Golf in the Pines

We played hooky from work on Friday and went to Payson to play The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines. This website does not do the course justice! Payson is about 90 minutes from central Phoenix and the temperatures are about 10-12 degrees cooler. The high temperature was in the mid-70s (not my score!). I played with two of my friends from work, Slim Whiskey and Chad Feldheimer.

Slim Whiskey is a tax lawyer with a personality, which is a very unusual combination! He is creative, funny and a really sharp dresser. I would compare him to the late Payne Stewart. Using my 64-pack of Crayola Crayons, Slim wore a mango tango (orange) shirt with perfectly matched mango tango and complementary colors argyle socks. Slim had a bad ski accident about a year ago and it is still affecting his golf game. He is about a 12 handicap. Slim plays golf every Saturday and Sunday at a private club in Scottsdale, but the club is closed for overseeding so the members were given reciprocal privileges at Chaparral Pines.

Chad Feldheimer is our cocky young gun. His undergraduate degree is in golf course management. Can you believe that you can actually get a degree in golf course management! He attended law school on the San Diego beaches and somewhere in between he was an assistant golf professional at a golf resort in Phoenix. I think that means that he worked in the pro shop and cleaned your clubs on the driving range, which is why Chad ultimately went to law school. Chad does not have a current USGA handicap, but he once told me that if he shot 80 he would quit (or do something worse). I think that Chad is about a 5 handicap or less.

On the ride up to Payson, among other things we talked about the heresy of my recent "Rules of Golf" blog. We discussed one of the most famous gaffes in PGA golf history. In the final round of the 1968 Masters, Roberto De Vincenzo attested to an incorrect score card. He was not disqualified because the mistake resulted in a higher score, but he otherwise would have been in a playoff with Bob Goalby. At that time, the players reviewed their scorecards right off of the 18th green in the midst of the spectators. As a result of De Vincenzo's gaffe, the PGA changed its rules and players now go into a private room to carefully review their scorecards without all of the crowd distractions. The funny thing is that every golfer knows about Roberto De Vincenzo, but very few golfers know who won the 1968 Masters or even know of Bob Goalby, even though he won 11 PGA golf tournaments, including the 1968 Masters.