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Interview with Author James Bartlett, Mastering Golf’s Toughest Shots

April 9th, 2012

Enjoy our interview with Author James Bartlett.  The world's best caddies share their secrets to success! Collaborated with the Founder of the Professional Caddies Association, Dennis Cone.

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Interview with Professional Hickory Golfer Mike Stevens

March 6th, 2012

Wood-Club Tournament Recalls the Game’s Roots

By LISA D. MICKEY

TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — Cars driving on the neighborhood streets surrounding Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club slowed to a crawl, their drivers craning their necks for a better look at yesteryear.

It was as if the knicker-clad, sweet-swinging ghosts of Walter Hagen, Tommy Armour, Jim Barnes and Gene Sarazen had returned to play another round at the site of the 1925 Florida Open.

In a salute to those stars of the 1920s and the history of golf, two dozen players showed up Monday for the second annual United States Professional Hickory Golf Championship. They walked the venerable 1922 Tom Bendelow course, carrying small bags of wooden-shafted clubs.

Men in ties, caps and argyle socks and women in skirts and stylish hats played low bump-and-run shots into the greens. They used clubs with names like mashie, brassie, niblick and jigger stamped into the tiny club heads, some irons looking more like straight razors than golf clubs. They played with replica rubber golf balls from the 1920s that usually landed at least 10 yards short of typical targets.

“It’s like we stepped into a time machine,” said Kevin Weickel, the 2011 North Florida Golf P.G.A. pro of the year and the tournament director of the P.G.A. Tour’s Children’s Miracle Network Hospital Classic in Orlando. “You almost see the ghosts of those old pros scattered around the first tee.”

He added: “Some of these old trees were here back in 1925, and they were a part of that tournament. Looking around today, it makes me wonder if this is my field of dreams.”

Mike Stevens, the tournament director and the club pro at MacDill Air Force Base in nearby Tampa, decided to bring a hickory golf tournament to the area after he won the 2005 and 2010 National Hickory Championship and competed in the World Hickory Open in Scotland, where hickory golf is popular.

Because most golfers do not own hickory-shafted clubs, he also asked Jay Harris, a retired dentist in North Carolina who collects the vintage clubs, to supply clubs for contestants. Harris took 40 sets of hickory clubs with him, giving players in the event a chance to practice with them a day early.

Like Stevens, Harris is an ambassador for the game’s history. And he says he wants golfers to know more about the roots of the game.

“Baseball fans know their history, so I would hope that golfers have a curiosity about their game,” said Harris, the winner of the 2008 United States Hickory Open championship.

It takes players more enamored of the romance of the game’s rich history than by the repetitive act of muscling shots on 7,400-yard layouts to show up for an event like this. Just as they did at the 1925 Florida Open, contestants faced a course measuring less than 6,400 yards.

While Temple Terrace lacks the length found on modern PGA and L.P.G.A Tour courses, the real challenge in hickory golf is mastering the clubs. The wooden shafts torque differently in the swing process from modern-day equipment, forcing players to adapt to different timing. The most successful players resist the temptation to overpower the ball.

“The challenge is hitting a ball with a less-than-perfect implement, but when you pull off a good shot, it’s exhilarating,” Stevens said. “Hickory golf is difficult, but it really opens up your imagination.”

Eddie Peckels showed some imagination when he holed out a mashie, the equivalent of a 7-iron, from 170 yards on the par-4 12th hole for an eagle. Peckels, a pro at Tuscawilla Golf Club in Winter Springs, Fla., shot a three-over 76 to win the event. Jim Garrison, the Temple Terrace host club pro, also carded a 76, but hurt his back late in the round and conceded the playoff.

Jennifer Cully, who shot an 85 and won the women’s tournament for the second time, said “today’s modern clubs feel like cheating” when compared with hickory clubs.

“The hickory clubs are pretty whippy, so you have to have good timing,” said Cully, a teaching pro at Apollo Beach (Fla.) Golf Club.

Tom McCrary, the head pro at Glen Lakes Country Club in Weeki Wachee, Fla., assembled his set of hickory clubs after he helped a neighbor clear out an attic. He said he enjoyed the challenge of hickory golf even though he had to sacrifice the normal length of his modern clubs.

“It’s a different technique and a different strategy playing with these clubs,” he said. “You don’t just hit it hard.”

Curiosity is often the driving force for players to try hickory golf. That was the case for Gregor Jamieson, the director of golf at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, who played with hickory clubs for the first time Monday. His father was a clubmaker and the longtime head professional at Turnberry Resort in Scotland, who Jamieson said played with hickory clubs for 15 years after steel clubs were introduced.

“Golf is not easy anyway, but this brings it to a new level,” Jamieson said. “You’re not getting any help from these clubs. You have to hit the ball with precision.”

Of course, precision is not easy with the hickories, but the quest for it is enticing, said Brian Schuman of Long Island, who began the Metropolitan Hickory Society in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut region.

“With these clubs, you feel history in your hands and the emotion of the game,” Schuman said. “Sometimes, I wonder where these clubs have been.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 21, 2012

An earlier version of this article contained a picture caption that misstated the name of the wood used in the club heads. It is persimmon, not permission.

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Interview with Brendon Elliott, PGA, Little Linksters

March 6th, 2012

Since July of 2008, the Little Linksters Golf program has brought the game of golf to a typically non-traditional sect of the golfing population; the “Pee-Wee” Golfer (Ages 3-8). The Little Linksters Golf Program is a great introduction to the game of golf for for all children in this age group. The program is taught in a fun and interactive way using a combination of both traditional golf instruction methods and very non-traditional ways. The bottom line with the Little Linksters program is FUN!

The program is run by PGA Golf Professional Brendon Elliott. Brendon is the former General Manager/Head Golf Professional at the historic Winter Park Country Club located in downtown Winter Park, FL. After 13 years at WPCC, Elliott resigned from his position in July of 2011 to focus solely on the expansion of Little Linksters. Brendon, along with his wife Melisa are the owners of Little Linksters, LLC and LittleLinksters.com. The home office of the company is in Deltona, FL.

In August of 2011, in a second phase of expansion, the Little Linksters Golf Academy @ Metrowest Golf Club located in Orlando, FL was opened.

The Little Linksters “mobile” program has been run at various daycare centers, schools, and municipalities in the Winter Park, FL, Lake Mary, FL and Deltona, FL areas since July of 2008. “Expansion of the program is in the works” said PGA Golf Professional Brendon Elliott, the founder and lead instructor of Little Linksters, LLC. “After almost three years of running our “pilot” or “test” programs, we have started taking steps toward taking this central Florida based, part-time business and program to a broader, national market. In early 2010, we re-branded, created an easy to follow program guide/coloring book and started putting a great package together for other PGA and LPGA Professionals to eventual purchase an implement in their area so that they too may be able to share in the rewarding work of bringing golf and all of the lessons that it teaches to the littlest of golfers” explained Elliott. The time frame now to launch our “National Program” will be sometime in late 2012″ said Elliott.

Little Linksters, LLC is pleased to now bring you the following:

The Little Linksters “Mobile” Program

The Little Linksters Golf Academy

The Little Linksters “Tour”

The Little Linksters Golf “FUNdamentals” Coloring Book

The Annual Best Pee Wee Golf Swing in America Video Contest (to include Canada, Mexico & Beyond in 2011!)

The goal of Little Linksters, LLC is to provide children from ages three years to eight years of age with quality introductory golf instruction and to expose them to all of the wonderful life lessons that the wonderful game of golf teaches us all. Although our target group is children ages three through eight, we will not limit ourselves solely to those age groups. Additionally, Little Linksters, LLC will strive to be a leader in the “Pee-Wee” golf arena and provide tools and information to all PGA Professionals, educators and parents that share in our vision. To accomplish our goal, we will provide services and products at reasonable rates, be responsive to the needs of our customers, and make ourselves available as much as possible to our patrons.

The mission statement of the Little Linksters program:

“Through a fun and friendly learning environment, students will accomplish three major goals; which in turn will produce a passion and respect for the game of golf. Through vigorous efforts each player will learn; how the game teaches real life lessons (patience, integrity, respect, honesty and friendship), how to master the basic fundamentals of the golf, and finally how to enjoy the experience that the game of golf offers”

Honors and Awards:

2011 NFPGA Junior Golf Leader Award

2011 East Central Chapter of the NFPGA Junior Golf Leader Award

2010 US Kids Golf Top 50 Kids Teacher

2010 PGA Presidents Council

2011-2012 PGA Communications and Public Relations Committee

2009-2010 Nominee for East Central Chapter of the North Florida PGA Merchandiser of the Year

2009 U.S. Kids Golf Top 50 Kids Teacher Honorable Mention

2009 PGA Presidents Council

Called “Florida’s Networking King” in July 2010 Article in PGA Magazine about PGA Professionals use of Social Networking

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Boots and Bandana Golf

March 5th, 2012

Golf can be played literally anywhere. The growth of the game depends on appealing to not only the traditional country club types, but to also appear to those who literally take the country in the club to heart! Listen and learn more about Boots and Bandana Golf Association. Visit our website at www.bootsandbandana.com

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Interview with Steve McDonald, PGA

February 17th, 2012

Steve McDonald, PGA Golf Professional is the most decorated player on the First Nations Golf Association's Professional Tour. He has won the the National Native American Senior Open Championship in San Jacinto, Calif.

Steve has won more than 35 sanctioned PGA sectional tournaments and eight FNGA professional championships.

He is an owner along with Mitch Osceola and Jason Ray in the Plantation Palms Golf Club, Land O'Lakes, Florida.  This is the first Native American owned golf course in the United States that is not affliated with a tribe or a casino!

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Interview with Champions TOUR Player Jeff Sluman

February 6th, 2012

• PGA TOUR Victories: 1988  PGA Championship.  1997  Tucson Chrysler Classic.  1998  Greater Milwaukee Open.  1999  Sony Open in Hawaii.  2001  B.C. Open.  2002  Greater Milwaukee Open. Height: 5 ft, 7 in
• Champions TOUR Victories2008  Bank of America Championship,  Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.  2009  Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.  2011  Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.
• International Victories(1): 2010 Nedbank Senior Golf Challenge
• Other Victories(4): 1999 CVS Charity Classic [with Stuart Appleby]. 2003 CVS Charity Classic [with Rocco Mediate], Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout [with Hank Kuehne]. 2004 Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout [with Hank Kuehne].
• Weight: 140 lbs
• Birthday: 09/11/1957
• College: Florida State University (1980, Fi...
• Turned Pro:1980
• Birthplace: Rochester, NY
• Residence: Hinsdale, IL

• Loves Formula One auto racing.
• Big fan of the Florida State Seminoles, Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs.
• Serious wine collector, owns about 2,000 bottles dating to 1957.
• Co-owner, with Dudley Hart, of Lakeshore GC in Rochester, NY, a course he played regularly growing up.
• Good friend of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal.
• After disqualifying himself at 1996 Bay Hill Invitational, refused to take undue credit for act, quoting Bobby Jones: "It would be like congratulating someone for not robbing a bank.".
• Teamed with office supply retailer OfficeMax to create The Jeff Sluman & OfficeMax "Drive for Hope"—a charity fund that is poised to raise $450,000 to $750,000 for the City of Hope and other charities…Started in the game at age 4 but didn't think about turning pro until after his senior year of college.
• Favorite movies are "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Pulp Fiction," "Caddyshack," "Patton" and "Crash.".
• Followed the Pittsburgh Pirates as a kid and favorite player was Roberto Clemente.
• Says his most memorable shot was his 5-iron on the 72nd hole at the 1987 PLAYERS Championship.
• TV favorites include "30 Rock," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Entourage," as well as college and pro football.
• His first job was working at a bowling alley (Dewey Gardens) in Rochester.
• His favorite meal is a Caesar salad, a dry-aged USDA prime ribeye with asparagus and a potato.

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Interview with Annika Sorenstam

July 8th, 2011

Enjoy an interview with Annika Sorenstam about her Golf Academy and the Reunion Resort in Orlando, Florida.

BIOGRAPHY

Annika Sorenstam is the most dominant player in women’s golf. Throughout her storied career, she has rewritten the LPGA and Ladies European Tour record books, won countless awards and events, and brought unprecedented attention to women’s golf. Her success has changed how women’s golf is played, covered and viewed, and in her rise to mainstream athlete and celebrity, she has had a positive impact on all women’s sports.

CHILDHOOD

Annika was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 9, 1970. Her parents Tom and Gunilla nurtured her love of sports, and she began playing golf at the age of 12. Annika remains close to her family, especially her sister Charlotta, who also plays on the LPGA Tour.

EARLY CAREER

In 1987, Annika joined the Swedish National Golf Team. She credits fellow Swede Liselotte Neumann’s win at the 1988 Women’s Open for heightening her interest in golf. She played in the World Amateur Golf Team Championships in 1990 and in 1992, when she won the Championship.

In the fall of 1990, Annika enrolled at the University of Arizona. She won seven titles during her collegiate career, and became the first foreign and first freshman player to win the individual NCAA Championship. Annika also won the 1991 National Co-Player of the Year, 1992 Pac-10 Champion and was named to the 1991-1992 All-American team. In 1992, she was a runner-up for the National Player of the Year Award and also finished second to Vicki Goetze at the United States Women’s Amateur Golf Championship. The following year, Annika was invited to play in three LPGA events, finishing in the Top Ten in two events and earning over $47,000. She also had four second place finishes on the WPGET (now European Ladies Tour), and was named the 1993 WPGET Rookie of the Year. Tying for 28th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament later that year, she earned non-exempt status for the 1994 season.

LPGA Tour

Annika burst onto the scene in her rookie year with three Top Ten finishes, including a tie for second at the 1994 Weetabix Women’s British Open. Her stellar year was rewarded with the 1994 Rolex Rookie of the Year Award. The following season, Annika won three events, including her first LPGA tour title upon winning the U.S. Women’s Open. She also received the 1995 WPGET Order of Merit, the 1995 Rolex Player of the Year Award, Sweden’s Jerringpriset Award (the country’s most prestigious sports honor) and the Bragd Gold Award for Sports Achievement (voted by the citizens of Sweden). To top off 1995, Annika appeared on a Swedish postage stamp (3.50 Swedish Crowns).

In 1996, Annika again won three events, including the U.S. Women’s Open. She passed the $1 million mark in LPGA career earnings and won her second straight Vare Trophy for lowest season scoring average. 1997 brought six more LPGA victories, a homecoming win in a WPGET event in Sweden and a second Rolex Player of the Year Award. In 1998, Annika won four events, as well as her third Vare Trophy and third Rolex Player of the Year Award. She also became the first player in LPGA history to finish a season with a sub-70 scoring average (69.99). 1998-99 saw seven more victories, her first career hole-in-one, and over $6 million in career earnings. In 2000, Annika began a streak of six seasons in which she posted at least five tournament victories a year.

2001 was an outstanding year for Annika. She won the Kraft Nabisco Championship and seven other LPGA events, set or tied 30 LPGA records, and registered a 59 in the second round of the Standard Register PING. She also became the first LPGA player to total $2 million in season earnings, and won both the Vare Trophy and Rolex Player of the Year Award for the fourth time. She continued her amazing play in 2002, winning her fifth Vare Trophy and Rolex Player of the Year Award. That year she became the second player in LPGA history to win 11 tournaments in a season, and she set or tied 20 LPGA records. Her 11-stroke victory at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic tied an LPGA record for largest margin of victory in a 54-hole event. Including her victories on the Ladies European Tour, Annika won 13 events in only 25 starts.

Annika became the sixth player in LPGA history to complete the LPGA Career Grand Slam in 2003, after winning the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and the Weetabix Women’s British Open. She won five other events worldwide that year, set or tied 22 LPGA records, and received her sixth Rolex Player of the Year Award. Other achievements in 2003 include receiving her second Jerringpriset Award, being named 2003 Female Athlete of the Year by the United States Sports Academy, and receiving the 2003 Golf Writers Trophy from the Association of Golf Writers. Annika also gained worldwide media attention when she played against men at the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, becoming the first woman to play in a PGA event since Babe Dickinson Zaharias in 1945. Although she missed the cut, her participation was seen as a landmark event for all women’s sports. She competed once more with top PGA players in the 2003 Skins Game, finishing second with five skins in a field that included Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara. She also scored the eighth eagle in Skins Game history.

Annika continued to smash LPGA records in 2005, becoming the only player in LPGA history to sweep the Rolex Player of the Year Award with her eighth win, setting an LPGA record. That year, Annika also won her sixth Vare Trophy and won 10 of her 20 starts, becoming the second player in LPGA history to win 10 or more events in two different seasons. She finished first on the ADT Official Money List for the eighth time in her career— tying an LPGA record— and she won a homecoming event on the Swedish European Ladies Tour. She also won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship for the third consecutive year, becoming the first LPGA player to win a major three times in a row, and then won the Mizuno Classic for the fifth consecutive year to become the first golfer in LPGA history to win an event five years in a row.

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Interview with Golf Great - Andy Bean

April 10th, 2011

 

We enjoyed our interview with PGA TOUR Veteran Andy Bean. Here is some info on this great golfer....Lived in Jekyll Island, GA, as a child where his father was associated with a golf course. His family moved to Lakeland when he was 15 and his father bought a golf course there...Dream would be to fly a jet and land it on a carrier...Lists Doral, Butler National and Pebble Beach as his favorite golf courses...Favorite athletes are Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer...Enjoys listening to Toby Keith and Garth Brooks. Favorite TV show is "Miami Vice" reruns...Enjoys Clint Eastwood movies. Favorite books are Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey...Is an avid follower of University of Florida sports and was honored, along with his fellow 1973 national champion Gator golf team members at the Florida-South Carolina football game in November 2010.

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Briefcase Golf Radio Introduction

March 6th, 2011

 

Introducting Briefcase Golf Radio. A weekly syndicated radio magazine that covers the world of golf, business networking, and lifestyle interests.

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