Where's Matty G?

Atlanta’s Art of Golf exhibit: Not So Hot

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:17:08 -0500

Colleague Pete Finch was blown away in Atlanta, but not by the golf art:

I was in Atlanta last weekend and stopped by the High Museum of Art in midtown, where there’s a special Art of Golf exhibition through June 24.

There wasn’t much golf being played on this day. The winds were high and I even spotted a few snowflakes as I hurried along Peachtree Street N.E. on Saturday morning. But if museum organizers were hoping cooped-up golfers would throng over to this show to get their fix, they had to be disappointed. Arriving a little before 11, I was one of only two guests taking in the exhibit, not including security guards.

Podcast: More on the WM Phoenix Open

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:44:00 -0500

I talk to Sam Weinman, editor of GolfDigest.com, about my recent blog post and more on why the Waste Management Phoenix Open is good for the game.

Listen to the podcast

--Matty G.

(Follow me on Twitter @Matt_Ginella.)

WM Phoenix Open: Golf Can Be Cool

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:26:49 -0500

I went to a sporting event last week, complete with cheering and jeering, crowds and concerts, betting, booze and babes. And, by the way, like a muffled marching band, the PGA Tour just happened to be playing through the festivities.

The Waste Management Phoenix Open isn’t only about golf, and that’s why it’s good for the game.

(The Zinburger girls are advertising "cold beer.")

Since the 1937, the Thunderbirds, an original extension of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, have been using this annual golf tournament to raise close to $80 million for more than 250 local charities. There are over 300 life members of the Thunderbirds, and there are always 55 active members, of which there is a Tournament Chairman. No active members are over the age of 45, which forces healthy change, fresh leadership, and a steady growth of momentum.

Notes & Best of Booth Babes from the PGA Show

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:34:29 -0500

Yes, I had a good show.

Back from my second PGA Show in Orlando, it's not unlike most conventions: meetings, meals and martinis. There were no beverage cart girls, but I did make a few minutes for the best of the booth babes.

My notebook (and iPhone) dump:

Travel Tips for Playing, Parking and/or Attending the AT&T

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:21:46 -0500

If you’ve ever been to Carmel, Calif., you know it’s simultaneously one of the most beautiful and expensive places on earth. I got an email this week that served as a reminder there are some bargains there. It was pitching a twofer of reasonably priced offerings during the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Feb. 6-12:

1. You can park for $20 a day in nearby Pacific Grove and take a shuttle over to the tournament. A five-day parking pass: $60. Click here for more details.

2. More important, you can play golf that week on one of my favorite little courses, Pacific Grove Golf Links, for a non-exorbitant fee. The course, whose back nine was laid about Pebble Beach architect Jack Neville and which runs right alongside Monterey Bay, has weekday tee times for as little as $29 and, at most, $57 per player. You read that right. More details here.

3. Also in this price range: The Bayonet and Blackhorse courses on the old Fort Ord site, just down the road in Seaside. Here, weekday tee times can be had for $51- $55.

Need tickets for the tournament itself? They’re just $10 for Monday’s practice round and $20 for Tuesday and Wednesday. They climb to $50 for the tournament days. Think of it this way: You could take a group of 10 for the cost of one Pebble Beach green fee!

--Peter Finch

(Follow Pete on Twitter @Pete_Finch; follow me @Matt_Ginella.)

A conversation with Pete Dye

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:53:16 -0500

Ron Whitten catches up with Pete Dye. The living legend has been busy falling off cliffs, breaking 80, building bunkers and fixing famous greens:

Got a phone call on Friday the 13th of January from Alice Dye, who was concerned about my bad back and wanted to know if I was going have an operation.

Hadn’t decided, I told her. Then she put her husband, Pete, on the phone, since he’d struggled with a bad back for years. We eventually got around to talking about that, but first, he had to tell me about the 77 he’d just shot at Gulfstream Golf Club, a few blocks from his home in Delray Beach, Florida. He’s now 86 (or as he puts it, Half a 172, and 15 days), so he was a full nine strokes under his age.

Pete then brought me up to date with his current work. He’d just finished reworking six greens at TPC Sawgrass, home of the Players Championship.

Trouble at Ballyneal: What's the next move?

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:20:44 -0500

Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club, a Tom Doak design that Golf Digest ranks among the best in Colorado, officially opened in late 2006--just before the Great Recession.

The remote, walking-only course hasn’t had an easy run. Though founder Rupert O’Neal put on a brave face, even talking about building a second 18, Ballyneal has sold only about 100 memberships, fewer than half of its projected 250. Its sole secured lender, owed $1.7 million, filed for foreclosure in November. The course will go to auction on March 7.

In an interesting twist, that secured lender is Colorado computer executive John C. Curlander, brother-in-law to Rupert O’Neal.

The Tao of Steve

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:18:55 -0500

Colleague Ron Whitten tees off on one of my favorite places on earth. And he's not grippin' it like a baby bird. (I offer my thoughts at the end of the post.)

I spent my holiday week reading Walter Isaacson’s sometimes repetitious biography on Steve Jobs, and what impressed me most about the highly flawed character of Jobs, the driving force behind Macintosh computers, the iPod, iPhone and iPad, was his insistence that his company create Great Products and not settle (as rival Microsoft usually did) for stuff that was Merely Adequate.

That got me thinking about my own role as a longtime golf course critic. I guess my goal has always been to identify the truly Great Products of golf course design, those that deliver the total golf experience. So as a New Year’s resolution, I’ve decided to embrace the Steve Jobs Quest for Perfection, and thus forego any sugarcoating.

Thus, for the first time, I’m publicly disagreeing with my friends and magazine colleagues that Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon is the Greatest Golf Resort in the World. I don’t see it that way.

The Who, What, When, Why (and how) of Waialae's "W"

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:49:02 -0500

Let’s say you’re a member of the board at a private Hawaiian club full of rich tradition. Your course is a classic design by Seth Raynor and Charles Banks that opened in 1927. You host a PGA Tour event, won by some of the biggest names in golf. In other words, all is good in the not-so-mad world of Waialae Country Club on Oahu.

Then along comes a member with respect for all of the above, but he also wants to discuss the dreaded topic of change. No, not to a bunker, or the routing. He’s happy with the conditions and doesn’t dabble in decisions about the color of the proposed rug in the clubhouse or the artwork on the walls. But drawing from one of his favorite movies, the ensemble comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” Ethan Abbott has an idea of what to do with the four palm trees behind the seventh green (below). He wants to make them into the form of a “W.”

He Wants to do What?!

Wait. Before you whack the idea, watch this video he put together to help his cause:

Happy Last Year!

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:20:54 -0500

Everyone’s looking forward. So positive and so trendy—to openly discuss resolutions. I’ve started yoga, I’m seeing a therapist and I’m determined to hit a draw. Body, soul and swing. But before I moved on, I spent time looking back. Prior to purging a year’s worth of iPhone images—my greatest season of golf and travel—I put together a slideshow of the highlights.

From pro-ams (four) to Pine Valley (twice) and turning 40 (once), as much as I’m looking forward to the New Year, the collective scorecard of my 2011 is worthy of a frame and a spot on the wall.

This year looks to be more of the same. Thanks for following along via blog, Twitter and Instagram.

--Matty G.

(Picture above: Course and hole number?)

Three golf books worth your money

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:06:59 -0500

It's the day after Christmas and you're finding yourself with seven golf shirts, shorts that would've fit six season's ago and a new iPad (or Kindle Fire). Now, if you're looking for some good (affordable) reading, Ron Whitten has some suggestions:

Q&A: Catching up with Tiffany Crystal, tips from The Beverage Cart Girl

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:06:41 -0500

Have you seen the GolfDigest.com slideshow featuring The 18 Most Annoying Golf Partners? It’s one of the most popular features we’ve had on the site all year.

I tweeted that I’m the Delusional Cell Phone Sandbagger who Schmoozes with the Cart Girl. I also tweeted that almost every successful buddies trip has at least one of each, and then some. A buddies trip is like a salad: The more color, the better.

One might argue that part of the slideshow’s popularity can be attributed to Tiffany Crystal, who posed as the hot beverage cart girl.

Because I love you, I was able to get my hands on a few extra photos and a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot:

Then I called Ms. Tiffany Crystal for a quick Q&A. (It's my job. It's what I do.)

Talking Tiger, Trump and Phil on ESPN in Jackson, MS.

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:42:42 -0500

Earlier today I jumped on ESPN Radio The Zone/105.9 in Jackson, Mississippi to talk:

-Tiger Woods, one of the greatest competitors of our generation.

-Donald Trump, who finally created a course I might like.

-Phil Mickelson, who will continue to contend in four tournaments a year.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Thanks to host Bo Bounds for having me on.

--Matty G.

(You can follow me on Twitter @Matt_Ginella; follow Bo Bounds @bobounds.)

Q&A: Donald Trump on his new course in Scotland and his contributions to golf

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:41:18 -0500

Donald Trump. I’ve met the man a few times. The first time was in the late 90s, when I was the golf photo editor for Sports Illustrated. As I recall, Trump was writing an article for the Golf Plus section of the magazine, and I went over to his office in New York to help coordinate the photo shoot. Simon Bruty was the photographer, and when we arrived, Trump wasn’t there. We were allowed to go into his office, overlooking Central Park, to set up lights, etc. As Bruty was doing his thing, I couldn’t help but look around. Trump’s desk was a mess. Not unlike the desk of Tiger Woods, which I saw when I was once allowed into his house. Papers everywhere.

Among the items on Trump’s desk was a note from George Steinbrenner: “Enjoy the game,” it said. And there were four tickets attached. I remember a Shaquille O’Neal basketball shoe. And a large collection of putters in the corner. One was all gold. Or, so I assumed. I picked that one up and started putting with it. At one point I picked up his phone, and in front of a wall of magazine covers, all featuring Trump, I did my best impersonation. At which point, Bruty snapped this photo:

When Trump arrived he ducked into his private bathroom to wash his hands and fix that magnificent head of hair. When I suggested he remove his coat for the photo, which looked a lot like the photo of me, he declined. He said he wanted to conceal his love handles.

Like him or not, and there’s rarely any in between, Trump has pumped a lot of time, energy and money into the game of golf. And whether you like his courses or not, you have to respect his passion for whatever he does. Personally, I’m a Mike Keiser guy, which is to say I like a minimalist approach to course and clubhouse design. And therefore, I guess I’m not a Trump guy.

Or, so I thought.

I'm thankful for . . .

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:12:45 -0500

Thanksgiving. It’s the Cypress Point of holidays. Nothing compares. It’s certainly my favorite. Like Cypress Point, Thanksgiving starts out with a handshake or a hug, some playable holes, feels like the gathering of family, and then builds to the presentation of the Big Bird, or the 16th tee. By the 18th green, you want to unbutton your pants, find a spot on the sofa, and drift into tryptophanic dreams of John Madden awarding you a turducken drumstick for being the game’s MVP.

So, what am I thankful for?