Memories from the Road

Winter is coming and hopefully, you will have time to find the sun and sneak in some warm weather rounds after a summer of 2008 that was rainy and cool in many parts of the country.

Writing golf travel stories is often therapy for a guy who has teed it up from the tropical shores of Hawaii to Middle East centres such as Dubai and Qatar and many points in between. The reality of deadlines can be softened by the memories of places you’ve played and people you’ve met along the way

The premier golf courses in the world have a way of providing sweet memories that last a lifetime, but those fairways and greens are only one aspect of a memorable golf vacation. Hanging out with the locals on and off the golf course is the complement to any journey.

Bertie the Bus Driver is a perfect example. His real name is Bertie Curtin, but we were prepared to call him Sir from the moment we touched down in last October on a trip that was part of a GolfScene contest. A strapping Irish lad with a mangled elbow from his rugby battles, sturdy Bertie has a rock jaw and a demeanour that initially leaves the impression that he won’t tolerate foolishness from the inhabitants of his Buckleys Tours bus.

While none of us had the physique, nor the inclination, to bring the big man down, Bertie’s barrel chest couldn’t disguise his heart of gold as the trip continued. Bertie singled out one member of our group who, at times, disregarded the itinerary, causing Bertie to either cajole him or scold him much to his chagrin and the rest of the group’s delight. Bertie the Bus Driver quickly became one of us and his knowledge of pubs at every stop was indeed impressive.

Bertie is a perfect example of someone who comes out of nowhere to enhance a golf vacation. He is now a legend in the minds of our group, but people who are higher-profile legends can also make a big difference on a golf journey.

Phoenix/Scottsdale is one of my favorite places to play. The Valley of the Sun has the resorts, golf courses, spas and attractions to make you feel like you’re living golf, instead of just playing it. Take a walk through the In Celebration of Golf retail store on Scottsdale Road and you will see what I mean. 

The people will keep a smile on your face too, even if they have big names. Take Bob Uecker, for example. “Mr. Baseball,” as he’s commonly called, is just as likely to be swinging a golf club as he is a baseball bat these days and the legendary Milwaukee Brewers announcer was just about to do that the Scottsdale Celebrity event earlier this year.

When I introduced myself as one of his teammates and told him we’d give it our best to get to the prize table, his reaction was the same as mine – we’re only here to have fun.

Uecker kept that promise too. Early in the round, I thought he was clearing his throat with a distinctive “Humph.” I asked him if he was catching a cold, but he informed me that I look like Humphrey Bogart and I would, from now on, be known as “Humph,” a nickname that continued to the end and would probably be revived if I saw Uecker again.

The giggles provided by Uecker over 18 holes are too numerous to mention here, but they reminded me of a similar experience years earlier when I was informed that I would be teeing it up with a famous single-digit handicapper at Scottsdale’s Troon North.

When rock legend Alice Cooper showed up, I asked him if he preferred to be called Alice for the next 18 holes. “Just call me Coop,” he replied in a down-to-earth style that, like Uecker’s, would make you believe you were playing with someone who doesn’t get asked for autographs.

While Cooper had a child of the ‘70s cracking up at his stories, there were serious moments when he openly discussed his battle with alcohol and how golf replaced it as his addiction. Not only does he play at home, but he takes his clubs on the road and is very familiar with Canadian courses.

Having a big name is not a prerequisite to being a good person on the golf course. Take my buddy, Tom Wuckovich, for example. A travel writer from Tampa, he is commonly known as “Coach,” at least to his friends in Canada who are chartered members of his “Wu Crew”.

The king of the one-liners, he came up with a gem on a visit to Switzerland in which we crossed the border into France to play. We discovered a grave marker on one of the fairways that explained that the fellow below had been gunned down in a duel years ago.

“Know what his last words on this golf course were?” asked the Coach. “Nice shot.”

There haven’t been a lot of those when the Coach and I have played, but there have been plenty of memories. I first met him in Amsterdam nearly 10 years ago and we teed it up at a nearby course called Spaarnwoude.

A canal ran alongside one of the holes at Spaarnwoude and, after our tee shots, we began walking down the fairway when the Coach noticed two men and two women on the other side of the water close to the green. “Is it my imagination,” he asked. “Are those people wearing all brown?”

Upon closer examination, it was a different story. “I’ve got news for you buddy,” I replied. “They’re not wearing anything.”

The well-tanned naked folks were quite nice and even cheered a pretty good approach shot. I turned around and bowed and they waved as I walked up to the green. After putting out, we walked up to the next tee and noticed there were a bunch of folks in their birthday suits in a nearby clearing. It wasn’t an establishment, just a place where people like to sunbathe nude and they were there before the golf course, we were told when we inquired back at the clubhouse. It isn’t really a big deal in Holland, but a good memory for a traveling North American golfer.

There are plenty more to share, but the only thing that’s better than enjoying memories on the road, is looking forward to making new ones.

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Tobiano Enhances Kamloops’ Golf Product

Tom McBroom may nibble, but doesn’t bite on the suggestion that Tobiano is the crown jewel among the premier golf courses he has designed over the years, although he admits he visualized something special when he first saw what had to work with in the interior of British Columbia near Kamloops.

That vision is now reality and the superlatives that have flowed since Tobiano’s opening last year would fill Kamloops Lake, which dominates the scenery at this new Canadian classic, and the adjectives are all justified, even if McBroom remains humble about his creation.

“I never rank the things that I do.  All I try and do in my business is do the best I can every time out,” says McBroom.  

“Obviously, some sites are more blessed than others in terms of their natural beauty, or their terrain, or their scenic qualities and certainly, Tobiano would rank as probably the most naturally spectacular site I’ve ever had — I have said that.  

“Every hole is a postcard.  The views are incredible, 360 degrees.  You’re either looking over Kamloops Lake to the distant mountain range on the other side of the lake, or you’re looking down the lake towards the city of Kamloops, or you’re looking west towards the ranchlands, so everywhere you look, it’s pretty awe-inspiring.

“It’s a desert.  That’s one thing people don’t realize about Kamloops.  It’s dry and arid there and then you contrast green fairways with the blue of the water and the desert environment. It just all adds up to a pretty spectacular canvas,” says McBroom, who presents a formidable test of golf in this picturesque setting.

A critical decision needs to be made from the get-go, even before admiring the views. If ego rules the choice of tees at Tobiano, prepare to pay the price on a course that stretches from 5,289 to 7,328 yards.

McBroom presents a visually intimidating design and while the forced carries, particularly on the difficult front nine, are not as tough as they may look, a high to mid-handicapper who chooses the wrong tees will experience golf balls rolling down a hill so steep, they aren’t worth retrieving in many cases.

The prevailing wind adds to the difficulty of the tee shot, but that is offset by other natural conditions, according to McBroom. 

“At Tobiano, you have to bang out some good, long drives to get in position, but you are in an arid climate, The ball goes five or six per cent farther.  The air’s a little thinner and there’s no humidity, so the ball does go farther,” he says. 

Assuming you make it over on many of the holes, there is more trouble waiting on the other side with the slope of the fairways threatening to roll the ball down into rough or bunkers.

“You need to know the course,” says McBroom.  “I think the fairway width is fairly generous, but it’s bunkered – many holes have fairway bunkers.  You do need to play the angles and you do need to play the slope.  There’s just a nice rumpled landscape, which really makes for great fairways.” 

The fairways are tough, but fair, a theme that can also be applied to the greens at Tobiano.  A little local knowledge also helps when you pull the putter.  

“All of the greens are designed for speed,” says McBroom.  “They’re not radically contoured, but they’re subtly contoured.  There are a lot of breaks in there that you can’t really read unless you’ve played it and you know them.  

“They’re fairly big greens and I think that’s appropriate because you get a lot of wind on that course.  That’s why the fairways are just a little wider than normal and the greens are a little bigger than normal,” he says.

It was suggested on this trip that the nines be switched to put the front nine on the backside to allow players to warm up before they hit the most difficult course, not that the current back nine is easy.  McBroom was didn’t think much of that suggestion, saying the current set-up was “just the way it was intended.” 

Either way, visitors to Tobiano find out right away that they have a challenging test of golf ahead.  “If you look at short fours, I love the second hole.  It’s maybe the one hole, you don’t have to hit a driver and then, you come in with a wedge,” said McBroom, who is also partial to the fourth hole. 

“It’s got a great rumpled feel to it, a long par four, but again, it’s the angle of your tee shot over the badlands.  It you can angle it correctly and take a higher level of risk, then you get it in much better position to come into the green.  That’s a nice sequence – four, five and six.” 

With that sequence complete, prepare for what is arguably the meat of the golf course.  If you made the wrong choice in selecting tees at the beginning, you may want to consider changing your mind for the next two holes, starting with the par three seventh, which ranges from 109 to 189 yards, with trouble all around. 

“You’ve got to make sure you get on the right tees,” says McBroom.  “It really is an island green, if you will.  I guess the comparable would be 17 at TPC Sawgrass although this is Canada in the desert. 

“There is no margin for error, although it is a big green and there is bunkering, but beyond the bunkers, there is nothing – you’re into the abyss.” 

If there is one hole that describes what Tobiano is all about, it’s the par five eighth, which stretches from 412 to 585 yards, starting with a tee shot over another abyss as McBroom calls it.

“We call it a heroic drive,” he says. “Again, you’ve got to be on the right tee box. It looks harder than it is – that’s one thing that’s important to understand. 

“The carry from the back tee to the fairway is really only 180 yards, but it looks like 380 yards. It is intimidating, but it’s a wide fairway on the other side.  The forward tee is on the other side, so I don’t ask high handicap players to hit over the canyon.” 

McBroom eases up, but only slightly, on the back nine and there isn’t a weak hole to be found over the entire 18.  Whether celebration or consolation is needed following your round, the staff back at the clubhouse is professional, if slightly off the wall, an attitude that suits the laid-back atmosphere of golf. 

The attitude filters down from president Michael Grenier through general manager/director of golf Miles Mortensen, a graduate of Fairmont hotels and resorts, and the training that staff members have undergone is evident through little touches they supply in their offerings.  Try the Bloody Caesar with a touch of horseradish, for example. 

That attitude should serve Tobiano well in the coming years as it transforms into a vacation/residential lakeside community with up to 450 hotel rooms, a village centre, 100-slip marina and equestrian centre.

While the course itself is a crown jewel for Kamloops, which is perceived as a blue collar industrial town, the hotel will be one step towards luring visitors from traditional B.C. hot spots for golf such as Vancouver, Whistler, the Okanagan Valley and Victoria, among others. 

On our visit, we bunked in at the Four Points by Sheraton, a comfortable stay that was highlighted by the sumptuous fare at Ric’s Grill, but more off-course accommodations and attractions will go a long way to sprucing up Kamloops’ image for visiting golfers. 

Certainly, the city’s golf product is impressive, if under-rated, with not only Tobiano, but also The Dunes at Kamloops, Sun Peaks, Rivershore, Sun Rivers and many more courses, including a delightful new layout that taught a lesson in native Canadian history at the Talking Rock Resort and Quaaout Lodge. 

Owned by the Little Shuswap band, Quaaout means where the sun’s rays first meet the water and Little Shuswap Lake certainly does sparkle on a sunny day. So did the golf course. 

Talking Rock tell the stories of the First Nations through pictographs on rock faces and the story in golf is that all levels will enjoy their day on this course. 

Opened in 2007, Talking Rock stretches from 5,437 to 7,129 yards as it winds through mature forest, taking a noticeable rise in elevation on the back nine with mountains and the shoreline of Little Shuswap Lake providing magnificent panoramas. 

Talking Rock complements Tobiano as the latest additions to the area around Kamloops that is emerging as a powerful, picturesque alternative to the desirable golf destinations that already exist in B.C.

For more information, see the websites, www.tobianogolf.com, www.talkingrock.ca and www.tourismkamloops.ca.  

 

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The Travel Grapevine

The World Golf Hall of Fame will pay tribute to late entertainer and golf enthusiast Bob Hope when the “Shanks for the Memory” exhibit opens on Saturday, Nov. 8.

“Dad would have loved the idea that things he saved and cherished will finally be shared with others who love the game of golf,” said Hope’s daughter, Linda.

Guests will see more than 300 artifacts as they wind through a variety of set pieces that reflect different eras and locations, including England, Cleveland, New York, Hollywood, Palm Springs, Washington and sites of USO shows around the world.

The stories will include several topics including Hope’s relationship with his wife and regular golf partner Delores, his achievements in entertainment and the close friendships he had with Hall of Fame members, celebrities and American Presidents.

A video presentation in the specially-created Bob Hope Theatre will feature some of Hope’s best-known golf stand-ups and skits, as well as tributes from some of the game’s most recognizable personalities.  For more information, see the website www.wgv.com.

Pinehurst Resort is offering Canadians 30 to 60 per cent off regular rates this winter.  Between Nov. 30 and March 31, rates will start at $175 U.S. per person, per night, based on double occupancy.  The package includes one round of golf per night stayed, with an upgrade to the famed Pinehurst No. 2 for an extra $165 U.S., overnight accommodation at either the Holly or Manor Inns, and breakfast buffet.  Rates at the renowned Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst are available at an extra charge.  For more information, call 1-800-487-4653, or see the website, www.pinehurst.com/canadian_special.asp.

Free golf is part of an autumn stay in Northern Michigan.  Golfers staying at Boyne Highlands or Boyne Mountain Sundays through Thursdays between Sept. 21 and Oct. 9 will receive one free round following each night’s stay.  Seven courses are available as is an upgrade at Bay Harbor Golf Club for $59.  Midweek lodging starts at $68.  For more information, call 1-800-462-6963, or see the website, www.boyne.com.

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IHG Proceeds To Benefit Future Links

The Royal Canadian Golf Association and the Canadian PGA have announced a corporate partnership with InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) that will benefit the CN Future Links junior development program.

A portion of every room booked online through websites such as www.future-links.org, www.rcga.org and www.rcgagolfcard.org will be donated to the CN Future Links Program, which raises awareness of junior golf and addresses issues such as accessibility and affordability.  “CN Future Links programs reached over 111,0000 children last year through our various programs and, with this added support, we hope to build on our success to make golf available to even more children,” said Ian Giles, chair of the CN Future Links
advisory committee.

IHG is affiliated with nearly 4,000 hotels and more than 590,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories.  Its portfolio includes brands such as InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

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Apparel Buyers Have Lots of Options for ‘09

As the golf industry looks forward to the next spring, the story in apparel each year usually revolves around a central theme, but 2009 is shaping up as a series of short stories.

If there is one central theme looking ahead to 2009, it is that buyers should book a little more time than usual with their suppliers, given the fractured nature of the golf apparel industry.  “I would be in agreement with that, with what I’m seeing out of the marketplace,” said Sharon Krieger of Tournament Sports, which distributes the Antigua, Nancy Lopez and Slazenger lines in Canada.  

“The brands seem to be each having their own directional focus and it seems like each one of them have something interesting to talk about, which I think, being a buyer, makes it an interesting time.  Along with choice comes confusion about how to merchandise your shop, so absolutely, it can be a confusing time,” said Krieger.

Mark Fletcher of the Fletcher Leisure Group – which distributes the Ashworth, AUR, Aureus, Aurea, Callaway and Sunice brands, among others–agrees.  “I think what’s happening, in general, is that we’re in a phase where the category is segmented and you’ve got different looks,” said Fletcher. “There’s not one over-riding look that is pervasive in golf fashion now.”

The story of the last few years has been performance fabrics with their moisture-wicking and cooling properties.  That won’t change for 2009.  “I still see a lot of technical out there,” said Ray Bessette of G&G Golf Company, which distributes the Straight Down brand in Canada.  “I’ve talked with several companies that are working in the U.S. or start-ups in the U.S. that aren’t in Canada yet and they’re still doing a lot of technical. They’re doing a little bit of cotton, as well.”

Performance wear has been rising in popularity in golf, continuing a trend that has been going on in other sports and activities, according to Nancy Haley, chief executive officer for Tehama, who adds that fabrics continue to evolve, keeping the trend alive.  “It’s interesting because this particular look is a carry-forward of what’s happening in other sports – biking, hiking or whatever,” said Haley.

“These are all really active sports that usually happen when there are more extreme changes in temperature, so it could be like 90 to 100 degrees (Farenheit), or it could be 30 to 40 degrees out.  What’s happened with the companies that have been producing products for these other more extreme, active sports is they’ve come up with just the most awesome fabrics that help you cool when it’s hot out, that let your body breathe, or they keep you warm, so the fabrics are what’s driving the interest.  When we use some of these fabrics that come out of the other industries, the golfers are going crazy over them.  They just say, ‘Wow, these are so comfortable,’” said Haley.

Krieger agrees.  “One big trend that we’re seeing from other sports that has come to golf is, in the cooler weather, wearing a long-sleeved, tighter-fitting underlayer and wearing a short-sleeved golf shirt over top and then, perhaps, another layering piece like a vest or another outwear piece over top of that.”

Performance wear has hit golf hard and even that is becoming segmented with various hybrid blends and price points.  “You’ve got one faction of brands that has really commoditized those fabrics and taken it to really low price points where you’re not getting really all that great function, but you’re able to buy it at low pricing,” said Fletcher.  “With Sunice, we’ve gone in another direction, to be able to have a high performance fabrication using Silver technology, where it’s really premium technical performance in a synthetic construction,” he added.

The segmenting of performance wear goes beyond price point.  Many companies are picking up on eco-friendly, materials such as bamboo, cocona and organic cotton, among others.  AUR has its Aware category, Tehama has its Green and Ashworth has its Organics, among others.

Of course, cotton is a natural product that once ruled golf, but it too can be combined with technical properties to produce a hybrid shirt.  “You’ve also got 100 per cent cotton constructions that are coming back in a variety of different hybrid technologies,” said Fletcher.  “It could be 100 per cent cotton that has a different finish on it, which is offering different hand feels.  Ashworth, for example, has returned to an all-natural fabric assortment, using a lot of cottons and cotton mixtures to create performance cottons, but it’s done with a completely different look and feel than the traditional mercerized cotton.  It’s got more of that California cool John Ashworth inspiration, so that is a look unto itself which makes it very unique,” said Fletcher.

Hybrids offer yet another option, according to Bessette.  “I don’t mind wearing a technical piece on the golf course because it does moisture wick and dry. Just to wear it on a day-to-day basis, I still prefer to go to a hybrid because it’s got the high quality cotton with a little bit of Aerocool, but it’s still very much a double mercerized cotton shirt.  We do a hybrid which is a 70 (per cent) cotton and 30 Aerocool.  That’s our premium shirt and that’s doing exceptionally well because of the blend, because it has that cotton content ith a little bit of technical for moisture wicking and drying,” he said, pointing out yet another trend.

“We’ve got some new technical fabric too,” said Bessette.  “It’s interesting because what we’re doing this year is we’re adding some texture to our shirts, be it both technical and hybrid.”

Straight Down isn’t the only company going with that concept.  “One of the terms (Antigua) is using is surface interest and that might not be such bold, bright prints, but lots of great, interesting texture and that can have some performance function by keeping moisture away from the body,” said Krieger.

With all the emphasis on technical fabrics the past few years, the risk of overexposure exists.  In other words, there’s the possibility of golfers and buyers being tech-ed out.  “I still enjoy a nice cotton,” said Bessette.  “A friend of mine commented to me – he’s a little older than me, maybe three or four years, so he’s in his early 50s – and his comment when we walked through one of the shops was that he’s had enough of the younger, technical look with the wild blocking and that kind of thing.  Some of the comments that I heard from some of the pros is they’re tired of hearing performance and they’re tired of hearing technical. They’d like to go back, but I don’t think you’re going to see a swing back to cotton like you saw a swing to performance.  I think it might take a little longer to work its way back to a pure cotton story.”

While cotton may not knock performance wear out, the barrage of technical fabrics the past few years may cause a change of thinking among consumers and apparel companies that, for years, offered their products as lifestyle pieces that are good for wear on and off the golf course.

With technical products being presented as ideal for on-course wear with their moisture wicking and other properties, cotton presents itself as après golf apparel, so a separation of on-course and off-course products now appears imminent in a complete reversal from the past.

“You still have a certain segment of the market that wants to wear mercerized cotton,” said Fletcher.  “It might be the more mature demographic that likes that look that you can wear under a sports jacket for dinner, for example.  You’ve got fabrications and looks that are segmenting.  If you take a 40-year-old golfer that may have, for example, one of each of those looks within his wardrobe, so it’s not a pervasive thing.  You may have some that only choose to wear poly, but it’s conceivable that you can have a guy who wants to wear all of those different looks.”

According to Haley, a longtime proponent of golf wear as lifestyle apparel, the arrival of performance wear has caused a dramatic change of thinking about what’s worn on the golf course and what is worn off the course.  “Here’s what we’re saying,” she said.  “Our brand has always been known as lifestyle sportswear.  I think that’s one of the things that, over the 20 years I’ve been in the business, I’ve been a proponent of that. We also noticed in golf that the consumer is interested in more of a performance product that they really just want to wear to play golf or do something active.  You can even ride your bike.  What Tehama has done is we’ve answered the call for both because there still is that golfer who loves the double mercerized shirts and just likes something they can wear to work.  The second offering we’ve got is a continuation of our Hang ‘Em Dry, which is a product you wear to play golf in, but you could wear a Hang ‘Em Dry shirt to work. This is just like a transition going from the mercerized. Then, we do our more technical fabrics and we combine them in our Green category, so we’ve got recycled polyester that’s more of a tech fabric that’s really sporty looking, so it’s more of a lifestyle look.  We’ve kind of got the whole gamut covered.”

That gamut is even more extensive when you consider other trends, such as one going on with the Nancy Lopez women’s line, according to Krieger.  “What we’re seeing as a key trend is a focus on glitz and glamour so we have lots of shiny, metallic fabrics and jewel tones which are strong and bright,” she said.  “We’re still seeing the long short as being popular for 2009 and skorts being a key bottom as well.”

With all of the options available to buyers this fall and consumers next spring, Fletcher points out that the time spent exploring the possibilities at the shows this fall is well worth it.  “

The consumers have a lot more, better product to select from,” he said.  “When you’re talking about brands that specialize truly in golf, you’re seeing companies that really understand the needs of golfers and we’ve been working with fabric mills and manufacturers to be able to give performance to golfers.  I think that’s really an important theme, that you’re seeing committed companies developing things that are making golfers happy.”

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