CLUBS & MEMBERS: SHINING STARS
CLASSIC NELSON
“The most important thing for me is for people to
feel that I’ve been a credit to the game, as well as a good citizen.” Byron
Nelson’s words are carved into the marble monument honoring him at the Four
Seasons Resort and Club at Las Colinas (Texas), site of the GTE Byron Nelson
Classic. It’s fitting the quintessential quote comes from Lord Byron himself,
who even today, at 88 and restricted by chronic hip and knee problems,
tirelessly gives to the game of golf and society. He’s active in the Meals on
Wheels program and serves as a consultant for new golf course design and
restoration of existing courses, including his home club and one of his
signature courses, Timarron
Country Club near Dallas. He plays sparingly — an occasional nine holes
with his wife, Peggy. “She’s an excellent caddie,” he jokes. The winner of
50 PGA Tour events, including a phenomenal 18 in 1945, also offers advice to
Tour pros, most recently making a 45-minute drive from his Roanoke, Texas, ranch
to Dallas to counsel Justin Leonard on the eve of this year’s Nelson Classic.
His greatest achievement, he says, comes from his charitable work for the
Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers Inc. The nonprofit organization
established by the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, which operates the Byron Nelson
Classic, helps children and families in the Dallas area. All of the proceeds
from the Nelson Classic benefit the charity — and in 2000 alone, that amount
exceeded $6 million. “That [charity] means more to me than anything I’ve
accomplished in golf,” Nelson says. “We’ve helped young children and
families for 33 years, and it’s been very rewarding.” —
Steve Wilson
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
If there is a
cosmic justice, if things that go around do indeed come around, then Charlie
Sifford is receiving his just due. Sifford, a member of Quail
Hollow Country Club in Painesville,
Ohio, overcame numerous difficulties to become the first African-American player
to join the PGA Tour (in 1961). He not only persevered but triumphed by winning
two Tour events — the 1967 Greater Hartford Open and 1969 Los Angeles Open —
and paved the way for such well-known Tour pros as Lee Elder, Calvin Peete and,
most recently, Tiger Woods. Throughout his career, though, he harbored a dream:
to win all four major championships. It was a dream deferred for 60 years. Then,
this summer, Sifford, 78, vicariously “lived through Tiger” when Woods won
the British Open and became the youngest winner of the Grand Slam. Alone in his
living room, Sifford ignored the ringing of the telephone and quietly rejoiced
as Tiger triumphantly raised the claret jug. “That was a great day,” Sifford
exclaims. “Tiger won the Grand Slam, and he made my dream come true.” —
Steve Wilson
VOCAL TRAINING
Marin Mazzie,
who stars in the title role of Broadway’s musical revival, Kiss
Me, Kate, says she thrives on her
workouts at the Athletic & Swim Club at
Equitable Center in New York. So
much so that she didn’t consider changing clubs when she recently moved to the
Upper West Side 50 blocks away. Now she takes the subway or a limo on matinee
days, and continues training at the club on Seventh Avenue. “I enjoy working
out and swimming there because of the privacy,” she says. “The trainers,
locker-room attendants, and club staff are really friendly and make it so
enjoyable to work out there.” On stage at the Martin Beck Theatre, Mazzie
performs her physically demanding role eight shows a week. At the Athletic &
Swim Club, she keeps herself well tuned with swimming, weight training, and step
aerobics. Later, when Mazzie becomes “Kate,” she feels relaxed and
confident. “Working out helps prolong your life and helps physically and
mentally to keep your spirits up,” says the three-time Tony Award nominee (for
Ragtime, Passion, and her current show). “A positive mental attitude — that’s what
it’s all about, isn’t it?” — Sam Blair
BIRDS GOTTA FLY
Loyal golfers
at Glen
Oaks Country Club may already
consider their course a work of art, but renowned painter Maynard Reece has
added a few brush strokes of his own. Reece, lauded for his technical prowess at
depicting nature, painted a scene featuring wildlife at the 18th hole of Glen
Oaks, in West Des Moines, Iowa, for use at the Iowa Executive Open in September.
Tournament participants received lithographs of the piece, and the club kept
another 1,000 signed-and-numbered prints to use for future events. “Club
members can’t buy them in stores, obviously, so we made these available,”
says club manager Jeff Peak. Reece, whose original paintings have sold for more
than $20,000, has designed more than 30 stamps featuring ducks and conservation
themes and is a five-time winner of the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest. —
Will Pry
Clubcorp Championship
Series
Country
Clubs and Resorts
By a stroke, Coto
de Caza Golf & Racquet Club from
California captured the coveted Putter Boy trophy. Congratulations to pro Rick
Booth and members Ron Bennett, Tom Clark, Bob Gauntner, and Bill Sales. Booth
reports that the team got a jump start on its first hole on Pinehurst No. 5 when
Bennett chipped in for birdie. “The last day [on Pinehurst No. 2] was honestly
a team effort,” he says. “Somebody always made the shot that was needed.”
One of those was a 30-foot birdie putt by Booth. With a final score of 182, Coto
de Caza’s team was closely pursued by three teams finishing at 183: Stonebridge
Country Club (McKinney, Texas); StoneRidge
Country Club (Poway, California);
and Willowbend
Golf Club (Wichita, Kansas). More
than 100 teams (including seven international) participated in the event. A
special thanks goes to the sponsors of the Championship Series, especially title
sponsor, E-Z-GO Textron.
Business
and Sports Club
The Tampa
Bay Society prevailed at 183 to take
home the Putter Boy. Congratulations to Society manager Bob Trout, Charlie Mabie
(head golf professional from Timarron
Country Club near Dallas), and
members John Herndon, Patrick Herndon, Randy Wehling, and Mark Wilkins. “Team
Tampa” was in second place after two rounds and three strokes behind the
leader. Credit for the win, consensus says, goes to “luck and talent.”
Competitive kudos, however, must go to Town
Point Club in Norfolk, Virginia
(184) and San
Francisco Tennis Club (186). A
special thanks goes to the sponsors of the Championship Series, especially title
sponsor for the business and sports club event, MasterCard, as well as Acura,
Pepsi, Snapple, and many others.
ZEST FOR LEARNING
Ina Clark may
not be the oldest living graduate of the University of Alabama, but this
four-time cancer survivor was one of the proudest when, at age 77, she received
her first college diploma with a degree in art history from the university.
Clark, a charter member of Huntsville’s Heritage
Club, grew up on a Kentucky farm
during the Great Depression. “There was no money for college,” she says. But
after her husband, an architect, died in 1990, she needed a new direction for
her life. “I’ve always been very inquisitive and like to learn,” Clark
says. Although she had audited university classes, she wanted the satisfaction
of earning her degree. What does she plan to do with her degree? “I’m just
going to enjoy it,” she says. That, and travel, play golf, renew her volunteer
work with the Huntsville art museum and symphony, and, of course, continue to
learn. —
Linda Greene
HOOP HYSTERIA
In just four
years, Billy Donovan has achieved legendary status at the University of Florida.
The 35-year-old head basketball coach took a young team to the Final Four last
season for only the second time in the school’s history, losing in the finals
to Michigan State for a No. 2 national ranking, the highest in UF history. In
the process, Donovan, a member of Haile
Plantation Golf & Country Club, created hoop hysteria in football-dominated Gainesville, Florida. Many
attribute his success to his upbeat attitude, intense motivation to succeed,
ability to relate to his players, and a reputation as a relentless recruiter.
But Donovan, the winningest NCAA Tournament coach in UF history, is more
concerned with what lies ahead in the coming season than with past successes.
“I think this year’s team is going into the season with a different
perception and feeling about themselves,” he says. “I think you create the
perception around your team. I’m going to create a perception that we’ve got
a lot to prove, because we do.” If he has his way, Donovan will prove that
last year’s storybook season was no fluke. —
Linda Greene
GOOD TO BE THE KINGS
DREAM WEAVER
As a Peace Corp
volunteer in India 30 years ago, Gordon Smith III realized how much can be
learned from other cultures, and his dream was born — to bring the world to
the children of his native state, North Carolina. Since then, Smith, a member of
Raleigh’s Cardinal
Club, has spun that dream into a
reality known as Exploris, a $39 million interactive children’s museum
dedicated, Smith says, to “helping visitors respect differences, appreciate
similarities, and make connections with people of the world.” Exploris has an
equally interactive second site on the Internet. Now, Smith is spinning new
dreams of an 18-acre entertainment and education complex with Exploris as the
hub, and of Exploris museums in every U.S. state and world capital. —
Linda Greene
LUNCH RUSH
Talent and
determination have taken Jessica Rush, 25, on a quick three-year rise from
apprentice chef at The Cheeky Monkey Café in Newport, Rhode Island, to
ClubCorp’s youngest female executive chef at the WestLake
Club in Houston. Rush attributes her
success to “never doubting that, despite being young and female, I could
achieve something.” She began cooking as a 6-year-old helping her parents
prepare elaborate meals for their friends. “I was not a McDonald’s child,”
she says. “Instead I ate artichokes and hearts of palm.” Not one to let
grass grow under her feet, she worked in restaurants while earning a
bachelor’s degree in culinary food service from Johnson & Wales University
in Providence, Rhode Island. Following her apprenticeship, Rush moved to Houston
and became the executive sous chef at Riviera Grill for a year before being
recruited by ClubCorp. When asked what her future holds, she smiles and says,
“I’ve done everything I’ve ever set out to do and I don’t foresee
anything in my future that’s ever going to stop me from doing that.” —
Diane S. Dickinson
MAGIC MOMENTS
Updates
A new glass
sculpture by renowned artist Dale Chihuly, a member of Columbia
Tower Club in Seattle, Washington
(“Interview,” January/February 1999), was added to the permanent collection
at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. Supported by a steel
structure, the blown-glass sculpture, titled Fern Green Tower, stands 13 feet
high, 6 feet in diameter, and weighs 1,400 pounds.
Sports
Junior tennis
players from Canyon
Creek Country Club in Richardson,
Texas, captured first place in the 10s, 12s, and 16/18s divisions of the
ClubCorp Junior Challenge Cup.
Meetings
OrinocoArt.com,
a virtual cultural center and online source for viewing and purchasing original
art, sculpture, and photography, launched its Web site with a gala at the Citrus
Club in Orlando, Florida. Orinoco
partners James La Vigne and Webster Owen, members of the Citrus Club, attended
the event.
Kudos
Dr. Ronald P.
Kaufman, a member of Tampa Palms Golf & Country
Club in Florida, received the Robert
A. Henry Literary Book Award from the American College of Physician Executives,
for his book, The
Business Side of Medicine…. Dr.
David Furnas, a member of the Center
Club in Costa Mesa, California, was
selected Physician of the Year by the Orange County Medical Association….
Richard C. Kessler, a member of the Citrus Club
in Orlando, Florida, was named Ernst & Young Master Entrepreneur of the
Year. Kessler is president and CEO of The Kessler Enterprise Inc. and Grand
Theme Hotels…. The athletic field at Hayward High School in Hayward,
California, was renamed Clark-Hanlon Field in honor of Gary Clark, a member of Crow
Canyon Country Club in Danville.
Clark recently retired after 35 years of teaching and coaching at Hayward.