Growing Up at the Club

Pro Shop – Hillandale Golf Club

I’m not one of those sad stories where I grew up with nothing and rose to great heights.  By no means did I grow up with a silver spoon, but never once in my life did I go without. My hard-working mother and father would suffer before they would let myself or my sister go without. When my father got into the restaurant business things seemed to get even better. From that time on, I was a member of a golf and country club. Although I had played for years this was the first time that I had access to the amenities that come with being a member of a country club. Don’t get me wrong, I worked at my dad’s restaurant when I got old enough but until then I was a country club rat. Especially in the summer when school was out I literally spent every day working and playing at the club. A typical day for me would be to get to the club just before sun up to bring the carts up from the cart barn. This is a job that any boy at 10-13 years old would relish. Then the less pleasurable job of loading the clubs on the carts. When I completed these two tasks I was technically off the clock. But I learned that if I just hung around the shop that I would be inevitably be asked to perform small tasks and errands for the members…grab them a cup of ice, a towel, range balls, tees… basically a gopher. Then I quickly realized that I made more money on tips than I did on my wage. As soon as all the scheduled groups were off the first tee my best friend, Steve Bogden, and I would walk eighteen holes.  When we were finished we would walk straight to the pool and cool off for a few hours, not bad right! But we weren’t done yet.  Next it was time for our evening eighteen. Yes, we would play another eighteen holes and then just before dark we would unload and clean the clubs and put the carts back into the barn. Getting home just after dark when you left in the morning before dark makes for a long day and I did it almost every day in the summer and on the weekends in the winter. Some of my favorite memories come from this period of my life and I thank my lucky stars to have been fortunate enough to live it. There’s no doubt that my obsession with this great game originated from this part of my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If you’ve got a lazy kid and you’re a member of a club, put him to work at the pro  shop… you will not be sorry.

Fairways and Greens

Robert F. Rowe

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In My Caddie I Trust

Being a golf pro in Fayetteville NC would not be looked upon as the greatest job in the world but it does have its redeeming qualities. Firstly, the people are great but more importantly you could be on the first tee box at Pinehurst #2 in 45 minutes. Trust me, in my eight years living in Fayetteville, I took full advantage of it.

My dear friend Jim and I went to tee it up on Pinehurst #2 on a Tuesday. It was a week after the Payne Stewart victory in the US Open. Supposedly the course was set up the same as it was in the final round so we were fired up to get out there. Jim never had the opportunity to play #2 before and had never had the luxury of playing with a professional caddie. I’ve played #2 a few times and this would be my 2nd caddie experience.

There was nobody on the course so Jim,myself and our two caddies strolled up to the first tee. The first thing the caddies asked us was “How far do you hit an eight iron”. These guys could pretty much club us for the entire round by using this tidbit of information. My friend is the assistant in the golf shop and he told me earlier that these were the best two caddies out there. He said that they had actually carried for touring pros the week before. We get out on the course and I begin to notice that Jim is repeatedly ignoring the advice of his caddie. Realizing that these guys have made hundreds of loops around #2 and knew every break on every green, I did what ever my caddie suggested.

Toward the end of the front nine I was holding my own, about one or two over. But poor Jim was hovering around 7 or 8 over and still ignoring his caddie. Then it happened. Jim had about 185 yards to the pin and his caddie told Jim to hit 4 iron. Jim kept insisting it was a 5 iron, again vetoing his caddie’s advice. This time the caddie had made up his mind to make a statement. While Jim was addressing the ball the caddie put his shadow on the ball. Jim looked him like “Have you lost your mind” and the caddie said,  “Mr. Jim, sir. It’s  a 4 iron not a 5.” Jim hits his 5 iron anyway and comes up exactly one club short. Go figure.  Jim had left himself 45 ft from the hole. His caddie told him it broke 4 ft right to left and Jim thought it broke 4 ft left to right. Ok, at this point I’ve had enough. I told Jim to listen to his caddie and if this putt didn’t break right to left then he could ignore him for the rest of the round. Jim listened and proceeded to roll that 45 footer in like a homesick gopher. From that point on Jim’s game got better and he actually started having fun.  After that, Jim’s caddie could have told  him to drop his pants and poop on the green and he would have!

On a serious note, I suggest that everybody needs to make it point to visit the Pinehurst Resort, not just for the golf but also for the village itself. Everything about Pinehurst oozes golf history.

Fairways and Greens

Robert Rowe

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The Double Whammy

At the risk of sounding redundant, I’m going to revisit another great day of golf at Cypress Lakes Golf Club.  Remember, the course that Raymond Floyd grew up playing.  About 10 years before the passing of my father I had him come to town to play with me on Father’s Day. My dad was always a great player and taught me all I know about the game of golf. We decided that this day would be just a relaxing round with no pressure all the while looking forward to that 16 oz. ribeye we had waiting for us at home. It was very hot that day so we didn’t think it would be crowded. Boy were we wrong! Nevertheless, we got a cart and got in line at the first hole. A word of advice to everybody, when a course has two groups on every hole do not play a twosome… you’ll go crazy. Dad and I were on the prowl for a compatible twosome to join us and we found another father and son also doing that Father’s Day thing. Dad and I were in shorts and untucked golf shirts and the other father and son looked like tour players. On the first tee we made our introductions and the other guy’s dad said “How much are we playing for?”.  I told him that my dad and I always like to play for a little something and asked him if he wanted to play for a Coke or a beer. He said, in that cocky bully tone, “Screw that… that ain’t worth my time”. At this point dad and I would have played them for anything. I said to the asshole “Why don’t you let me know what you want to play for?” Anyway, we settled on $5 a hole and $10 a birdie.

I was up first and without hesitation hit a screaming hook that fortunately hit a tree to stay in bounds. Dad sprayed his 20 yards deep in the woods on the right. Next up was the son who popped it down the middle, as did the asshole. Long story short, dad and I made a bogey and we lost the hole to two pars. Now, asshole is really starting to strut. The next hole is a 550 yard par 5. Our opponents pop it down the middle again and walk back to their cart like they were golf’s gift. I was probably over reacting, but the guy rubbed me the wrong way immediately. Have you ever had this happen to you? Anyway, now it’s our turn and Dad rips it about 300+ down the middle and so did I. Both of us were about 35 yards ahead of their longest drive. Both of their 3 woods came up short of the green . Dad had a 5 iron in his hand and I had a 6. He hit a shot that never left the pin. You couldn’t see the bottom of the pin but we knew it was close. Then I followed suit with a little baby draw 6 iron that was right at it. When we get to the green we see a ball about 2 ft from the hole and we assumed the other  was over the green. When I walked up to see which of us knocked it 2 ft I realized that dad had knocked it into the hole for a double eagle and, to add insult to injury, I had a kick in for eagle. Get you some of that! Eagle and a double eagle! Talk about a right cross and an uppercut. Asshole and his son never recovered. We spanked them all the way around the course like a redheaded stepchild. It almost got to the point of feeling sorry for them (but not quite). We ended up winning $75-$80 when it was all said and done. They walked up with money in hand and my dad grabbed two Budweisers out of the cooler and handed it to them and said “Put your money back in your pocket, we told you on the first tee that we wanted to play for a beer.” Dad always was a class act.  Love ’em while you’ve got ’em!.

Long and Straight

Robert Rowe

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A Perfect Day

Before I tell you about my perfect day I would like to clarify one of the rules of golf that was a subject of dispute with one of my friends the other day. The incident took place at a little course in Fayetteville NC called Cypress Lakes, L.B. Floyd’s course. L.B. was the father of the one and only Raymond Floyd. My friend, Tim, and I were on the eighteenth hole. Tim had a twenty footer to keep from losing a friendly bet. He read that putt from every angle. Finally, it was time to hit the putt. From the second the ball left his putter we both thought it was going down but it stopped on the lip. Now, we’ve all had the ball hang on the lip before but this one was defying the laws of gravity. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t dropping. Tim stood right where he had hit the put for about five seconds before he proceeded to the hole…okay. He then walked very slowly to the hole…okay. After about 45 seconds the ball finally fell in…not okay. I explained to Tim that the rules of golf state that after hitting a putt you have a “reasonable” amount of time to get to the hole and then a ten second count. If the ball hasn’t fallen then it doesn’t count. Fortunately, Tim would almost intentionally lose the bet because whoever wins the bet buys the cocktails.

I don’t know why I feel obligated to share my perfect day with you but the urge came to me in the middle of my work day and I guess I was day dreaming. My perfect day starts with perfect weather and that would be sunny and 7o degrees. Myself and three of my closest friends meet at a breakfast joint for coffee and grub at about eight o’clock. We get to the club with plenty of time to hit a small bucket and casually knock around a few putts on the practice green before our tee time. Get the bet right on the first tee and begin. How well we play isn’t that important. What’s the most important is that there’s no place I’d rather be at that moment. Before you know it your coming down the home stretch on the back nine. Never am I sad that the round is coming to an end and those who know me the best know why. The last two phases of my perfect day are still yet to come…Drinks and Dinner. I’m convinced that it’s required to first have a couple of cold beverages of your choice and swap notes about the round and to then to have everyone (wives and girlfriends also) over to the house to throw a big slab of meat on the grill and enjoy a feast. I do love a cow. Shooting under par…great. Winning the bet….wonderful. A perfect day on the course with your buddies…Priceless!

Fairways and Greens

Robert Rowe

English: Asfordby Road Golf Course The green is in one corner of a 12-hole pitch and putt course operated by the Melton Mowbray Town Estate. See: http://www.meltonmowbraytownestate.co.uk/news/get-into-the-swing-at-new-course (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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The Pete Dye Club

The Pete Dye Club in Bridgeport West Virginia, since it’s opening in 1995, has consistently been ranked in the top 50 best courses in the world. This is the only course that bares the name of one of the game’s top 5 architects. Of all the great courses that Pete Dye has designed he chose this one to put his name on for a reason.

Not too far removed from the likes of The Homestead Resort and The Greenbrier, The Pete Dye Club continues with the West Virginia mountain golf  theme that I like to call challenging beauty. I’ve had the pleasure of playing all three of these unbelievable courses and The Pete Dye Club is hands down my favorite.

The Pete Dye Club was completed in 1995. The breathtaking 250 acre tract was built on an abandoned coal mine. Remnants of the old coal mine are evident all the way around the course. Believe it or not, a cart path from one green to the next tee takes you through an actual mine tunnel! But don’t think for a second that this is just a theme course because it’s far from it! We’re talking 7250 yards from the tips and features large undulating greens. This course makes you use every club in your bag.

I had the pleasure of helping The Pete Dye Club with some marketing for its Grand Opening in 1995. This gave me the privilege of being among one of the first to play the course and take it from me, if you ever have an opportunity to play here, DON’T pass it up! There’s just something about mountain golf that makes you want to take a deep breath and pause to take in the beauty

Fairways and Greens

Robert Rowe

Pete Dye

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A Humbling Experience

First I would like to come clean about the 24 hour bug that I was stricken with yesterday. I actually played hooky and teed it up at a local municipal course with a couple of old friends. I won’t go into the details of my round but let’s just say I verified the old saying that “A bad day of golf is better than a good day at work”. I did read Bill’s post and I have to say that he hit the nail on the head. Golf is truly a game that will never be mastered, it can only be played.

I wanted to share another experience that took place in Florida in the one tournament I played on the Space Coast Tour. I was a pro at a beautiful course up in Roanoke Va. called Hidden Valley Country Club. As you can imagine there’s a lot of downtime during the winter in the mountains. I was invited by one of the member’s sons to travel to Florida with him to play a Space Coast Tour Event. I figured why not!

As a club pro you pay for nothing. Clubs, balls, gloves, shoes, clothes, greens fees, and cart fees…all taken care of! From head to toe I looked like I was a 62 waiting to happen! The reason I share this with you because looks can be deceiving. Anyway, we make our way to Florida and had a big steak dinner. We both went to bed early so we could be bright-eyed and ready to play.

My tee time was at 7:30am and I strolled to the tee looking like I just walked off the cover of Golf Digest. We were playing in a threesome. I was the only one there and at the last-minute a guy walked up to the tee and introduced himself. His name was Joe, a local guy that looked like he had not slept in days. He was wearing double-knit Sansabelt pants with cigarette burns all over them, what looked like a wrinkled leisure suit shirt, had greasy hair and a scruffy beard, but he was nice enough. Our third never showed up so it was eighteen holes of golf, grungy man playing with a fashion plate. I scraped it down the right side of the fairway on #1, then it was Joe’s turn. He hadn’t hit a single range ball or practice putt, hell he probably hadn’t been awake for more than thirty minutes. He proceeded to stripe it about 320 down the middle. I played all day long 20-30 yards behind him. He was knocking it stiff from the fairway or getting up and down from a garbage can. The only way I could describe his putting would be Chevy Chase’s character in Caddyshack, Ty Webb.  I ended up posting a sporty 77 but had the pleasure of witnessing a grungy, hung over, “fashion don’t” shoot a 65 that easily could have been a 62.

This was a humbling and eye-opening day that I will never forget. So take from this story what you will, but the bottom line is that there are guys like Joe out there that have the game to play the big tour. For what ever reason they choose to just go win some money when they need it.  My lesson learned is…  be careful on the first tee not to prejudge your opponent. Don’t let the clothes fool you!

Fairways and Greens

Robert Rowe

Chevy Chase & Micheal O’Keefe
in “Caddyshack”

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When The Golf Gods Smile

Hi guys, this is Bill!  Rob is a little under the weather today, so I thought I would offer today’s post.

To me, golf is the best game in the world! I’ve never been a great golfer, but I improved enough so that I could consistently break 90. I was once told that only about 15% of the people who play golf can break 90 on a regular basis. So I felt pretty good about my game.

Golf can be the most frustrating experience of your life one minute and the most rewarding the next. I’m sure you have experienced this! You could be having the worst round of your life. Nothings goes right! You can’t hit a fairway or green. You spend all day dodging trees, ponds, creeks, sand-traps and other impediments that were placed there to ruin your golfing experience! When you finally traverse this myriad of obstacles and reach the safety of the green, you cannot buy a putt! The next thing you know, double-bogey is looking pretty good! You spend the entire round trying to avoid the dreaded “snowman”! An 8! That looks so ugly on a scorecard, I shutter to think about it!

Then, out of the blue, it happens! Usually around hole 17 or 18, the golf gods smile on you and reward your persistence (or stubbornness)! You take your spot on the tee hitting last, line up your shot, just wanting an end to this torture. You start your backswing and suddenly to hit the perfect drive! Just as you envisioned it! The ball flies straight and true, splitting the fairway! As you approach you ball, you start weighing your options for the second shot. Because of your stellar tee shot, you must wait for your playing partners to hit their approach shots. This gives you time to think of everything that could go wrong on your second shot. But, mysteriously, those thoughts never come. Your mind is focused and you patiently wait for your turn. You line up your approach and execute the shot. The ball flies straight for the pin and lands softly on the green. Wow! After all this hacking it around all day, you actually have a good chance at a birdie! You line up your putt and actually see the line from your ball to the hole. As you stand over your putt, a deathly silence surrounds you. It’s as if there no other living being on earth. You take your stroke and the ball travels along the line you see in your mind’s eye. It falls safely home into its hole.

After all the frustration and heartache, the round is finally over. Most reasonable people would probably sell their clubs and quit the game forever. But because of that moment of brilliance, you can’t wait to get out here and do it again! The golf bug has bitten you and you are addicted to the greatest game ever played!

Avoid the “Snowman”,

Bill

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The One That Got Away

Back in 1988, I was scheduled to play in the Mid-Atlantic Section Assistants Championship. The venue Deercroft Country Club is just outside Pinehurst, North Carolina‘s golf mecca. Deercroft was also the site of the regional tour qualifying the year before.  The course played about 6600 yards from the tips, which granted is not that long but Deercroft makes you use every club in your bag.

I had played here several times on Mondays. If you’ve been in the business then you know… Mondays is play day.  So I felt good going into the first round of the three round championship. I was paired with a couple of good friends in the area and we were all chomping at the bit to get out there. At the end of the first day I found myself  3 shots behind Chris Tucker, the pre-tournament favorite out of Charlotte, NC. I actually felt pretty good with my performance considering Chris, a casual acquaintance, had spent some time on the big tour.

Kim Hasty was the Sports editor for the Fayetteville Observer & Times and she was covering the tournament. Kim and her lawyer husband David were friends of the family so I was relatively comfortable doing an interview after the round. Just to make one thing clear, I was just a lowly assistant pro and very rarely did interviews with anyone. I think that I may have been jolted out of my comfort zone by the attention and chatter that I had never experienced to this degree before.

The next day was all a blur. I do remember having a case of the butterflies on the first tee. There were about 50 of my friends and family following me and maybe total of 100 people. Somehow I managed to shoot even par that day and I was a nervous wreck the entire round. I went from a tie for fourth to a tie for the lead with Chris Tucker and one other Guy. Kim knew that I was on pins and needles and was very gentle in our after round chat. I don’t think I slept a wink that night.

Finally, I’m in the position that I’ve always wanted to be in…last group on the last day. On the first tee there were 300-400 folks surrounding me and honestly I could hardly breathe. Then on the loud-speaker I hear “Next up on number one tee playing out of Highland Country Club, Robert Rowe”. At this point I lost all use of my extremities. In the famous words of the great Lee Trevino, my driver felt like a “Wagon Tongue” in my hands. When I finally got the ball balanced on the tee and addressed the ball, there was a sudden deafening silence. I literally almost passed out! I eventually regrouped enough to put a little “popcorn guide” swing on it and start my round. I did settle down and started playing some pretty descent golf. By the time I made the turn I had a two shot lead having shot 2 under. I held on to my lead all the way through #14 and then it happened. I teed it up on #15, a 430 yard par four dog leg left, and barbecued a draw around the corner. I hit it perfectly and was feeling good. When we get to our balls I find mine one foot off the fairway, nestled down in that spongy Bermuda rough. It looked like a jumper to me, so I decided to hit a solid little 8-iron from 165. Right when I hit it I knew it had come out hot and with no spin. The ball landed 5 feet from the hole, went over the green and out-of-bounds. I go back to my spot to drop the ball into an identical lie, dropped to a 9-iron and hit it. The ball mark was inside of 3 inches from the hole but still trickled over the green. I had to call a tournament official over to stretch a string between two OB stakes and confirm that I had knocked it OB again. The rest is uneventful and depressing. I will tell you that I did birdie #18 to finish 2 back to Chris Tucker and in a tie for 3rd place.

The only press I ever had read was “Quadruple bogey costs Rowe in Assistants Championship”. This opened my eyes to the enormous pressure that the guys on tour deal with every day.

“Long and Straight”

Robert Rowe

P.S.  Congratulations to Tiger as he garnered his 3rd title of 2012 and moved pass Jack into  second place with 74 PGA Tour wins!

Photo from tigerwoodsfoundation.com

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Handling the Heat

Bo Van Pelt

OK here we’ve got a course that’s over 7500 yards long, rough with the length and consistency of cabbage, greens that are so hard that the only reason to hit a high wedge shot is to see how high it’ll bounce and on top of that they’re greased lightning, and the temperature is hovering around 100 degrees. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun. The AT&T National at Congressional is serving up about every obstacle imaginable. No doubt these boys are earning their money this week. I’m not going into a lot of detail on the first round play because none of the normal contenders have played themselves out of the tournament. I do want to say congrats to Bo Van Pelt for firing an impressive four under 67 to carry a one shot lead into the second round.

I thought this would be a perfect time to offer up a couple of my tips on how to handle the heat on the course. First we’ve all got to respect the weather. I love the game as much as anyone I know but sometimes we’ve got to say NO! People die every year on the golf course. I live in the southeastern US and trust me 100 degree weather here is worse than 100 degree weather anywhere else in the country. The reason for this is the ridiculous humidity. Then you compound this with almost daily thunderstorms and you feel like you’re playing golf in a steam bath. If you do find yourself dealing with these conditions  then you have to be prepared. Most importantly you must have plenty of water! You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out. I am the last person to look down on a guy who likes a frosty cold one on the course, but on days like this it’s out of the question. Just wait until you’re chilling in the 19th hole rehashing your round. Now this one is my secret weapon. Make sure to carry 3 bath towels. Not hand towels but something substantial. One towel is for your clubs and the other two are for you. One dry to keep your hands and grips dry, and the other very wet to regularly douse your whole head, face, neck and arms. You will still know that it’s hot but this will at least get you back to the barn safely.

It’s going to be a scorcher across the country this weekend so- “Discretion is the better part of valor”. After all, it could be worse. Why not chill in the comfort of your house or your favorite watering hole and watch a great tournament at a great venue?

Be Safe.

Fairways and Greens

Robert Rowe

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