Notebook
Walker Cup Reversal
SPANKIN' THE YANKS
It wasn't enough that Great Britain and Ireland had the NCAA and
Pac-10 champs, a pet tiger named Eldrick and the look of a
favorite. No, the lads of GB&I also had to steal the Yanks'
fashion mojo--wearing polo necks under their sport shirts, a
distinctly American wrinkle--at the Walker Cup at Nairn,
Scotland, last week. Said one fan, eying GB&I's layered
linksters, "They look more American than the Americans."
That was just it. The U.S. players got a fair glimpse of their
former selves as they were shelled 15-9, the most lopsided U.S.
loss in Walker Cup history, at the 6,602-yard, par-71 Nairn Golf
Club. In a 77-year-old series that the U.S. led 31-4-1, GB&I won
in what had been typical American fashion, by plucking its stars
from atop the U.S. collegiate ranks, adding a few cagey veterans
and owning the singles matches. Luke Donald of Beaconsfield,
England, and the NCAA champ from Northwestern, went 4-0 for
GB&I. Ditto Paul Casey of Burhill, England, the Pac-10 champion
from Arizona State. All told, four of the 10 GB&I golfers have
played college golf Stateside, and a fifth, Philip Rowe, will
start at Stanford next week after a 3-0 mark at Nairn.
"There are a lot of good players outside America, and people
like me have proved that," said Donald. "More people from
England and Europe are going over to America because they are
finding out the system is so good there, and American coaches
are only too happy to receive them."
GB&I, down 7-5 after the first day, took 10 of the remaining 12
points on Sunday to win for the third time in the last six
biennial matches. The scene was grim for the Americans. Matt
Kuchar of Georgia Tech sat during the Saturday singles, lost to
Rowe one up on Sunday and finished 0-3. Kuchar's Tech teammate
Bryce Molder was 0-3-1. Western Amateur champion Steve Scott
also went 0-3. Only Public Links champ Hunter Haas (3-1) won as
many as three points for the U.S., while four players did so for
GB&I. Gary Wolstenholme (3-0) upset U.S. Amateur champ David
Gossett one up, but then Wolstenholme, 38, also defeated Tiger
Woods in the '95 Walker Cup. To commemorate that W, Wolstenholme
has a tiger headcover that he calls Eldrick. Memo to the boys in
red, white and blue: You've lost your stripes.
Business Golf 101
COLLEGE KIDS ON GRASS
Last January, when Charles Barkley signed a contract with the
Houston Rockets between the 9th green and 10th tee at the Bob
Hope Chrysler Classic, he broke one of the fundamental rules of
the businessman's on-course code. According to Dan Weilbaker,
the David Leadbetter of duffer dealmakers, Barkley should've
signed at the 19th hole.
That's one of the basics of Business Golf 101, a not-for-credit
seminar conducted by Northern Illinois sales professor Weilbaker
in which students sit for a 90-minute lecture and then practice
what they've learned during an 18-hole round. Weilbaker tells
students to use all 18 holes to negotiate and not to let the
client win, which might foster distrust.
At the third annual seminar last week at the Indian Lakes
Conference and Resort Center in Bloomingdale, Ill., 47 students
sat for the lecture, then played golf with 97 Chicagoland
business professionals (recruited by Weilbaker) with whom they
applied the lessons by selling themselves for internships or jobs.
Heather McLindsay last year found herself in a group with Chuck
Howlett of Eli Lilly and Company. "At the end of the day he
asked for my resume and arranged an interview," McLindsay says.
Four months later she got a job as a sales representative.
McLindsay played poorly that round, but no matter. In Business
Golf 101, you can lose on the course as long as your sales pitch
is a winner. --Gene Menez
COLOR PHOTO: DAVE CANNON/ALLSPORT Wolstenholme (right) and Rowe ran circles around the U.S. team.
COLOR PHOTO: JUDY WILLIS
TWO COLOR PHOTOS: PAUL T. ERICKSON/TRI-CITY HERALD (2)
Faces
Joe Cheves, Morganton, N.C.
Cheves, 81, shot an eight-under 64 on the 6,280-yard Mimosa
Hills Golf and Country Club course in Morganton. A former head
pro at Mimosa, Cheves has bettered his age at least once a year
since turning 65 and has failed to accomplish that feat only
once in roughly 200 rounds over the past two years.
Gregg LaVoie, Pasco, Wash.
Ryan LaVoie, Pasco, Wash.
Gregg, 15, a sophomore at Pasco High, became the youngest golfer
to play in a Nike tour event when he competed in last week's
Tri-Cities Open in Richland, Wash. He shot 78-74 to miss the cut
at the Tri-Cities, which he qualified for with a four-under 68
that included an eagle 2 on the 360-yard 4th hole at Sun Willows
Golf Course in Pasco. Ryan, 21, Gregg's brother, won the Oregon
stroke-play with a 15-under 201 at the Oregon Golf Association
Members Course in Woodburn. A senior and team captain at Oregon,
Ryan also won the Oregon match play and the Pacific Coast and
Washington amateurs this summer.
Submit Faces candidates to golfplus.cnnsi.com/faces.
Threesomes
What do these players have in common?
--David Duval
--Colin Montgomerie
--Lee Westwood
They are the only players in the top 10 of the World Ranking who
have failed to win a major championship. Duval is ranked second,
Montgomerie is third and Westwood is fifth.
Feedback
Will Tom Watson dominate the Senior tour?
Yes 48%
No 52%
--Based on 172 responses to our informal survey
Next question: Which is the most important event in golf, the
Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship or Ryder Cup?
Vote at golfplus.cnnsi.com.
Numbers
Tom Watson shot an opening 66 but faded to a 22nd-place finish
at the Comfort Classic in Indianapolis last week. Here's how
some other notable players fared in their Senior tour debuts.
EVENT FINISH
R. DeVicenzo '80 Senior Open 1
Don January '80 Atlantic City 1
Arnold Palmer '80 Senior PGA 1
Rod Funseth '83 Hall of Fame 1
Gary Player '85 Quadel 1
George Archer '89 Gatlin Bros. SW 1
Lee Trevino '89 Kaanapali T7
Jack Nicklaus '90 Tradition 1
Raymond Floyd '92 Bank One T6
Hale Irwin '95 BellSouth T4
Gil Morgan '96 Vantage 16
Bruce Fleisher '99 Royal Caribbean 1
