Which PGA Tour players are cool off the course? Which aren't?

[BJM]

I have throughly enjoyed this thread. Great stories. Keep them coming.

 

I always enjoy a post from Richard, especially when recounting stories of golfers of generations prior. I bought a Paul Runyan book on the strength of a profile he did.

 

Richard, any insights on Julius Boros?

[TheInfidel]

I've worked at the Dunhill for the R&A and Sky a few times. Without fail, each and every time he has an opportunity, Colin Montgomerie is a complete and total Word not allowed hat.

 

There isn't even a thin veneer of niceness to smear over the crappy products he's paid to endorse. A rude, arrogant self involved individual who wouldn't know manners if the pissed on him.

[ChillyDipper]

Not to bring this back from the dead but I debated posting earlier and finally had the time and patience to sit down and make some comments.

 

I was lucky enough to work in "Golf Mecca" area with lots of tour players and worked at one of the clubs that many were members of back in the day. One thing I learned is that how you meet someone can have a big influence on your opinion of them and that I would not survive as a tour player when it came to certain things with the fans. As with any profession, golf has its share or winners and turds BUT some are also judged on a five second interaction with little context.

 

I worked at another private club and often played with mini tour and tour players as well as "famous" people but when I interviewed at this club and walked around a corner in the club house to be greeted by portraits of two of their members in their green jackets....well it was a new level. Now I am not overly impressed with peoples money or fame but as a golfer it was still surreal.

 

Some of this will be similar to other peoples experience and some may not simply because I knew these guys at their home which can make a huge difference. Their guard is usually down as we signed a confidentiality agreement ( a lot of that was for the really powerful members who weren't golfers) and went through a background check as well as a playing interview and you had to maintain at least a 4 handicap. All of this made for a unique experience.

 

Ill start with one my favorites, Mark O'Meara. Hands down one of the nicest people Ive ever met. I was sitting with his father one day and told him that I understood why Mark was how he was because HE was one of the nicest people I had ever met, lol. Mark didn't hold the title long. Just super good people.

 

The funniest story I remember with him happened on the putting green as I was practicing. I had to work later but arrived a couple of hours early to do some putting practice and play some holes. So I come whipping up to the green in a cart, parked behind one of the few carts sitting their with a Buick staff bag on it ( everyone had staff bags) and started my practice. I was in my own world but did hear Mark behind me talking to someone. They were having a long conversation and at some point the other persons voice sounded familiar so I turned and looked and here it was a young successful player who he had taken under his wing. I laughed at myself for not putting the bag with the player and thought "pretty cool" and went back to practicing. I had met Mark and spoke with him previously ( conversations with pros was rarely about golf as conversations with CEOs was rarely about business unless you wanted to be escorted out) and then I remembered my boss saying that one of the reasons they had the handicap rule for employees is because sometimes members and even the tour players would ask to join up if you all were heading out at the same time. I told my roommate later that some day I would look back and remember what a cool day that was and how lucky I was to be at such a place at that particular time in golf history. He worked at our sister course and couldn't agree more. We were both right.

 

John Cook was a great guy as well. We probably hit it off because I was from Ohio and little older than much of the golf staff. The week I was leaving that job he came up to me and said "You use my name however you have to in order to help with your career" and handed me his number. He then called his dad and said "Buckeye is moving back to Ohio and lives near Firestone. Can you make a call?" He then handed me his phone and I spoke with his father about who I needed to speak with back home.

 

One day John comes rolling up and asked about the keys to the club repair room. I took him down and he asked if I wanted to help him re-grip his clubs. Ummmmm yep I sure did. I didn't know at the time but someone told him I had been doing a certain members clubs ( extremely picky, extremely good and unaware that it was me and not an outside club guy doing the work) and I guess that John figured I wouldn't screw his up.

 

About 6 months after I left the club I took my uncle to Muirfield to see the tournament and to meet John who happened to be his favorite player. I don't now how it is now but back then Jack kept the fans pretty far back and didn't really want people asking for autographs on the course. I saw John in the fairway and yelled his name and he came over and talked for a couple of minutes and shook my uncles hand. He still hasn't forgotten that day.

 

July of that year a foursome showed up and I recognized all of them immediately. One , Donnie Hammond, was a member. Peter Kessler I new through a mutual friend and Fulton Allem who I knew from my old job. Donnie shook my hand, I jabbed Peter about not inviting our mutual friend and Fulton came up and nearly bear hugged me. The fourth walked over and said "Hi Buckeye, my names Retief Goosen"

 

Well I had been mesmerized by his performance in the US Open, so much so that Craig Parry and I sat and talked about it for half an hour the week after Retief won. I kind of laughed to myself "does he actually think I don't know who he is?" He was that unassuming and genuine. Oh and his rental car was a Chevy Malibu which I thought fitted perfectly. My roomate met him a week later and said he walked up and asked if he thought it would be OK if he hist some range balls. My roomie responded "You are the US Open champion, you can do whatever you like."

 

Just a side note about him hitting range balls. One of the things he really liked to do was take a BIG bucket of balls and just thrown it amongst the trees and spend his time hitting shots out of them. It explained a lot about his abilities. Super nice guy.

 

Since I mentioned Fulton...he is who he is and you never knew who you were going to get. I was happy to never be on the wrong end of one of his moods because they were epic.

 

Craig Parry, one of my favorites. Honestly out of all of the players I met he would be the one I would want to play another round with because it was that fun and educational. Ill share one story just for Johnny Miller fans.

 

Our range was double sided with members on one side and ourselves and the tour players on the other. ( not a rule per se but that was pretty standard) I was out one morning and saw Craig on the back of the range all by himself so I swung by to say hi since we had gotten to know each other pretty well. I noticed he had several clubs still in plastic leaning up against his cart and he was making his usual awesome swing to a distant target. I asked him what was with the clubs in plastic.

 

"Well my contract is almost up..."

 

THWACK

 

"So I went to all of the companies..."

 

THWACK

 

"and told them to give m their 1 iron because if can hit it I figure I can hit anything they make"

 

THWACK

 

Yep he was stripping 1 irons one after another. He had a little divot spot going and he turned to me and started talking about his swing.

 

"You know I grew up playing some goat ranches but it made me a better player because i learned to deal with adverse conditions"

 

He rolled a ball into his divot and took another swing with his 1 iron, then another, then another and another. They all looked exactly the same and I think you could have made one swipe with a picker and you would have gathered up all of his shots.

 

Awesome guy with an incredible short game. If memory serves I think he went a whole season with no 3 putts.

 

Oh I almost forgot, I was playing behind him and a friend one day and after the round he made the trip back to the 18th and asked me what I shot. I had just finished my first even par round at the course and had to hit driver/driver on 17 to set it up. He said "I kept turning and watching and knew you had a really good round going which is why i didn't wave you up. That's a hell of a score considering how high the rough is and the greens" ( It was around US Open time and they would do all they could to get the greens fast for the players) One of the biggest compliments I ever received on the course.

 

I saw his name in the senior tour event this past weekend so I hope hes going to compete here so I can possibly catch up with him.

 

Next was a couple of Aussies who were best friends that people sometimes gets confused. Definitely different personalities ( at least in my experience) but both were always nice to me. They were the first players of that level I practiced with and I learned a ton from them about how and what to practice. To this day I am still surprised neither won a major.

 

The first time I met them was on the driving range when I had to hit balls between them. I was brand new and nervous so I took out my sand wedge and hit 3/4 shots for what seemed like half an hour. I would hit a lot more with them and had a lot of laughs. The one who is known for not being the nicest came up to me right before Firestone and said his buddy had told him that I was from Ohio and was going to be up there that week and he wondered if I needed tickets. I told him thanks but I could get some back home. He gave me his phone number and told me to call him the Monday of the tournament and he would have my tickets. He did what he said and when I went out on practice day to thank them they stopped signing autographs to come over and talk to me for a minute and meet my daughter and gf. That's when I saw how they went into autograph mode and how some people could come away with players not being friendly enough. It was confirmed later that day just how crazy fans were when they nearly trampled my daughter and I to get to another of our members. Speaking for myself , I really don't think I would handle that life very well.

 

Scott Hoch was another who has a bad reputation but was always good to me. The stories about his ball striking were true and I loved watching him hit shots. His distance control was incredible. His buddy was telling me that back in the day he used to tell his caddy to to give him exact yardages such as 163 yards and two feet. Now obvioulsy he wasnt that accurate but in his mind he felt like he was and it gave him confidence knowing the exact yardages.

 

Grante Waite. ust met him a couple of times. Super quiet but damn could he hit an iron.

 

Lee Janzen was also quiet but never came off as a bad guy. He even went out of his way to come over and say HI while I was playing in a tournament at a course down the road. I was just as surprised as the guys in my group because even though we had met a few times and I saw him on the grounds, I never expected him to drive over and say hello.

 

I remember him hitting tee shots off of 10 one day and one of the staff turns to me and says "That's disappointing, i can hit it longer than him." I told him to look at the 5 balls he just hit. You could have thrown a sheet over all five of them. I told the guy "Thats why only one of you has a US Open trophy"

 

Finally the most famous member we had. Ill keep it short and sweet. He was always good to me, although he was very careful around people. Once I was around him I saw why and told him he could have that life. He was as good as they said and he did things no one else could do. He would step on your throat to win at checkers ( competitive but not a jerk about it) and I doubt that has gone away.

 

All in all I had a good experience and the only one I really had was one of the Aussies. He was a little hot headed but the club also put me in a bad position because they knew he and I got along. It was a situation with one of his guests but to his credit he apologized later even though it wasn't necessary because I felt he was right. He knew I was just doing my job.

 

There was a bunch more but Ive rambled long enough and Ive probably already commented on them in other posts when their names came up.

 

I would love to hear more Tiger stories. What does it really mean when people say he could hit shots that no one else could hit?

[buckeyefl]

Tiger had a weighted club he used to use that was super stiff and obviously very heavy. One of the assistantsame who was a very strong a day very good player could not even get it off of the ground.

 

If you've ever played the the course or watched the Tavistock Cup you might notice that 9 is a dogleg left and 18 a dogleg right. When Tiger moved there he figured out he needed to carry it 305 on 18 to clear the trees. So he would hit a high draw on 18 and a high fade on 9 and have flip wedges into the green. It wasn't just distance it was how high he could hit it. You also have to think back to the equipment he was using.

 

He and MO were on the back of the range hitting balls one day when Mark McCormack showed up on the other side to hit some also. (Double sided range with a little water treatment or collection area in the middle surrounded by trees) They hid behind the trees on the pro side and Tiger starts flying balls over MM head and bouncing them across the street into someone's yard. Mark O was swinging out of his shoes trying to imitate him but it was a no go. They had a pretty good laugh as MM kept looking back as balls bounced across the street.

 

That reminded me of something else, the range was a little short for tour players to hit hard drivers straight away so they would hit them at an angle to keep,from smacking people on the other side. Well one day I go to the range and drove straight to the back but did notice there was someone on the front hitting. When I got to the back tee which was somewhat elevated and a slight arch shape, I noticed it was covered with balls. I mean a ton of balls. When I looked close they all had apples on them but I was seriously amazed at how they covered the tee box from one side to the other.

 

Here the tour player on the front was practicing his distance control with fw and driver. He started hitting straight away and then went diagonally while working his way to driver. Honestly aside from Craig Parry hitting one irons out of divot and a couple of other moments I haven't mentioned, it was one of the more impressive things I've seen because he did not miss the tee box with many shots. He was also a fanatic about practice. He would take time off but when it was time to practice and get ready to start playing again he would practice literally all day. Sometimes it was so interesting see he would forget to eat or drink in the middle of a Florida summer. Very single minded and meticulous.

[ChillyDipper]

That's awesome. Thanks so much. I'm gonna go on Google Earth to get a sense of what you're talking about front and back practice areas. Must have changed by now though.

[buckeyefl]

No its the same other than the trees are removed and they added a tee box across the street for the long hitters.

 

Edit to add that the range is different now but shape is the same. The tiny bunker in the sw corner and the area slightly discolored beside it us where the trees were located. North side did not have the giant bunker.

[pga43]

After covering about 500+ tournaments (PGA, LPGA, Champions, Web & Symetra) for Golfwrx.com over the last 10+ years, I can say that there have only been maybe 3 guys who were ever less then cordial to me and all those guys are now on the Champions Tour.

 

There have been times that I could tell a player was having a lousy day and knew to just stay away. The practice areas and course are their work area and no one, no matter how great they might be, can be cordial, social, jovial, nice 100% of the time. We all have bad days.

 

That being said I have to say the the new wave of younger players get it. They understand social media and the importance of being nice to fans and media. Whether it is something they have been "trained" to do by their agent or by their parents, they are great with fans. Sure they have their moments but more times then not the fan has set the tone of how they are dealt with by being an asshat to the player.

 

Some of the really great guys are, in no particular order

 

Jason Gore, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Speith, Patrick Reed, Justin Thomas, Kevin Streelman, Jason Day, Graeme McDowell, James Hahn, Billy Horschel, Bubba Watson, Charles Howell, III, Danny Lee, Jonas Blixt, Blayne Barber, Ben Crane, Sam Saunders, George McNeill, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Boo Weekly, Marc Leishman, Gary Woodland, Harold Varner, III, Phil Mickelson

 

 

I'm sure many may have different ideas about some of the guys listed above but unless you have actually met these guys and spent anytime around them please don't go by what you may have heard or read. Most of the golf media writers don't actually spend anytime out on the range/course with these guys and definitely not enough time to decide on how a player acts.

 

 

Greg

[Terry Gold]

My first-hand interactions with Tour droids have been lame, but a lady friend has provided me with an all too amusing first-hand account of an evening that involved a Mr. Mickelson, a Mr. Barkley, a limousine, and the city of Las Vegas.

Enough said.

[toophewbirdies]

My first-hand interactions with Tour droids are lame, but a lady friend has provided me with an all too amusing first-hand account of an evening that involved a Mr. Mickelson, a Mr. Barkley, a limousine, and the city of Las Vegas.

Enough said.

 

NOT cool..............! :(

 

Enough said.

[carn9698]

I have been a prfoessional comedian for nearly 40 years and most of my peers think they are far funnier than they actually are and very few have an off switch. I have done many charity days on golf courses and I have not met that many pros on the Australasian Tour but the ones I met seemed courteous and friendly.

 

On the other hand, I play with a few gun golfers with low handicaps and I tend to find these guys are like Doctors - they think because they are good at one thing, they know everything. They forget it's a sport and they also seem to think that anyone with a handicap over 10 doesn't know anything about golf and is not entitled to an opinion. I am sure ya'll know guys like that. I hasten to add that the few pros I have done the gigs with were not like that.

 

Kind regards,

Rob

this is so true. Great post.

[carn9698]

My first-hand interactions with Tour droids have been lame, but a lady friend has provided me with an all too amusing first-hand account of an evening that involved a Mr. Mickelson, a Mr. Barkley, a limousine, and the city of Las Vegas.

Enough said.

what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

[carn9698]

I've worked at the Dunhill for the R&A and Sky a few times. Without fail, each and every time he has an opportunity, Colin Montgomerie is a complete and total Word not allowed hat.

 

There isn't even a thin veneer of niceness to smear over the crappy products he's paid to endorse. A rude, arrogant self involved individual who wouldn't know manners if the pissed on him.

he is real tool. It's as plain as day.

 

You think he would attempt to tone it down as he aged. Hard to pull for him.

[Sean2]

I saw Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade once from about 100 yards away.

[Terry Gold]

My first-hand interactions with Tour droids have been lame, but a lady friend has provided me with an all too amusing first-hand account of an evening that involved a Mr. Mickelson, a Mr. Barkley, a limousine, and the city of Las Vegas.

Enough said.

what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

 

Precisely.

[Blindman]

I've worked at the Dunhill for the R&A and Sky a few times. Without fail, each and every time he has an opportunity, Colin Montgomerie is a complete and total Word not allowed hat.

 

There isn't even a thin veneer of niceness to smear over the crappy products he's paid to endorse. A rude, arrogant self involved individual who wouldn't know manners if the pissed on him.

he is real tool. It's as plain as day.

 

You think he would attempt to tone it down as he aged. Hard to pull for him.

I'm Scottish and can't stand the fuckwit.

 

Never smiles, face like a bag of hard shite.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

I've worked at the Dunhill for the R&A and Sky a few times. Without fail, each and every time he has an opportunity, Colin Montgomerie is a complete and total Word not allowed hat.

 

There isn't even a thin veneer of niceness to smear over the crappy products he's paid to endorse. A rude, arrogant self involved individual who wouldn't know manners if the pissed on him.

he is real tool. It's as plain as day.

 

You think he would attempt to tone it down as he aged. Hard to pull for him.

I'm Scottish and can't stand the fuckwit.

 

Never smiles, face like a bag of hard shite.

 

And Mrs Doubtfire always seemed so nice on TV :)

[Blindman]

 

 

I've worked at the Dunhill for the R&A and Sky a few times. Without fail, each and every time he has an opportunity, Colin Montgomerie is a complete and total Word not allowed hat.

 

There isn't even a thin veneer of niceness to smear over the crappy products he's paid to endorse. A rude, arrogant self involved individual who wouldn't know manners if the pissed on him.

he is real tool. It's as plain as day.

 

You think he would attempt to tone it down as he aged. Hard to pull for him.

I'm Scottish and can't stand the fuckwit.

 

Never smiles, face like a bag of hard shite.

 

And Mrs Doubtfire always seemed so nice on TV :)

 

Scottish women are many things, nice isn't one of them LOL

 

Loved Robin Williams.

[nikegal]

I have throughly enjoyed this thread. Great stories. Keep them coming., mg fggcy

 

I always enjoy a post from Richard, especially when recounting stories of golfers of generations prior. I bought a Paul Runyan book on the strength of a profile he did.

 

Richard, any insights on Julius Boros?

Hi BJ, I'm Madison, Richard's fiance :) He had his chemo and is a little under the weather and asked me to respond for him and he is sorry for the delay as he did not see your post or he would have responded sooner. As he has spoken to elsewhere, he worked the 1978 PGA Championship(Oakmont) as a Marshall and drew practice round practice tee duty and got to meet Julius Boros very fleetingly. Other than a hand shake, Richard had no more interaction with him however he was one of a handful of Players who walked back to the ropes and signed autographs, hats and programs for this fans standing there. Most of the Players would either ignore the fans or smile, knod and keep walking, either to their bag or a pile of balls or off the tee if they were finished. He signed and was very cordial to the fans.

 

Regarding Paul Runyan, well I got to meet him and received what would probably amount to two lessons across three days when I was with my Teacher, Pete, out in Cally. He was older yet had amazing hands and still could put a ball stiff from anywhere that we dropped them. Mr. Runyan administered what was considered the most shocking defeats in a Major, when in 1938 he defeated Pete's brother Sam, 8&7, in the then the match play format PGA Championship, winning one hole, a par 5 where he was outdriven by over 100 yards, 342yds to 240yds, where he chipped in with a 3w for an eagle and Sam lipped out his eagle put. As Richard has noted, Sam never really spoke of his US Open defeats unless responding to others' questions or comments however his defeat to the diminutive Mr. Runyan is one that he carried to his grave. Most on the board probably have no idea who Paul Runyan is however it was Pete's opinion, and he was alive when Tiger played at what is arguably the highest level ever achieved by a Player on Tour, ANY Player, and Pete, and I've spoken to others who concur, that Paul Runyan had THE finest short game EVER. Certainly, Hogan, Byron Nelson, Bob Jones or Sam, were not in his class. And he was such a sweetheart. Such a gentleman. His book, The Short Way To Lower Scoring, is a must for any serious Golfer, regardless of handicap. Amazingly, Mr. Runyan competed in the Masters Par 3 contest in 2000, at the age of NINETY ONE. HaHa, sorry to ramble as hanging around Richard has certainly rubbed off on me, lol. Again, his apologies for the delay in responding. Have a nice weekend :) Maddie

[BJM]

Maddie, thanks for the reply. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I could read Richard's posts all day. The additional insights into both gentleman is fantastic. Thank you. Have a great week-end.

 

Cheers,

Brad

[gsea33]

Many moons ago at the old Hartford Open we hooked up with Len Matisse in the hotel bar with a few other caddies and pros. We had a great long night starting there and ending well lets say where a roll of ones were beneficial. And the next day he got us in side the ropes. Great guy and big also.

[texcrom]

I'll keep this positive.

 

Second the comments regarding John Cook. Played with him twice in the Honda pro-am. Just a great guy. And we won it the first year we played.

 

Also had the chance to play with Joey Sindelar (just as nice as you would expect) and Craig Stadler (a great time with him!).

 

Had a dinner with Nick Faldo prior to his retirement and move to the booth. At dinner and the event the following day, nothing but nice with a great dry wit. Polar opposite of what we anticipated.

 

Met Payne Stewart on several occasions, and still my favorite golfer!

 

And played with Christie Kerr before she won on tour. Very nice and at the time she was smoking hot!

 

And lastly........Greg Norman is an even bigger a****** than everyone described!!

[rony]

I'll keep this positive.

 

Second the comments regarding John Cook. Played with him twice in the Honda pro-am. Just a great guy. And we won it the first year we played.

 

Also had the chance to play with Joey Sindelar (just as nice as you would expect) and Craig Stadler (a great time with him!).

 

Had a dinner with Nick Faldo prior to his retirement and move to the booth. At dinner and the event the following day, nothing but nice with a great dry wit. Polar opposite of what we anticipated.

 

Met Payne Stewart on several occasions, and still my favorite golfer!

 

And played with Christie Kerr before she won on tour. Very nice and at the time she was smoking hot!

 

And lastly........Greg Norman is an even bigger a****** than everyone described!!

 

I saw an interview with Norman in the early 80's on TV. I knew very little about him with the exception that I did not like his "Pretty Boy" looks. I remember thinking that he was not a "Man's type of Man." Within 30 seconds, I determined that this guy was: Full of himself and someone who would not likely have many admirers. :rolleyes:

[stealthrt91]

Kuchers the man, followed him at Valspar this year and between everyone heckling 'sketchers' and chanting 'kuuuu' he stopped off to take a leak in a regular patrons outhouse, when he walked out everyone was holding up there hands for high fives and he was high fiving them. Walks by me ready to high five and I was like, 'there's no sink in there Matt, I'm good man', he gave me the biggest grin and says 'I know' and keeps walking hahahaha

[ethanshapiro]

Not PGA guys but being in the DC area the club I go to always lets the athletes on the course, I've played with Troy Brouwer back when he was on the Caps, as well as Nick Backstrom, John Carlson, and also other guys like Ian Desmond and I've seen John Wall. All great guys who hit the ball much farther than it was meant to be hit

[ea19]

I don't have any cool stories like a lot of these posts on tour players - although I did play with Randy Moss a couple weeks ago at a dumpy public course. He was cool and it was a lot of fun. He had brand new set of clubs - Ping everything - and he could hit it a mile, when he connected. :-)

 

But I wanted to post about Vijay S. I know he has a reputation and I do not know him personally but every time I see him he is super cool with fans - especially kids. I go to the Wells Fargo every year and, occasionally hilton head and greensboro tournaments - but I seem to end up following him at Quail quite a bit. I was out yesterday during practice rounds and followed him for a while - he would stop at each and every kid and sign. And no one was around - it was like his caddy, his playing partner, his caddie and maybe two other people maximum and me. But he would stop and sign autographs and every request, drop a ball off, even a glove. And I have seen him do this a lot during the tournament - not sign autographs of course during the round, but go over to kids and drop off a couple golf balls, etc during the round. Most other players are like - catch me after the round, etc etc - which is fine, I totally understand but - I have seen Vijay go pretty out of his way to sign for a little kid or drop off a golf ball.

[Forged4ever]

My first-hand interactions with Tour droids have been lame, but a lady friend has provided me with an all too amusing first-hand account of an evening that involved a Mr. Mickelson, a Mr. Barkley, a limousine, and the city of Las Vegas.

Enough said.

Bro, your stuff is better than this. This is the kinda stuff that's on lesser boards. Even if true, it's out of place to be discussed here. This isn't the Men's locker room.

 

Nuff said

 

Have a great season :)

 

Fairways & Greens My Friend,

Richard

[nikegal]

I don't have any cool stories like a lot of these posts on tour players - although I did play with Randy Moss a couple weeks ago at a dumpy public course. He was cool and it was a lot of fun. He had brand new set of clubs - Ping everything - and he could hit it a mile, when he connected. :-)

 

But I wanted to post about Vijay S. I know he has a reputation and I do not know him personally but every time I see him he is super cool with fans - especially kids. I go to the Wells Fargo every year and, occasionally hilton head and greensboro tournaments - but I seem to end up following him at Quail quite a bit. I was out yesterday during practice rounds and followed him for a while - he would stop at each and every kid and sign. And no one was around - it was like his caddy, his playing partner, his caddie and maybe two other people maximum and me. But he would stop and sign autographs and every request, drop a ball off, even a glove. And I have seen him do this a lot during the tournament - not sign autographs of course during the round, but go over to kids and drop off a couple golf balls, etc during the round. Most other players are like - catch me after the round, etc etc - which is fine, I totally understand but - I have seen Vijay go pretty out of his way to sign for a little kid or drop off a golf ball.

I had a very nice experience with Vijay and it was just prior to the Invitational event that I've spoken of previously, in fact the same year as my Freddie encounter, haha. It was Sunday afternoon, with the event being a Mon/Tue tourney. So I'm on the practice tee hitting balls pre-round and I have one of my younger students with me(Dilan, 9yo) and he was going to ride with me as Richard, myself and the Club Asst(who had the incident with Freddie) were going out to Play as the pins were set as they would be for Monday's round.

 

The was a space open next to me and Vijay pulled up in a cart and I smiled, said hello and he returned the smile and walked over, put out his hand and introduced himself. He then looked at Dilan and did the same. He stepped back and began hitting balls. Well, Dilan soon lost interest in watching me hit and stood back next to Vijay's cart and watched him hit. After about 15-20 minutes Vijay went to his cart to go back up to the clubhouse and he looked to Dilan and asked if he would like to ride with him for his round.

 

Dilan looked to me more in surprise than seeking approval I think and I just smiled and said "have fun." It was so cute because Dilan has a limb length discrepancy and initially some of the other boys made fun of him at the practice range and Richard was there and he of course asked me if it was ok to speak to them and I said yes because one, as a woman, I just thought that a male, and Richard is good sized and would command their attention, that he would leave a more lasting impression and he had sort of taken Dilan under his wing and whenever Richard was at the range, Dilan was with him. So Richard spoke to them and from that day forward there was never a problem and the one boy, a bigger athletic boy became very good friends with Dilan.

 

So Dilan wanted to tell Richard himself that he would not be riding with him but I assured him that I would tell Richard and he would be fine, lol. I did and of course Richard was. Well, Vijay was a Prince. He bought Dilan lunch at the half way shack and afterwards he gave him a box of balls, one sleeve signed, a signed glove and a signed visor. Dilan still speaks of this day today and Vijay has two fans for life, haha. Thanks for reading :) Maddie

[ea19]

I don't have any cool stories like a lot of these posts on tour players - although I did play with Randy Moss a couple weeks ago at a dumpy public course. He was cool and it was a lot of fun. He had brand new set of clubs - Ping everything - and he could hit it a mile, when he connected. :-)

 

But I wanted to post about Vijay S. I know he has a reputation and I do not know him personally but every time I see him he is super cool with fans - especially kids. I go to the Wells Fargo every year and, occasionally hilton head and greensboro tournaments - but I seem to end up following him at Quail quite a bit. I was out yesterday during practice rounds and followed him for a while - he would stop at each and every kid and sign. And no one was around - it was like his caddy, his playing partner, his caddie and maybe two other people maximum and me. But he would stop and sign autographs and every request, drop a ball off, even a glove. And I have seen him do this a lot during the tournament - not sign autographs of course during the round, but go over to kids and drop off a couple golf balls, etc during the round. Most other players are like - catch me after the round, etc etc - which is fine, I totally understand but - I have seen Vijay go pretty out of his way to sign for a little kid or drop off a golf ball.

I had a very nice experience with Vijay and it was just prior to the Invitational event that I've spoken, in fact the same year as my Freddie encounter, haha. It was Sunday afternoon, with the event being a Mon/Tue tourney. So I'm on the practice tee hitting balls pre-round and I have one of my younger students with me(Dilan, 9yo) and he was going to ride with me as Richard, myself and the Club Asst(who had the incident with Freddie) were going out to Play as the pins were set as they would be for Monday's round.

 

The was a space open next to me and Vijay pulled up in a cart and I smiled, said hello and he returned the smile and walked over, put out his hand and introduced himself. He then looked at Dilan and did the same. He stepped back and began hitting balls. Well, Dilan soon lost interest in watching me hit and stood back next to Vijay's cart and watched him hit. After about 15-20 minutes Vijay went to his cart to go back up to the clubhouse and he looked to Dilan and asked if he would like to ride with him for his round.

 

Dilan looked to me in surprise more than approval I think and I just smiled and said "have fun." It was so cute because Dilan has a limb length discrepancy and initially some of the other boys made fun of him at the practice range and Richard was there and he of course asked me of it was ok to speak to them and I said he's because one, as a woman, I just thought that a male, and Richard is good sized and would command their attention, and he had sort of taken Dilan under his wing and whenever Richard was at the range, Dilan was with him. So Richard spoke to them and from that day forward there was never a problem and the one boy, a bigger athletic boy became very good friends with Dilan.

 

So Dilan wanted to tell Richard himself that he would not be riding with him but I assured him that I would tell Richard and he would be fine, lol. I did and of course Richard was. Well, Vijay was a Prince. He bought Dilan lunch at the half way shack and afterwards he gave him a box of balls, one sleeve signed, a signed glove and a signed visor. Dilan still speaks of this day today and Vijay has a fan for life, haha. Thanks for reading :) Maddie

 

Wow - that is a very cool story.

[nikegal]

I don't have any cool stories like a lot of these posts on tour players - although I did play with Randy Moss a couple weeks ago at a dumpy public course. He was cool and it was a lot of fun. He had brand new set of clubs - Ping everything - and he could hit it a mile, when he connected. :-)

 

But I wanted to post about Vijay S. I know he has a reputation and I do not know him personally but every time I see him he is super cool with fans - especially kids. I go to the Wells Fargo every year and, occasionally hilton head and greensboro tournaments - but I seem to end up following him at Quail quite a bit. I was out yesterday during practice rounds and followed him for a while - he would stop at each and every kid and sign. And no one was around - it was like his caddy, his playing partner, his caddie and maybe two other people maximum and me. But he would stop and sign autographs and every request, drop a ball off, even a glove. And I have seen him do this a lot during the tournament - not sign autographs of course during the round, but go over to kids and drop off a couple golf balls, etc during the round. Most other players are like - catch me after the round, etc etc - which is fine, I totally understand but - I have seen Vijay go pretty out of his way to sign for a little kid or drop off a golf ball.

I had a very nice experience with Vijay and it was just prior to the Invitational event that I've spoken, in fact the same year as my Freddie encounter, haha. It was Sunday afternoon, with the event being a Mon/Tue tourney. So I'm on the practice tee hitting balls pre-round and I have one of my younger students with me(Dilan, 9yo) and he was going to ride with me as Richard, myself and the Club Asst(who had the incident with Freddie) were going out to Play as the pins were set as they would be for Monday's round.

 

The was a space open next to me and Vijay pulled up in a cart and I smiled, said hello and he returned the smile and walked over, put out his hand and introduced himself. He then looked at Dilan and did the same. He stepped back and began hitting balls. Well, Dilan soon lost interest in watching me hit and stood back next to Vijay's cart and watched him hit. After about 15-20 minutes Vijay went to his cart to go back up to the clubhouse and he looked to Dilan and asked if he would like to ride with him for his round.

 

Dilan looked to me in surprise more than approval I think and I just smiled and said "have fun." It was so cute because Dilan has a limb length discrepancy and initially some of the other boys made fun of him at the practice range and Richard was there and he of course asked me of it was ok to speak to them and I said he's because one, as a woman, I just thought that a male, and Richard is good sized and would command their attention, and he had sort of taken Dilan under his wing and whenever Richard was at the range, Dilan was with him. So Richard spoke to them and from that day forward there was never a problem and the one boy, a bigger athletic boy became very good friends with Dilan.

 

So Dilan wanted to tell Richard himself that he would not be riding with him but I assured him that I would tell Richard and he would be fine, lol. I did and of course Richard was. Well, Vijay was a Prince. He bought Dilan lunch at the half way shack and afterwards he gave him a box of balls, one sleeve signed, a signed glove and a signed visor. Dilan still speaks of this day today and Vijay has a fan for life, haha. Thanks for reading :) Maddie

Wow - that is a very cool story.

Thank You EA! I enjoyed your post also. I'm getting as bad as Richard regarding posting in the middle of other members' posts, hahaha. Have a nice day :) Maddie

[ea19]

I don't have any cool stories like a lot of these posts on tour players - although I did play with Randy Moss a couple weeks ago at a dumpy public course. He was cool and it was a lot of fun. He had brand new set of clubs - Ping everything - and he could hit it a mile, when he connected. :-)

 

But I wanted to post about Vijay S. I know he has a reputation and I do not know him personally but every time I see him he is super cool with fans - especially kids. I go to the Wells Fargo every year and, occasionally hilton head and greensboro tournaments - but I seem to end up following him at Quail quite a bit. I was out yesterday during practice rounds and followed him for a while - he would stop at each and every kid and sign. And no one was around - it was like his caddy, his playing partner, his caddie and maybe two other people maximum and me. But he would stop and sign autographs and every request, drop a ball off, even a glove. And I have seen him do this a lot during the tournament - not sign autographs of course during the round, but go over to kids and drop off a couple golf balls, etc during the round. Most other players are like - catch me after the round, etc etc - which is fine, I totally understand but - I have seen Vijay go pretty out of his way to sign for a little kid or drop off a golf ball.

I had a very nice experience with Vijay and it was just prior to the Invitational event that I've spoken, in fact the same year as my Freddie encounter, haha. It was Sunday afternoon, with the event being a Mon/Tue tourney. So I'm on the practice tee hitting balls pre-round and I have one of my younger students with me(Dilan, 9yo) and he was going to ride with me as Richard, myself and the Club Asst(who had the incident with Freddie) were going out to Play as the pins were set as they would be for Monday's round.

 

The was a space open next to me and Vijay pulled up in a cart and I smiled, said hello and he returned the smile and walked over, put out his hand and introduced himself. He then looked at Dilan and did the same. He stepped back and began hitting balls. Well, Dilan soon lost interest in watching me hit and stood back next to Vijay's cart and watched him hit. After about 15-20 minutes Vijay went to his cart to go back up to the clubhouse and he looked to Dilan and asked if he would like to ride with him for his round.

 

Dilan looked to me in surprise more than approval I think and I just smiled and said "have fun." It was so cute because Dilan has a limb length discrepancy and initially some of the other boys made fun of him at the practice range and Richard was there and he of course asked me of it was ok to speak to them and I said he's because one, as a woman, I just thought that a male, and Richard is good sized and would command their attention, and he had sort of taken Dilan under his wing and whenever Richard was at the range, Dilan was with him. So Richard spoke to them and from that day forward there was never a problem and the one boy, a bigger athletic boy became very good friends with Dilan.

 

So Dilan wanted to tell Richard himself that he would not be riding with him but I assured him that I would tell Richard and he would be fine, lol. I did and of course Richard was. Well, Vijay was a Prince. He bought Dilan lunch at the half way shack and afterwards he gave him a box of balls, one sleeve signed, a signed glove and a signed visor. Dilan still speaks of this day today and Vijay has a fan for life, haha. Thanks for reading :) Maddie

Wow - that is a very cool story.

Thank You EA! I enjoyed your post also. I'm getting as bad as Richard regarding posting in the middle of other members' posts, hahaha. Have a nice day :) Maddie

 

Feel free - anytime, you all have much better stories than I do.

 

You have a nice day as well.