This year marks the 75th playing of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Thursday at 7:45am the first tee shot will be launched and 99 players will begin their pursuit of one of sports great treasures-the coveted Green Jacket! There are numerous things that make this tournament one of the most outstanding sports spectacles. Certainly the golf course, designed by Alister Mackenzie in 1931, is pristine and probably the most well known, yet least played courses in the world. This year the course will play at 7435 yards with par of 72.
The tournament drips with tradition, whether it's Magnolia Lane, the Butler Cabin, the roars on the back nine with the unbelievable charge to the championship by 46 year old Jack Nicklaus in 1986, or Tiger's four victories. The Masters also embraces amateurs, with this years field consisting of 6. Typically, the amateurs don't fare very well, as only one has made the cut since 2005. This year there will be a Michigan connection in the field as Lion Kim, a University of Michigan senior, qualified by winning the U.S. Amateur Publinks. Thus, you will have a Lion, a Tiger, and a Cheetah (Dustin Johnson's nickname) in this years field! Lion tees off at 12:31pm on Thursday with Jose Maria Olazabal and Davis Love III.
So, while the golf course and traditions are great, the most special part of the Masters is that it signals the "official unofficial" start of the golf season. It signals that the long winter is behind us and we can look ahead with renewed vigor at a promising season ahead. A season with emerald striped fairways and smooth, true putting surfaces at the tradition rich Golf Club of Coldwater. It signals that there is a fresh hope that this is the year that you will have that special memorable moment on the course that was here before the Masters even started. So, envelope yourself in all the Masters has to offer this week and then enjoy a great season of a game that brings us many memories! Rolla Frisinger-April 6,2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Best Arnold Palmer Story Ever!
The Arnold Palmer Invitational Golf Tournament is just getting underway at The Bay Hill Club in Orlando,Florida today. Arnold Palmer is probably the most important person in golf history as he brought golf to the masses in the 60's and 70's with his charisma and "charging" style. When I was growing up, he was my golf hero and so when I was able to attend a PGA Teaching Seminar at "Arnie's Place" (Bay Hill)
several years ago, it was quite a thrill!! It was a very informative seminar taught by Butch Harmon (who was Tiger Woods teacher at the time) and every day there was an electricity in the air because you never knew when Arnie might show up! Well today Arnie is 81 years old and still is a vital part of the golf world and host of this week's PGA Tour event. Here is the best Arnie story I have ever heard and it shows a lot about the man and why he is so popular.
Before the 1993 Senior British Open, which was scheduled to be contested over the links of Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Arnold Palmer received a letter from a Mr. Hans Bolton of Lancashire, England. The letter containing, as it did, the language of someone who knew nothing about the game, might have offended a superstar too full of his own importance. In Palmer's case, the handwritten letter caught his attention.
The letter, which came into the possession of a friend several years later, contains this remark in the opening paragraph, "I must admit I am not a golf fan. I realize that you must be extremely busy, being one of the "big names" in the golfing fraternity." Bolton then talks about the importance of the upcoming Senior Open but adds, "An even more important event is taking place (at least to me anyway). You see, I am getting married to my fiancee Sally Anne Murphy, a truly gorgeous and wonderful girl." The problem, as Bolton unfolds is simple, neither of the honeymoon suites at the Clifton Arms Hotel is available because, as it was explained to him, "Mr Arnold Palmer is staying in one and Mr. Gary Player is staying in the other, and they have been booked for ages!"
He then proceeds to paint an emotional potrait. "My fiancee was, of course, distraught at this news, convinced that our big day is doomed to failure. Something I suppose, like a triple bogey on the 1st hole" Then Bolton makes a daring suggestion. "I was just wondering if perhaps, there would be any chance at all of you swapping rooms with us, just for one night. This is a shot in the dark, I really don't expect that you will, but one can only try. You see I work for the Sunblest Bread Company and Sally works as a children's nanny so this is probably the only chance we will ever have of staying anywhere as grand as the Clifton Arms."
He signs the letter "Yours hopefully," and then adds two postscripts. P.S. You are more than welcome to join us for a drink at the reception. P.P.S. I didn't write to Gary Player because we were told youwere a much nicer chap!
Palmer, of course, not only surrendered the suite but took them up on the offer of the beer where he drank a toast to the happy couple and even posed for a photograph. Rolla Frisinger-March 24, 2011
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several years ago, it was quite a thrill!! It was a very informative seminar taught by Butch Harmon (who was Tiger Woods teacher at the time) and every day there was an electricity in the air because you never knew when Arnie might show up! Well today Arnie is 81 years old and still is a vital part of the golf world and host of this week's PGA Tour event. Here is the best Arnie story I have ever heard and it shows a lot about the man and why he is so popular.
Before the 1993 Senior British Open, which was scheduled to be contested over the links of Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Arnold Palmer received a letter from a Mr. Hans Bolton of Lancashire, England. The letter containing, as it did, the language of someone who knew nothing about the game, might have offended a superstar too full of his own importance. In Palmer's case, the handwritten letter caught his attention.
The letter, which came into the possession of a friend several years later, contains this remark in the opening paragraph, "I must admit I am not a golf fan. I realize that you must be extremely busy, being one of the "big names" in the golfing fraternity." Bolton then talks about the importance of the upcoming Senior Open but adds, "An even more important event is taking place (at least to me anyway). You see, I am getting married to my fiancee Sally Anne Murphy, a truly gorgeous and wonderful girl." The problem, as Bolton unfolds is simple, neither of the honeymoon suites at the Clifton Arms Hotel is available because, as it was explained to him, "Mr Arnold Palmer is staying in one and Mr. Gary Player is staying in the other, and they have been booked for ages!"
He then proceeds to paint an emotional potrait. "My fiancee was, of course, distraught at this news, convinced that our big day is doomed to failure. Something I suppose, like a triple bogey on the 1st hole" Then Bolton makes a daring suggestion. "I was just wondering if perhaps, there would be any chance at all of you swapping rooms with us, just for one night. This is a shot in the dark, I really don't expect that you will, but one can only try. You see I work for the Sunblest Bread Company and Sally works as a children's nanny so this is probably the only chance we will ever have of staying anywhere as grand as the Clifton Arms."
He signs the letter "Yours hopefully," and then adds two postscripts. P.S. You are more than welcome to join us for a drink at the reception. P.P.S. I didn't write to Gary Player because we were told youwere a much nicer chap!
Palmer, of course, not only surrendered the suite but took them up on the offer of the beer where he drank a toast to the happy couple and even posed for a photograph. Rolla Frisinger-March 24, 2011
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011
High School Golf Season Has Arrived-Good Memories!
High School golf practice started this past Friday and it brought back a lot of fond memories! Coldwater can be quite proud of the outstanding achievements of it's junior golfers through the years. The modern era of great junior golf in this area was led by the 1994 team of Nate Gilchrist, Jason Gilchrist, Cory Braman, Kevin Wischmeyer, Eric Eberts, and Josh Shaffer who, under the direction of Coach Roger Fuller won the State Championship. Their success seemed to fuel golf interest and led to more juniors working hard on their games. State Championships for the girls golf team came in 1999, 2000, and 2001. The 1999 and 2000 teams were led by Jennifer Petzko, Sarah Kellogg, Sarah Doll, Kaitlyn Parshall, Anna Watkins, and Amanda Labadie, while the 2001 team was led by Megan Petzko, Suzy Brady, Anna Watkins, Amanda Labadie, Michelle Case, and Michelle Langwell. Four State Championships in the span of eight years is very impressive and as I look back on those successes, there are some commonalities with each of these teams that helped them achieve their goals. 1) Practice (lots of range balls and learning course management by playing) 2) Good instruction and 3) Tournament tested (playing in competitive events to give them experience under pressure).
This group of golfers certainly can be proud of their great accomplishments and those that follow have had the bar raised very high, but if they are willing to follow the three steps listed above, good things will happen!! Rolla Frisinger-March 22, 2011
This group of golfers certainly can be proud of their great accomplishments and those that follow have had the bar raised very high, but if they are willing to follow the three steps listed above, good things will happen!! Rolla Frisinger-March 22, 2011
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