Thoughts on Seve

Seve Ballesteros' funeral is today. He died at age 54 of brain cancer.

I saw Seve play once, several years ago at the Masters. My plan was to walk the whole course, hole-by-hole, in order. I had just started my walk and was midway up No. 1 when a golf ball rolled up to my feet. I backed away and waited to see whose teeshot it was. Seve came strolling up the fairway.

I wasn't watching golf in Seve's heyday, but I knew this was one of the game's legends approaching me. There was hardly anyone else around (it was a bad teeshot) when he got to his ball. He gave me a nod as he approached the ball. I stood right by him -- close enough to think to myself, "huh, Seve wears Old Spice," -- as he cracked his second shot, a beautiful low iron.

I think what I liked about Seve, if only as a casual fan, was that he was known for his creativity. As a golfer who is forced to also sometimes hit, uh, creative golf shots, I liked it that there was a big name in golf known for the same thing.

Seve now has something in common with my Dad, who died of brain cancer two years ago when he was 62. Having witnessed my Dad's illness firsthand, I have some understanding of how terrible brain cancer is. It's tragic seeing someone who is otherwise healthy being crippled by something going terribly awry in their brain.

So here's me saying cheers to Seve, a cool old-school golfer who passed away far too young. And here's me saying that we have to keep supporting cancer research, because it's such an insidious disease.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 19 -- Scratch for the beard???

Welcome back to another installation of Hendren’s Hyperbole! Hopefully everyone’s week is flying by in anticipation of this week’s Players Championship. The Players championship is one of my favorite tournaments of the year and with a $9,500,000 purse every player worth anything will be competing.

Congratulations to Lucas Glover’s beard for the win last week at the Wells Fargo championship. Lucas’s beard defeated former Clemson teammate Jonathan Byrd on the first playoff hole for the win and a sweet giant check for $1,170,000. What does a beard do with that kind of scratch? Buy a gross of giant beard combs? Purchase a state of the art beard trimmer? Acquire some industrial strength mustache wax? Whatever the beard decides to purchase I’m sure it will be well worth the money.

On a completely unrelated note, when I returned from vacation last week I learned that one of my employees had flipped a zero turn mower off a rock wall about 15 feet tall. Luckily the roll bar did its job and he wasn’t hurt. The mower has seen better days but, most important, no one was hurt.

I have lots of other stories about mowers being rolled and other crazy “accidents.” I want to hear about your unbelievable employee “accidents.” I’m sure we all have some stories that even you wouldn’t believe could happen if you weren’t there to witness it in person.

Shoot me your stories and I will recap the best ones in a later entry.

I hope you all are gearing up for summer and getting yourself pumped to haul a hose all over God’s green earth. Today it is about 90 in Kansas City and June isn’t even here yet! I love Kansas summers!

Well, I better get back to it. Those greens aren’t going to syringe themselves.

Until next week….

-- Matt Hendren

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 18 -- Best course EVER

Note from Seth -- This was supposed to post last Tuesday, but I dropped the ball on it. Apologies, Hendren!

Welcome back to Hendren’s Hyperbole reporting live again from Kansas City. Unfortunately, I had to come back from the Dominican Republic and jump back into reality. In case you didn’t know, when you leave the real world for a week your return is not a pleasant one. I have never been this busy EVER! Looking on the bright side I guess my week will fly by!

I had a great time on vacation. I had the privilege of playing Corales, designed by Tom Fazio, last week on my trip. I know this is Hendren’s Hyperbole but there is not exaggerating in this following statement….BEST COURSE EVER! I could not believe how awesome Corales was! Just picture being right on the ocean, drinking cold beer, playing the most beautiful, well kept courses, dare I say, on the earth! Nope, I said it! Words do not do this golf course justice. I love golf and have played a lot of courses and they all fall short.

I want to give a special Hendren’s Hyperbole thank you to Julio Diaz, the superintendent of Corales. Julio’s hospitality was top notch. Julio, if you are ever in Kansas City look me up and I will return the favor! Another special thank you to Joel, my wife and I’s caddy. This guy knew Corales like the back of his hand and really made our experience a special one.

I know this entry is a short one but like I said... I am slammed!

-- Matt Hendren

Surviving the Tuscaloosa tornadoes

Today I spoke with Gib Fox, golf course superintendent at Ol' Colony Golf Complex in Tuscaloosa, Ala., about the destruction from the recent tornadoes there.

"It was black as night and eerily calm," he said, describing the scene. "You could see some small debris in the sky. Everybody says it sounds like a freight train. It doesn’t. It sounds worse."

Two tornadoes hit about a half hour apart, he said. The first one, he added, was mammoth, hitting at about 11 a.m.

Fox, his wife and two children live about a mile-and-a-half from where the tornado touched down. "We were looking at it as it passed and I was saying, 'This is bad. It was a half-mile wide and you could see it clear as day."

The twister was reportedly moving at 180 miles per hour, leaving a swath of devastation in its wake. Fox and his family do not have a basement, so they took shelter in a makeshift teepee they constructed in the middle of their house. Thankfully, he said, his kids didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

After the twister passed over his house, Fox stepped outside. "It was dead calm," he said. But the winds kicked up again shortly thereafter, and the second, smaller, tornado arrived.

"The second one went right over the golf course," Fox said. "I could see it. It was spinning up the in the air and I could see it. "

Like Fox's neighborhood, the golf course was spared any damage. Other areas, however, were not so lucky. The death toll is nearing 40, and whole neighborhoods are destroyed. "It looks like you took bulldozers and lined them up in a row and went to work," Fox said. "There’s nothing left.... And any time anybody loses their life, it’s bad."

Despite the massive physical and emotional devastation the tornado left behind, Fox said that given the record-breaking twister came within 200 yards of touching down at the University of Alabama and a nearby hospital, the death toll could have been even higher.

Sadly, in the end, he said, "You can rebuild a home, but you can't replace the people."

Links at Tuscaloosa Golf & Country Club superintendent Jason Bonneville videotaped the tornado and its aftermath.

Golfdom team at Grove Park Inn

We had a great time playing at Grove Park yesterday. Mark Rogers and his team are doing a great job out here in Asheville, N.C. The course picked up 2 inches of rain the night before we played, but still played great. Greens got fast on the back nine as the wind picked up/sun dried things out/crew rolled. Fun course.

The Questex Media team (L to R, Dan Jacobs, Pat Roberts and Kevin Stoltman... and me behind the camera) finished in 2nd place in the golf tourney. We left a few strokes out there for sure, too many missed putts.

The TOCA awards banquet (sponsored by Syngenta) takes place tonight. Fingers crossed!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, amigos!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

The goodness that is Golf Day (3 of 3)

National Golf Day 2011 Report
Part 3 (of 3)
By Tim Connolly, assistant superintendent, TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm

Lobenstine joined two other Maryland superintendents in the foyer of the Rayburn House Building to help tell their story as stewards of their land and leaders in their industry. Mike Barrett, CGCS of Argyle Country Club and Teddy Blauvelt of Hampshire Greens Golf Course took a short ride in on the DC Metro to be with Lobenstine. All three work within 20 miles of downtown Washington in a part of the country that’s treaded water through the recession. All are heavily involved as board members in their GCSAA Chapter, the Mid-Atlantic Association of Golf Course Superintendents.

Blauvelt, the Education Chair for MAAGCS, manages a course with many naturalized areas which he uses as opportunities to reach out to the community. He invites scout troops out to the course to help monitor wildlife throughout the season. “They love it and even if their parents aren’t into golf, they’ll start to understand more about it.” Staying positive despite hearing so many misconceptions about golf is part of Blauvelt’s credo. “We just have to be active and I don’t want to say confrontational. We have to be responsive to the people who are putting these bills in place, and that’s what we’re doing here today.”

Mike Barrett, CGCS, has been the superintendent at the 147-acre Argyle CC for 15 years and is the Media/Public Relations Chair for MAAGCS. He’s currently working on a comprehensive recycling initiative at the club and has started the challenging process of achieving certification through Audubon International. For Barrett, We Are Golf’s mission to put a face on the game is a key point. “I tell people that the survival and success of Argyle Country Club is paramount to me. It’s how I make my living, how I support my family. I have 15 guys. That’s how they support their families. It’s how we pay our mortgage payments, it’s how we pay our healthcare costs. People lose sight of just how important golf is and how many families, not just on the golf course, inside from the kitchen staff, the accounting staff, the pro shop staff, the directors. It creates jobs.”

As Rhett Evans looked over the noisy crowd that gathered in the light-filled foyer of the Rayburn Building, he suggested that our outreach doesn’t stop here, just blocks from the White House. “When you look at politics, it’s really local. There needs to be a grass roots effort that’s compatible on all levels, so that when we come in with a unified message of what golf is, it carries a lot more weight. So if the states and the local groups could get together, and form their own “State Golf Day” and march onto their state capitals and basically take this same message to their lawmakers, just think what that would do to spread the word even that much faster. And that can be done. It just takes some folks who are motivated to pull the right people together to make that happen.”

Folks like the group of superintendents who served their profession in the nation’s capital on National Golf Day.

The goodness that is Golf Day (2 of 3)

National Golf Day 2011 Report
Part 2 (of 3)
By Tim Connolly, assistant superintendent, TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm

Everyone knows golf is big in Florida. “We employ 167,000 people, about a $4.5 billion direct economic impact,” said GCSAA President Robert Randquist (pictured, center, along with Rafael Barajas, left, and Rhett Evans, right), director of golf course and grounds at Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton. “So for us to get that message across to our local representatives is very important.” Randquist, just 2 months into his term, shared his thoughts regarding a relevant federal law and its effect on superintendents. “NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) is a major concern for us, we’d like to see that put back in the jurisdiction of the different legislation that we’ve been under for years, so that’s a real key point for us.”

For Jon Lobenstine, Director of Agronomy for Montgomery County Golf and superintendent at Falls Road Golf Course in Potomac Md., having NPDES on the horizon is not good. The NPDES is a part of the Clean Water Act. For over 30 years, superintendents have applied pesticides under the umbrella of FIFRA (Federal, Insect, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act). Wording in NPDES trumps FIFRA. “The NPDES is going to make it difficult for a property with a certain amount of acreage of water. It will require extra paperwork per application simply because there’s a body of water on your property. The legislation is redundant because you’re already filling out application records to satisfy state laws. It’s extra work for superintendents that are already doing a responsible job managing their properties.” A House Resolution to amend FIFRA and prevent additional permits under the Clean Water Act has passed the House but has stalled in the Senate.

Before coming to Montgomery County Golf seven years ago, Lobenstine worked for Dean Graves at nearby Chevy Chase Club. Graves is the recipient of the 2011 GCSAA President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship. Working for Graves opened his eyes to the importance of being a voice for the profession. “You realize what these people do and you just feel like you want to give back. I enjoy being involved with stuff like this.” Lobenstine’s main goal for the day in Washington was “to help reverse the negative stereotype that golf courses have, as far as the environment. You know, anytime you see a lush green golf course, people think it’s over-watered and over-fertilized. And it’s really the opposite. We’re spoon-feeding nutrients, we’re hand-watering. We’re using less everywhere. I think just getting that word out is pretty big.”

The goodness that is Golf Day

I hyped how we had Tim Connolly, assistant superintendent at TPC Potomac, at National Golf Day representing Golfdom this year. Well, Tim has turned in his story and it's a great read.

Unfortunately, it's too long to run in its entirety in the next issue... but that's one good use of the blog -- No space restrictions here! So here is part one (of three) of Tim's report on National Golf Day in Washington, D.C. Look for parts two and three on Wednesday and Thursday.

Superintendents Serve their Profession at National Golf Day 2011

By Tim Connolly, TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Spring is the best time to visit Washington D.C., when a sea of cherry blossoms adorns the city with optimism. That positive energy was palpable during the National Golf Day activities on Capitol Hill, when golf’s main organizations converged to engage members of Congress with powerful messages of the game’s impact on their constituents.

The activities, which included putting lessons, swing analysis, golf simulators, and displays that narrated the successes of golf in the United States, took place in the Rayburn House Building, across Independence Avenue from the Capitol Building. We Are Golf, a coalition of the industry’s top organizations including the GCSAA, CMAA, NGCOA, PGA of America and the World Golf Foundation, is determined to put a face on the game that’s so often reviled by politicians as an elitist pastime. According to We Are Golf, the U.S. golf industry employs 2 million people and has a $76 billion economic impact nationally. Many familiar faces from GCSAA’s Board of Directors, including President Robert Randquist, CGCS and Vice President Sandy Queen, CGCS were there with CEO Rhett Evans to open the lines of communication with Congress and push legislation that helps superintendents and the golf industry.

Before heading upstairs for a series of meetings with members of Congress, Rhett Evans clarified the mission of the day. “We’re trying to let Congress know that when they make decisions on golf, to use us as a resource so we can provide them the necessary information so that they’re not just making a decision in a vacuum. What started this was the law that went into effect regarding economic stimulus and the fact that golf was excluded and that golf was placed in a category that just was not right. We were lumped in with massage parlors and tanning salons and casinos, and that’s disappointing. Now that it’s happened, we need to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Our No. 1 goal is that this piece of legislation doesn’t get cut-and-pasted when the next disaster relief bill comes.”

For Jay Goughnour, owner and superintendent of Raccoon Valley Golf Course in Jefferson, Iowa, disaster relief is a topic that hits very close to home. His nine-hole course, located northwest of Des Moines, was devastated by flooding in May of 2008. The flood waters affected over 60 percent of the 65-acre property with two greens completely submerged. The Goughnour family survived the disaster through dogged determination and incredible will. “When natural disasters affect golf courses, and it does happen, golf courses should be treated like other small businesses and placed in the same playing field,” said Goughnour. “Maybe aid won’t be available to those golf courses, maybe it will. But they should at least have the opportunity to apply and not be excluded for whatever reason.” He wants Congress to know that golf faces the same hardships as any other business in this economy. “There are a lot of courses that just struggle to make ends meet; there are small courses that are run like small businesses. They employ a few people and they’re great meeting places and valuable assets to the community but they’re not rich people. I own a nine-hole golf course and I can promise you I’m not rich. I’m just a hard working individual.” Indeed, the National Golf Foundation estimates that over 90 percent of golf courses in the United States can be classified as small businesses.

Mark Woodward talks with Golfdom

We're getting a lot of buzz right now about our new issue... the issue contains the first interview with Mark Woodward since he resigned as GCSAA's CEO.

Here's a short video interview, look for a complete interview in this month's issue!

(If you have any troubles with the video on the site, click here for the video.)

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 17 -- Mucho gusto, me llamo Golfdom?

Welcome to Hendren’s Hyperbole broadcasting live from the beautiful Dominican Republic! What an awesome country! Well, at least the drive from the airport to the resort and the beach at the resort is pretty stinking awesome! We are going to go play Golf Punta Blanca, a Nick Price design today and hit Corales, a Tom Fazio course at Puntacana Resort, tomorrow. I love vacation! Nothing to do but golf, drink, eat and lay on the beach! I'll share some photos and stories on the golf down there next week.

In my last post I reluctantly stated the obvious. As much as it pains me to say it, I am officially off the Johnny Vegas bandwagon. Because I am on vacation I am not logging the usual amount of golf watching, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share a story involving one Mr. Johnny Vegas.

A few months ago, when Johnny was playing golf with a little passion, Seth called and told me he had secured me a spot to take part in a mass media phone interview with Johnny Vegas, Camilo Villegas and Angel Cabrera. Needless to say I was pumped! I was going to get an opportunity to ask my boy Johnny Vegas a few questions... or so I thought.

I asked Seth if the phone interview was going to be in English. He told me the first half of the interview of going to be in Spanish and the second half was going to be in English. No worries, I just have to listen to a few questions and answers in Spanish and then it would be my time to shine, my time to earn my keep here on The Golfdom Daily.

I spent some time writing down a few questions to ask, things I thought I could use as material for my post. Needless to say, I had some awesome questions, and was ready to roll.

Also working in my favor was my wife. Erica has a minor in Spanish so I convinced her to take a few hours off work and listen to the interview with me and translate some of the interview I couldn’t understand. Foolproof plan, right? Not so fast.

The interview started and I had no idea what was going on. Is this Spanish? The extent of my Spanish speaking and understanding ability is what I learned from the band Sublime’s song “Caress Me Down.” You know the one: “mucho gusto me llamo Bradley!” I know that means, “Glad to meet you, my name is Bradley!"

That’s it. That is all the Spanish I know and unfortunately my name isn’t Bradley and neither was anyone I was interviewing. This is when I turned to Erica and said “What are they saying?” Erica proceeded to shush me, because she was trying to take in every word. After a few minutes I asked again "What are they saying, come on, hook me up!”

To add insult to injury, I heard them mention "Golfdom" by name (apparently, "Golfdom" in Spanish is "Golfdom.") -- so maybe they were talking about me. Maybe they were talking about my awesome questions! Perhaps they were even asking my question! (I had emailed a question in before the actual interview.)

This is where the whole interview started falling apart, at least for me. Erica told me they were talking too fast and it had been a long time since she had to translate anything. Basically, she tried her best but was no help. CRAP! Oh well, on to plan B, the English portion of the interview...

I waited and waited and waited, listing to what I am sure was a riveting question and answer session. All of a sudden I hear several people say “gracias!’ one after another and then there was a click and the phone was dead.

What just happened? The interview ended without an English portion? SERIOUSLY! SETH TOLD ME THERE WAS GOING TO BE AN ENGLISH PORTION! I just wasted the last hour of my life!

I was sort of pissed but then Erica started laughing and suggested I try to get an English transcript. Brilliant! All the great ideas I take credit for usually come from my better half.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get an English transcript despite Seth's email to Johnny's PR person. So instead of getting to read about the awesome interview I had with Johnny Vegas, you get to read about what a train wreck the whole interview was.

I should have known after that debacle Johnny Vegas was going to break my heart and run over me with his “bandwagon.” But hey, at least I got a good story out of it!

-- Matt Hendren

One last stop before the airport

At Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C.

A lot of work getting done by Brad Enie, director of grounds, and his staff out here. Enie, only 32, arrived at the course three years ago via Trump International in West Palm Beach, where he was an assistant. Mr. Trump himself sat down with Enie at lunch to ask him what he thought of the possibility of moving to D.C. Enie and his wife had been wanting to move closer to Pittsburgh to be nearer family, so he jumped at the chance.

The two courses look great. The Championship course just went through a redesign and the practice area has been blown up and expanded. They're about "95%" done with construction. "We're getting there," Enie said to me. "This spring has been unusually cool. We're about two weeks behind where I thought we'd be. But the good news is we had a great germination."

Thanks to Brad for his time today! An amazing 36 holes of golf... and a great finish to my trip to D.C.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Congressional and TPC Potomac

A busy day at two amazing golf courses.

Spent most of the day out at Congressional, meeting the team that will be hosting this year's U.S. Open. I met with five different members of the Congressional team... Mike Giuffre and Dave Hutchinson gave me a lot of time today, and I got the VIP tour of the course while the course was closed. After today, there will only be one more day when the course is closed before the Open. Plus, beautiful weather... it was a very good day.

But I wasn't done when I left Congressional at 3 p.m.! I still had some gas in the tank, so I headed over to TPC Potomac, which is just down the street, to get a course tour and meet up with Tim Connolly, first assistant at the course. Tim wrote for the blog while he was at National Golf Day recently.

It was a busy, but productive day. Check out these two photos -- the first photo is No. 18 at Congressional, the second is of No. 12 at TPC Potomac.

Three more stops tomorrow, then back to the airport, back to Kansas.

A big "thank you" to everyone who took time out of their schedule to meet with me today. I know how valuable time is, especially when the U.S. Open is staring you down!

An unusual Easter Sunday for your pal Seth

As you can tell from the photo, I spent Easter in D.C., my first ever trip out here.

What an amazing place! I think I walked more today than I did a few weeks ago at Augusta National. Saw the White House, the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, a visit to the Museum of American History...

And naturally, tomorrow and Tuesday is all golf. The No. 1 stop is Congressional CC to visit with superintendent Mike Giuffre and chat with him about hosting this year's U.S. Open. Then I've got two more courses on the agenda before I fly out Tuesday morning. (If you are in the area, drop me an email at sjones@questex.com and I'll come visit your course, too!)

I've joked with friends that these last few weeks have been the "Seth Jones North American Tour." When it's all said and done, it will be 7 trips in 7 weeks. All I need is to print up some T-shirts. The great state of North Carolina is next on the tour.

It should be mentioned that the SJNAT would not be possible without having the world's coolest, most amazing wife. So a 'thank you' to Mrs. Adrianne Jones... you are the best! (I'll make sure I save you a T-shirt from the tour, babe!)

OK... coolest thing I saw today? The Lincoln Memorial gave me a chill, as did the flag that inspired the "Star Spangled Banner." Oh, and Lincoln's hat he we wearing the day he was shot... surreal. And John Brown's rifle was pretty cool... man, I saw a lot of cool stuff today.

Check in tomorrow, I'll be reporting from Congressional!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Thanks for the warm welcome

When I came on board as senior editor of Golfdom about a month ago, I didn't know what to expect. But I can tell you this: I didn't expect to find such a jovial attitude among my coworkers or such a warm welcome from contacts and clients at the other end of the line.

With such camaraderie around the office and support from those in the field, I love coming to work every day. People in the industry have reached out to me me across the board, from golf course superintendents and Green Industry maintenance leaders to chief executives and public relations representatives.

I thought getting to know people in the industry would take time--and it will. But I am impressed by how quickly people have taken it upon themselves to welcome me to Questex and wish me well.

I am really looking forward to getting to know more and more of you and meeting you all in person. Thanks for reaching out!

Regards,

Beth

Great! Now they're after our balls!

The brave new world of golf course industry criticism has taken a new turn. I just heard on NPR’s "Sunday Morning Edition" (There really is nothing more intellectually stimulating on the radio around here! Sad, but true!) that there is a professor from the University of Maine who has made a biodegradable golf ball.

The current construction of a golf ball makes it resist decay... so this new ball will be made out of crustacean shells that will allow for more rapid decomposition.

Now it's not all of golf’s senseless water usage, excessive use of chemicals or our abuse of fertilizers, but our golf balls are destroying the environment as well! I never saw this threat coming, but I understand. I mean, all those hackers at Pebble Beach, Cypress Point and the multitude of seaside courses around the world are slowly displacing the oceanic water! This is certainly going to cause some sort of water level rise that will only compound the damage that is being created from the arctic ice caps melting. And inland waterways are being negatively affected in the same way, causing more flooding problems!

I never knew that our game was so dangerous to not only passing cars but also the entire human civilization!

Everyone reading this should gather that it is written tongue-in-cheek, but really... WHAT IS NEXT?

-- Chris Sorrell, superintendent, Eagles Ridge GC, Curwensville, Pa.

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 16 -- Stay out of the pond

What’s up Hendren’s Hyperbole fans? There is not a lot going on in the Hendren’s Hyperbole think-tank this week. The weather is changing a little more everyday making my days as busy as can be. Each day is starting to blur together, and we haven’t even hit the 90 days of hell yet! UH-OH! I better get my stuff together!

Did anyone watch the Valero Texas Open? I watched quite a bit of it, unfortunately. I watched Johnny Vegas fall apart, as usual. I think I have officially fallen off the Vegas bandwagon and it ran over me. What a joke. I just wanted to see a little fire in Vegas’s belly. Instead of fire in his belly all I see is a kid who looks like he is out playing a round with his buddies. Uninspiring.

Does anyone remember Rich Beem? In 2002 he won a little golf tournament called the PGA Championship. I have been a Rich Beem fan since I read his book Bud, Sweat, and Tees in 2001. It’s a good read if you are a golf fan. Anyways, Rich was in the hunt through Friday and then he just seemingly dropped off the face of the earth leaving me to watch another no name golfer, Brendan Steele, win in less than dramatic fashion. Less than dramatic might be a little harsh because any win on the PGA tour is a pretty special feat. I am just tired of all the no name winners.

Did you see Kevin Na’s impressive 16 on the par four number nine? It was epic! Na lost count after about ten or eleven strokes and had to go check the tape to come up with the final count of 16. IT WAS AWESOME! It actually made me feel good about my golf game.

I have been asking about ideas for me to write about for a while and the only one I have received is a request for me to tell about the time I played a new course, Spring Creek G.C., in Seneca, Kan. and decided to swim in the pond off No. 7.

...Well that is pretty much the story. I wasn’t playing all that well, had a few adult beverages and it was really hot so I decided a swim in the pond was a great idea. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably wouldn’t have dove in the pond because it was only about 4 feet deep and it stunk like a sewer. I think I stunk for about a week. No amount of showering was going to get off that funk!

Oh well, that’s how you get good stories, right? There you go Brad, a quick version of the pond incident in the thriving metropolis of Seneca, Kan.

Till next time!

--Matt Hendren

Best things overheard at the 2011 Masters

If you get the Golfdom Insider e-newsletter, you'll have already seen this last week. If you don't get the Golfdom Insider e-newsletter, click here to sign up. This next one is going to be big, I promise!

These are the best things I overheard from the 2011 Masters...

One thing about going to a major golf tournament like the Masters by yourself is, you tend to hear a lot of the conversations around you, since there's no one to hold a conversation with you.

I'm always happy to make a mental note of the funniest/strangest things I hear all day. I like to think there are so many eloquent patrons because they're inspired by the beauty that is Augusta National, but it's probably the $3 beers. Yet another reason to love the Masters.

So, without further ado, the best of the Masters… from outside the ropes:

After his wife dumped out the remains of her iced tea on the second cut of No. 14 fairway
Husband: "You shouldn't have done that!"
Wife: "It's just ice!"
Husband: "It's Augusta National!"

A Masters patron looking at the open expanse of land at Augusta National between holes 8 and 18:
"Look at this! This open space? That's in better shape than most of the golf courses I've ever played in my life."

Rhett Evans, GCSAA CEO, after I told him that I chose to walk the two miles from my hotel to Augusta National rather than drive:
"You know they have free parking here, right?"

A Masters patron immediately after exiting the bustling golf shop at Augusta:
"They gave me a trophy as I walked out… for the least amount of money ever spent in the golf shop!"

AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson, introducing Lorena Ochoa at the Golf Writers Association of America dinner:
"Did you know that when Lorena was the No. 1 player in the world, she went to the maintenance building at the Kraft Nabisco, and actually made the maintenance team breakfast? …I can't imagine the other No. 1 player in the world at the time, Tiger Woods, making anyone breakfast."

Legendary golf writer Dan Jenkins accepting an award at the Golf Writers Association of America dinner:
"It used to be that golf writers drank gin and wrote about Bobby Jones all day. Now they drink bottled water and write about Tiger Woods all day."

A patron trying to convince a security guard that what she was seeing wasn't what she was seeing:
Security guard: I'm sorry sir, no cell phones are allowed inside.
Patron: That's not a phone.
Security guard: I'm sorry?
Patron: That's a camera.
Security guard: So your camera came with a dial pad on it?

A patron, to Gary Woodland as he approached the No. 4 tee, a deceptively long 240-yard par three:
Patron: What do you think, Gary? 8-iron?
Woodland: Yeah… two of them.

A patron as he watched a group of fairway mowers cut No. 7 fairway in unison:
"This might be the coolest thing I've seen all day!"

Last pic from National Golf Day takes the trophy

Our three local superintendents: left to right: Jon Lobenstine of Falls Road Golf Course, Teddy Blauvelt of Hampshire Greens Golf Course and Mike Barrett CGCS of Argyle CC, standing in front of a trophy that'll be given to the winner of a little tournament at Congressional CC in June. Thank you USGA for the photo op!

If you can't fix Congress, at least fix their swing!

Here's a pic of The Golf Channel's Michael Breed helping out a member of Congress with his golf swing.

Golfdom at National Golf Day

Tim Connolly, 1st assistant at TPC Potomac (and a former English major) is on the ground in Washington, D.C., covering National Golf Day for Golfdom. He's doing an awesome job already. Check out the photo Tim submitted as well as his Tweets (read in reverse order, from bottom to top) below.

Golfdom

Local supers Mike Barrett, Teddy Blauvelt and Jon Lobenstine are doing a great job representing superintendents at Nat'l Golf Day. #golfday

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Golfdom

A lot of positive energy here, so great to see all the groups that represent We Are Golf in one space, spreading the word on golf. #golfday

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Golfdom

GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans is a pretty good putter, showing off the flat stick on practice greens in D.C. #golfday

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Golfdom

...as well as putting greens and environmental initiative displays. #golfday

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Golfdom

Rayburn House bldg is on Independence Ave., right across the street from the Capitol. The foyer is decked out with golf simulators. #golfday

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Golfdom

Arrived at the Rayburn House bldg. Don't walk thu the metal detector w/ hands in pockets, doing so will draw the ire of security! #golfday

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Golfdom

Look for updates from Tim all day! #golfday

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Golfdom

Happy National Golf Day! Golfdom has Tim Connolly, 1st asst at TPC Potomac (and a former English major) on the scene in Washington, D.C.!

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We have our winner!

Check out Questex Media's own Ric Abernethy with his new Masters 2011 hat for winning the Golfdom Hackoff! Second place, Eric "Double Bogey" Neuteboom scores 2nd place and a hat as well!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 15 -- Haunted by No-Names

Welcome back to Hendren’s Hyperbole! What a weekend! If you love golf half as much as I do it had to be a great weekend. It was the Masters, probably my second favorite major after the U.S. Open. Anyways, a lot happened so let’s get to it!

How about Charl Schwartzel winning the Masters? How anti-climatic can a golf tournament get? Wasn’t this a major? I mean who the hell is Charl Schwartzel? Who names their kid Charl? If I had to hear Nick Price talk about the Sunshine Tour or how he had Charl as his dark horse to win the tournament one more time I was going to lose it. Look, I love me some Nick Price as much as the next guy but come on! I think a “nobody” winning a major hurts golf. Thanks for nothing Charl!

Thanks to those of you who signed up for the first Golfdom Hackoff fantasy golf league. It was a last-minute deal but we had twenty people sign up in less than a day! We will definitely do a Golfdom Hackoff fantasy league before each of the majors. I will continue to fill out my team lineup for the rest of the year so feel free to continue filling out yours as well.

The winner of the Masters edition of the Great Golfdom Hackoff was... 17466. Wow, what a team name! I know about as much about 17466 as I do about Charl!

Well, while the team name is not very impressive, 17466's win was. 17466’s starting foursome was Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Y.E. Yang, and Rory McIlroy. Congrats and if you shoot Seth (sjones@questex.com) your address we have a pretty cool prize from Augusta National for you. Thanks again to all of you who signed up!

What did you think of Rory’s epic meltdown? I thought it was horrible and it made me a little sick. I just hope that experience is an educational moment and not a defining moment, and I think it will be. You all remember what it was like when your 21… no? Me neither. My point exactly! I’m sure he’ll move on from that devastating meltdown and go on to do great things in the game of golf.

I wanted to do something to make Rory feel a little better and I could only think of one thing. Because Rory let down Ireland and feels badly about it I figured I would point out some even bigger Irish failures than blowing a four shot lead and dropping $1.1 MILLION DOLLARS in the process. Here goes nothing!

1. Sinead O’Connor… brutal.
2. The Cranberries… OK, I kinda like ‘em... but still horrible.
3. Denis Leary, responsible for the ridiculous TV show ‘Rescue Me,’ and a horrible tweeter.

There you go Rory! Don’t you feel better already? I know I do! Thanks for reading everybody and fire me a comment if you have a topic you would like me to write about for a future post!

Until next week!

-- Matt Hendren

What did you think?

Of the back nine at Augusta National?

It pretty much had it all, didn't it?

I've got an interview from Augusta National with Rhett Evans, GCSAA CEO, ready to post. It's was Rhett's first Masters and we talked about the importance of GCSAA being at that tournament. So I thought, as a precursor, I'd share this welcoming photo from Augusta National.

That's right, prior to entrance through the gates at Augusta, you can find a sign directing members of the PGA... LPGA... and the GCSAA... this-a-way. And there's no line on that side of the fence, baby!

I think it's awesome that the GCSAA gets such nice treatment from the folks at Augusta.

More soon. I'm in Cleveland at the corporate office this week, so we'll be making some good things happen at Golfdom.

Who's ready for National Golf Day? It's this Wednesday! Golfdom will be there!

What a great day!

OK, I'm wrapped up here in Augusta. My one day at the Masters was AMAZINGLY productive. I've got a few interviews in the can and a few other pieces I think you're really going to enjoy.

The world of golf is here! So you know Golfdom had to be too!

Club Car vehicles line Washington Road at the Masters

The more than 20-year tradition highlighting Augusta artists and benefiting the American Cancer Society continues during this year's Masters tournament. Be there when Augusta businesses display 75 to 100 custom-designed golf and utility vehicles painted by artist Raul Viera. Participating businesses are encouraged to make monetary donations to the society, which Club Car matches.

Some E-Z-Go photos

I'll have a real report on my visit with E-Z-Go next week, but for now, I'm going to post a few photos and then shut it down so I can get some sleep tonight.

Thanks to my pal Brandon Haddock, marketing communications manager for E-Z-Go, for all his time and attention today!

The photos (from bottom to top): the flip-chair metal getting welded (I dig the out-of-focus look); an employee using a "smart tool" that is calibrated to turn the bolts with an exact amount of torque; some cars coming off the line; a land of E-Z-Go cars in line awaiting shipping.

ALSO: Don't forget to sign up for our fantasy golf game! I'll have some sweet prizes from the Masters for winners!

THE GREAT GOLFDOM HACKOFF!!!

Welcome to a special edition of Hendren’s Hyperbole! I know I just posted a riveting entry a few hours ago but trust me; this news will get your attention. If it doesn’t, you are not a fan of the PGA Tour or fantasy sports!

Breaking news from The Golfdom Daily headquarters! Starting NOW, The Golfdom Daily has formed a fantasy golf league. It is going to be at http://golf.fantasysports.yahoo.com/golf . Click on "Sign up now!" for "Tee it Up!" fantasy golf (it's the only fantasy golf game they have.) Once you create your team, click "join a group." The group ID is 17466 and the group name is The Great Golfdom Hackoff (Yes I know 'hackoff' is spelled hack off but I was limited in spaces to enter a name and I had to have the name be The Great Golfdom Hackoff!)

You will need a password to join the group. The password is golfdom123.

I called Seth and he is all about this idea. He said he'll pick up some Masters gear tomorrow morning at the course for the winners. Jones might be a lousy golfer but he's got good taste in golf gear, so I expect him to pick up some sweet prizes! Don't let us down Seth!

It is just as easy to sign up for as the bracket challenge and in my opinion, just as fun! Everyone will pick one “A” golfer, two “B” golfers and one “C” golfer. The lists of golfers are on the website.

I could go on about details but I will spare you, they are all on the website. The easiest thing to do is GO SIGN UP! This is the perfect week to start due to the Masters starting this week. Go sign up and compete in the inaugural edition of The Great Golfdom Hackoff!

www.yahoosports.com
The Great Golfdom Hackoff
Group ID: 17466
Password: golfdom123

All we are missing now is YOU!

'Til next time!

-- Matt Hendren

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 14 -- Bracket winner, a (very) few nice words about Tiger

Welcome back to Hendren’s Hyperbole all six of you who read Hendren’s Hyperbole. Spread the word! I figure either you love the hyperbole or you hate it, either way you have to read it….right? I need some comments people! Comments help me shape the hyperbole. I am going to assume that no comments means I am hitting the nail on the head and all six of you love what you are reading. If I am wrong, leave a comment or shoot Seth an email letting him know you love Hendren’s Hyperbole!

Congratulations to Jerome Tucker for winning the inaugural addition of Golfdom’s Bracket Challenge, sponsored by SubAir and Rain Bird. First and second place both get $50 gift cards, while the next 12, maybe even 20 (depending on how many prizes we have stashed in Seth's office), all get some sort of prize for playing along. I'm talking golf shirts, hats, etc. So if you finished in the top 12, make sure to email Seth your mailing address.

Other notable participants include Erica Hendren finishing 2nd, Matt Hendren finishing 6th, Pat Roberts finishing 8th and last but not least... Seth Jones finishing 18th. In case you didn’t figure it out… yes, my wife kicked my ass by finishing 2nd! If Butler would have won my wife would have won the first ever Golfdom Bracket Challenge.

The thing that gets me is she doesn’t even like basketball! I think she picks winners by the team’s mascot or uniform color or something. This is the last year I invite her to join the Golfdom Bracket Challenge! To make myself feel a little better I listed where Seth and Pat landed in the field of 57 participants. At least I beat someone I can talk a little junk to but losing to my wife is fairly emasculating. Nice work Erica.

Did any of you notice The Goldom Daily has a sponsor? Jacobsen baby! WOW! The Golfdom Daily has officially hit the big time. I’m talking about the JACOBSEN! I bet all of my readers have at least one piece of quality Jacobsen equipment you use to manicure your course and make you look good in the process. I am pumped and want to personally welcome Jacobsen to The Golfdom Daily.

How about Phil winning the Shell Houston Open? I think it’s great and wish Phil would play at the level he is capable of, like last weekend, a little more often. No one is more fun to watch when he is firing on all cylinders than Phil. This was Mickelson’s first win since last year’s Masters win. From what I can tell, everyone loves Phil. Phil is the anti-Tiger. For the first time since 1997 he overtook Tiger on the world rankings, jumping to 3rd. Tiger is 7th and falling fast.

If you read Hendren’s Hyperbole on a regular basis you know I am not a Tiger Woods fan but am starting to feel sorry for him so I wanted to throw this out there…. I Know Tiger will get his stuff together sooner or later, probably later, but it is true -- regardless of anyone’s opinion of Tiger you have to give him props for what he has done for the game of golf. There, I said something somewhat nice about Mr. Woods. This probably won’t happen again so if you are a Tiger supporter or sympathizer this should tide you over for a while. Just don’t forget Tiger is still a bum.

Do you think Phil can throw together back-to-back wins for the first time since 2006 and win the Maters this week? I looked into my Magic 8 ball and it said “Outlook Unclear.” I hope he does as long as it doesn’t involve beating Johnny Vegas in dramatic fashion on the 72nd hole, which is not looking promising.

Does anyone give Tiger a shot? Did anyone buy Tiger Woods: My Swing? Has your game improved immensely? I am still waiting to schedule Seth’s first swing lesson. The offer still stands! Fire me a comment and let me know what you think.

-- Matt Hendren

Masters week... new Golfdom staffer... excitement all around!

There's so much going on here at Golfdom HQ, I barely know where to start!

How about with this exciting news... we have added to our staff! Golfdom has added the amazing Beth Geraci, a veteran journalist who combines excellent experience with superb enthusiasm, to our team. Beth is located at the Cleveland offices of Golfdom, and can be reached via email at Bgeraci@questex.com. Welcome Beth! (Look for more about Beth at the end of this post.)

Also, welcome to Jacobsen as the official sponsor of the Golfdom blog! We're honored to have a sponsor like Jacobsen supporting the blog. We want to keep posting regularly, and with a company like Jacobsen taking notice and lending their support, well, that makes us want to do even better work here.

Speaking of 'work here': Keep an eye on the blog as we'll be posting from Augusta National and the Masters this week. We've got meetings set up all over the place... including GCSAA's new CEO; the host superintendent of the PGA Championship; E-Z-Go; the Golf Writers meeting; and our own Anthony Williams, CGCS, MG. If you're going to be at Augusta this week and would like to meet up, drop me an email at sjones@questex.com.

The Golfdom NCAAA Bracket Challenge -- sponsored by our friends at SubAir and Rain Bird -- is about to come to a close! I know Hendren will have some things to say about it tomorrow, but yeah -- the winner of tonight's game determines the winner of the first ever Golfdom NCAA bracket challenge! And I'm pretty sure Hendren will be pulling for the Butler Bulldogs! I'll let him explain why tomorrow...

Speaking of random sports betting (but no money is changing hands here, no-sir-ee...), do you want to do a little Masters pool? I'll talk to Hendren about it tonight. We might slap something together last minute. If we only get three people involved, well, at least my odds of winning increase.

FINALLY... let me better introduce you to Beth. (I need a nickname for Beth. I've been calling her "B.G." thus far, but I need something better. Her last name is pronounced jer-AYE-cee so maybe that's where I need to focus. ...or maybe she hates nicknames all together, and if that's the case, I'll find out very soon!)

***

Beth Geraci has been named senior editor of Golfdom and Landscape Management magazines, officially joining the Questex team on Monday, March 29.

Geraci has worked as a professional journalist for more than 15 years, including six years as a writer for the Chicago Tribune. A graduate of Allegheny College and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Geraci began her career as an editor at a newswire service in Washington, D.C. ,where she edited and distributed press releases from the White House and congressional leaders.

She went on to become the community news reporter at the Jackson Hole Guide newspaper, winning two national feature writing awards. Her other experience includes working as a book editor in Chicago and as a professor of business communications at Cleveland State University.

“I’m excited about joining the Questex team as senior editor of Golfdom and Landscape Management,” Geraci says. “I’m really looking forward to working with everybody and making my own contributions to the company.”

Get ready for a Jack attack

As you know if you subscribe to the Golfdom Insider, we'll have a story in our April issue of Golfdom that takes a look at Nicklaus' win at the Masters 25 years ago. Written by one of our regular superintendent writers, Ron Furlong, the story includes an interview with Billy Fuller, who was the superintendent of Augusta National at the time.

There's also going to be a documentary on Jack's win on ESPN next Wednesday... here's the press release:

On the 25th anniversary of one of the most memorable moments in sports history, ESPN Films
looks back at Jack Nicklaus’ win in the 1986 Masters in a one-hour documentary airing Wednesday, April 6, at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Yes Sir: Jack Nicklaus and the ’86 Masters will explore the magnitude of what happened on April 13, 1986, when the 46-year-old Nicklaus charged from behind and won the Masters for the sixth time. He became the oldest player ever to earn the coveted Green Jacket at a time when many believed the legendary golfer would never win another tournament.

The film includes fresh new perspective from Nicklaus, his son and caddy Jackie, and others such as Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Tom Watson who offer special insight into Nicklaus’ achievement. In the film, Woods, who became the youngest ever to win the Masters 11 years to the day after Nicklaus’ historic win, and Nicklaus sit down separately to watch highlights of the 1986 Masters and discuss their golfing careers then and now.

"Jack Nicklaus' dramatic comeback to win the '86 Masters isn't just a golf story or even a sports story," said John Dahl, executive producer, ESPN Films. "It's a human story of a father and son coming together for something so inspiring that it resonates powerfully 25 years later. The film is a poignant look at that magical father-son journey."

The film follows three hours of live programming on ESPN from Augusta National Golf Club on April 6. SportsCenter at the Masters, a one-hour special, airs at 5 p.m. and will preview the 2011 version of the event. ESPN’s live coverage of the annual Masters Par 3 Contest airs from 3-5 p.m.

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 13 -- Can Tiger Cure Your Swing?

Welcome back to Hendren’s Hyperbole! I hope the NCAA Tournament games were kind to your bracket last week. In case you live under a rock the final four is set with Kentucky, Connecticut, Butler and VCU. Don’t be too hard on yourself Jonesy, it just wasn’t the Jayhawks' year. Before you know it college football season will be here and you’ll be on the hill with a cold beer in your hand.

If your bracket is toast, no worries, I have great news! Tiger Woods wants to help you with your golf swing!

That’s right, Tiger wants to personally help you with your golf swing through an application available for iPhones and iPads called Tiger Woods: My Swing. My Swing claims to help golfers of all levels improve their golf swing through video analysis and instruction from golf great Tiger Woods. With the My Swing application you are able to compare swings against every club in Tiger's bag.

I just have a couple of questions about Tiger Woods: My Swing. Don’t you think Tiger should worry about fixing his swing before he tries to help you with yours? If I wanted swing advice from a struggling golfer with a questionable swing I would ask advice from my Dad or Seth or a hundred other bad golfers I know. At least swing advice from my Dad doesn’t cost $9.99. What a joke. I’ll tell you what blows my mind: I guarantee thousands of brutal golfers are going to purchase this app and think it is going to improve their golf game. How about you mail me your $4.99 and I get Seth to give you swing lessons? I say the chances of your swing improving are about the same and you’ll be ahead $5. That is a hell of a deal! Think about it and let me know when to schedule your swing lesson.

How about Martin Laird! Laird rallied from three shots back with four holes to play to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Laird came out flat Sunday to fall three shots back but came back for a great win. The win puts Laird in forth in the FedEx Cup Standings. Tiger finished seven shots back in 24th place. I guess when you compare 24th place to Johnny Vegas not making the cut, Tiger must be gaining confidence?

Whatever, don’t forget to schedule you swing lesson with Seth. Just shoot me a comment to schedule your lesson and make your check payable to Hendren’s Hyperbole!

Till next time!

--Matt Hendren

Do you QR Code?

Do you recognize this funky-looking box?

Apparently if you take a photo of it with your smartphone, you can get a discount on Echelon herbicide from FMC.

I'll admit, this technology was new to me until recently. Adam Manwarren at FMC introduced me to how this stuff works while I was at the GIS (that's me and Adam in the photo, I'm the one who looks perplexed.)

But now, I think it's pretty cool... there are a couple of these "QR Codes" in each issue of Golfdom... you can learn more about products, like FMC's Echelon or about the Golfdom Summit... out and about, I can scan a QR Code on my boarding pass to track my flight, or I can scan a QR code on a movie poster to see an exclusive sneak preview (did this with "The Mechanic" recently.)

Manwarren is all over this technology, and in fact, he was all over it at the GIS, using it to his advantage to spread the word about FMC's products.

“The opportunity to use new communication technology like videos, QR codes, and social media and through the GIS app smartphones, as well as the Twitter feeds with hash tag opportunities created for interesting dialogue before, during, and even after the show," Manwarren told me.

So my question for you is... do you use this technology yet? Check out my poll and let me know!