ON LOCATION

CLUBS & MEMBERS: ON LOCATION

Coming attraction ... Ryan’s Express ... Oprah’s life strategist ... Space walker.

MOVIE MAGIC AT STONEBRIAR
Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt was having trouble getting a solid shot off of the tee. Between takes, she nailed the ball every time, but with cameras rolling on location at Stonebriar Country Club near Dallas, it definitely wasn’t as good as it gets. “That’s OK, Helen,” veteran director Robert Altman said calmly. “Just do the scene. We won’t see where the ball goes in this shot.”

Altman, the award-winning director of such films as M*A*S*H, Nashville, The Player, and Short Cuts, was guiding Hunt and her costar Richard Gere through a “getting to know you” scene on the golf course for his movie, Dr. T & the Women, to be released this fall. Producer David Levy, who has worked with Altman for 20 years, selected Stonebriar because it captured the upscale lifestyle for this comic romance about a Dallas gynecologist “who loves too many women, a little too much.” Altman, who is known for bringing so much attention to location that it almost becomes a character, filmed Dr. T at several Dallas landmarks. So joining his female-rich ensemble of Farrah Fawcett, Shelley Long, Laura Dern, and Liv Tyler are such sites as Dealey Plaza, Dallas Cowboys headquarters, the Dallas Arboretum, NorthPark Center, and of course Stonebriar.

Last winter, the clubhouse and grounds were turned into a Hollywood backlot for a month of Mondays, the day the club usually is closed. In the film, Stonebriar is the country club where Gere’s Dr. T depends upon his weekly golf game to escape the madness and the women in his life, until he meets Hunt’s character, the club’s new assistant pro fresh from the LPGA circuit. Hunt, who took golf lessons to prepare for the role, was the only female cast member with scenes at Stonebriar. Joining Gere and Hunt in the Stonebriar scenes were such recognizable faces as Airplane! star Robert Hays (playing the club’s golf pro) and former Conan O’Brien sidekick Andy Richter. Scenes were filmed on course, in the pro shop, and on the parking lot, where a “rain” scene was filmed despite clear skies. Hole numbers were changed for film continuity and, thanks to computer enhancement, a large photograph of Gere, Hays, and legendary golf instructor Harvey Penick was prominently hung in the golf shop to provide visual character development. Ah, the magic of the movies. — Louis Marroquin

EXPRESS LANE
Don A. Sanders knows a good investment when he sees one — but after a long and successful career in investment banking, he also likes to have fun. As a partner of the Round Rock Express, a minor-league baseball team of the Houston Astros, he gets both. “The fun part will be owning a Double-A ballclub that is part of a strong organization,” Sanders says, “and to be a partner in the team with Nolan.” That’s Nolan, as in sports legend Nolan Ryan. Sanders, a former owner of the Houston Sports Association and the Houston Astros, and a member of Houston City Club, purchased the team with Ryan, a longtime friend. The pair recently moved the team from Jackson, Mississippi, to the Central Texas town of Round Rock near Austin. The newly opened $25 million state-of-the-art Dell Diamond stadium houses the team run by Nolan Ryan’s son Reid. As founder and chairman of the Houston-based investment firm Sanders Morris Harris, Sanders is a leading figure in supporting various civic, corporate, and financial enterprises. He has been described as a “hero to hundreds of children” for his work with the nonprofit group Child Advocates, and his firm is the founding and major sponsor of the Tracy Gee Memorial tennis tournament held annually at the Houston City Club. — Helen Bond

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE
Meeting “Dr. Phil” McGraw is not nearly as intimidating as you might expect if all you know of him are his steely eyed appearances on Oprah Winfrey’s top-rated talk show. Sure, at 6 feet 3 inches and 230 pounds, the former college linebacker turned self-help guru cuts quite a daunting figure. But his firm yet friendly handshake and compassionate eye contact reveals the warmth beneath his often hard-hitting “snap out of it” persona. McGraw, a member of La Cima Club near Dallas, is the psychologist and litigation consultant who was brought in as a jury selection expert in January 1998 during Winfrey’s infamous “Mad Cow” trial in Amarillo, Texas. Winfrey credits McGraw with the successful outcome of the trial, and was so taken with his “tell it like it is” approach to repairing relationships and correcting self-destructive behavior that she encouraged him, almost demanded him, to write a book. And so what goes around comes around. Dr. Phil helped Oprah. Oprah helped Dr. Phil. McGraw’s first book, Life Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters, went straight to the top of the New York Times best-seller list and has sold more than a million copies, thanks in large part to his twice-monthly appearances on Oprah. Now with a second book, Relationship Rescue: A Seven-Step Strategy for Reconnecting With Your Partner, following suit, Dr. Phil is taking his self-help crusade to the road, presenting half-day seminars in several U.S. cities. The allure of Dr. Phil’s books and presentations is in his attitude toward facing life’s problems. You won’t get a touchy-feely guide to Hollywood romance full of suggestions to send flowers and write love notes. Instead, you get a straightforward, make-it-or-break-it dose of reality. “I try to force you to meet you,” McGraw says. “If we don’t know what our needs are, we can’t articulate them. People don’t know themselves.”— Louis Marroquin

OLYMPIC SPIRIT
Born in Argentina and raised much of his life in Houston, Ruben Gonzalez always knew he would compete in the Olympics — he just didn’t know which sport would take him there. Instead of researching which Olympic sports Argentina competed in, he decided to establish a team that his home country didn’t field. He chose the luge — which can be done solo — instead of ski jumping or bobsledding. A natural athlete, Gonzalez took easily to the sport, which requires its occupant to ride a racing sled face up. “You have to have balance and the ability to persevere during the learning process,” says Gonzalez, who along with his wife, Cheryl, is a Houston Society member. “You’re getting beat up a lot with crashes.” Now a two-time Olympian, having competed in the 1988 Calgary Games and 1992 Albertville Games, Gonzalez has come out of retirement at age 38 to post his best times as he gears up for the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. When he’s not competing internationally or training in Calgary he uses his Society benefits to work out at the Greenspoint Club, University Club, and Westlake Club, all in Houston. “The Olympic spirit is all about being the best that you can be and shooting for your dream,” Gonzalez says, “and the clubs are helping me achieve my dream.” — Helen Bond

TIMES LIKE THESE
Mary Huss can relate to the start-up mania in business today. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Huss spent much of her career launching business journals across the country. “I loved that environment,” she says. “It enabled me to grow and take on responsibility faster than I might have in a staid, larger organization.” Since 1991, Huss, a member of the City Club of San Francisco, has been publisher of the San Francisco Business Times, which is owned by American City Business Journals. The paper, she says, was “at the bottom of the pit” when she arrived. So she hired a strong editor and turned the publication around using the expertise she garnered while working on the management team that founded the St. Louis Business Journal and launched a group of business journals across the country that were ultimately purchased by ACBJ. She sees the future of her publication, which now serves 105,000 readers, tied more closely to the Internet, while remaining a forum for strong local news that allows business people to connect. Many of those connections are made at the City Club. “I’m a sponge for ideas, tips, and hearing about something new in the community,” Huss says. “[The City Club] is a good place for business-to-business networking. And for our people, it is essential.” — Helen Bond

FLYING HIGH
The past 22 years have been a whirlwind for Cress Horne. In 1979, with a $36,000 note signed by his father, the then 19-year-old bought a helicopter and started U.S. Helicopters Inc. in Marshville, North Carolina. He spent the early years crop-dusting and selling rides at local events. But a chance meeting with motion picture director Hal Needham and actor Burt Reynolds at a NASCAR event changed all that. After Horne agreed to fly the two from the speedway to the hotel where they were staying 12 miles away in Charlotte, Needham hired Horne to shoot aerial footage for his movie Stroker Ace. Similar stints followed on nearly 100 feature films, including The Last of the Mohicans and The Fugitive. Horne, a member of the Tower Club at Charlotte Plaza in North Carolina, used his motion picture flying techniques in 1989 when a local news program needed aerial photography of Hurricane Hugo’s horrific damage to South Carolina. Realizing he could train others for news flying, Horne established a turnkey program that included pilots, helicopters, and cameras. U.S. Helicopters now has offices in 14 states, operates the largest aerial film company on the East Coast, and offers chartering, maintenance, and sales. “A lot of people who make money elsewhere want to get into the helicopter business because it looks fun,” Horne says. “I have been fortunate to survive in an industry dominated by hobbyists.” — Patty Jerde

OUT OF THIS WORLD
As a youngster, Kathryn D. Sullivan was intrigued by the early space missions of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. But for Sullivan — who in 1984 became the first American woman to walk in space — the fascination was more with the journey than the destination. “It was clearly a great human adventure that was compelling to me,” says Sullivan, a member of the Capital Club in Columbus, Ohio. “There are such great adventures out there. I knew I wanted to be part of adventures like that.” After earning a degree in earth sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz and later achieving a doctorate in geology with deep-sea research in Nova Scotia, Sullivan joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Houston in 1978. As a mission-specialist astronaut, she flew three shuttle missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope deployment mission, and logged more than 500 hours in space. “It was just a research expedition in a different domain,” says Sullivan, of her career switch from the ocean to space. After 14 years with NASA, Sullivan resubmerged herself in her deep-sea beginnings and joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C., as chief scientist. But yearning for a leadership role in management, she accepted a new post in 1996 that has taken her full circle and to yet another destination. These days she serves as president and chief executive officer of the Center of Science and Industry, a hands-on science museum in Columbus. Her aim is to make the science museum one of the best in the nation and instill a sense of adventure in children — and adults. — Helen Bond

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
The Plaza Club in Houston doesn’t need an official historian. It has Charles Weaver, who has been an employee partner at the club on the 49th floor of One Shell Plaza for 27 of the club’s 28 years. In recent years, he has overseen the Shell Executive Dining Room. But his favorite memory is of the night that he prepared dinner tableside for a group of Russian cosmonauts. It was the mid-1970s and the cosmonauts were visiting NASA in preparation for the Apollo-Soyuz space rendezvous. Weaver still remembers the entrée: Shrimp Laffite. It was his own medley of shrimp, mushrooms, celery, tomatoes, and white wine. The cosmonauts seemed effusive in their praise, but the tableside chef for the evening could only understand his oft-repeated name, “Charles.” But in any language, it was a “magic moment.”— Patricia Baldwin

THE DOT-COM BEFORE THE STORM
You’ve seen the commercial: kids staring into the camera, putting an all-too-adult spin on the “when I grow up” game. “I want to be paid less for doing the same job.” “I want to claw my way up to middle management.” Monster.com’s ad campaign, the brainchild of Mullen Advertising’s Edward Boches, a member of Ipswich Country Club in Ipswich, Massachusetts, raised the bar for pitchmen and dot-com companies alike when it was launched in the prime spotlight of last winter’s Super Bowl. Since then, the world has faced dot-com overload, and Boches, Mullen’s chief creative officer, is facing new challenges. “A lot of dot-coms came out of the gate thinking all they needed was a quirky name to catch on,” he says. “If you don’t convince somebody why you’re relevant, you’ll never get them to remember your name or what you do.” What Boches does isn’t simply building brand recognition; it’s building brands. Many dot-com brands in the making have come to Mullen with the hopes of joining the memorable, including Oxygen Media, LendingTree.com, NorthernLight.com, and CompUSA’s Cozone. And as the Internet sprawls further into everyday life, Boches finds himself trying to get in front of the next wave of monsterlike growth. The future, according to Boches, is business-to-business e-commerce. — Will Pry

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
In the grooves of his stylized album, Bohemia, a remastered, remixed, and re-released version of his first album, King of Dixie, Tommy Elskes mixes bluegrass, ’60s rock influences, and R&B. But now that he’s discovered golf, a “swing” rhythm is capturing his devotion. Recently relocated from Telluride, Colorado, to LaPlace, Louisiana, Elskes found his getaway on the fairways of Belle Terre Country Club. But Elskes, in the music business since the early ’70s, knows his limits. “If I had to make a living as a pro golfer, I would have starved to death after three weeks,” he says. Judging by the response to his music, he needn’t worry about finding work — but it wasn’t always that way. “A couple of times, I’ve had to give it up for a while. I was a good carpenter, a good painter, a good cook and bartender, but nothing held me like music.” Bohemia showcases Elskes’ eclectic solo style, crafted over almost three decades of playing clubs, festivals, and any spot with a stage and some soul.— Will Pry

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER
San Diego’s University Club Atop Symphony Towers is going to the dogs — at least on canvas. Member Judith Jarcho has adorned various walls in the club with her vibrant, color-infused canine portraits and her impressionist-style street scenes of New York and New Orleans dog walkers. An artist since childhood, Jarcho graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, but the inspiration for this well-traveled artist’s pet project came from her observations of New York City dog walkers with their numerous charges. After first documenting a client’s relationship with a pooch, Jarcho paints from photos in her home studio. This mother of two grown children describes her canine portraits as “very emotional for me and my clients, because their pet is part of the family.” Her own family includes an Akita. Enthusiastic response from University Club members has resulted in numerous commissions for Jarcho, as well as philanthropic work for several San Diego nonprofit organizations. — Linda Greene

HELP IS ON THE WAY
Larry and Jan Flegle had no idea when they visited northern Thailand to “observe” missionary Dr. John Gibson’s work with tribal people that they immediately would be put to work. Nor did they foresee the future impact of that visit. The Flegles, members of Ravinia Club in Atlanta, annually spend two weeks helping Gibson pull tribal children out of extreme poverty and put them into dormitories, where they receive medical care and education. Working from mobile medical clinics, the Flegles helped provide aid for 1,200 patients in six villages during their last visit. And during the other 50 weeks of the year, the couple raises money to sponsor the children and to send much-needed supplies to the Hmong and Mien Yao people. With the backing of their church, First Baptist of Woodstock, Georgia, the Flegles formed the Northern Thailand Tribal Children’s Fund to support the care of 160 children. — Will Pry

THE ART OF GOLF
Think of a perfect golf moment, that instant when history and environment blended for one spectacular memory. Self-taught artist Jim Fitzpatrick, a member at Granite Bay Golf Club in Granite Bay, California, has captured moments such as these in the 100 paintings and sketches that comprise the J. Fitzpatrick Collection. Some of his works immortalize a famed golfer on an esteemed course; others interpret the breathtaking view of a celebrated hole. An accomplished amateur golfer in his hometown of Sacramento, California, Fitzpatrick worked in various golf-related businesses before trying his hand at his lifelong love of art. He sold his first two paintings in 1985, and today golfers such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player own Fitzpatrick’s acrylic and oil paintings, renowned for their soft, natural colors and realistic detail. For a typical project, Fitzpatrick photographs a site extensively and then spends about 300 hours on each painting. With the help of his wife, Kerry, he distributes his work through their company, JB Publishers in Rocklin, California.— Steve Wilson

MAGIC MOMENTS
CHARITIES
The Lieutenant Governors Board of The Bankers Club in Miami, led by chairman Charles R. Downs, presented its second Legendary Sports Celebrity Roast, resulting in $185,000 for The Miami Project To Cure Paralysis. Celebrity participants included emcee and sportscaster Bob Costas, Don Shula, Larry Csonka, Julius Erving, and Darrell Gwynn.

ANNIVERSARIES
The University Club of Jackson in Mississippi is celebrating its silver anniversary with a “2000 in 2000” slogan. The goal: to increase membership from 1,475 to 2,000…. Beckett Ridge Country Club in West Chester, Ohio, concludes its yearlong 25th anniversary in August with a black-tie ball.

REUNIONS
It’s a small world. Ask Omar Evans, head of house maintenance at the Dayton Racquet Club in Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Stanley A. Earley, a Board of Governors member, delivered Evans 30 years ago in a Dayton hospital. And when Omar got tapped recently as the club’s Employee of the Year, Dr. Earley showed up to once again pat him on the back.

UPDATE
Nobby Orens finally did it. The 62-year-old member of Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, California (“Clubs & Members,” May/June 1999) has been voted Golf Nut of the Year by the Golf Nuts Society. His 1999 golf itinerary consisted of playing 134 rounds on 36 courses in 27 cities, five states, six countries, and two continents.

KUDOS
John C. Bersia of The Orlando Sentinel, a member of the Citrus Club in Orlando, Florida, has received the Pulitzer Prize for his yearlong series of editorials titled “Fleeced in Florida,” which advocated regulatory reform of cash-advance businesses…. Paul T. Jett, 35, golf course superintendent of Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina, and Ricky Heine, 37, golf course superintendent at River Place Country Club in Austin, Texas, have been featured as up-and-coming stars in the industry by Golfweek’s Superintendent News…. She gives more than 2,000 golf lessons each year. Now, Amy Fox of Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield, Texas, has been named 1999 Teacher of the Year by the LPGA…. Pinehurst No. 2 at Pinehurst in North Carolina and the South Course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, are listed by Golfweek as among America’s 100 Best Classical Courses…. Pat Dalri, a member of Brookhaven Country Club near Dallas and rules director for the Tennis Competitors of Dallas, has been presented the 1999 Phyllis Brennan Award for “outstanding volunteer” by the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation.... The Executive Women’s Roundtable at the Dayton Racquet Club in Dayton, Ohio, was named Corporate Volunteer of the Year by the YMCA Battered Women’s Home.... With a boar crusted pork loin entrée, Douglas Faber, executive chef of the One Ninety One Club in Atlanta, captured first place in the Sysco Foods Atlanta Culinary Salon.