (Fairmont, Zona, etc.) remain options. In Peoria, Cibola Vista Resort & Spa (cibolavista.com; 623-889-6700) boasts plush casitas and an expansive lagoon pool with a three-story water slide for family fun and an exclusive adult pool area.

If you stay in Peoria, tuck into some downhome barbecue at Firebirds Rocky Mountain Grill (firebirdsrestaurants.com) or Dillons (dillonsrestaurant.com). Cucina Tagliani (cucinatagliani. com), right by the stadium, dishes up Italian with great atmosphere.

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TM

Your best bets are The Wigwam (Goodyear) and Trilogy at Vistancia (Peoria), both mentioned in connection with other teams. This is retiree paradise, so local bargains abound at courses such as Hillcrest (hillcrestgolfclub.com; 623-584-1500), Arizona Traditions and Great Eagle (both 623.584.6000; surprisegolfclub.com), and Coyote Lakes Golf Club (coyotelakesgolfclub.com; 623-566-2323).

STAY

Resort-wise, you’re looking at 20-30 minutes between the ballpark and The Wigwam or any of the finer Glendale/Phoenix/Scottsdale properties like the Fairmont Princess. In Surprise, The Windmill All Suites (windmillinns.com; 623-583-0133) ranks among the best of the many economy hotels.

EAT

Vogue Bistro (voguebistro.com 623-544-9109) adds a delicious French touch to panini, burgers, fries and Continental cuisine. The Irish Wolfhound (irishwolfhoundpub.com) serves pints and pub fare in a convivial atmosphere. Deli lovers will thrill to New York Flavor (newyorkflavor.com) and Fresh Wasabi (freshwasabisurprise.com) combines sushi with a sports bar.

los angeles dodgeRs | ChiCago White sox

PLAY

EAT

Surprise Stadium 15850 North Bullard, Surprise surprisespringtraining.com; 623-222-2222

PLAY

Goodyear Ballpark 1933 South Ballpark Way, Goodyear goodyearaz.gov; 623-882-3130

seattle MaRineRs | san diego PadRes

texas RangeRs | Kansas City Royals

Camelback Ranch 10710 West Camelback Road, Glendale camelbackranchbaseball.com; 623-302-5000

PLAY

Raven Golf Club at Verrado (ravenatverrado.com; 623-388-3000) in Buckeye, just west of Phoenix, rumbles 7,200 yards through the former Caterpillar bulldozer proving grounds. Bunkers abound on this stunning John Fought-Tom Lehman layout, framing fairways and forcing carries. A 30-foot tall boulder defines the fairway (and the perfect line) on the par-4 eighth, one of many memorable holes on this 2004 stunner. Talking Stick, Wildfire, Troon North and the other 36-hole facilities around Phoenix and Scottsdale are also easily accessible by highway from Glendale.

STAY

The major chains all have multiple inns and suites here.

The aforementioned Wigwam Resort is in nearby Litchfield Park, as is Welsch’s Rose Acres (roseacres.us), a bed-and-breakfast with pools, miniature horse racing and two chipping holes.

EAT

Westgate (westgatecitycenter.com) boasts 20 different dining options, including Calico Jack’s (calicojacksglendale.com), Yard House (yardhouse.com), Gordon Biersch (gordonbiersch. com) and Margaritaville (margaritavilleglendale.com).

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

take me out to the fairway

While you’re in town for spring training, TPC Scottsdale invites baseball fans to enjoy two championship courses both open to the public to play: • The Stadium Course, Host of the PGA TOUR’s Waste Management Phoenix Open • The Champions Course, rivaling The Stadium in both beauty and playability

Don’t leave Arizona without playing them both.

Tee times start at just $99 + tax.

Book now at tpc.com/springtraining or call 480-585-4334 x1 Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

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Golfer’s Guide To

Spring Training

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess

milWaUkee breWers

Phoenix Municipal Stadium 5999 E. Van Buren, Phoenix phoenix.gov/sports; 602-392-0074

PLAY

The aforesaid raven golf club at verrado (ravenatverrado.com; 623-388-3000) is a straight shot west from the stadium on I-10. Maryvale golf course (phoenix.gov/recreation; 623-846-4022), a William Bell (Torrey Pines) classic, boasts plenty of mature trees, doglegs and great practice facilities.

Plenty of budget-conscious motels dot the area. You’ll find resort-and-spa options due east in downtown Phoenix at royal palms resort & spa, arizona Biltmore (arizonabiltmore.com) and arizona grand (arizonagrandresort.com) . chelsea’s Kitchen (chelseaskitchenaz.com), a roadhouse right off Camelback dishes up some down-home cooking. sylvia’s la canasta (sylviasfiesta.com) is authentic Mexican, the Bikini lounge (thebikinilounge.com) is Phoenix history, and the original hamburger Works (originalhamburgerworks.com) is, well, original.

EAT

GolfTEC

LOCATIONS ARIZONA

ASU Karsten

Oakland athletiCs

Maryvale Baseball Park 3600 N. 51st Ave., Phoenix phoenix.gov/sports; 800 933-7890

STAY

T.J. Cooks

PLAY

Great golf (asu Karsten, talking stick, tpc scottsdale) lies within 20 minutes of this one-time home of the San Francisco Giants. The closest is the 7,300-yard papago golf course (papagogolfcourse.net; 602-275-8428), which borders Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale in the midst of the Papago Buttes and hosted an LPGA event in 2009.

STAY

The phoenician (thephoenician.com) or fairmont scottsdale princess (fairmont.com/Scottsdale), are both AAA FiveDiamond properties with championship golf, high-end spas and fine dining. The luxurious tempe Mission palms is just one mile from the stadium.

EAT

Hang at former Phoenix Sun dan Majerle’s sports grill (majerles.com) or rock at the vig (thevig.us). On the higher end, there’s vincent’s on camelback (vincentsoncamelback.com) and the dozens of fine resort restaurants such as richard sandoval’s hacienda at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, t.J. cooks at the Royal Palms and il terrazzo at The Phoenician. Cag

COLORADO

cherry creek 3773 Cherry Creek Drive North #130, Denver 303-388-4832

Westminster 9440 Sheridan Blvd, Westminster (Inside Golfsmith) 303-426-6600 Boulder 2767 Iris Avenue, Boulder 720-379-4843

arrowhead 7765 W Bell Rd., Glendale (Inside Golfsmith) 602-288-5180

denver tech center Marina Square Shopping Center 8101 East Belleview Ave. Suite H, Denver 303-770-5951

chandler 80 N 54th St, Chandler (Inside Golfsmith) 480-893-9029

golden 17120 West Colfax Ave; Suite 108, Golden (Inside Golfsmith) 303-278-3589

grand Junction 625 24 1/2 Road, Suite C, Grand Junction 970-208-1030

north scottsdale 15452 N. Pima Rd., North Scottsdale (Inside Golfsmith) 480-607-2212

park Meadows 9667 E. County Line Rd. Englewood (Inside Golfsmith) 303-858-8280

chapel hills 1727 Briargate Blvd., Colorado Springs 719-219-3095

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fort collins south 4637 S. Mason St. Suite A4, Fort Collins 970-692-5270

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

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tournament guide

the ten commandments of tournament planning 1. thou shalt plan ahead.

Give yourself at least six to nine months to determine and document the tournament’s objectives and purposes, prepare preliminary specifications (date, time, estimated number of participants, number of meal functions, tournament format, potential sponsors, etc.) and establish a timeline.

2. thou shalt Know thine purpose and Keep it wholly.

5. thou shalt shop around.

Choosing the right course can make or break your event. But what makes it “right”?

A site-visit impression of a facility and its staff is important, but it really comes down to four considerations: price, reputation, location and amenities.

• Price: Don’t jump at the lowest offer until confirming what the contract includes.

Those “extras” add up! Also, more established courses often command higher prices and aren’t as flexible as newer courses are.

• Reputation: What you have heard about the course? Have people in your office mentioned how they loved a particular course or want to play it? Float a couple of course names by your golf buddies and gauge the response. A course that’s considered hard might not be the best for a bunch of high-

Your tournament must have a charity with a clear-cut vision you can passionately communicate. Individuals and corporate sponsors want to align themselves with causes that have a strong, well-defined mission.

Invest in strong marketing material—DVD, Website—that can be presented personally to decision makers.

3. thou shalt not go it alone.

Committees are imperative for running a great event. Determine one lead chairperson and assign responsibilities to specific individuals. You need people to solicit players, sponsors and gift items. You need people to register people at the event, collect money and perform other functions. Meet regularly for status updates and keep morale high with events like a pre-event gift-bag-filling pizza party.

4. thou shalt Know thine Budget and Keep to it.

To reach your fund-raising goal, you first need to cover your costs. Do not do this through entry fees alone; higher prices discourage participants. Sell mulligans, string, drink coupons. Get at least one sponsor for every hole and contest (hole-in-one, closestto-the-pin, longest drive, etc.). Drawings, betting holes and silent auctions also add to the bottom line.

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Golf Club and Longmont’s Fox Hill Club have had skydivers drop onto the course with a sponsor’s banner or plant the flag for a post-round closest-to-the-pin contest.

Consider a fireworks display. “It’s a great incentive for people to stick around and participate in the silent auctions,” says Matt Schalk, the general manager of both courses.

7. Know thine players.

Your guests are not likely all going to be single-digit handicaps. Make sure to communicate to the course representatives the level of play you expect from the field. They can set up the course and format accordingly. Your players also might not all be carnivores, so ask them about any dietary restrictions and communicate them in advance to the course. Be sure, too, to collect as much data as you can (cell, email, auction items purchased, clothing measurements) for future marketing.

8. get thine word out.

FLIGHTED TOURNAMENT: Skydivers, like this one at Colorado National, can help distinguish your event.

handicap players. A course that’s considered easy might not • Location: If most of your potential attendees live in, say, Longmont, don’t select a course in Colorado Springs, no matter its price or reputation.

• Amenities: It’s about much more than golf. Ask the club to walk you through the event. Are there multiple beverage carts?

Carts with scoring and GPS capability? Will the dining room hold all your guests, rain or shine? Are locker rooms available? Can menus be customized?

6. thine event shall Be unliKe all others.

Distinguishing your tournament from the 200-plus golf events out there is paramount.

Work with the course to come up with different formats and added value. For example, tournaments at Erie’s Colorado National

Use social networking, emails, your website and hold pre-event functions such as pairings parties (get a restaurant to donate a meal in exchange for a sponsorship). Ask sponsors for reciprocal links on their websites. Create “early bird” pricing and a sense of urgency as the event date approaches. Make a radio or TV station your title or presenting sponsor in trade for promotion of the event. Keep the message positive and steadily beat the drum.

9. thou shalt not Be shy.

Garner support from your company or the charity’s board of directors, but also make sure they are soliciting each of their vendors, boards and everyone else affiliated with them for players, sponsors and silent auction items. Charge all committe members with signing up at least one paying foursome.

10. thou shalt treat thine guests royally.

Go the extra mile to take care of your players. Feed them before the event. Provide food or water on every hole. Unique gifts, prizes and other expressions of thanks—including hand-written follow-up thank-you notes—will keep your charity top of mind and bring them back next year.

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

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Colorado National and Fox Hill provide exceptional views and panoramic scenery.

Not to mention, award winning golf, food and facilities. Located just north of Denver, imagine a perfect place in a perfect setting - whether it’s a corporate or charity golf tournament, business meeting, wedding, or a fundraiser, we can make your dream a reality.

Our experienced event professionals will share in the enthusiasm for your special day. Our Executive Chefs have extensive experience in the hospitality industry and will work with you to create a customized menu that will delight you and your guests. Let us create a unique affair by delivering picturesque views, secluded space, award-winning food, impeccable service, and memories that will last a lifetime.

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

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how to maKe your event memoraBle

H

ow can you differentiate your charity tournament from the 200-plus others out there? Take some pointers from these case studies:

don’t fear the funny

No matter how earnest or serious the cause, keep the mood light and the message consistent.

When Castle Pines resident Bill Meyn succumbed to prostate cancer in 2010, his widow, Cheri, and their son, Brad, created Please Save Another (pleasesaveanother.org), a 501(c)(3) organization that shares an acronym with the Prostate-Specific Antigen test used to screen for the disease. PSA benefits the William R. Meyn Foundation.

But when the PSA board members created a golf tournament to raise money for Prostate Cancer Research at CU Cancer Center and the PSA Family Outreach Program, they made sure it conveyed the buoyant spirit of the man whose memory it honors.

The result was the Don’t Fear the Finger Tournament, “a day full of laughter and quality golf,” says Cheri Meyn. “Since we are a charity focused on a disease men don’t want to talk about—but affects one in every six guys—we packed the day with good humor and an unforgettable experience for all our guests.”

For two years now, Don’t Fear the Finger has lived up to her goal. Bill Meyn wore the garish John Daly-inspired Loudmouth Apparel whenever he played, so Loudmouth sponsors the event and a Loudmouth-attired Foundation board member greets guests with custom golf attire—which they were strongly encouraged to wear.

Before teeing up, every male participant receives a free blood test to screen for the disease, and during the round, dozens of hole prizes, lighthearted competitions and subtle messaging reinforces the theme and keeps players engaged. After golf, the participants gather to watch golf entertainer Dan Boever, followed by the arrival of a helicopter carrying

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a PSA family member who drops hundreds of golf balls on a practice green, with the person whose name appears on the ball closest to the pin winning a fabulous prize.

These activities keep guests around for the silent auction, dinner and ceremonies. In just two years, Don’t Fear the Finger has raised more than $340,000. This year’s tournament will take place at Sanctuary, Cheri Meyn reports, “and we will continue to make it as unforgettable as possible.”

ace the 19th hole

Drinking adult beverages might be the de rigueur après-golf activity, but that’s not a reason not to engage your guests in more friendly competition. In fact, it might be a very good reason—especially if their team didn’t finish “in the money.”

Enter BirdieBall (birdieball.com), the limited distance golf practice ball that resembles

until only one remains and wins.

“It usually takes about three rounds to get through 100 players,” says Breaker, who last year did a tournament at Colorado Golf Club.

“It goes quickly and the players, who pay between $50 and $100 to participate, are betting on themselves.”

BirdieBall’s other AirTargets include customizable models with holes worth certain values. They transport in a small carry bag, set up easily and always draw a crowd.

“And you don’t even need a golf course,” Breaker says, citing tournaments in parks with disk golf courses (he’s developed a hoop to retrofit disk golf baskets for BirdieBall play) and in populated downtown areas, like Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where a full field played along car-lined streets to raise funds for historic preservation.

mashie Bash

Don’t get your knickers in a knot. Take a cue from the Pikes Peak Hickory Classic (pikespeakhickoryclassic.com), a fun-loving 1920’s-style fundraiser that has been played on historic courses like Patty Jewett and Broadmoor (East). Players dress in 1920s knickers attire, use hickory-shaft golf clubs and reproduction 1915 golf balls. Don’t expect any 300yard drives, just plenty of great photos and a sense of how far the game has come.

CHIP-INS: BirdieBall AirTarget competitions add to the fun and the bottom line.

a napkin ring but behaves exactly like a golf ball. Since its 2003 debut, the Colorado company’s product has become an international phenomenon.

More than just a way to practice, however, BirdieBall has become— among myriad other things—a way for charities to raise funds. Using custom-built AirTargets, company co-founder John Breaker stages competitions like “blackjack,” where players pay to chip BirdieBalls (often emblazoned with the charity’s logo) off plastic StrikePads to large inflatable targets with pie-shaped holes assigned different “card” values. Computer sensors keep score as players either “hold” or go for it after their first two shots. Players who “bust” are eliminated; those who score the highest proceed to the next round LOUD AND PROUD: A “Don’t Fear the Finger” foursome.

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many happy returns

U

nlike in golf itself, there’s no such thing as a “good miss” when it comes to raising money at golf tournaments. Although many tournaments benefit worthy causes, they often fizzle after a season or two because they

just don’t generate enough of a return on the investment of time, effort and money to continue.

The tournaments that always hit the sweet spot are the ones that generate enthusiasm from their organizers, participants and sponsors. In turn, these events generate increasing amounts of money and awareness for the charity.

These four tips will help you generate bigger returns for your charity.

1. target an amount.

There once was a tournament that was generating less than $10,000 before the 12-person organizing committee decided to move it to a bigger club and set a goal of taking it to $100,000. To reach that objective, the group created a system by which each committee member was required to bring in a certain number of sponsors and dollars. In turn, each sponsor he or she brought in would have a goal of bringing in some of its sponsors. And so on, down the line. It’s something like the multilevel marketing model, with the benefits trickling up to the charity.

2. find the right people.

Some people find it difficult to ask other people for money. Others, especially those in sales, thrive on it. The rainmakers for your charity event need to believe wholeheartedly in your efforts, articulate the vision, generate excitement and, above all, have solid contacts in the business community.

3. don’t confine the experience to golf.

It’s all about networking and having sponsors build relationships with each other. Therefore, it’s important to find all the ways to entertain committee members and sponsors before, during and after your tournament. This isn’t just at a silent auction the night before the event, and an after-golf barbecue. About eight weeks out, hold a dinner for committee members, sponsors and potential sponsors at a restaurant, in exchange for a sponsorship listing. This way, at the golf event, people will already know one another and have a better time. A month after the event, do another dinner. The goal is to maintain relationships and commitments for the following year. Sustain the momentum from the event, build on its success and establish higher goals than the year before.

4. don’t stop when the event ends.

Wiithin a week of the event, write thankyous detailing the amount of money raised.

Make sure your committee meets monthly to reaffirm commitments and alert participants to save the date for the following year’s event. Facebook updates and regular e-mails to sponsors will keep them excited about the charity as well as the event.

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how to maKe it worK

T

he dream of every charity tournament planner is to have perfect weather and 144 players who each buy a half-dozen mulligans, bid up the auction items and enjoy themselves so much that every player immediately signs up for next year and promises to bring a friend. And as you prepare to drive into the sunset in the $100,000 sports car you won in the hole-in-one contest (and will sell to give the money to the charity), the course’s tournament director slips you the bill. If you’ve budgeted, planned and forecasted well, the total won’t surprise you.

Whether you’re organizing a fundraiser, providing a memorable outing for clients or you got cornered into running a buddy trip, remember diligent planning and accurate forecasting can prevent unexpected and unnecessary expenses.

In the case of a charity golf tournament, know how much money you want to raise?

“A boatload” isn’t specific enough. Set a challenging goal, then back it out from there.

How many golfers can participate in your event? Can you reasonably sell out the event?

If you hope to clear $5,000 on a 120-player event, you will have to make about $42 per person after expenses. Add up the costs for golf, food and beverages, prizes, gifts, and, of course, gratuities. Don’t forget printing, advertising, signage, transportation, accommodations and other potential budget-busting expenses.

Here are a few tips to raise funds while sharpening your pencil on costs: • Get the best course you can afford.

Hold your event when the course is most hungry for your business—off-season, midweek or afternoons—and you’ll usually be rewarded with a better rate.

• Evaluate your priorities based on the golfers you hope to attract. Do your prospective players really care about getting chilled towels at every green?

• Collect donated items for live or silent auctions.

• Add mulligans and contests to the event for an additional fee. Consider packaging them all together at check-in so that your guests don’t have to reach into their wallets

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

on every tee box.

• Look for sponsors who will donate to your charity in exchange for advertising at the event and in all your promotional literature. If your event is attractive enough, you might get your entire $5,000 goal in one check! Just don’t let them turn the event into a trade show; golfers don’t want to collect stuff on every hole. Give all sponsor collateral in a gift bag at the end of the tournament.

• Buy hole-in-one insurance to offer spectacular prizes at very little cost. Even better, find a sponsor for this, too.

• Recruit volunteers to help with setup, check-in and stuffing gift bags. They can also help recruit sponsors and players. They might invite a celebrity or a big contributor to the charity who would love some exposure for his or her business. These volunteers already believe in your cause, so they can be your greatest assets.

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maKe it a tech of a good time

try, companies like My Custom Event (mycustomevent.com) and Auctions by Cellular (auctionsbycellular.com) have automated and streamlined just about every process and function related to staging a tournament.

Few sports have welcomed the inexorable march of technology as openly as golf. It’s not only about improvements in equipment. We make tee times online, “shoot” distances to the pin, and receive texts on the eighth green about ordering food at the turn. Lessons are captured on tablets. Scores from every tournament—both professional and amateur—appear instantly on Internet leaderboards.

If you’ve had your tee shot measured with a rangefinder at a “long-drive” hole or punched in your score from a GPS-enabled cart, you know technology has also revolutionized the world of charity golf tournaments.

And on the event planning and organizing side, the appearance of tournament announcements, updates, testimonials and photographs on social networking sites has virally spread the word about numerous events.

But there’s a lot more. Across the coun-

my custom event

True to its name, 10-year-old My Custom Event exists to create for clients a fully customized Web-based system that allows a tournament organizer to register players and gather as much information as needed about them. The site looks, feels and functions as that of the charity, not a third-party provider.

“It’s about data automation and centralization,” says company president Bob Bailey, who ticks off an impressive list of his company’s powerful attributes. “Once you define what information you want to include when people register, we create searchable databases through which you can know your participants better. When they register we capture their IP address, which allows us to show visually where your players are coming from, using MapPoint. This allows you to

TECH, YEAH!: GPS can provide info on the yardage, the sponsors, the charity and choice auction items.

target your audience, recruit new players and market to existing ones.

You can build in legal releases, track players and sponsors, whether they donated items to the silent auction and how much they spent.

“We can data-mine and integrate SEO so potential sponsors will see you,” he points out.

“We’re also plugged into almost 300 social network channels. We will tie all the all the information into Google analytics to extract rich data on participants.”

The program precludes the need for spreadsheets and paper. Their relationship with nearly 100 financial gateways also allows the event organizer to use its own merchant ac-

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2 0 1 3 tournament guide count to process credit cards. This means the money gets into your account quicker.

The financial automation and going to a credit card system, Bailey says, plays an enormous role in the success of tournaments. “For one, it eliminates the human element of errors, which happens when you have a lot of people collecting checks and running registry tapes; and two, when you switch to an automated system it frees your staff to focus on what they’re good at—working the event itself.”

Mycustomevent.com’s interface automatically and completely scales to different devices, including phones, tablets and laptops.

You can set it up to text all participants about auction items, dinner selections and any other happy happenings during the event. “You can also target individual participants about auction items that might be of particular interest,” says Bailey. “It’s a powerful tool.”

while bidding on products, services and vacations. Living up to its tagline, “The Future of Fundraising,” Auctions by Cellular organizes your auction, cataloguing the items

auctions By cellular

Technology has also wrought significant changes on the silent auction front. Texting may be dangerous while driving, but not

CELL AND BUY: At the post-round silent auction, let your fingers do your bidding.

and getting out the word to attendees.

Upon registration (or before), each guest provides his or her cell phone number and receives easy instructions on how to bid. An on-site ABC representative can assist Luddites and the odd player without a cell phone.

This eliminates those sheets of paper below each item listing the names of bidders and creating competition or resentment among participants. Using their phones, participants bid and instantly receive updates. ABC can even televise a fundraising thermometer to track bidding.

The flawless and fast checkout process typically completes all transactions and prints receipts within 15 minutes of the auction’s close.

Within 48 hours, ABC provides a detailed financial analysis and reporting. You’ll come away with more than a fundraising success story, a robust and invaluable database of names, numbers and emails for use in future campaigns, including who did the most bidding, who didn’t do any, and which items received the most bids and which received the highest.

G O L F A S I T WA S I N T E N D E D T O B E .

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Golf Course Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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Excellence playing it Exists at Red Hawk Ridge forward A Golf Digest Top 100, Jim Engh course minutes from the Denver Tech Center, in Castle Rock

W

ith more than 200 charity golf tournaments scheduled every year in Colorado, even the most charitable golfer needs to ask a few simple questions to keep a realistic tournament schedule.

where?

COUNTRY CLUB

conditions

At public course prices.

What golfer wouldn’t want to play Cherry Hills, Castle Pines, Denver Country Club, Colorado Golf Club or Sanctuary? Charity tournaments often provide the only chance many of us get to play some exclusive courses. That conversation-piece bag tag might cost as much as $5,000 but it goes to supporting a charity.

price?

MOUNTAIN-STYLE

play

Along I-25 in the Front Range.

Tournaments held at exclusive courses may command higher entry fees than you might ordinarily pay. But tournament entryfees cover more than a green fee. It comes down to value. Nicer clubs often provide more comfortable facilities, elevating the experience.

Look for the biggest bang for your buck.

cause?

Did you lose a close friend or relative to cancer? Does someone you know have AIDS or Alzheimer’s? Do you want to help wounded veterans or end homelessness, poverty and child abuse? Pick the causes to which you have a personal connection and play in the tournaments that support them.

connection?

Playing an event where clients or a prospective employer will be can advance your career, while declining one that benefits a friend’s favorite cause may create a rift. One option: play in the business one and donate to your friend’s charity.

prestige?

Let us host your 2013 tournament.

Call 720-733-3504 to schedule a visit or to request information.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

Whether it’s the status of playing alongside a celebrity or just being part of an elite event, certain tournaments carry more clout. Never undervalue the power of bragging rights—and having your photo taken with a famous athlete, actor or television personality.

PLUS FOURSOME: A novelty like the Pikes Peak Hickory Classic can inspire you to play.

format?

A scramble can frustrate better players who prefer to play their own ball and can grow impatient with the protracted pace of play.

Unless it’s a handicapped event—and they have an official USGA handicap—casual players may want to shy away from tournaments with more competitive formats.

trade?

Tournament organizers often accept inkind donations in exchange for entry fees, making barter a great way to stretch your charity tournament dollar.

fun?

Does the tournament offer anything more than 18 holes of golf, some auction items and a meal? The most successful events often have an event the night before or after the golf, creating a party atmosphere that convinces players to include friends and family.

tradition?

Whether it’s to support a cause, spend time with good friends, or out of sheer force of habit, many people play the same tournaments year after year. If you like the event and the people, there’s nothing better than teeing it up with friends in the name of a worthwhile cause.

Remember: Even if you don’t do well, you’re doing good.

team-Building

F

orget fun, camaraderie and charity.

The best part about scramble tournaments is winning them. For that, you need to put together a fearsome foursome.

the short-game master

With an arsenal of chips, pitches and putts, “The Short-Game Master” can set up scoring opportunities, finishing mid-range birdie putts, and get up and down from anywhere. You usually need to birdie or eagle every hole to win, so this player needs to have nerves of steel.

Strategy: Have him or her hit last on every putt and chip. If one of the other team members knocks it in, great. If everyone misses, he or she will “go to school” on his teammates’ putts and drain it.

the BomBer

He can’t chip, hit irons or putt, but his ugly swing can send a golf ball 325 yards.

Strategy: Have your long-hitter play last on each tee shot. Once a team member has placed a drive in the fairway, he can give it a rip. If he finds his rhythm, you’ll be enjoying a day of eagle putts and approach chips.

the safety net

Usually a 10-15 handicap, this player plays often, plays well, and plays it safe.

While the other members of the team are taking ill-advised risks, this player’s laying back, hitting fairways and greens all day.

Strategy: Let this player hit first on every shot. Once he or she has played it safe, the other members of your team are free to play aggressively.

the ironworKer

This player’s incessant practicing has resulted in superior ball-striking and control. He or she doesn’t drive the ball far, and rarely makes a long putt, but you can count on this player to place the ball in the center of the fairway and hit every green.

Strategy: He or she should hit last on every par three and mid-range iron shot.

Once another teammate has placed the ball on the green, the grinder can fire at tucked pins. The other two “specialists” can take care of the driving and putting.

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AND THE

WINNERS ARE… ARE CAGGY AWARDS

PRESENTED BY ®

®

Welcome to the CAGGY Awards!

With all precincts reporting, we present the Best of Colorado Golf in four sections and 43 categories, as voted by the 775 participants in our online survey. We’ve also weighed in with staff selections in each category…

®

PRESENTED BY

CAGG AW ARD Y

®

S

INSTRUCTION Best Instructor for JunIors

YOUR PICKS

1. Steve Beach, Glenmoor 2. Kevin Morton, Family Sports 3. Vince Buelk, Collindale

STAFF PICKS:

Doug Wherry, Jake’s Place Trent Wearner, Trent Wearner Golf

Best northern course (Longmont & Above) YOUR PICKS:

1. Mariana Butte, Loveland 2. Collindale, Fort Collins 3. Pelican Lakes, Windsor

STAFF:

Pelican Lakes, Windsor Highland Meadows, Windsor

Best Mountain course PubLic/ResoRt YOUR PICKS:

Best Instructor for Men

YOUR PICKS:

1. Vince Buelk, Collindale 2. Mitch Nielsen, Red Rocks 3. Trent Wearner, Trent Wearner Golf

STAFF PICKS:

Andy Hilts, GolfTEC Erik Billinger, Highlands Ranch

Best Instructor for WoMen YOUR PICKS: 1. Kevin Morton, Family Sports 2. Kimberly Bean, Red Rocks 3. Sherry Smith, Valley

STAFF:

Lana Ortega, Lana Ortega Golf Elena King, CommonGround

1. Pole Creek, Winter Park 2. Breckenridge, Breckenridge 3. The River Course, Keystone

STAFF:

Red Sky Ranch (Norman), Wolcott Rollingstone Ranch, Steamboat Springs

Best southern course

(colo. sprIngs & BeloW) PubLic/ResoRt

YOUR PICKS:

1. The Broadmoor (East), Colo. Springs 2. Walking Stick, Pueblo 3. Four Mile Ranch, Cañon City

STAFF:

Broadmoor (East) Grandote Peaks, La Veta

Best Western slope course–PubLic/ResoRt

YOUR PICKS:

1. Redlands Mesa, Grand Junction 2. Lakota Canyon Ranch, New Castle 3. The Bridges, Montrose

STAFF:

PUBLIC/RESORT Best Denver/front range course

YOUR PICKS:

1. Fossil Trace, Golden 2. Bear Dance, Larkspur 3. The Ridge at Castle Pines North, Castle Rock

STAFF:

Colorado National, Erie Green Valley Ranch, Denver

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

The Bridges, Montrose Redlands Mesa, Grand Junction

Best envIronMental steWarDshIp

YOUR PICKS:

1. Green Valley Ranch, Denver 2. Pole Creek, Winter Park 3. Haymaker, Steamboat Springs

STAFF:

The Heritage at Westmoor, Westminster Applewood, Golden Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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®

PRESENTED BY

Y CAAWGARGDS

®

Best practIce facIlIty YOUR PICKS:

Best après-golf YOUR PICKS:

STAFF:

STAFF:

Best ego-Booster YOUR PICKS:

Best course for WoMen YOUR PICKS:

STAFF:

STAFF:

PUBLIC/RESORT

1. Green Valley Ranch, Denver 2. Broken Tee, Englewood 3. Family Sports Center, Centennial Red Sky Golf Club, Wolcott CommonGround, Aurora

1. Park Hill, Denver 2. Red Hawk Ridge, Castle Rock 3. South Suburban, Centennial Willis Case, Denver South Suburban, Denver

Best Bet-settler (18th Hole)

YOUR PICKS:

1. Fossil Trace, Golden 2. Green Valley Ranch, Denver 3. Lakota Canyon Ranch, New Castle

STAFF:

Red Sky (Norman), Wolcott Fox Hollow (Canyon), Lakewood

Best conDItIons (Public)

YOUR PICKS:

1. Bear Dance, Larkspur 2. Ridge at Castle Pines North, Castle Rock T3. Fox Hollow, Lakewood Riverdale Golf Course (Dunes), Brighton

STAFF:

CommonGround, Aurora Colorado National, Erie

1. Fox Hollow, Lakewood 2. Fossil Trace, Golden T3: Broken Tee, Englewood Applewood, Golden

Green Valley Ranch, Denver Hyland Hills, Westminster

Best fooD YOUR PICKS:

1. Fossil Trace, Golden 2. Collindale, Ft. Collins 3. The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs

STAFF:

Colorado National, Erie Bear Dance, Larkspur

Best for WeDDIngs/ partIes 1. Arrowhead, Littleton 2. The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs 3. Fossil Trace, Golden

STAFF:

The Inverness, Englewood Omni Interlocken, Broomfield

YOUR PICKS:

1. The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs 2. Omni Interlocken, Broomfield 3. Keystone Resort, Keystone

1. Riverdale Golf Courses, Brighton 2. Saddle Rock, Aurora 3. Wellshire, Denver

STAFF:

STAFF:

Best course for faMIlIes

YOUR PICKS:

Best to Walk YOUR PICKS:

STAFF:

STAFF:

Inverness, Englewood The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs

1. Foothills Golf Course, Denver 2. Green Valley Ranch, Denver 3. Links at Highlands Ranch Indian Tree, Arvada Greg Mastriona Courses at Hyland Hills, Westminster Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

The Ridge at Castle Pines North Breckenridge, Breckenridge

Best value YOUR PICKS:

Best conDItIons (Resort)

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1. The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs 2. Fossil Trace, Golden 3. The Ridge at Castle Pines North

Murphy Creek, Aurora Fox Hollow, Lakewood

1. CommonGround, Aurora 2. Collindale, Fort Collins 3. Wellshire, Denver Green Valley Ranch, Denver Buffalo Run, Commerce City ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

速

PRESENTED BY

CAGG AW ARD Y

速

S

Best on-course vIeWs YOUR PICKS:

PUBLIC/RESORT

1. Arrowhead, Littleton 2. Breckenridge, Breckenridge 3. Fossil Trace, Golden

STAFF:

Red Sky Ranch (Norman) River Course, Keystone

Best WIlDlIfe experIence YOUR PICKS:

1. Arrowhead, Littleton 2. Bear Dance, Larkspur 3. The Broadmoor (Mountain), Colo. Springs

STAFF:

Estes Park, Estes Park Rollingstone Ranch, Steamboat Springs

Best course for senIors

YOUR PICKS:

1. Fox Hollow, Lakewood 2. Fossil Trace, Golden 3. City Park, Denver

STAFF:

Applewood, Golden Indian Tree, Arvada

Best charIty tournaMent venue

TRAVEL Best out-of-state

YOUR PICKS:

1. Bandon, Ore. 2. Pebble Beach, Calif.

3. Mesquite, Nev.

STAFF:

Scottsdale, Ariz.

Las Vegas, Nev.

Best coloraDo stay & play

YOUR PICKS:

1. The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs 2. Keystone Resort, Keystone 3. Omni Interlocken, Broomfield

STAFF PICKS:

The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs Beaver Creek Resort, Beaver Creek

PRIVATE Best front range/ northeast cluB

YOUR PICKS:

1. Ballyneal, Holyoke 2. Harmony Club, Timnath 3. Fox Hill, Longmont

STAFF:

YOUR PICKS:

Ballyneal, Holyoke Fox Acres, Red Feather Lakes

STAFF:

Best Denver regIon cluB YOUR PICKS:

1. Fossil Trace, Golden 2. Arrowhead, Littleton 3. Ridge at Castle Pines North, Castle Rock Colorado National, Erie Ridge at Castle Pines North, Castle Rock

Best servIce YOUR PICKS:

1. Fossil Trace, Golden 2. The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs T3. Collindale Colorado National

STAFF:

The Broadmoor, Colo. Springs Ridge at Castle Pines North, Castle Rock

1. Cherry Hills, Cherry Hills Village 2. Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock 3. Colorado Golf Club, Parker

STAFF:

Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock Cherry Hills, Cherry Hills Village

Best MountaIn cluB

YOUR PICKS:

1. Red Sky Golf Club, Wolcott 2. Country Club of the Rockies, Edwards 3. Roaring Fork Club, Basalt

STAFF:

Red Sky, Wolcott Maroon Creek Club, Aspen

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

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

DISCOVER ALL THINGS ULTRA AT

©2012 Anheuser-Busch, Michelob Ultra® Light Beer, St. Louis, MO • 95 calories, 2.6g carbs, 0.6g protein and 0.0g fat, per 12 oz.

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

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

71

速

PRESENTED BY

Y CAAWGARGDS

速

Best Western slope/ southWest cluB

Best course to holD a tournaMent

YOUR PICKS:

YOUR PICKS:

STAFF:

STAFF:

private

1. Glacier Club, Durango 2. Cornerstone, Montrose 3. Bookcliff, Grand Junction Cornerstone, Montrose Glacier Club, Durango

Best southern cluB YOUR PICKS: 1. Flying Horse, Colo. Springs 2. Kissing Camels, Colorado Springs 3. Pueblo Country Club, Pueblo

STAFF:

Flying Horse, Colorado Springs Kissing Camels, Colorado Springs

Flying Horse, Colo. Springs Red Sky, Wolcott

Most coveteD InvItatIon YOUR PICKS: 1. Cherry Hills, Cherry Hills Village 2. Castle Pines, Castle Rock 3. Sanctuary, Sedalia

STAFF:

Cherry Hills, Cherry Hills Village Denver Country Club, Denver

Best value YOUR PICKS:

Best locker rooM

STAFF:

STAFF:

Canongate Clubs, Aurora & Parker Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club, Holyoke

Lakewood, Lakewood Cherry Creek, Cherry Hills Village

Best overall experIence

Best cluBhouse

1. Red Rocks, Morrison 2. Glenmoor, Cherry Hills Village 3. The Club at Rolling Hills, Golden

YOUR PICKS:

YOUR PICKS:

1. Colorado Golf Club, Parker 2. Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock 3. Cherry Hills, Cherry Hills Village

YOUR PICKS:

1. Flying Horse Club, Colo. Springs 2. Glenmoor, Cherry Hills Village T3. The Country Club at Castle Pines Red Rocks, Morrison

1. Colorado Golf Club, Parker 2. Flying Horse, Colo. Springs 3. Castle Pines, Castle Rock

STAFF:

Flying Horse, Colo. Springs Country Club at Castle Pines, Castle Rock

Pinehurst Country Club, Denver The Club at Rolling Hills, Golden

Best for faMIlIes YOUR PICKS:

STAFF:

toughest test

YOUR PICKS:

1. Glenmoor, Cherry Hills Village 2. Red Rocks, Morrison 3. Pinehurst, Denver

1. Colorado Golf Club, Parker 2. Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock T3: Rolling Hills, Golden Hiwan, Evergreen

STAFF:

STAFF:

Glenmoor, Cherry Hills Village Red Rocks, Morrison

Most unDerrateD cluB

YOUR PICKS:

1. Red Rocks, Morrison 2. Cherry Creek, Denver 3. Blackstone, Aurora

STAFF: Lakewood, Lakewood

The Club at Pradera, Parker 72

1. Sanctuary, Sedalia 2. Colorado, Parker 3. Pinehurst, Denver

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

Colorado Golf Club, Parker Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock

Best fooD

YOUR PICKS:

1. Glenmoor, Cherry Hills Village 2. Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock 3. Red Rocks Country Club, Morrison

STAFF:

Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock Cherry Hills, Cherry Hills Village ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

TOUR Quality. Expert Advice.

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

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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Larr

cours y Mcat ee’s e and feats in the class on th by hi cockp e gol m By sc it put self. ott G him in f ardn Portr a er ait b y chi p Bro mfield / ProMotio n

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

T

hree-time U.S. Open

Champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Hale Irwin was back in Colorado last May to accept the Will F. Nicholson Jr. Award for his outstanding contributions to the game of golf. After dinner at the University Club in downtown Denver, he stood at the podium with a long list of people to thank for helping him

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

reach the pinnacle of the game. He cited Dow Finsterwald, Dale Douglass, and the late University of Colorado football coach Eddie Crowder, for whom he played cornerback.

The last individual Irwin would recognize was less familiar to the assembled golf fans, but he and the man at the podium were once considered the two best golfers in Colorado. From a table near the back of the ballroom, Larry McAtee slowly stood up, and flashing a wry smile, peeled off a two-fingered salute to his one-time teammate on the University of Colorado golf team. They were combatants for amateur golf supremacy in the state during the decade of Vietnam, Free Love and Arnold Palmer.

Spring 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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UNMATCHED: McAtee’s course-record 65 won the 1970 World-Wide Interservice Championship.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

That 1963 State Match Play tournament was a watershed moment in amateur golf in the state. Ralph Moore, of The Denver Post and Dave Nelson of the Rocky Mountain News, labeled the tournament as “Custer’s Last Stand” and “Changing of the Guard” as a tribute to the young core of golfers led by McAtee and Irwin (winner of the Stroke Play by a cushy 15 shots) who were now schooling veteran golfers such as English, Fowler and Tom Reed.

One of the benefits of winning the match play title in 1963 was receiving an invitation to play in that year’s Denver Open, then a regular stop on the PGA Tour, at the Denver Country Club. A wide-eyed McAtee played his Thursday round in the same group as Charlie Sifford, one of the Tour’s first African-American players. It didn’t take long for Sifford to make an impression on the young match play champion. On the first hole McAtee put his approach shot inside of Sifford’s and proceeded to mark his ball with a shiny new dime.

“Before hitting his putt, Sifford walked up to my coin and laid a dull looking penny on top of it.” McAtee recalls. “Leaving the green, Sifford, told me through a haze of cigar smoke, ‘Son you keep this penny. I don’t want to see that dime come out of your pocket again today. I’ve got enough distractions to deal with.’” (He was likely referring to the occasional racist heckler.)

From that day on, McAtee always used pennies—preferably dull ones—to mark his ball.

The ‘64 match play championship played out in similar fashion to the ’63 tournament. For the second consecutive year McAtee reached the semi-finals of the match play and faced another young gun in the form of Hale Irwin, who had successfully defended his stroke play title earlier that summer and was the hottest golfer in the state.

“I was up to speed on Irwin,” McAtee reflected. “He had the game and the ‘IT’ factor.

He carried himself with a confidence on the course that everyone noticed and you could tell he didn’t care much for losing.”

McAtee came out of the blocks fast in his match against Irwin, birding the first two holes for a two up lead. As the two golfers made their way off the ninth green at Hiwan, McAtee held a 1-up lead. Irwin evened the match with a par on the difficult par-3 12th hole. After halving the 13th hole the two players stood on the 14th green all even. McAtee had a 70-foot putt that he rolled across the green and into the cup for a 1-up lead.

“I could tell from Irwin’s body as he walked briskly to the next tee that the putt I dropped on fourteen had made an impact on him.” After Irwin carded a bogey on the par-5 15th hole, ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o g r a p h c o u rt e s y o f L a r r y M c at e e

I sat down for lunch with Larry McAtee on a recent sunny November afternoon at Lakewood Country Club. That’s where the journey began for McAtee as a junior golfer in the 1950s and culminated with his induction into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1992. He arrived carrying binders filled with notes and news clippings. Joining us at the table overlooking the 10th tee box was my father, John R. Gardner II, a long-time Lakewood Country Club member, club historian and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer. Hosting our lunch, Gardner served as both a golf and aviation mentor to the young McAtee and promised to set the record straight if the 69-year-old local legend became too modest in his recollections.

Before even my first question, McAtee pulled from his clippings a letter I wrote him 21 years ago thanking him for inviting me to his Colorado Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

“That’s the kind of decorum that is often overlooked in today’s society,” McAtee pointed out with sincere appreciation for the personal touch. It’s also the kind of attention to detail that has served McAtee well in the heat of battle on the golf course and in the cockpit of the Navy F-8 Crusader fighter jet.

McAtee’s exposure to golf began early when he would hit beat-up golf balls with a rusty old club into coffee cans buried in a neighbor’s back yard. The game took on a new meaning for the 9-year-old when his parents joined Lakewood in 1952. Established in 1908, Lakewood enjoyed a reputation for competitive players—in the card room and on the golf course.

McAtee thrived in that environment, thanks in large part to his supportive parents. “I owe so much of my early golf success to them,” McAtee recalled with a smile. “The whole family would be there for big events. My dad made

some good money by betting on me with his buddies in the card room, who favored the more established ‘old guard’ players in the big events. There were high expectations on me to win, and I often heard ‘don’t come home if you don’t win,’ from family members who were of course half-joking,” As a junior golfer and part-time employee in the bag room at Lakewood, McAtee assimilated the fundamentals of the game. His first formal golf lessons came at the age of ten from Lakewood’s head pro Gene Root.

He would later spend time with young assistant pro Dale Douglass, who was forging his own career path on the PGA Tour and would teach McAtee the different shots that the pros were playing.

“I spent many an enjoyable late afternoon out on Lakewood’s practice green rolling the ball against both Douglass and Root for spare quarters,” McAtee recalls.

In 1956 at age 13, McAtee won the first of five consecutive Lakewood Junior Club Championships. He lettered four years at Wheat Ridge High School and put up some eye-popping scores, like a 65 to win the Denver Post Tournament at City Park, and a 64 during a casual weekend round at Lakewood.

As McAtee fine-tuned his golf skills at Lakewood, another hotshot junior golfer was setting up camp in the shadows of the Boulder Flatirons. Hale Irwin played golf like he played football at Boulder High School—fearlessly and with attitude. Several years later McAtee and Irwin would meet at the Boulder Country Club to decide who would reign supreme in amateur golf in the state.

In 1961 McAtee finished second in the state high school tournament and was named the Colorado Junior Golfer of the Year by the Colorado Section of the PGA. University of.

Colorado golf coach Les Fowler offered him a scholarship, and McAtee went on to play varsity golf at CU, twice earning All Big-8 honors.

By summer of 1963, McAtee’s game had matured along with his 6-foot, 165-pound frame.

The Colorado State Amateur Match Play Championship took place at Valley Country Club in Centennial. In the semi-finals McAtee faced Colorado golf legend Jim English, a ninetime U.S. Open qualifier who had previously won the Colorado Match Play and Colorado Stroke Play three times apiece.

The intimidation factor was lost on McAtee as he kept control of his game, displaying a jeweler’s touch around the greens in route to posting a 4&3 win to advance into the finals, where he defeated Bob Douma of Colorado State 3&2.

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McAtee went 2-up and when the two halved the 16th hole, McAtee had a 3 & 2 win and a date with his CU golf coach, Les Fowler, in the championship. “I was looking forward to be playing Coach Fowler in the finals,” McAtee admitted. “It’s not every day you have a chance to beat your coach.”

The final match was a testament to how the fortunes of match play can change. Fowler came out intent on showing his student that he still had some gas in the tank. After the morning 18, Fowler held a comfortable 4-up lead. In the afternoon round, Fowler’s putting touch disappeared and McAtee closed within a hole.

As the gallery circled around the 18th green Fowler needed to halve the hole to win. But he missed a 10-footer as McAtee tapped in to send the match to sudden death. On the first extra hole Fowler’s frazzled putting touch again let him down as he three-putted. McAtee twoputted for par to win his second straight state match play title.

“I was overtaken with emotion at the awards ceremony,” McAtee admitted. “I had worked so hard on my game in preparation for tournament and to have pulled off the win was a great relief to me.”

The ’65 match play tournament was to be played at the now defunct Green Gables Country Club in west Denver. McAtee carried into the ’65 match play tournament a 12-match winning streak and he saw no reason why he couldn’t keep the competitive furnace stoked with his winning ways.

McAtee sent future Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Ron Moore home with a 3&2 victory in the semi-finals. McAtee sat under a cottonwood tree as he watched fellow Buffalo Hale Irwin lose to Jim English 4&3, giving English a chance to avenge the defeat McAtee dealt him two years earlier. “After defeating English in ’63, I knew he would like nothing better than

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2013

FLAT-HATTER: McAtee buzzed fellow pilot Arnold Palmer during the ’69 Kemper Open.

PGA Tour.” Having earned his private pilot’s license in college, McAtee was put in an accelerated phase of basic flight training where after 18 months he earned his “Wings of Gold” as a jet trained Naval Aviator.

“There was special pride in meeting the challenges of Naval Aviation. Military flying was the perfect example of being ‘in the moment,’” McAtee explains. “As the only one in the cockpit of a high performance jet, you had to be focused mentally physically and emotionally. You had to incorporate all these things, because your life depended on it.”

McAtee’s golf game also enlisted in the service and he won the All-Navy championships in ’67, ’69 and ’70 as well as the Douglas MacArthur Memorial Tournament in 1969 beating out a local hotshot amateur named Curtis Strange. He was also the 1970 World Wide Interservice champion, setting the competitive course record by four shots with a 65 and winning the event by a “Tiger Like” 10 strokes on the same Las Alamitos Naval base course that Tiger Woods played with his father as a junior.

In 1970 McAtee was granted leave and qualified for the U.S. Amateur. He went on to place 28th, finishing one shot behind a promising upand-comer by the name of Tom Watson.

One of McAtee’s more infamous performances came at the 1969 Kemper Open, a tournament in which he didn’t even play.

While stationed in Virginia Beach, he was flying to Cecil Air Field near Jacksonville. By sheer chance, he flew over the event at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte. He spotted a huge gallery and it occurred to him that it might be the fans of fellow flying enthusiast Arnold Palmer.

McAtee couldn’t resist the temptation to salute the “King” so he turned off the IFF transponder and swooped down in his F-8 Crusader and buzzed the course. Making his getaway McAtee executed a victory roll as he kicked in the after-burner and headed down the coast.

In that month’s issue of Golf World there was a story about a rogue jet buzzing the course at ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o s c o u rt e s y o f L a r r y M c at e e

BUFF ENOUGH: McAtee and former teammate Hale Irwin at his induction into CU’s Sports Hall of Fame.

to knock me off the block and skin my elbows in the process,” McAtee admitted with a smile.

The final match at Green Gables was a display of consistency by both players as McAtee got his nose out in front after the morning 18 with a 2-up lead. English was one down to McAtee on the 34th hole of the match when McAtee made a careless bogey. The 17th hole was halved and when English failed to win the 18th hole, McAtee held off English to win his third straight match play championship, (63’64-’65). Years later English would confide that the ’65 loss to McAtee was one of the two most disappointing losses he had suffered in his state amateur career. Irwin also went on to win his third straight stroke play title that year to set up the Irwin vs. McAtee showdown of 1966.

As 1966 rolled around, McAtee was looking at graduating with a BS in business and enlisting in the Navy AOCS (Aviation Officer Candidate School) to become a naval aviator. The last big goal McAtee wanted to accomplish before enlisting in the Navy was to win his fourth straight match play championship which would tie him for consecutive state match play victories with Walter Fairbanks, who won four straight match play titles in the early 1900s.

The site of the 1966 match play championship was the Boulder Country Club. Both McAtee and Irwin took care of business in their early round matches and when McAtee tripped up Joe Lynch 2&1 and Irwin edged out Warren Simmons 1-up on the 19th hole in the other semi-final match. Golf fans in Colorado got the matchup they were hoping to see. Both players had their camp of supporters as the tee shots were struck off the first tee in the 36 hole final. McAtee was riding a 23 consecutive match win streak going into that final match.

Irwin wanted to avenge the defeat that McAtee dealt him at Hiwan in the 1964 championship.

Though there wasn’t bad blood between the two, both wanted to pull out of the parking lot with the tournament trophy riding shotgun.

The 36-hole final match between McAtee and Irwin was not what McAtee’s supporters came to see. Irwin played inspired golf and McAtee’s match play locomotive had run out of steam. When the final putt of the afternoon dropped, Irwin had earned a 5 & 4 victory. At the awards ceremony, McAtee graciously proclaimed, “You can mark my word ….Hale Irwin will be recognized as a world-class player.”

Irwin would go on to win the 1967 NCAA championship and leapfrog onto the PGA Tour. As for McAtee, he too was ready to start a new chapter in his life.

“I had a plan. I wanted to serve my country, fly jets, play some military golf and, if in one piece after five years in the military, play on the

flat-hatting altitude causing Palmer to back off his putt. “I wonder how Arnie likes a taste of his own medicine?” the article’s author asked.

Palmer was known to buzz the golf course upon leaving tournaments after his final round.

In 1972, his naval commitment finished, McAtee was determined to create a buzz as a golfer. He entered that summer’s state match play tournament at Greeley Country Club. The previous two years, Bill Clark Jr., and Tony Veto, also members at Lakewood Country Club.

“Lakewood Country Club was home to some of the best amateurs back in the Sixties and Seventies,” he remembers, “and I was thinking it would kind of cool to bring the trophy back to Lakewood for a third straight year.”

McAtee worked his way through the field and reached the finals of the ’72 match play championship. With some 200 fans waiting on the first tee, he shook the hand of Mark Achziger of Fort Morgan and went after his fourth title match play championship in a contest that unfolded like a “psychological circus.”

The match was accented with both good and poor play from both players. By the 34th hole, the former navy pilot was down one and losing altitude fast. McAtee won the 35th with a gritty par. Both players made clutch putts on 18 to send the match to sudden death. On the second playoff hole, a 192-yard par 3. McAtee

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put the pressure on by hitting a crisp 3-iron to the center of the green. Achziger followed with a semi-shank that came to rest short and to the right of the green. He chipped 20 feet past the hole. McAtee calmly two-putted and was the state match play champion for the fourth time.

Later that summer McAtee set his sights on making it through the 1972 PGA Tour Qualifying School. He reached the final stage, but contracted severe mononucleosis. He played anyway and failed to earn his card.

In order to get ready for the 1973 Q-School McAtee moved to Florida and played the mini-tours. He earned some money but never his Tour card. He started to fight his game and lose confidence. Ultimately McAtee decided to return to Colorado and chart a new course as business manager of Mr. Mack of Neusteter’s, the beauty salons his father had started. Located within Neusteter’s department stores throughout the greater Denver area and along the Front Range, Mr. Mack also had a number of free-standing locations. He continued his association with Lakewood and enjoyed his weekend $5 Nassau games.

On occasion McAtee would get a wild hair and ask if I wanted to caddie for him in a local US Open qualifier or the Colorado Open.

The last time was at the 1976 Colorado Open at Hiwan, where he had a disappointing finish

after posting a nice 68 in the third round. Still a little hot under the collar and south of a few cold ones in the clubhouse, McAtee took us on a thrilling ride down I-70 to Denver in a silver and black ’69 Pontiac GTO he drove as if it were an F-8 Crusader. As we came up on the car in front of us at 80 mph, McAtee eased up with a foot of clearance.

“She’s pumping her brakes to back me off,” he said with a laugh. “She doesn’t know she’s got a naval pilot used to flying a high performance, supersonic jet in tight formation.”

McAtee has faced some physical battles in recent years with Parkinson’s, but as he approaches his 70th birthday he stays active. If you go to the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame awards each summer, you’ll see him chatting with an old adversary like Jim English.

McAtee twice defeated English during state match play tournaments en route to becoming one of only three men in the event’s 112-year history to have won it four or more times. He also leaves a legacy in some parting words for the reader: “So much in life is within your reach. Never underestimate your own potential and remember an honest pursuit of achievement stands worthy… Enjoy the ride!”

Cag

Scott Gardner is an Arvada-based writer.

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Playing to a

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How Mark and Lynn CraMer turned a quiet trade sHow into tHe kiCkoff event of tHe CoLorado goLf season.

By Jon rizzi | Portrait By Barry staver

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ike mOSt avid

golfers, ExpoMasters owners Mark and Lynn Cramer have their favorite hole. Only theirs isn’t located on a course—and it no longer exists.

The Cramers stage the Denver Golf Expo, which celebrates its 20th anniversary February 8-10 at the Denver Merchandise Mart, located just east of the 58th Avenue exit on I-25. They both remember vividly the last time the Expo fell on those dates. It was 2008, and on Thursday, February 7, a 40-by-40-foot sinkhole 16 feet deep opened up on the northbound interstate between I-70 and 58th Avenue, shutting down that part of the highway for the entire weekend.

“We were panicked nobody would be able to get here,” Lynn Cramer remembers. “Television reporters covering the traffic problems came to the Expo to see how it was affecting us, and the media coverage resulted in record attendance that year!”

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The 11,200 people who brooked the traffic detours received a free Dimension Z hybrid and exposure to more than 150 exhibitors showing the latest in equipment and providing information on golf destinations, local courses and everything golf. The attendees got to hit new clubs and trade in their old ones to support the Colorado Junior Golf Association, choose from among numerous golf-discount programs and pre-buy discounted rounds at local courses. They entered drawings for products, got a free swing analysis and a short lesson from a PGA Professional.

The golf orgy they experienced bore little resemblance to the Denver Golf Expo that ran between 1993 and 2000. PGA Director of Instruction Stan Fenn operated it as a trade show for fellow PGA Professionals and golf course owners. “There were no retailers and no places to hit clubs,” says Mark Cramer, who calls Fenn “a man of integrity, morality, loyalty and honor—all traits I admire. He hung in there but the golf shops couldn’t support him.”

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It took Mark—a one-time aspiring pro golfer with extensive experience in staging largescale trade shows and expositions—three years to convince Fenn to sell him the event.

After buying it in 2000, he set about to make it a “true golf experience” by creating value for vendors, sponsors and attendees. He purchased a huge net into which visitors could test the latest clubs, attracting manufacturers and retailers. He staged putting and driving skills contests with prizes like a backyard putting green. In 2001, the Cramers’ first year running

the Expo, attendance jumped to 5,500 from 3,500, the number of exhibitors to 77 from 55.

The Cramers knew putting money into better decoration—carpet, glass, chrome—would attract more vendors and make the place feel, he says, “like the finest pro shop.” The executive directors of the Colorado Section PGA and Colorado Golf Association took notice, and the event acquired the tagline, “the winter gathering of the golf industry.” It grew in size and reputation during the next four years. Attendance and vendor participation increased

DRIVE FOR SHOW: More than 10,400 annually attend the DGE.

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annually by 20 percent. By 2005, the Expo had quadrupled in space, occupying 100,000 square feet of the Merchandise Mart, accommodating 9,500 attendees and 135 vendors.

With Mark on the sales and marketing side and Lynn handling the administrative functions, database management and technical procedures, the Expo continued to grow despite the downturn in the economy. Since 2006, the Expo has averaged 135 exhibitors and 10,424 attendees. “And we count each attendee one time, like a golf course does,” Mark points out.

“Most promoters do a BS turnstile count.”

“We’ve kept the quality high and the cost for vendors and attendees down,” Lynn says.

“We treat each vendor like us, a family business operating a independent store.” Most vendors pay around $300 per day for a standard booth, and the price of admission this year is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and military and free for kids 12 and under. Admission entitles you to a free custom Dimension Z Lob wedge, a free yearlong Golf Digest or Golf Week subscription and enrollment in the “Fore Golf Program,” from South Suburban Golf Park and Recreation, a new progressive golf experience that begins in February with a free round of golf at Family Sports Center, Lone Tree or South Suburban, and continues into May with a choice of several golf deals each month.

The result is one of the best regional golf expos in the country, according to vendors who have basis for comparison. For Mark, it’s as much a labor of love as it is a business venture. His home office brims with golf memorabilia, including a Tour-quality leather staff bag stitched with his name and an original Rob Wood oil of Mark’s hero, Jack Nicklaus.

“I’d told him at the Expo one year that I loved Nicklaus because he just seemed to will putts into the hole, so he painted him with exactly that look—and gave it to me,” Mark marvels.

“Mark is so passionate about the game, he’s a joy to work with,” raves Colorado PGA Section Executive Director Eddie Ainsworth. “He

them and keep that on the front burner.”

He will. At every Expo—even one defined by a yawning sinkhole—Mark and Lynn Cramer ham-and-egg their way to a winning performance. In the process, they make golf in Colorado stronger.

“As a team, they get it, they absolutely get it,” says Ainsworth. “If more people could be around them and feel their passion, the economy would be better for it.” Cag

In addition to February’s Denver Golf Expo, ExpoMasters will present the Southern Colorado Golf & Travel Expo at the Freedom Financial Services Expo Center, 3650 N Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs. southerncoloradogolfexpo.com

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Jon Rizzi is editor of Colorado AvidGolfer.

OIL THRILL: Exhibitor Rob Wood’s gift to Cramer.

swap raises funds for the Colorado Junior Golf Association, and kids can hit Birdie Balls and take home a club.

“The Expo has become a landmark date and kickoff for the golf season,” says CGA Executive Director Ed Mate. “It’s a great way to reconnect with everybody. I give all the credit to Mark and Lynn for reaching out to us. The local golf industry is all there anyway.

Why not use it for something other than selling golf clubs?”

Among the other things the PGA Section is doing: a Sunday Ladies Day featuring four seminars for women golfers and a Sport Haley fashion show. “Women make up 16 percent of the national golf population,” Lynn says. “But 20 percent of our attendees and 30 percent of our exhibitors are women.”

“The demographics have changed,” Mark notes. “More ladies and kids are playing golf than ever before, and Lynn has helped me change my thinking to have more stuff for

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always asks what we’re doing and how he can help.” That passion for the game—stimulating excitement and participation in it—informs the Cramers’ approach to the Expo.

Sharing the same goals as the Colorado Section of the PGA and the Colorado Men’s Women’s and Junior Golf Associations, they’ve encouraged those organizations to leverage the Expo as a meeting place. The Cramers annually provide the CGA with a room to hold its tee-off luncheon and handicap training the Saturday during the Expo.

This year the Colorado PGA will conduct a junior golf summit, update training for its Golf In Schools program and hold a Town Hall meeting on player development. A club

Southern Swing

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theGamesOfGolf PUZZLERS | WORD GAMES | TRIVIA

Feats, Fame and Photos How well do you know the achievements of Colorado Golf Hall of Famers?

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he Colorado Golf hall of fame turns 40 this year. Housed in the clubhouse at the Riverdale Golf Courses in Brighton, the Hall celebrates the accomplishments of more than 125 men and women, including the 12 individuals shown here. Match the person’s image to his or her accomplishments.

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K 1. Won a record four Colorado Opens and 13 PGA Tour events, including the 1961 Denver Open at Meadow Hills Country Club.

2. In 1947, became the first native Coloradan to compete in the Masters.

3. Won the 1959 and 1964 U.S. Women’s Amateur.

4. Won three of the first four Colorado Open titles, in 1964, ’65 and ’67.

5. Won the 1971, ‘72 and ‘73 CGA Stroke Play Championships while still in high school.

6. 11-time winner on the Senior/Champions Tour between 1986 and ’96.

7. Winner of 19 CWGA championships, including four Stroke Plays, one Match Play, one Junior Match Play, three Senior Stroke Plays and one Senior Match Play.

8. Winner of 12 PGA Tour titles including the 1958 PGA Championship.

9. Golf course architect of 15 Colorado courses, including Perry Park, Saddle Rock, Mariana Butte and Raccoon Creek.

10. Winner of two USGA championships: the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1994 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links.

11. Former Edgewater resident won 31 professional tournaments, including three U.S. Women’s Opens.

12. On the final green of the 1983 Colorado Open, this former champion lay on his back and said, “Call Greenpeace. The whale’s been beached.”

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Visit coloradoavidgolfer.com for the answers. The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame (coloradogolfhalloffame.org) is located at the Riverdale Golf Courses in Brighton.

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