If the expression “smell the coffee” is street code for taking a reality check, then how about “see the coffee” for a surreality check?

Art, as we all know, comes in many shapes and forms, and takes on many meanings depending on the eyes and senses of the beholders. In recent years, much cutting-edge creativity has originated from that most energetic of environments— the city that never sleeps, New York! So it possibly isn’t too much of a surprise to discover that a new art form has evolved, based on pixilated coffee capsules.

Presented by Brazilian entrepreneur and artist Ricardo Bellini at Nespresso’s Capsule Art Exhibit and Tasting Bar at 92 Prince Street, hundreds of thousands of the company’s colored coffee capsules were mounted on 2-metre-square canvases to create the facial images of almost a hundred famous people from the worlds of art, politics, music, entertainment and sport.

Lining up alongside the likes of John F. Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, Marilyn Monroe, Ray Charles, Oprah Winfrey, President Obama and James Taylor at a public exhibition at Nespresso’s SoHo bar last year was none other than Arnold Palmer.

The term for this style of art is neo-iconography, hitherto territory occupied by another of Bellino’s subjects, the late Andy Warhol. American icons don’t come much bigger than Warhol nor, indeed, Mr. Palmer.

Bellino was originally inspired by the palette of 12 shiny colors in which the capsules come while sipping an espresso with his wife Marina, an interior decorator and visual artist, at Nespresso’s flagship Madison Avenue bar.

He noticed the beauty and graphic power of the capsules displayed on the wall and immediately came up with the concept of transforming them into pixels, and art. The plan was to produce 50 panels from a total of 125,000 capsules! Getting hold of that many items was the first problem, so even before leaving the Nespresso store, he called his friend Ivan Zurita, CEO of Nestlé, Brazil, and he put Bellino in touch with U.S. Nespresso’s vice-president, Michelle McFault.

Within a few weeks, 130,000 capsules were delivered to the Bellino’s Key Biscayne home. As their expiration date had exceeded, they were meant to be recycled anyway.

Bellino, now 45, contemplated the fast-paced world of digitized images and envisioned a concept representative of functional object and celebrity defined as a reinterpretation of our cultural process. Up close the panels are a myriad of perfectly aligned colorful shapes, but step back and the iconic faces materialize. From simple object to techno, if the artwork is viewed through a cell phone it is no longer a micro view, but a clear image staring back.

“For ages, man has used art to honor and pay tributes to muses, gods and heroes,” Bellino says. “Nespressions is our humble form to express our respect for a few special individuals who occupied significant space in recent history and have inspired many generations. Nespressions is meant to be a continuing work in progress. We will keep creating new portraits in celebration and appreciation of talent. Nespressions It is our tribute to excellence.”

The idea of cultivating challenging concepts goes along with Bellino’s background as an individual who sees opportunities where others may not. Before his 21st birthday, he partnered with John Casablancas to open Elite Models in São Paulo, Brazil which ultimately launched the careers of Giselle Bundchen and Adriana Lima.

Years later, Donald Trump told Bellino he had three minutes to give his pitch for a prospective Brazilian real estate development, and the result was a record for the world’s fastest deal. Bellino was so impressed he created a portrait panel of Trump from 2,500 capsules, which the property tycoon liked so much he installed it in his New York office.

Nespresso will donate all proceeds from the Tasting Bar exhibition to four partner charities: the British Memorial Garden (britishmemorialgarden.org), The Princess Grace Foundation-U.S.A. (pgfusa.com), Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation–U.S.A. (fpa2.mc) and Musicians on Call (musiciansoncall.org). And a coffee table book depicting the entire Nespressions collection will be released by the end of this year, following a series of exhibitions around the world.

Bid Now for Arnie’s portrait kingdom is auctioning Nespresso’s Arnold Palmer portrait to benefit the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children (arnoldpalmerhospital.com). From now until the end of October, enter a bid at arnieskingdom.com and you could win a stay in Orlando and meet the man himself. At the end of October, the winning bidder will be invited (with a partner) to the Kingdom Cup at Bay Hill Club & Lodge—an invitation-only event, hosted by Arnold Palmer. All expenses will be paid (minus flights and incidentals) and his or her bid will serve as the reserve price at a live auction to take place at the tournament. Naturally the lucky recipients will be included in the bidding process! Once an ultimate winner is determined, Arnold Palmer will sign and present the portrait. For more: arnieskingdom.com/nespresso

Traditionally, each new edition of Kingdom tees off with an interview with Mr. Palmer that showcases his views on current issues and trends within the game. For this issue, we caught up with him at his lovely vacation home within the Tradition community in La Quinta, California

Kingdom: How often do you come out here to the Palm Springs area and what is its appeal to you?

Arnold Palmer: I came here for the first time in 1955 to see what was here and I liked it so much I’ve been coming back to play ever since. Back then there were only three courses here—Thunderbird, Tamarisk and O’Donnell, a public course down town. Now we have dozens of courses and I even have a nine-hole par-3 layout I can walk straight on to from my back garden.

Do you dine out much when you come to Palm Springs, or do you prefer to stay at your home and have a barbecue? Which are your favorite restaurants in the area?

Oh yes—I like to go to my own restaurant here quite a lot and I’m always very pleased to recommend it to anyone.

Would you ever act again as the host of the Bob Hope Classic, or was your participation in the 50th anniversary staging last year a strict one-off?

No, certainly not as long as I have to organize and host my own tournament. But I’ll keep coming back here for the Classic because I like it.

Your successor is Yogi Berra. Are you friends and have you ever played golf together?

He is a good friend and a great guy. I have played golf with him and I like him a lot. I don’t remember where or when I first met him—I’m not sure it was on a golf course. It could even have been at a baseball game.

The [British] Open Championship celebrates its 150th anniversary at St. Andrews in July. Do you plan to take part in the Former Champions’ four-hole exhibition that the R&A have planned?

I’m planning to be there and participate in all the general festivities. I’m going to stay until the tournament itself starts. I’m also going to receive an honorary degree from St. Andrews University, though I don’t know at present exactly when that ceremony will take place—presumably during the early part of the week.

What do you plan to do for the rest of the week?

My wife wants to go to Ireland for three or four days while we’re over, so we’ll probably do that once the tournament proper begins. She comes from an Irish background and we’re going to visit some of her relatives down in the south—a place I’ve never been to or heard of before. Mind you, I’ve been to Ireland a lot over the years, especially when I was designing my two courses there [The K Club and Tralee].

Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead (right) get to grips with one of sport’s biggest trophies after wnning the Canada Cup for the U.S. in Ireland in 1960

Wasn’t the first time nearly 50 years ago, just before you made your British Open debut?

Yes, Sam Snead and I played together in, and won, the Canada Cup [now the World Cup of Golf] in 1960 at Portmarnock on the coast near Dublin. This was my first visit to Europe and it was the week before the centenary staging of the British Open at St. Andrews, which was my first appearance in the event.

Snead won at St. Andrews in 1946, straight after the Second World War, and then likened the experience to camping out. Did he advise you against playing there?

[Chuckling] He said a few things, but nothing I would repeat to you.

On the way to making your British Open debut over the Old Course, how did the idea of the modern Grand Slam evolve?

One of my strongest memories was of flying over with my journalist friend Bob Drum from Pittsburgh. He was the guy who got me riled before the final round of the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills a few weeks earlier. I asked him what he thought of my chances if I shot 65 and he said it still wouldn’t make any damn difference. I was seven shots behind after three rounds and went on to win by two. When we were drinking vodka and eating caviar on the flight, we were talking about the Open and I began to philosophize. I said there was no way an amateur would ever win another major championship, let alone all four like Bobby Jones did in 1930, but it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that a professional could win a modern Grand Slam made up of the Masters, our Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship, which everyone regarded as a major—perhaps even more so then than today. Eventually Bob came round to my way of thinking and the idea was born.

What are your memories of going over to that first British Open and playing in it?

I remember the weather was fine until just before the final round. In those days, you used to play 36 holes on the last day. It started raining heavily just as I had got in close to the lead. At lunchtime I was in my room in Rusacks Hotel and my father and my wife were with me. They said to me ‘it’s raining so hard you may not play at all this afternoon.’ I replied ‘we will play—they’ve never postponed The Open in this country before.’ I was absolutely ready to play—couldn’t wait to get back out there. As I was saying this, I looked out of the window and saw the Valley of Sin in front of the 18th green had filled up with water. Of course, I was wrong and we had to come back the next day. My momentum had gone and [the Australian] Kel Nagle beat me by a shot.

Do you still keep in touch with Nagle?

I ask and hear about him, send him my regards, but we don’t correspond. He’s a few years older than me and I’ve heard he’s doing okay even though he’s not been too well recently.

The R&A plans to move the championship tee back 35 yards on the 17th so that the hole will now measure 490 yards, yet remain as a par-four. Do you agree with this decision and what effect do you think it will have in the different conditions that can prevail at St Andrews?

It’s a tough and pivotal hole, and it will be even tougher with 35 yards added to it. The road and the [Old Course] hotel will probably come more into play, especially if the wind blows. I don’t know what the yardage of the Old Course is now—it might be as much as 7,200, maybe more, but that’s still not long when you think about it.

What is your overall view of par-4s in championships that sometimes measure in excess of 500 yards, especially as the old rule of thumb had the maximum par-4 yardage at 474 yards?

With the distance these young guys hit it you have to think about how you’re going to maintain the challenge presented by a long par-4. You don’t want them hitting wedges and short irons into every par-4 because that takes away all the competitiveness. Anyway, I’ve always enjoyed long par-4s, especially if the wind’s blowing.

Do you still believe that legislation in relation to the distances the ball can travel is inevitable?

I hope so. I’d really like to see them slow the ball down. The alternative is longer and longer courses and we can’t go down that route because we’ll run out of territory one of these days.

Nicklaus, Player and Palmer still have a ball when they meet up at The Masters

You will be acting as joint honorary starter of the Masters in April with Jack Nicklaus. Will the two of you play a few holes before retiring to the clubhouse or will you just hit your drives and then walk in?

I think we’ll just hit our shots and walk in—at least I know I will. I don’t know what Jack plans to do, but I’ll do it and call it a day. We’ll be doing this at around 7.30 a.m.—just after day break—so I’d be surprised if he decides to play on.

What do you plan to do for the rest of the tournament?

I’ll leave once the tournament is under way. The other highlight for me at the Masters is the par-3 tournament. It’s great fun. Jack, Gary [Player] and I played together last year and I hope we do again this time.

What is your verdict after a few weeks of watching the top players adjusting to the new rules relating to grooves in clubs?

I don’t think there’s going to be a great change; in fact as far as their scoring is concerned it will be much the same. That said, a lot of shots that bounce through the green are inevitably going to be blamed on the grooves.

How are preparations going for this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard at Bay Hill?

We feel like we’re in pretty good shape—we redid the course last year, as you know, and it’s coming through well. From the New Year, we cut back on the number of rounds played there. Normally at this time of year [winter through to spring] we have anything between 160 and 200 rounds a day at Bay Hill, but we’ve cut it back to an absolute maximum of 150.

As this will be the first tournament staged at Bay Hill since the recent course changes, how do you think it will play compared to recent years—harder or easier?

Everyone involved in this transformation has a different opinion. Score-wise, I think it will play pretty much as it has for the past few years. At one point I thought it would be easier, but now I’m beginning to think it will be about the same. The main thrust of our changes is that everything on the course—the traps and the greens—is now in clear view from the tees and fairways. The course has been lengthened a little but not very much. From the back tees, if the PGA Tour choose, we can stretch it to 7,400 yards. On the other hand, I think the greens will be a little less firm, in other words they should accept well-struck shots.

At present, do you think there’s chance that Tiger Woods will return to the Tour at the Arnold Palmer Invitational?

I have no idea. I hope so, but I’ve heard nothing from him.

How do you think his delayed absence will affect the PGA Tour in terms of TV ratings, crowd figures and sponsor revenues?

I think it will affect it to some degree, but that said it will not be the end of the Tour by any means. The game was in pretty good shape [before the Tiger Woods furor exploded] and I’m betting it will survive.

This year’s Bob Hope Classic has no title sponsor. The organizers believe they have enough financial reserves to fund the tournament next year as well. Do you think other tournaments might find themselves in this situation this year and if so what steps do they need to take?

I think it’s possible other tournaments will find themselves in trouble. The Torrey Pines tournament [the week after the Bob Hope Classic] only got Farmers Insurance on board at the eleventh hour. But I’m optimistic enough to think the sponsor and business world will come to the rescue. Most tournaments are run to raise and save revenue for the future, and the PGA Tour as a body is looking at the same thing to ensure the preservation of tournaments. At Bay Hill, we always try to get our sponsors in a good position. We’ve got two to three years still to go with MasterCard and we’ve just re-signed with Hertz for another four years.

Tiger’s absence represents an opportunity for a number of players to emerge from his shadow. Which ones would you expect to put their hands up and shine?

There are some good players coming along. I keep expecting the slightly-built lad who hits it a mile—Charles Howell—to break through. But the boy who really impresses me from the current generation is Ryan Moore. He’s up and coming and has real star potential, the potential I would judge to go all the way and win a major. I’m pleased with the way he plays. He has a strong mind and knows what he wants to do, which is very important. He’s quite happy not to have clothing or club sponsors, and I quite like that. Rory McIlroy, the young Irishman, is another to watch. I certainly hope he’ll be playing at Bay Hill in March.

This year’s PGA Championship is returning to Whistling Straits. Have you ever been there or played the course?

I’ve never played it or been there, so I couldn’t possibly comment on it. Even after watching it on television a few years ago, I don’t feel I know it well enough to pass any sort of judgment. I know the owner, Herb Kohler, and see him occasionally at social events. I know he’s a great golf enthusiast, but I’ve never played with him.

The U.S. Open will be back at Pebble Beach in June. What memories do you have of playing there, both in U.S.G.A. events and in the old Bing Crosby tournament?

I have played a lot there—in the Crosby Pro-Am as well as U.S. Opens—but I never won though I had chances a couple of times. Once I think I was leading or tied for the lead in the final round when I hit a 3-wood shot to the 14th green. My ball caught the two tall pines just to the right of the green and kicked out of bounds. That was a disaster and I lost the tournament because of that. That night there was a storm and the following morning, when I was driving away from Pebble Beach, I noticed these trees had blown down overnight, which served them right.

On another occasion, Jack Nicklaus made a par putt from 10ft on the 12th green at exactly the time that I missed a birdie putt from a shorter distance on the 15th, and that turned out to be the difference between us as I lost by one shot.

You have been heavily involved with recent changes to the course at Pebble Beach. Briefly, what changes did you make and why?

I’ve been working on the golf course quite a lot over the last few years and in particular we have changed some of the bunkering and moved a few tee positions. One of the ideas has been to strengthen the fairway bunkering on a number of holes to make players aim a little more towards the sea off the tee, to ask questions of their accuracy if you like. For example, we’ve put in more traps and trees at driver length on the right of the 18th fairway, and anyone who messes with those will most likely have to come out sideways with their second shots. Pebble Beach is always a test for the players, but I think it will be especially tough at the U.S. Open when the U.S.G.A. will do their usual job in growing up the rough.

Have you ever done any ocean game fishing? If so, did you enjoy it?

I’m not a big fisherman. I do some trout and fly fishing, and I occasionally venture out for salmon. I never did much fishing when I was growing up in and around Latrobe. We had a few streams, and they were mostly stocked with bass.

Given that most of the courses you’ve designed have adjoining properties, do you adopt a different approach when it comes to designing a course which has no residential dimension?

It’s always nice to do a course where you’re not obliged to design it for residential purposes. Laurel Valley, a course I designed in Pennsylvania, falls into this category—it has no residences on the course.

As a kid, Mike Weir, famously, wrote to Jack Nicklaus asking whether he should switch to being a right-hander. Nicklaus advised him to stay as he was. Do you think left handers enjoy any advantages over right handers on the golf course, or encounter any problems that right handers don’t?

I think some left-handers have a little advantage in that they seem to swing physically the same way every time and this helps them to play consistently at a high level for a lot longer. Bob Charles is a classic example of this. I’m convinced his longevity [as a player] is due to the fact that he’s left-handed.

Do you think Rio de Janeiro needs a specially built course to host the Olympic golf tournament in 2016 and would you be interested in designing it?

Yes, I would be very interested in designing it and they [the Brazilian Olympic organization] know I’m interested. We’ve already told them! They are definitely going to have to build a new course in order to host an Olympic golf tournament because they can’t really use any of the courses they’ve got at present. I’m hoping they’ll decide soon because it usually takes about three years to create a course from the start of the job to the opening. They will want this course to be open and playable well before 2016. I am already working in Brazil—on a course in Sao Paolo which should open in about a year’s time—so I know the country well.

How big an impact do you think Y-E Yang’s PGA Championship will have on golf in Asia?

It will have a huge effect and it’s a very good development within the game. Asia is going to be a major golfing Mecca in the not too distant future. China we all know about, but India is going to be big as well.

Did you ever imagine that countries like China, Brazil and Russia would be the future of golf course design?

Since I started out as a designer, I’ve been familiar with the international scene. I’ve been going to Japan for more than 40 years, since I designed the first of my 19 courses there. I currently have a couple of projects on the go in China, but also in Sao Paolo, as I’ve already mentioned, Moscow, Romania and Acapulco in Mexico.

The Dominican Republic is a wonderful place to visit and play golf. How much do you think this might be affected by the recent tragedy in Haiti?

The Haiti earthquake was a terrible tragedy, but even before that there was a huge contrast between Haiti and [its neighbor] the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is a very comfortable place with a nice way of life, with the exception of the hurricanes and tornadoes you occasionally get in the Caribbean.

Mr. Palmer’s grandson Sam Saunders is starting to make his way on the PGA Tour

During the build-up to this year’s Bob Hope Classic, you spent time on the range with your grandson Sam Saunders to help him prepare for his PGA Tour debut as a pro. What sort of things did you work on with him and what advice did you pass on?

I’m trying to help him develop his own style and stick with it. I’d say he’s doing pretty well but it’s a little early to assess the results. I’m his swing coach and we’ve been working quite hard together, but it’s not really about basics like grip or stance—more about his overall style of playing. Certainly playing here and in the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in a few weeks’ time will give him invaluable experience.

The concept of a slam of four major golf championships had its origins in the mists of antiquity, but it took Arnold Palmer to provide it with a modern definition and, in so doing, inject some much-needed commercialism and vitality into a stagnating game

When the world's leading players assemble at St Andrews for the 150th anniversary of the British Open next July, they will in all probability be contesting a $10 million purse and pursuing a $1.5 million winner's check.

In terms of prize money, global status, media profile and course set-up, the 139th version of the world's oldest championship will be light years ahead of its 89th staging over the Old Course.

The only good thing the British Open had going for it in 1960 was that it was celebrating its centenary. As it proved, this was the allure that teased an entry out of a 30-year-old American who was rewriting golf's history books at a whirlwind rate. And it was not long before the British Open began to feel the benefit of his blast of stardust.

Arnold Palmer had won The Masters for a second time that April and followed up two months later with a thrilling, come-from-behind triumph in the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colorado–as it turned out, his only victory in his own national championship.

At the time, the only 'grand slam' concept to have entered the sport's thinking was the annexing in one year of The Open and Amateur Championships of both the British Isles and the United States–a feat achieved just once, in 1930, by Bobby Jones and immediately dubbed by writer O.B. Keeler as 'an impregnable quadrilateral'.

As the professional game grew stronger, the two amateur championships took a back seat. The old slam had thus faded into sepia-tinted obscurity and nothing had been devised to replace it in the public consciousness by the time Palmer decided to make his first challenge for the Claret Jug.

After adding the first of his four Green Jackets in 1958 to the US Amateur Championship he won four years earlier at the Country Club of Detroit, Palmer was swiftly installed as the heir apparent to what had hitherto been regarded as the golden generation of American golf–spearheaded by Snead, Hogan and Nelson.

Each of these men was a star performer with a devoted public following, but none could claim with any conviction, even at the height of his fame and prowess, that he was financially made for life. Indeed, Byron Nelson had walked away from the PGA Tour having helped himself to 32 titles between 1944 and 1946 because he reckoned running a farm was a safer and more lucrative way of earning a living.

At the time there was some merit to that view. In the decade or so after World War II, professional golf struggled to shake off its image as something akin to a travelling circus. Titles fell in the main to the usual suspects and the feeling gradually developed that the game was stagnating.

Palmer's first win as a professional was in the 1955 Canadian Open and he claimed a further seven PGA Tour titles before that historic breakthrough victory at Augusta National. Like a meteor, he struck golf's firmament just as Jones had done almost two generations earlier.

In truth, though, it was not until Palmer boarded his transatlantic flight two summers later, in the company of golf journalist Bob Drum from the Pittsburgh Press, that the concept of a modern version of the grand slam began to crystallize.

"My desire to play in the Open in Britain went back to my days as a schoolboy golfer when I read newspaper accounts of top American players like Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen winning there," said Palmer. "I didn't think you could become a world-renowned player unless you participated internationally. With the British Open being the foremost and most prestigious championship in the world, I felt it was one I had to play."

At some stage on their journey–Palmer says it was "during our extended cocktail hour"–he and Drum started talking about Jones's slam and how it could never be repeated. It was then that Palmer revealed his hand: "What would be wrong with a professional grand slam comprising The Masters, both Opens and the PGA Championship?" he asked. Initially Drum was quizzical, but gradually the idea struck a chord with the veteran reporter.

The fact that he had won the first two of these major titles in 1960 was no doubt a motivating factor in Palmer's reasoning. They stopped off in Ireland so he could team up with Sam Snead at Portmarnock to win the Canada Cup [now known as the WGC-World Cup of Golf], and Drum started to spread the idea amongst the British journalists in the press tent.

Winnie and Arnold Palmer cradle the Claret Jug at Troon in 1962

When Palmer arrived in St Andrews to tackle the third leg of his self-defined quadrilateral, he was nearly washed away in a tidal wave of public support. "Everybody picked up on it [the grand slam idea] right away at St Andrews that year," he said. Thus Palmer's concept of the modern majors became popular reality even though, in truth, the fans were equally taken with his swashbuckling style and magnetic personality.

On this occasion, though, his trademark final-round charge was not quite enough to dislodge the 54-hole leader, Kel Nagle, and Palmer came up one stroke shy of the Australian.

But his love affair with the British Open had permanence and he duly lifted the Claret Jug at Birkdale the following year and successfully defended it at Troon in 1962. Both courses received the Royal assent shortly afterwards, and the British crowds loved him: his style, the way he hitched his pants, the way his powerful swing ended in a signature flourish and, most of all, the way he played. Palmer always went for the pin and fans could identify with that. Suddenly, Arnie's Army had troops in a foreign field.

Mr. Palmer waves to the galleries from the Swilcan Bridge 15 years ago on his final British Open appearance over the Old Course

He also found himself a Scottish sergeant at arms in the shape of gnarled St Andrews caddie Tip Anderson, who played Sancha Panza to his Don Quixote for most of his Open tilts.

"He was invaluable on the Old Course. If I'd putted a little better, I would have won that first Open, but Tip was certainly the key to my playing well there," Palmer recalls. "The only times I chose not to take his advice was when he wanted me to lay up and that wasn't an inclination in my repertoire.

"He was also very good at Birkdale and Troon. He knew those courses very well. That was extremely important to me."

Strangely, Palmer was never again a serious contender at the British Open, his best subsequent finishes being an eighth and tie for seventh at Muirfield (in 1966 and 1972) and seventh on his own at Turnberry in 1977.

Appropriately, he bade an emotional farewell to playing in the event from the Swilcan Bridge in 1995 and has not returned since. But he refuses to rule out the possibility of a sentimental visit at some stage. The most fitting time, surely, would be this year at St Andrews where his odyssey began half a century ago. After all, not only did he twice embrace the Claret Jug, he also gave the British Open as a whole the kiss of life.

Ironically, Palmer never completed his own personal grand slam because his best finish in the PGA Championship turned out to be three second places. Instead, he saw his Big Three rivals Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, and more recently Tiger Woods, add their names to that of Gene Sarazen as the only men to have achieved the feat.

So does he still believe, nearly half a century later, that The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA remain the game's four true majors, a grand slam to stand the test of time? "They stand above all the rest." To this very day, so does he.

The Arnold Palmer Design Company stays on the road with a host of top projects around the world

It wasn’t that many years ago that golf was regarded as a distinctly Western—even a specifically European—sport. No more. Golf is now the world’s game, and the Arnold Palmer Design Company is leading the way in making sure everyone has a place to play.

To that end, APDC has built more than 300 courses in nearly 30 countries around the planet, pioneering the game in the Far East and setting the world standard for what defines a top quality golf experience. That tradition, established nearly 40 years ago, continues today with projects ongoing in South America, China, Cambodia and elsewhere. Time was you only needed a driver’s license and a set of clubs. In the modern game, you’d better have a passport in your bag if you’re going to visit any of the following international offerings from Arnie and his excellent team at APDC.

APDC architect Thad Layton's winning design for the Lido Competition

Home
APDC Executive Vice President and Senior Architect Erik Larsen is set to become president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects after being elected at the organization’s recent meeting. The long-time ASGCA member and current treasurer will be taking the prestigious position once held by Ed Seay, whom he counts as a mentor, and also by Robert Trent Jones and Pete Dye, among others. Larsen plans to promote the “value of the golf course” as a recreational, social and economic amenity.

Also in the spirit of awards and accolades, APDC architect Thad Layton has been picked to judge the 2010 Lido Competition, a prominent golf design contest. Co-sponsored by Golf World and the Alister MacKenzie Society, the competition awards the designer whose hand-drawn entry best utilizes MacKenzie’s design philosophy within the confines of a two-shot par–4. The Lido is based on a magazine design contest MacKenzie won in 1914. His winning hole, a par–4 with triple avenues of play, was later constructed by contest founder C.B. Macdonald on his Lido Golf Club on Long Island, NY. Sadly, the course, and hole, did not survive World War II. Layton, the 2003 Lido Prize winner, is an excellent choice to judge this year’s entries.

The APDC-designed Rivers Edge Golf Club in Myrtle Beach, SC, celebrated its 10th anniversary last September with improvements to the greens and a heartfelt pat on the back from Mr. Palmer himself.

“All of us at Arnold Palmer Design congratulate Rivers Edge on their 10th anniversary,” offered the King. Greens have been transitioned to the environmentally friendly SeaDwarf® Seashore Paspalum turfgrass, a grass APDC has utilized with success at other courses, Palmer says.

“All the courses that we have designed that use paspalum grass are very pleased with the results and we think everyone at Rivers Edge will enjoy the new greens.”

South
Moving south from Myrtle Beach—way south—APDC architect Eric Wiltse has been working on a course near São Paolo, Brazil, called Fazenda Boa Vista. The site, which will feature 18 holes from APDC, reminds Wiltse of the rolling hills of Kentucky and is simply beautiful, he says. Look for more golf in Brazil, with the sport returning to the Olympics in Rio in 2016. Not content to stay in the land of girls from Ipanema, Wiltse is also working on a course in Uruguay. Named “Las Piedras” for its boulder-strewn landscape, this project near Punta del Este will feature rolling hills, beautiful views and a storied atmosphere. Larsen says the project represents authentic golf with minimal impact and a complete sense of respect for both the game and the environment.

“It’s core golf.,” he says. “There’s very little earth movement, wild flowers and native grasses can grow easily and will remain as features of the course. The best word for it: Authentic.”

East
Some 25 years after building the first golf course in China, APDC is continuing to create that country’s premiere golf venues—and the latest have been exquisite indeed. Beijing welcomed the amazing Beijing Cascades from APDC in 2007, and since then the rest of the country is moving to host their own APDC clubs. Future clubs, like a project at Huizhou that would offer views of Hong Kong, are in the works, while The Golf Club at Kunming is likely within a year of opening and should be one the most beautiful anywhere. People with vertigo should be warned: Kunming’s latest gem is going to feature some serious elevation changes. The beautiful lake below should distract from any issues with heights, but craggy cliffs and forced carries might add to the stress a bit.

Brandon Johnson, the APDC architect who’s been working on the project since the start, says numbers 12 and 14 are especially challenging.

“There are big ravines in front of them and it’s dramatic,” he says. “There’s room for error but, yeah, if you miss it there, wide in the right spot, you fall off into oblivion.”

APDC architect David Couch isn’t having the same issues with his project, also in Kunming. While the inspirationally named Chinese Entrepreneur Home Golf Club doesn’t offer the dramatic changes in elevation of its neighbor, it does feature a freshwater lake nearly five miles in length. And with 27 holes, there will be plenty of challenging golf for all.

Yet one more APDC course under way in China, Panda Valley Golf Course should be a stunner. Just 45 minutes from Chengdu, it offers unique mountain play, a fast-moving river and incredible views. Layton, who’s working on the project, explains: “Usually mountains are arranged such that they form ridge lines that connect.” In contrast, he says, “These look like they’re dropped out of the sky… Independent mountains, thousands of feet high.”

Its name comes from its proximity to a panda reserve, near 50 miles away. Incorporating terraced slopes that have held kiwi, rice and other crops, the project is part of a local rebuilding effort following a massive quake two years ago.

Not far from China, Johnson is also continuing work on a project from Cambodia’s Sokimex development group. Construction on the 18-hole wonder should begin this year, and they’re hoping to get a few basics completed before the rainy season kicks off. The incredible downpours Southeast Asia experiences between May and October are followed by severe dry weather, making course maintenance a bit of a headache. However, the fantastic natural beauty makes all efforts worthwhile.

“We took cues from the existing natural jungle terrain,” Johnson says. Because of the thick jungle (chasing balls will be a daunting experience), “There’s big, bold movement in the fairways that will allow people to play, and a lot of strategy around that, too, because your angle of approach could be better from one side of the fairway versus another.” Set on the edge of a national park, and with planned hotels, a casino and entertainment, look for this to be most impressive.

Onward
As engaged as APDC is around the world, there’s more to come. In the meantime, APDC is also getting creative at home. In addition to updating existing designs, the company is moving forward with plans to refit and reposition distressed golf courses currently without stable financial foundations. Bank-held properties that could be viable investments have the potential to benefit from APDC’s design and business expertise. “It’s a response to the economic condition in the U.S.,” says Larsen, explaining that the new effort has the potential to help banks clear their books while also giving communities positive recreational possibilities.

With forward thinking at home and ongoing interest from Mexico, China, South Africa, South America, Russia, India and other locations abroad, the architects at APDC will be busy for a long time coming up with fantastic new projects. We’ll be right there behind them, passports and driver’s licenses up to date, ready to travel as far or near as needed to play their great designs.

“Chris, we’ve got to go out to firestone this weekend and watch this young man named Palmer,” my father said to me. “He has a heck of a swing and can hit the ball a mile! He’ll probably even win this weekend.”

That was 1964 and I was 14 years old. I remember standing alongside my dad on the 16th fairway, a monster of a hole, at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. We watched Mr. Palmer lash at the ball, and hit his drive further than anyone else that day.

After the tournament, we went to the clubhouse, where my mom happened to be employed waiting tables. Shortly thereafter, the players started to arrive. One by one they began to file into the club. Mr. Palmer arrived and my mom went to take his order. As they were talking, I saw him give her a hug. He did that because her name was “Birdie”.

History
The late 1950s and early 1960s witnessed Arnold Palmer making professional golf his own personal showcase. Winning seven majors in six years, he was well on his way to legendary status. As his popularity rose, so did his fan base, which became known as Arnie’s Army Not only did people want to golf like Arnold Palmer, but they wished to model their lives on their hero too. This included drinking the beverages he ordered.

One evening after a long day of designing a course in Palm Springs during the 1960s, Arnold Palmer stepped up to a bar and asked the bartender for a mixture of lemonade and iced tea. A woman sitting next to him overheard what he ordered and told the bartender, “I’ll have that Palmer drink.” From that moment on, this refreshing lemonade-iced tea beverage became known as an “Arnold Palmer,” and its name gradually spread throughout the golfing world and beyond into mainstream America.

Living the dream
Fast forward to 2001. My family and I were now living near Bay Hill Lodge & Club. I was playing a lot of golf. And, by now, I’ve ordered a lot of “Arnold Palmers.” There were many times over the years I wondered about packaging this iced tea-lemonade mix. Over time, the idea began to take shape. During a golf outing rain delay, I shared my idea with my food and beverage industry associates Charley Beck and Mark Dowey. With a golf course as our backdrop, and as I sipped on an Arnold Palmer, we formulated the business plan that would become Arnold Palmer Tea.

We worked with our design team to develop the visuals and our flavor house to develop a great tasting formula. The original concepts took the famous Palmer umbrella and replaced it with a lemon wedge skewered by a golf tea. Our cartons were bright blue, making them like no other currently in the grocery aisle. And, of course, Arnold Palmer’s image was prominently displayed.

The brand was developed and the prototypes were made. Now we had to sell Mr. Palmer.

I was granted a meeting for the Monday morning after the 2001 Bay Hill Invitational—now the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The place was abuzz, as Tiger Woods had won the tournament for the second year in a row. I was meeting with Mr. Palmer and IMG executive Alastair Johnston. I arrived with a business plan under my arm and some samples in my hands. It was the biggest presentation of my life, and it was raining.

Mr. Johnston and I met first, then Mr. Palmer was brought into the room. He shook hands with me and said, “young man, I understand you have something very interesting for me.” And with that, Mr. Palmer was briefed on our plan, and given samples to try. The meeting ended with Mr. Palmer saying, “let’s get this done.” We shook hands and left. Two months later the contracts were signed and the real work began.

We formed our management company, Innovative Flavors LLC. Our plan was built around the idea that we could license dairies and tea manufacturers throughout the country to process and package the product under strict quality assurance guidelines, and market the product using the Arnold Palmer name and images. In return, Innovative Flavors would provide the formula and the ingredients to sell to the dairies and/or the iced tea manufacturers, creating a revenue stream to pay royalties to Arnold Palmer Enterprises. Our goal was to sell Arnold Palmers in every convenience store, supermarket, golf club and restaurant around the world.

We started first with the refrigerated product marketed to dairies—where Charley, Mark and I all had connections. Soon there were half-gallon containers of our Arnold Palmer Tea in grocery stores from California to Connecticut. Everything was moving along nicely. Shortly thereafter, we received an inquiry from the Arizona Iced Tea Co. Arizona was interested in producing a shelf-stable version of the tea and selling it through their distribution channels.

The next year resulted in about a half-dozen dairies being licensed and producing the refrigerated version in half-gallon containers. We were on our way.

Tea time is happy hour for Arnold Palmer and Chris Byrd

Today
One of the largest dairy processors is Heartland Farms in the Los Angeles/southern California market. Today, Arnold Palmer Tea is the number one refrigerated iced tea drink in that market, selling in most, if not all, the supermarket chains in southern California.

The agreement with Arizona Beverages started with the licensing and manufacturing of the shelf stable, 23-ounce commemorative can. Currently, Arizona is close to a billion-dollar, privately held company and the marketer of the nation’s number one ready-to-drink tea. But back in 2001, we were a much smaller entity and readily admit we were merely guessing (based on our enthusiasm) the product might see some success. Good guess.

Arizona has experienced multiple years of 100 percent growth in the line of Arnold Palmer beverages, with an estimated wholesale value of annual sales approaching $50 million. They also sell to stores in Asia, Europe, South Africa, Mexico, Canada and South America. The line now consists of the original flavor (made from five select black tea blends and a lemon extract), along with Green Tea/Lemonade products as well as a Pomegranate/Black Tea version.

Packaging ranges from 12-ounce cans in refrigerated 12-packs, 23-ounce cans, 20-ounce plastic golf ball shape bottles, 34-ounce bottles, 42-ounce bottles, 64-ounce and gallon jugs, as well as the newer mix sticks for mixing into a bottle of water.

The line is, by far, the fasted growing iced tea flavor in America and is expanding from a niche drink to a mainstream beverage.

As of June 2009, Arizona’s Arnold Palmer Teas were the fastest growing ready-to-drink iced tea brands in the country.

Conclusion
When we started Arnold Palmer Tea, I was at a point in my life where my food career was peaking and I needed something new on which to focus, keep me busy and support me in retirement. Well it’s certainly done that, and more!

At lunch a few weeks ago at a Manhattan barbecue joint, my buddy ordered iced tea and lemonade mixed. “You mean an Arnold Palmer,” our young waitress said. When she returned with the drink, I asked her on a hunch if she knew who Arnold Palmer was. “I didn’t know it was a person, I thought it was just a name for iced tea and lemonade,” she replied.

Mr. Palmer has been such a deeply imbedded part of American culture for so long that it’s not surprising some people—especially, those too young to have known him as a golfer—mistake him for a product rather than a person.

In my case, I have spent my whole life watching Mr. Palmer. I lived in a neighborhood close to Bay Hill, his winter home. My children attended school with his grandchildren. I was a huge golf enthusiast, and had ordered many an Arnold Palmer in restaurants. To think all this could come together as one of the greatest tea brands ever is, to me, simply amazing.

I also get the feeling that somehow Mr. Palmer knew it would work and was not as surprised as the rest of us involved. Consumers of all ages love the beverage. College students collect the cans and stack them on the walls. Golfers revive their senses on hot days on the course. Families enjoy it from the gallon jugs while dining on their decks and patios. The drink has a Facebook page with more than 65,000 friends. And soon, Arizona will announce the launch of the Arnold Palmer KidZ line in 10-ounce containers with some of the proceeds, appropriately, going to support the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.

It keeps getting bigger, and it keeps getting better.

President Obama signs the Arnold Palmer Gold Medal Act. Looking on, left to right, are: Rep. Tim Murphy (Pa), Mr. Palmer, Mrs. Palmer, Rep. John Tanner (Tn), Sen. Mark Udall (Co), Sen. Mel Martinez (Fl) and (to the President’s right) Rep. Joe Baca (Ca)

Samantha Appleton (Official White House Photographer)

The white house has been almost like a second home for Arnold Palmer over his years as a sporting icon,but his latest visit to the seat of power came on Wednesday, September 30 when President Barack Obama signed into law the Congressional Gold Medal honoring the golf legend.

The award made Palmer the first sports person in history to receive all three of the United States' highest civilian honors, including the National Sports Award from Former President Bill Clinton in 1993 (a one-time award) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Former President George W. Bush in 2004.

"I don't know that I've done anything to deserve it, but I accept," Mr. Palmer said. "That's pretty fantastic. It's pretty good stuff, quite overwhelming."

The Congressional Gold Medal was first given to George Washington in 1776 and to 141 exemplary Americans since. "I didn't know George Washington," Palmer said with a grin. "But if I did, I would shake his hand and say, 'You're the first, and I won't be the last.'"

Palmer was the fifth athlete to receive the honor from Congress, which is considered the highest expression of national appreciation for achievements and contributions. Byron Nelson is the only other golfing recipient of the medal which was bestowed upon him posthumously in 2006.

The Arnold Palmer Gold Medal Act, H.R. 1243, was introduced by Congressman Joe Baca (D-California). It was passed first by the House of Representatives in April and then unanimously passed by the Senate on Mr. Palmer's 80th birthday on September 10.

U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-Florida), sponsored the Senate bill nominating Mr. Palmer for the medal. Such bills must be co-sponsored by at least two-thirds of the members of the House and 67 in the Senate before even being considered in the respective chambers.

"Arnold Palmer is a legend and a giant among golfers," said Rep. Baca. "Arnold elevated the game of golf both at home and abroad, and is respected across the globe. He won 92 championships in professional competition, but even more significant he is an exemplary American who always gave back to others."

Bay Hill Club & Lodge, situated just a few minutes' drive from Orlando's major tourist attractions, has been a haven of privacy and charm since its opening in 1961.

A few years ago, this exclusive Florida resort, which doubles as Arnold Palmer's winter home, underwent a $7 million renovation to all guest rooms and public areas. Once that project had been completed, Mr. Palmer, who purchased the property outright back in 1976 and has hosted the PGA Tour there every spring since 1979, turned his attention to improvements he felt needed to be made to the golf course.

So, shortly after Tiger Woods sank the putt that sealed his sixth victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard last March, the course was closed until September for an extensive facelift. "Bay Hill is a great golf course. We don't want to change it; let's tweak it," said Mr. Palmer to Arnold Palmer Design Company architects Erik Larsen, Thad Layton and Brandon Johnson during initial project meetings at Bay Hill, where APDC and the Invitational's tournament offices are also located. "Let's get the greens closer to the water, break up the long tees and fan them out, and get the sand up where you can see it."

The overriding principle of the renovation was to inject more versatility into how Bay Hill plays without dramatically changing the character of the golf course, while the specific goals were focused on three distinct areas: agronomy, playability and aesthetics. The previous greens needed to be replaced because of small parasitic pests in the soil that made it difficult to maintain good turf quality. "To improve the turf conditions on the greens, new Emerald Bermuda grass was installed after proving the best performer in test plots grown at Bay Hill prior to construction," said course superintendent Matt Beaver. "It requires less maintenance than the previous grass and the new irrigation heads around the greens provide a more precise application of water."

Mr. Palmer's experience of designing courses around the world, dating back to when he helped his father Deacon build greens at Latrobe Country Club in Pennsylvania, meant he was hands-on with the entire project from start to finish. "I love the Bay Hill course. It's my home, which is why it was so important to me to be involved with everything," he said. "The renovations really add some new dimensions of play for Tour players and our members. I've introduced firm, fast playing conditions on slopes around greens mowed at fairway height that run away from the green surface and take the ball farther away from the intended target instead of stopping it, like the previous heavy rough did. With these new conditions we hope to add creativity to recovery shots."

Eliminating some of the thick greenside rough and introducing run-offs should, in theory, make the course easier for amateurs as they can putt more often from off the green, but potentially harder for Tour pros by giving them a decision to make about the best club to use.

Bay Hill's general manager Ray Easler is delighted with the modifications. "It really hasn't changed an enormous amount the last 40 years. A lot of newer courses are designed for longer hitters. Bay Hill is suited to shotmakers. That is Mr. Palmer's style. Also, the way we set it up is along the lines of Augusta. We are the tune-up for Augusta. "

Brandon Johnson takes up the story. "PGA Tour Shotlink data was used to site bunkers and now reflects the new distances of the modern game. Over time the edges of the greens had shrunk significantly and a few greens had too much slope to place a pin. The new greens allow us to increase the ‘pin-able' areas for the Invitational."

Bay Hill's tees also came in for attention. "We really improved the turf conditions and playability of the tees by making them all consistently level," said Thad Layton. "Some of the narrow ‘runway' tees are now more visually appealing and large enough to handle wear from high golf traffic."

Most importantly, Mr. Palmer is also very pleased. "I'm very proud of everyone involved to make the Bay Hill course renovation a success," he said. "I know the 2010 Invitational will be very exciting to watch."

Hole #5 (above)
Tees realigned and moved closer to the cart path opening up an unobstructed view of the fairway. Bunkers enlarged and repositioned to force decisions off the tee. New fairway cut beyond the left bunker provides the opportunity for a drivable par-4 from the forward tee. Steep slope on the front right of the green will defend the front pin location.

Hole #7
Tees expanded and fanned out to left. Fairway cut short of the green and steepened to repel shots short of the green to the bottom of the slope. Greenside bunkers deepened and pushed tight to the green. New front-right pin location will be quite a test.

Hole #9
Tees widened. Fairway bunker to the left shifted 40 yards further from the tee. Two fairway bunkers on the right converted to rough. Green rotated to the right to engage the re-configured bunker complex.

Hole #10
Left fairway bunkers slightly expanded and shifted to the right. The right fairway bunker was moved 50 yards forward to bring it more into play. Subtle green modifications made by squaring off the edges to introduce pins on the corners. The approach and side slopes of the green surrounds made sharper to introduce a tightly mowed slope.

Hole #12
Three hidden fairway bunkers eliminated and replaced with two bunkers—one protecting the inside right corner at around 270 yards off the tee and one protecting the outside left corner at approximately 300 yards from the back tee. The mounding that blocked views into the bunkers and green complex was removed and the greenside bunkers were reshaped and moved closer to the putting surface.

Hole #14
Front right bunker complex replaced by a tightly mown grass slope along the right side of the green. The left greenside bunkers were reshaped and moved closer to the green. Greenside bunkers behind the green reshaped, made visible and shifted closer to the putting surface which has been smoothed out to allow for more ‘pin-able' space but with a hint remaining of the old contours.

Hole #15
A new back tee can add 50 yards to the hole and will bring the reshaped bunker protecting the inside right corner of the fairway more into play. Green reduced to move it out of shadows cast by surrounding trees and away from the cart path. The front and back greenside bunkers have been reshaped and moved closer to the putting surface and the right greenside bunkers replaced with a tightly-mown grass slope.

Hole #17
Visually this hole will look different and slightly more intimidating but strategically should play better with increased pin locations along the perimeter of the green and reshaped bunkers that are closer to the putting surface. The most dramatic change is the expansion and reshaping of the beach bunker.

Jet setters rejoice: The Arnold Palmer Design Company is spending some serious time on the road, creating great golf on the other side of the planet and invigorating new markets with quality game. That’s not to say it’s all passport-required play; in fact, there’s been a bit of activity here at home as well. Let’s have a look…

“There are some forced carries,” says Brandon Johnson, the APDC architect who’s been working on the project since the start. “Numbers 12 and 14 especially, there are big ravines in front of them and it’s dramatic. There’s room for error but, yeah, if you miss it there, wide in the right spot, you fall off into oblivion.” Fair warning to those with vertigo.

Another course in Kunming, the specifically named Chinese Entrepreneur Home Golf Club, is set for development close to the city center. Featuring a narrow freshwater lake approximately 5 miles in length, this course will eventually offer 27 holes to residents and visitors and, says APDC architect David Couch, everyone should love the mountain and lake views, no matter their ability.

APDC is working on yet another China course, this one approximately 45 minutes from Chengdu. It has mountains as well but they’re a bit different, says Thad Layton, APDC architect.

“Usually mountains are arranged such that they form ridge lines that connect.” In contrast, he says, “These look like they’re dropped out of the sky… Independent mountains, thousands of feet high.”

A quick river flows through this dramatic landscape, and around that will eventually play one of the finest golf courses in the country, courtesy of APDC. Much of the course will incorporate or bear testament to the terraced slopes, which historically have held kiwi, rice and other crops. Some of those will be maintained; others will fall into play—so look for unique elevation features.

Currently set to be named Panda Valley Golf Course, the property is just 50 miles from a reserve that protects the black-and-white bamboo munchers.

Further south, Johnson has been working on a course in Cambodia with APDC associate John Hamilton. The center lines are cleared and proper development is set to begin in 2010 for this course, which should be a stunner.

In addition to courses already underway, there are a few yet to begin that require a ticket abroad: APDC’s Eric Wiltse has been busy in Brazil on a property near Sao Paolo that, he says, reminds him of the rolling hills of Kentucky. Fazenda Boa Vista should provide 36 holes of play, 18 courtesy of APDC, and offer a bit of rustic beauty for golfers who make the trek to the land of Carnivale. We might see more Palmer courses in Brazil and other countries in South America as well, says APDC Executive Vice President and Senior Architect Erik Larsen. With golf anticipated to be approved as a sport for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil specifically and the continent as a whole could experience a new relationship with the game.

Likewise, projects in Costa Rica, Moscow, Romania and other international locations are all possibilities, with more coming every day.

DOMESTIC

Closer to home, APDC has been busy with some remodeling—of golf courses, that is. Their offices at Bay Hill are just fine for the moment. An exciting new facet of APDC’s operations, remodeling existing courses allows the Palmer touch to be brought to properties that have solid integrity, but perhaps need a bit of a facelift. Already benefitting from APDC’s remodeling work, Wake Forest University has a new practice facility. An existing 5-acre site has been expanded into an 18-acre state-of-the-art gem with 360 degrees of hitting toward an interior range, with indoor hitting bays for rainy Carolina days and everything a team could want for working on its game.

“Basically they went from No.100 to No.1,” says Wiltse. “It’s one of the best—if not THE best—best practice facilities in the country.”

Also benefitting from a recent APDC remodel is King’s Challenge in Cedar, Michigan, near Traverse City. As the course’s Web site has it, “King’s Challenge is an old Arnold Palmer gem tucked away in the quiet green hills of Leelanau County.” Under new ownership since May, “Work has been underway since then, both to realize Palmer’s original goals for the course and to add a host of exciting new details.”

Construction is going forward quickly (one of the owners is a top golf course construction company), and so Michiganders could be enjoying the new course as early as next year.

Going forward, remodeling should be a strong component of APDC’s operations as it not only allows the firm to bring its design expertise to courses in need of modernization, but its contacts as well. Look for new APDC courses—or look to re-visit old favorites touched-up by APDC—soon, whether your passport’s up to date or not.

As birthday celebrations go, it was one heck of a party!

On Thursday, September 10, 2009, Arnold Palmer turned 80, but by then the King had already presided over a hectic six days of festivities which began in Orlando, Florida (his winter home), continued in his native state of Pennsylvania and concluded at the end of the month in the White House.

The whole program teed off with a special breakfast on Friday, September 4 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Arnold Palmer Medical Center in downtown Orlando.

Originally opened in 1989 as the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women, it became a children-only project in 2006 when the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, in memory of Mr. Palmer's first wife, was created with expanded obstetric, neo-natal and gynecological services.

Over the past 20 years, the hospital staff have delivered 179,000 babies and cared for well over a million patients.

The main event came the following evening in the Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Studios and the highlights of this double birthday celebration included a concert from country music superstar Vince Gill and his wife Amy Grant, and the unveiling of a giant birthday cake presented to Mr. Palmer by former patients in recognition of his sustained commitment to the hospital.

"Most people think of the golfer, Arnold Palmer, but he is a wonderful philanthropist. Arnold lent his name to the hospital more than 20 years ago and said he would help us build a children's hospital in Orlando. Back then he took a tour of our old facility and said we can do better than this for our children," said John Bozard, president of Arnold Palmer Medical Center, to enthusiastic applause from hospital officials and dozens of the children who had benefited from the Center's first-class medical care.

The following week Mr. Palmer flew his own Cessna Citation X to Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and on Tuesday, September 8 he was at PNC Park in Pittsburgh to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Pirates' game against Chicago Cubs and to attend a fund-raising dinner.

The night was styled Arnold Palmer Bobblehead Night at PNC Park and was the first time Mr. Palmer has been honored with a bobblehead created in his likeness.

Mr. Palmer couldn't stop grinning as he walked to the mound. Sometime before or during his build-up, he had made a switch and threw a golf ball, not a baseball, to Jim Rohr, the chief executive officer of PNC Bank. After a laugh from Palmer and the other on-field celebrities, Palmer threw a real baseball for his second pitch.

From left: Sam Saunders, Amy Grant and Palmer with Kit

CBS announcer Jim Nantz emceed the ceremonial first pitch, which actually delayed the start of the game by 11 minutes. Surprisingly, it was the first time Mr. Palmer had ever thrown out a first pitch. "I feel a little slow," he said. "Eighty miles-an-hour is about all I can get."

That evening, eighty was certainly a popular number. There were nine chairs set up near the home plate, all draped with Pirates' jerseys bearing the number ‘80' and the name ‘Palmer' on the back. The King eventually put one on.

Then came an unusual golf contest. The Pirates' mascot, the Parrot, stood centerfield with a flagstick as three celebrities took aim from the home plate with wedges. Broadcaster Steve Blass and the Pirates' current pitcher Paul Maholm were aiming for a small circle where the Parrot was stationed. They got three tries each and came relatively close. Then former PGA Tour winner and Ryder Cup player Peter Jacobsen, a long-time friend of Mr. Palmer's, took dead aim and bounced a low, looping shot off the Parrot's posterior, winning $5,000 for charity and earning a hearty round of applause.

A video was played on the stadium scoreboard, narrated by Nantz and featuring grainy black-and-white footage of highlights from Mr. Palmer's playing career.

Mr. Palmer also received a proclamation from Pittsburgh city officials declaring it "Arnold Palmer 80th Birthday Day" but the most significant moment of the evening came when Rohr made a surprise announcement that PNC would donate $1 million in Mr. Palmer's name to the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital.

The 17,000-plus crowd then watched the Cubs start the game with eight consecutive hits and seven runs in the top of the first inning. When that marathon finally ended and the Pirates came to bat, the Parrot approached Mr. Palmer in his box seats with a cake, and Blass led the stadium in a brief rendition of "Happy Birthday."

"It's great to be in Pittsburgh," said Mr. Palmer who revealed he had been in attendance at old Forbes Field when the Pirates' Bill Mazeroski hit his famous Game 7-winning home run to beat the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series.

The Pittsburgh Steelers also invited Mr. Palmer to celebrate with them as well on Thursday night when they kicked off their NFL season against Tennessee Titans, but he simply had too many other activities already scheduled.

On the Wednesday, the day before he turned 80, Mr. Palmer participated in a golf outing and dinner in his honor at Laurel Valley Golf Club where he captained the United States Ryder Cup team to a memorable victory over Great Britain & Ireland in 1975.

And to celebrate his actual birthday when it finally arrived on September 10? Mr. Palmer and some of his closest friends teed it up at the course where he grew up and which he now owns—Latrobe Country Club.

Understandably, Mr. Palmer's landmark birthday was the subject of more than eight hours of programming by the Golf Channel, which he helped to found some 15 years ago.

"As a founding father of Golf Channel, Arnold Palmer's contributions to the growth of the sport and our company are innumerous," Golf Channel president Page Thompson said. "His imprint can be found in every aspect of our Channel, and we are very proud to carry on the traditions of excellence he established."

From left: Mr and Mrs Larsen, Palmer with his sister and daughter Amy and Doc with Brad Faxon

The network's website, GolfChannel.com, ran a host of editorial pages featuring trivia, photography, anecdotes and tributes and during the week of his birthday senior writers Rex Hoggard and Randall Mell respectively examined his career from a player's perspective and his love affair with the camera as he helped to expand golf's popularity through the medium of sports television.

One of the programs shown was Playing Lessons From The Pros: Palmer and Saunders in which Mr. Palmer was joined by his grandson Sam Saunders, the 2004 Florida state high school champion, for a round at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.

In an interview shortly afterwards, Mr. Palmer told CNN that he hopes to play for another ten years. "I still love playing," he said. "I get out and I like to hit the golf ball and I would like to be playing at 90, although I'm a little disappointed right now with my game. I'm not hitting the ball now very far and that is the one thing that is kind of holding me back from playing more golf [socially].

"I'm working on building a little muscle and hitting the ball a little further, but without a great deal of success right now."

And after displaying astonishing stamina throughout this uplifting array of celebrations and tributes, who would bet against Arnold Palmer at 80 finding an extra few yards off the tee in 2010?

One day after watching President Barack Obama authorize awarding him The Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and one hour after having a decaying molar yanked, Arnold Palmer sat down with Kingdom correspondent Chris Rodell at his Latrobe office

Kingdom: Well, you’ve certainly had a busy last few months.
Arnold Palmer: It’s been really busy. I’ve been going crazy. There was my birthday and all the things that happened in Florida and Pennsylvania and then Washington. It doesn’t appear to be winding down any either.

K: Vince Gill and Amy Grant were a surprise act at one of your birthday celebrations and we have interviewed Vince later in the publication. How long have you known him and what is he like asa golfer?
AP: That was in Orlando and that was on the occasion of the birthday party for me and for the hospital. He’s a very good golfer. Amy plays, too. They are good friends. They’ve done a lot to help support charity and I have been to their event in Nashville. We met after I’d invited him to come and entertain at Bay Hill way back.

K: The Arnold Palmer Hospital turned 20 on your 80th birthday. During those 20 years the hospital has proven a phenomenal success. What plans do you have to build further on that success?
AP: We don’t really have any plans to build further as far as the hospital is concerned. We do have plans to expand the present facilities. We’re going up a floor on Winnie’s hospital, we’re expanding the cancer research center and we’re also expanding the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women. By expanding, that means the floors will be going up another floor.

K: Are you ever sorry you didn’t give that paint salesman thing in 1954 more of a chance?
AP: No. There was some thought I’d need to persevere with that occupation. You never know and I needed to have a back up plan and that’s just what that was until I won the U.S. Amateur that same year. Was I a good paint salesman? Obviously not! If I’d been really good, I’d still be there selling paint, wouldn’t you think? I’m thinking I chose the right path for me.

K: Other athletes put HOF after their names to illuminate their status. Are you going to one-up them now by putting CGM for Congressional Gold Medal winner after yours?
AP: No! Nothing even close. You know me better than that! I’m not that kind of guy. It was the most prestigious honor I’ve ever received. Its recipients are among the most impressive people in American history. George Washington was first and I won’t be the last. There’s John Wayne, Roberto Clemente, Byron Nelson, George Washington, Ronald Reagan, Colin Powell, Bob Hope, Louis L’Amour—a lot of great Americans. I don’t have the medal yet. They’re making it at the U.S. Mint. They don’t make it until it is signed into law and that’s what President Obama did the other day. I’ll display it here in the office.

PALMER WITH LONGTIME FRIEND PRESIDENT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

K: President Dwight D. Eisenhower will be posthumously inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame shortly. What was, and is, your involvement in this induction?
AP: I’m going to make that induction and that will be a pleasure for me. We’re really looking forward to that.

K: Could there be yet another still higher honor out there for you?
AP: I guess not. I wish somebody would give me a PGA Championship, but that’s not going to happen. [Note: the PGA is the only major championship that eluded Palmer’s grasp.]

K: There’s been a lot of criticism of Tour players that they’re too satisfied with finishing 10th or worse. Some golfers have made great careers without winning. Is too much money a problem for today’s competitive golfers?
AP: That’s a good subject. I don’t know. The fact is a man can become a multi-millionaire and never win a tournament. I thought about that a little yesterday when I read in the paper that Tiger had earned over a billion dollars playing golf. A billion dollars. Well, I was the first one to make a million, but you think, man, a billion! That’s a helluva lot more than a million.

K: How did the SportsCenter promo shoot go for ESPN up in Bristol?
AP: Oh, I was very impressed by their organization. The physical layout, the studios, the entire program was impressive. It was a nice day. I really enjoyed seeing what they’re doing. And I’m happy to say Golf Channel is still doing well. I don’t think they’re going to get as many channels as ESPN, but they’re doing a great job.

K: There’s a popular clip making the rounds on the Internet of you from that day at ESPN chipping a golf ball into a glass of Arnold Palmer Tea. It’s a thrill to watch. How many shots did that take?
AP: I hit a number of shots and lucked one in. The crowd gave a great reaction. It was a lot of fun.

K: Are you at all surprised that many younger folks know of the Arnold Palmer drink, but not that you’re a real person with a real history?
AP: No, I did not know that. Is that true? That’s funny! (Photographer Scott Spangler says he was showing some students of his a picture of Arnold Palmer and one of the young ladies said, “You mean that’s the iced tea guy?” Spangler says he informed her that Palmer had some notable escapades in his life long before he became the “iced tea guy.” Palmer erupts with laughter.)

K: What were your impressions of Barack Obama?
AP: He was very polite and has a very nice personality. He’s very interested in golf. He told me that he had watched me with his father when he was just 6 years old. So that goes back a while. Because of that he said he’d watched me all his life. He was quite nice. Very hospitable. We talked about golfing together and it may happen.

K: You know your way around the White House pretty well by now. Do you still feel as awestruck as the first time you entered? When was that?
AP: I’ve been there a number of times on official business and have been to numerous receptions there. I’ve been to elegant state functions with Presidents Nixon, Reagan and both Bush 41 and Bush 43. My friendship with President Eisenhower was just getting started when he was leaving office, but we did so much together outside of the White House. And he came here to visit me for one wonderful weekend on my birthday.

K: Do you still feel awestruck walking in there?
AP: Certainly. There’s something about it. There’s an air, a little nervousness. I think anybody who walks into the White House feels that. It’s just natural. You get a real sense of America and what the country stands for. It’s quite awesome.

THE KING AT PNC PARK

K: Tell us about Arnold Palmer Night at PNC Park?
AP: The Pirates got whipped pretty good, but except for the baseball, it was a great night. I thought my 80mph fastball on that first pitch was pretty good. Then the Pirates took the field and gave up eight consecutive hits to start the game. It tied a record. I joked to Kit that they should have left me in. I blame her for startling pitcher Zach Duke. She insisted we have a picture taken with him before he went to the mound. I think she got him so shook up it took him a long time to regain his composure.

K: The Boo Weekley MasterCard commercial about dream foursomes is so much fun to watch. His dream foursome included you and his father Tom. Golfers and their fathers share such a loving and intense bond. How often do you think of your father and what inspires those thoughts?
AP: I still think about him all the time and remain very thankful for all the things that he taught me. For all the advice and the feelings he gave me in my youth. He was great. And for that reason I do think a lot about him. I was lucky to have him for a father.

K: I understand you have two new courses in China. Any signs that business here at home
is improving?
AP: We do. We’re building courses in China as we speak. We’re very pleased about that. I may go there and check them, but I’ll wait and see. I may go. Not many signs that business is improving here. I was in Los Angeles recently to look at our Rolling Hills course. Then I went up to Pebble Beach for a look around. We have some potentials, but we’re just waiting for the green light to move forward.

K: What kind of special obligation to history does APDC feel when it updates a course like Pebble Beach?
AP: I suppose the only thing I think about is not getting too carried away and trying to stick to the tradition that has been so historical there. You need to respect the traditions of that fine club and all the great golf that’s been played there over the years. It’s a real national treasure.

K: How about the renovations at Bay Hill? How satisfied are you about the outcome?
AP: I’m very pleased. It’s open and being played. I hope what we did will be regarded as something very traditional and historic that will set Bay Hill aside from most of the other courses on tour. It was already highly regarded. The renovations were exceptionally well done and I’m grateful to all the people who worked on it. Up and down the line, everyone did fantastic work there. I’m very proud of the results and I think others will be just as pleased as I am.

K: Golf has been admitted to the Olympic Games. How would you organize the tournament?
AP: With so many countries involved, I think it would have to be a medal play event with maybe five or six members from each country. They would play a medal play event using maybe the top two or three or four scores from all the nations. There could be some real surprises. There are some very good golfers from different countries all over the world now. It ought to be interesting.

K: You tinker with golf clubs and on a grander scale with golf courses. Do you find it hard to resist making design suggestions at every course you play?
AP: No, I just make them! If I see something I think will improve a situation, I’m not shy about making suggestions.

PALMER, ED SEAY AND ALISTAIR JOHNSTON BRINGING GOLF TO CHINA

K: Do you ever spend any time with Alastair Johnston at his home, mulling through his extraordinary library of golf books?
AP: Alastair and I work very closely with one another. He’s sort of my representative with IMG and he is a good friend. We’ve done a lot of things together. His collection is number one in the world. It’s quite an achievement.

K: You’ve been all over the world? Where are you eager to take Kit that she’s never been?
AP: We have some thoughts about where we’d like to go. One of the places I have been, but not to really enjoy, is Alaska. We’d love to go there and do a little sightseeing, maybe some salmon fishing. I don’t think I want to go there to play golf, but I might.

K: While you’ve had some nice ceremonies recently, your man Doc Giffin’s been honored at several ceremonies both here in Latrobe and in New York. Has any of it gone to his head?
AP: (laughs with Giffin, who is in the room) Oh, absolutely! He’s been impossible. No, Doc is great. He’s been a real asset to me for all these years. Obviously, or he wouldn’t be here. He’s been with me 43 years and it’s been a real pleasure. I treasure his advice and his friendship.

K: Tom Watson almost won the British Open a couple of months shy of his 60th birthday. What did you make of his performance?
AP: I was very sorry to see he didn’t win. He was right on the verge of doing something that had never been done before and I was very sorry it didn’t happen. Him winning would have been just a fantastic occasion. I felt bad it didn’t happen.

K: You will be acting as honorary starter again at next year’s Masters with Jack Nicklaus. How will that work and do you think Gary Player might also join you both in due course?
AP: I think it’s very possible that Gary will join us. I’m looking forward to teeing it up with Jack this year at Augusta. We’re going to have a lot of fun.

K: Jerry McGee says he wants his ashes sprinkled from a plane onto the 12th green at Augusta. He says he never hit the green in life and wants to do it in death. Why do so many old golfers end up scattered on famous courses?
AP: Well, what more pleasant atmosphere could you want to be for eternity? A golf course is something that is very pleasant out in the environment. It’s the most pleasant place on earth. Who wants to spend eternity in a cemetery surrounded by dead people?

When Arnold Palmer passed the torch on to the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson on the PGA Tour, the succession seemed in good hands. However, many players and officials were concerned at the time that public and commercial interest in tournament golf might wane.

Their fears proved unfounded, of course, but that has not stopped Annika Sorenstam’s contemporaries in the distaff game from juggling the same thoughts, especially at a time of worldwide financial crisis.

But during her recent get-together with Palmer at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Sorenstam was quick to express the view that, despite still coming to terms with ‘life after Annika’, the LPGA Tour has a number of standard bearers to sustain public interest in women’s professional golf over the next few years.

And as for assuming Sorenstam’s long-time mantle as undisputed world No.1, the Mexican Lorena Ochoa remains the favorite to fulfill that role.

“Lorena is already No.1 and has been for a little while,” says Sorenstam. “I think she can stay there for as long as she decides to play, and she is bringing a different demographic to the LPGA Tour. Golf is growing a lot in Mexico because of her influence but it is a country where there’s a lot of room for growth. Paula Creamer has been around for five years or so but I know she’s a great player. Suzann Pettersen is also a force to be reckoned with—very athletic and a long hitter.

“With these players at the top, I don’t see a lot changing over the next three or four years, though we will see an Asian player get to No 1 eventually, especially with around 50 players now on Tour from Korea alone—more than any other country apart from the US. But this should be welcomed as it’s important golf becomes more of a global game, with more TV rights and opening new markets.”

Palmer is particularly impressed with Pettersen. “We see Suzann a lot here at Bay Hill. She’s a member and likes to practice here. But I like to follow the LPGA Tour because Charlie Meecham, the former commissioner, is a friend of mine and we talk about what’s going to happen from time to time.

“I haven’t thought about having an LPGA tournament here at Bay Hill—I have my hands full with the Invitational, so I can’t see that happening while I’m around.”

With prizemoney exploding, one huge development over the past decade or so—post-Tiger in other words—has been the top players’ improved fitness. Palmer acknowledges that fitness levels were lower in his day, but feels the players didn’t have the time on their hands to work out as they do today. “When I first came out on Tour many of the pros were based at golf clubs and most of the tournaments they played were in the winter because they would be busy at their clubs in the summer. Now the guys do nothing but play tournaments full time and physical education is a big part of their program.”

Sorenstam believes that more rigorous fitness regimes have been essential as LPGA courses have lengthened. “The distances players hit the ball today bears no resemblance to 15 years ago. In fact the increase has been big just in the last five years. On the men’s tours, only a few could hit it further than 300 yards then whereas now everyone has to do that just to compete.

“On the LPGA Tour, our courses used to measure no more than 6,200 yards when I started out but the norm is more like 6,700 yards—an increase of 500 yards. So distance is important, but the way to combat players’ greater length isn’t to make courses any longer but to toughen them up—making the greens faster and firmer is something I very much favor.”

However, Palmer feels that enhanced fitness isn’t the only reason for the widespread long hitting in the game today. “Reining the ball in is going to come in eventually—Jack [Nicklaus] and I both feel the ball needs to be slowed down,” he says. “You can’t keep making courses longer and longer —there isn’t enough land to keep churning them out at 8,000-plus yards. I think the move back to V grooves is going to have an effect. At the moment the long drivers don’t mind driving into the rough because their square grooves enable them to get backspin when they hit it out of the rough—that is one of my major complaints.

“Going back to V grooves will restore the skill needed to play a controlled shot out of rough. That’s one of the things we concentrate on for our event here at Bay Hill—our rough isn’t thick as such, but the ball sinks down in it, even if it’s only three or four inches, and then you can’t get backspin out of it.”

Even though she will not be around to benefit from the rule change on Tour from 1 January 2010, Sorenstam can see its virtue. “It takes more talent to hit shots out of rough with V grooves than square grooves, so you might again have people playing courses the way Tiger played Hoylake in the 2006 [British] Open when he hardly touched his driver but demonstrated wonderful control over his long irons and approach play.” The desire to innovate for the good of the game is rarely far from the surface with either Palmer or Sorenstam. The 39-year-old Swede has done her own share of innovating in her time—not least when she teed it up alongside the men on the PGA Tour in the Bank of America Colonial Invitational at Fort Worth, Texas, in 2003, and missed the cut by one shot. “I wanted to challenge myself at Colonial, and I followed it with one of my best years,” she says. “But we have a great Tour on the LPGA and I didn’t want to do it again after that.”

Palmer agrees the experience in isolation can only have been beneficial. “Annika did it right but if it happened consistently it wouldn’t help either Tour,” he said. Sorenstam certainly feels that playing too often with the men can be harmful to a player’s game. “I don’t think the Tours are keen on it, but sometimes the sponsors want it to happen—to generate more revenue and perhaps create an extra buzz around a tournament,” she added. “Only time will tell what effect it’s had on Michelle Wie’s career, but now she’s earned her [LPGA] card she seems to have a different attitude and could make a great impact on the Tour. She made a good start to 2009 but needs to do things the right way.”

The presence of the leading men and women at certain events during the year—as happens at the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments—is worth experimenting with, according to both of them. “I’d love to see the 70 top women and the 70 top men play alongside each other once or twice a year on the same course, off different tees obviously and in effect in different tournaments. A lot of spectators would want to come to watch and television would be very interested as well,” says Sorenstam.

“A mixed tournament would be very good and I think it would work very well. The men and the women don’t see much of each other generally,” added Palmer, whose role in popularizing golf was mirrored on the LPGA Tour by Nancy Lopez. Their association was cemented when their equipment companies were closely connected from a marketing and distribution standpoint during the 1980s and ’90s.

“Mr. Palmer knows Nancy a lot better than I do,” says Sorenstam. “But when she was at her peak as a player in the 1970s and ’80s she would catch everyone’s eye. She had charisma and was so friendly; naturally she brought a lot of attention to the game. She was very human and emotional, often laughing or crying. But I suppose she was on her way out when I arrived on Tour and a lot of people treated me as if I was the new Nancy Lopez. But I’m not Nancy and that was hard for me. I was not there to replace her, I was there to be myself.”

Palmer was quick to pick up on this point. “I played quite a bit with Nancy, and she was certainly different to what we’d been used to—on the men’s Tour as well as the ladies,” he said. “She was gregarious and outgoing. But I agree with Annika. You can’t have two people who are alike and it is ridiculous to expect someone to be an exact copy of someone else. Take me and Jack Nicklaus for instance. We are friends but we’re not alike—we are completely different people.”

Many of the LPGA Tour’s next generation of superstars will hail from unfamiliar territories. “Europe won’t grow as a golf market as fast as Asia over the next few years,” says Palmer. “Japan and Korea are pretty well established, but China will be a major entity and there are a lot of courses in places like Thailand and Malaysia. But the growth won’t just be in Asia. South America is potentially a big market for golf—especially Mexico and Brazil. We’ve talked about Lorena Ochoa, but the arrival of this young man from Colombia, Camilo Villegas, is going to have a big impact on this region as well.”

Sorenstam, for the time being, sees Asia as the powerhouse. “Both the LPGA and Ladies’ European Tour have tournaments in China and the Far East, so that gives you an indication of how the game is growing out there. I don’t think it will be long before China has its own Tour as the players get better all the time and more courses get built.”

That said, perhaps the Ryder Cup style concept behind the Solheim Cup series between the U.S. and Europe which began less than 20 years ago is already outdated. “It’s been a great concept which has generated a lot of interest in the women’s game and produced some very exciting moments,” says Sorenstam. “But it’s getting a little one-sided in favor of the U.S., perhaps in the way the Ryder Cup was back in the 1960s and ’70s when Mr Palmer was playing.

“For that reason we need a greater range of players to choose from, especially as the LPGA Tour is much stronger than the Ladies’ European Tour. But if we included players from places where the women’s game is now quite strong—Australia, Mexico, Korea, for instance—to create a Rest of the World team, then the balance would tilt too much the other way. The Lexus Cup between Asia and the Rest of the World which we stage at the end of the LPGA season seems to produce some very even contests. I was captain of the international team last year when the contest wasn’t decided until the last hole of the last match.” This is no longer an issue on the PGA Tour. “We cater for the needs of all the top players in the men’s game with the Presidents and Ryder Cups, and there’s no need to merge them,” says Palmer. “The principle is not to ignore anyone when it comes to team golf—we want them all to have a chance to play in a team if they’re good enough regardless of where they come from.” This philosophy of fair play towards all who orbit Planet Golf sums up the generosity of these two greats of the game—and explains why both are viewed with uncompromising affection by their legions of fans. Long live the King and Queen!

"It was just the three of us," said Rev. Ron Valenciana, remembering the 2005 wedding ceremony he performed for Arnold Palmer and Kathleen "Kit" Gawthrop at Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii. "It was sweet and simple and meaningful."

The setting could not have been more idyllic—a luxury cottage on the beach, soft music, ocean in the background, wind rustling through the palms overhead… everyday stuff for Hawaii and why—despite having visited the state enough times for his chief pilot to refer to it as "old hat"—Palmer wanted it for his wedding. He’s not alone.

The first civilian flight to the Aloha State was a Travelair monoplane named "City of Oakland," which left California’s Oakland Field on June 28, 1927 and landed in a breadfruit tree on Molokai just 26 hours and 36 minutes later.

Between the start of this year and the end of May, Hawaii had already hosted 2.6 million visitors who came by air (and landed far more successfully). Most arrived in Honolulu and stayed put, never venturing beyond the pink sands of Waikiki. A small few set out to discover what the other islands had to offer, and were richly rewarded. Either way, there’s no denying the appeal of our 50th state. Here’s a quick look at paradise:

Oahu

For many visitors, the island of Oahu and its capital city, Honolulu, is Hawaii. Honolulu is certainly the most "happening" city in the islands, and Waikiki is one of the most famous beaches in the world. Perhaps surprisingly, despite being saturated with sunburned Europeans, pale new arrivals from the Midwest and what seems like half of all Japanese weddings being performed anywhere, the area manages to retain its charm. Besides the busy shops and restaurants—we recommend Keo’s Thai Cuisine—there are public parks, surfing lessons and more than enough tropical bars to entertain.

The Hilton Hawaiian Village is a safe bet for accommodations (ask for the Rainbow Tower) and has one of the nicest beaches on the strip. Also, a 2009 re-tooling of the property’s casual dining yielded great results, and the on-site shopping can’t be beat. The Moana Surfrider is another option. The "First Lady of Waikiki" opened in 1901, and a recent renovation of the historic wing is well worth a look; the rooms are small but elegant, and the views are unbelievable. An added plus: the property’s oceanside patio is covered by an Indian Banyan tree. Seven feet tall when it was planted in 1904, today it stands at nearly 75 feet, sprawls for nearly 150 feet and is protected as a state historic treasure.

Wherever you stay on Waikiki, make sure to stop by the Halekulani Hotel and its charming House Without A Key patio bar and restaurant. With waves rolling behind them, former Miss Hawaiis dance to authentic, old-school island music performed by talented local musicians, maintaining an atmosphere that has endured since the first days of Hawaiian tourism (and the mai tais aren’t bad either).

If you fancy a round of golf and/or you’re looking to purchase a Hawaiian golf residence, the Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa (just outside Honolulu) features top quality homes and Ernie Els’ first design in Hawaii. On the North Shore of Oahu, Mr. Palmer liked Turtle Bay Resort for his wedding and accommodations, and if it’s good enough for him… well, you get the picture. Situated on nearly five miles of beachfront, the property boasts every amenity you could want, including a Palmer-designed golf course.

Lana’i

There’s not much to do on Lana’i, and that’s the charm. Back in the day, the island served as a large pineapple plantation for Dole. Lana’i City, the only town on Lana’i, was built to house the workers. Today, the small ville’s charming historic district is listed as one of the most endangered historic sites in the U.S. and is well worth a visit. Though small, the island is environmentally dynamic, featuring stunning beaches, obscure rock moonscapes and even thick pine forests. There’s a cute local hotel in the city, but Four Seasons is the only luxury game in town. Thankfully, there are two locations: The Lodge at Koele sits above the city, while Four Seasons Manele Bay is down on the water. The bay itself is a protected marine enclave, and the fish seem to know it. Great snorkeling along the reef is outdone by the pod of wild dolphins that visits almost daily. From the hotel’s pool bar, you can watch them leaping and spinning; down in the water, the view is pure dream material. The Lodge at Koele is styled as an old-school British hunting lodge, and it’s a surprisingly convincing world apart. A meticulously manicured lawn and gardens, complete with a made-in-England glass orchid house, sit behind the elegant main building, which houses a wild game restaurant, among other amenities.

For a bit of fiscal relief in dining, eat in town at Pele’s Other Garden, a great lunchtime deli that turns into an Italian bistro at night (proprietors Mark and Barbara are wonderful). Alternately, if you like raw tuna, a new poké place recently opened behind the ice cream shop. Recreational options on Lana’i include renting a Jeep for some serious off-roading to various points of interest or booking a tour and letting someone else drive, which does nothing for the bumps but at least saves having to fix the tire if it goes.

Maui You’ll likely arrive in the city of Lahaina. Located on Maui’s western tip, this one-time whaling port and seat of Hawaiian kings has a colorful history. Prior to unification, the town was a hotbed of conflict. At one point in the late 19th century, in a bizarre conflict between whalers and Christian missionaries, whaling ships actually shelled Lahaina. Today, the town serves as the gateway to the north-coast resorts. The Ritz-Carlton at Kapalua is your best bet for golf as it has two excellent courses: The Plantation Course, which hosts the PGA Tour’s Mercedes-Benz Championships each January, and The Bay Course, designed by Palmer. In town, Kimo’s restaurant has fresh fish at good prices, while I’Os offers a contemporary interpretation of classic island fare. Dominating the eastern side of Maui, Haleakala volcano rises 10,000 feet. It’s possible to book a tour to the summit, then coast down on a bicycle.

The Big Island Hawaii’s Big Island is still growing. The Kilauea volcano is constantly erupting, pushing molten lava across its slopes and into the sea. The best way to see it is by helicopter, but a drive through Volcanoes National Park offers a decent view. At the center of the island, the dormant Mauna Kea volcano is technically the world’s tallest mountain, measuring more than 33,000 feet from the sea floor (it’s just under 14,000 feet above sea level). Its peak provides some of the best stargazing on the planet. Also it’s possible to snow ski here in winter, though it’s not the most popular sport in Hawaii. The north coast has the luxury resorts, and the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows is a fine option. The resort’s two courses are a delight and offer incredible oceanside play. Additionally, the property’s Canoe House restaurant serves excellent cuisine, including sushi.

Kauai

"The Garden Isle," formed some six million years ago, is the oldest and northernmost island in Hawaii. Kauai is a nature lover’s dream. Its Napali coast offers thick rainforest, massive cliffs, plunging waterfalls and numerous canyons, bays and beaches. If you enjoy boating, it’s possible to kayak on the Wailua River (all of Hawaii’s navigable rivers are in Kauai). If you’re a hiker, Waimea Canyon is 3,000 feet deep with miles of trails to explore. This "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" is a must-see for Kauai visitors. For accommodations, the Grand Hyatt at Poipu beach is a 1920s-style retreat with an 18-hole golf course. On-site dining is superb, but you should also try Hamura’s Saiman Stand in Lihue which serves long lines of locals with steaming bowls of Kauai’s staple, Saiman—a noodle soup with vegetables, wontons, hard-boiled eggs, sweetened pork and whatever else the chef includes.

Molokai The island is small, the people are friendly and the pace is so slow it can barely be measured. You don’t come to Molokai to party, you come to relax and enjoy Hawaii the way it used to be. With the longest white sand beach in the islands and not a single traffic light, relaxing isn’t difficult. Deciding where to stay is easy: there’s only one hotel on the island. Hotel Molokai has beach houses and condos available for vacation rentals.

Choosing an eatery is slightly more difficult—several local options include Big Daddy’s Filipino plate lunches and the Kualapu’u Cookhouse country café. Papohaku Beach offers three miles of continuous white sand, but the rip currents make swimming impossible. For that, Dixie Maru Beach is better, as are most of the island’s other beaches. Halawa, home to Molokai’s first residents, is a valley of breathtaking natural beauty and features a two-tier waterfall—Hipuapua cascades 500 feet into a pool before feeding Moa’ula which drops 250 feet into another pool. Kalaupapa had a leper colony from 1866 until the 1940s where a Belgian priest named Father Damien devoted his life to caring for the residents until succumbing to the disease himself. He will be made a saint this October. Today Kalaupapa is a national monument, though a few former patients still live there, which means visits must be arranged through a local tour operator.

The Palmers’ Hawaiian Wedding

"It was a beautiful day in paradise," remembers Rev. Ron Valenciana, who married Arnold Palmer and Kathleen "Kit" Gawthrop at Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii, January 26, 2005. "I think I met them at their cottage at 4 in the afternoon. They agreed to just step outside the sliding glass door. I don’t think they wanted to go out on the lawn or anything in case someone would see them.

"Arnold looked just like he would look, really nice, the way you kind of see him all the time. Kit was wearing a nice dress. I was wearing a white formal Hawaiian shirt, typical apparel for a wedding in Hawaii. We incorporated the leis into the ceremony. I shared the significance: it’s a symbol of deep affection, loyalty and trust, and it goes back generations to the king and queen. He would place a lei over his queen when they made a public appearance, and the queen would put one on the king, showing the kingdom how important love, trust, loyalty and affection are.

"I did pray with them, led them through some vows and spoke a little about romance, love and affection. I talked about the value of friendship. While I was doing all that, I could really tell those two were in love. When I asked them to repeat the vows after me, they weren’t just repeating; they were saying it from the heart.

"After the three of us were done with the ceremony, Kit was anxious to call her kids. While she was on the phone, Arnold says, ‘Pastor, have a seat.’ Then he asks, ‘Can I fix you a drink?’ I don’t drink much, but I don’t abstain, and what are you going to say when Arnold Palmer offers to fix you a drink? I said ‘yeah, ok!’

"So he fixes me a drink and we sit down in the nice chairs, just talking. I’m sitting there talking with Arnold Palmer with a drink in my hand.

"Then he says to Kit, ‘Hey Kit, call the gang’ [Palmer’s assistant, Cori Britt and his wife, and the chief pilot Pete Luster and his wife]. They were staying in the hotel, we were in the luxury cottages. So they come over, these two couples, and they see me sitting down talking with Arnold Palmer and they’re like, ‘Who’s this guy?’ Arnold walks them over to the table where the marriage license was and all four of them went ballistic. And then he says, ‘This is Pastor Ron, he just married us!’

"After they all got through hugging, I think one of them asked whether we could go outside and take some pictures, so we all went outside and started popping pictures, just our party. I had my camera and asked them to take a picture, too. They wanted me to stand with them. From my understanding, nobody knew it was going to happen."

When designers Jack Neville and Douglas Grant saw Pebble Beach Golf Links open in 1919, they couldn’t have known that their creation would become one of the most lauded courses anywhere—and perhaps the greatest public course of all time.

A visual stunner that winds its way along Northern California’s rocky Monterey coast, Pebble Beach also has been a fantastic player and tournament venue since it first hosted the Monterey Peninsula Open in 1926.

Next year it’s hosting the 2010 U.S. Open Championship, and the Arnold Palmer Design Company has helped it get ready with a little facelift—not that it needed much.

“I didn’t try to change the golf course. I tried to make some additional things that would play better for the Open,” said Palmer. “We added a couple hundred yards. But you do need to respect the traditions of these great courses.”

In fact, APDC’s work is as much restoration as it is renovation, based largely on the original layout (though they did add a few surprises). The changes weren’t made willy nilly, either. They came after long consideration and planning, and not just by the design team.

Some years ago, the Pebble Beach Company’s Senior VP of Golf R.J. Harper presented Palmer with a few ideas for course improvements. Pebble Beach’s owners and board, which includes Palmer, the actor Clint Eastwood and business icon Peter Ueberroth, among others, discussed the proposed changes and the overall master plan. When Palmer brought the ideas to his team, the reaction was a mix of excitement and awe.

“He walked in with a set of plans and said, ‘I need some help with these plans, guys,’” remembers Thad Layton, an APDC architect. “[Architect] Dave Couch and I looked at each other and said, ‘This is going to be fun.’” The overall idea was to add a bit of length, in line with the modern game, and to restore the original designers’ intended flow of play by restoring the challenge.

Changes

Any other “rehab job” likely wouldn’t have received the same amount of excitement, but Pebble Beach is iconic and it pushed the designers to plan carefully before any shovels went into the ground.

“We were googly eyed about it,” says Layton. “Digging up some old photos from the early 1900s of the golf course, it looks a lot different than it does today. It got a bit rounded off over time. The old black-and-white photos are really flamboyant, really splashy. We tried to inject a little of that old character back into it and bring it up to today’s standards in terms of length.”

The most significant changes were done on holes 6 and 18, on which the ocean was brought more into play with strategic placement of bunkers and Cypress trees. On 6 specifically, the large fairway bunker at the lower landing area was replaced with five new bunkers that shift the landing area towards the ocean. On the iconic 18, two Cypress trees and a fairway bunker were added in the landing area, which forces longer hitters to aim left towards the Pacific.

“I just got to play a few weeks ago, and I hadn’t seen a lot of the changes; It’s a lot tougher than the last time I played,” said Sally Dodge, an LPGA Master Pro (and Pebble Beach Golf Links’ first female assistant pro) who’s been at the course for 33 years. “They’ve got a lot more places where you have to stay out of trouble. On 15 they added a lot of bunkers, and on 6… They’ve done a lot all over. It’s really toughened the course up.”

And how’s this going to affect the 2010 U.S. Open? “It’s going to be pretty spectacular,” she says.
When all’s said and done, four greens and 16 bunkers were rebuilt, altered or installed; 11 tees received enhancements; six holes had trees added or adjusted; and the total course length was extended to 7,014 yards.

“Our goal has been to strengthen Pebble Beach for today’s player, while maintaining its timelessness,” said Palmer of the changes. “I believe we have accomplished this goal with the many improvements made over these past few years.”

Notable Moments

Players of years past would probably agree with Palmer—and the course certainly has posed a challenge. The best evidence of that may have been Tiger Woods’ incredible U.S. Open win in 2000—he was the only player in the field to shoot below par, scoring 65-69-71-67 to tie the Open record with 272. His 12-under-par total was 15 shots better than the joint runners-up, Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez, and the largest margin of victory ever recorded in a major championship.

In contrast, the 1926 Monterey Peninsula Open—the very first tournament at Pebble Beach—was won by Harry “Lighthorse” Cooper of Texas with a score of 293. The first major came in 1929 with the U.S. Amateur. Defending champ Bobby Jones would have made it three Amateur titles in a row had he won, but a Minnesotan named Harrison Johnson had other ideas. (“Three U.S. Amateurs in a row” wouldn’t happen until Tiger Woods finally did it in 1996.)

The 2000 U.S. Open was the fourth to be hosted by Pebble Beach, which also hosted the 1977 PGA Championship. Additionally, since 1947 the course has been one of the venues for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (formerly known as the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am or the “Clam Bake”), while The Champions Tour Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach comes here in September.

 
Tiger Woods pictured during his 15-shot victory in the 100th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links

Today

With the changes made by APDC over the last few years, there’s no question the 2010 U.S. Open should be an interesting one to watch. Furthermore, everyday golfers who visit this beautiful property should find the alterations as pleasing as the pros that take it on. As Mr. Palmer himself put it: “Pebble Beach is a national treasure to the game of golf. I am proud to have had a hand in preparing it for the 2010 U.S. Open and for all golfers who come to Pebble Beach to enjoy its many challenges. ”

Stay and Play

For the true Pebble Beach experience, we recommend you don’t just rush in, play the course, and leave. Rather, take your time to appreciate the natural beauty of this marvelous golf setting. Pebble Beach seems to have its own unique light, and the best way to capture the full spectrum is to stay on site for two or three days—experiencing dawn, sunset and everything in-between. Naturally there is a range of accommodation on offer as well as a variety of courses to play. Our favorite is the The Lodge at Pebble Beach; it boasts a truly glorious ocean-side setting and, despite its grand and stately architecture, manages to get the balance between relaxed and elegant just right. Exquisite dining, excellent service and spacious guest rooms all add up to an unforgettable experience.
Casa Palmero is to be found along the first and second fairways. Comprising 24 spacious rooms and suites amongst verdant landscaped grounds, this elegant Mediterranean-style enclave offers the ultimate in modern comforts. At the authentically restored main house, guests enjoy a luxurious living room, library, billiard room, heated outdoor pool, and complimentary evening refreshments in the bar and lounge.
The last option is the largest: The Inn at Spanish Bay is set amongst groves of tall Monterey pines and offers golfers and holidaymakers alike 269 rooms and a whole host of facilities. We thoroughly recommend all three. Do visit www.pebblebeach.com for further information, rates and packages.

What’s New?

A hole-by-hole look at Pebble Beach Golf Links’ improvements in preparation for the 2010 U.S. Open

Hole #1
Rebuilt #1 green to USGA Specifications and enlarged by 700 sq.ft.
Extended left greenside bunker to wrap the length
of the green
Split right greenside bunker into two bunkers

Hole #2
Added new championship tee (15 yards)
Planted trees to create a narrow chute for the second shot just prior to the barranca bunker
Extended last right-hand side fairway bunker into landing area
Rebuilt green to USGA specifications
Pinched front two bunkers into approach area to create
a smaller opening from the fairway
Installed a fairway bunker on left-hand side of fairway near landing area

Hole #3
Rebuilt green to USGA specifications and enlarged
by 200 sq. ft.
Tent Pad renovations—lowering and re-grading
Installed Cypress trees along left side of the dogleg
Added new championship tee (15 yards)
Installed three new fairway bunkers along right side
of the fairway

Hole #4
Planned changes to fairway bunkers—flip pot bunker towards coastline and add a bunker upper left of landing area in the fairway

Hole #5
Installed Seawall to protect the entire green
Lengthened championship tee by 10 yards and rebuild all teeing surfaces

Hole #6
Added new fairway bunker 75 yards short of the green on the left side of the second shot landing area
Removed large bunker at lower fairway landing area and install five new bunkers along the left side

Hole #7
Rebuilt entire tee complex and move cart path out of line of sight

Hole #8
Added upper tee surface

Hole #9
Added new championship tee—50 yards total since 2000

Hole #10
Planned change to add a new championship tee—35-50 yards

Hole #11
Added a new championship tee—10 yards

Hole #12
No changes

Hole #13
Planned change to add a new championship tee

Hole #14
Installed two bunkers along the left side of the fairway to pinch the landing area
Installed one bunker along the right side of the fairway to pinch the landing area
Rebuilt and lowered teeing area
Planted one large Cypress on right side of the fairway 100 yards out from the green to pinch the landing area

Hole #15
Removed roadway (Live Oak Meadow Road) in front of teeing area
Rebuilt green to USGA specifications
Installed five new bunkers along the left side of the fairway, which includes a pot bunker placed 10 yards in the fairway, all near the landing area
Planted Cypress trees along right-hand side of fairway

Hole #16
Rebuilt teeing grounds
Planted three large Cypress trees (two before the barranca bunker to create a chute towards the green and one near the bridge to create a true dogleg on the hole)

Hole #17
Enlarged tee complex
New path and hedge replacement on right side of the hole

Hole #18
Replaced big pine in front of the green with a large Cypress tree
Installed one fairway bunker along the right side of the landing area near trees in the fairway
Replaced two trees in the fairway and adjusted them towards green to protect new landing area—20 yards
Seawall fairway bunker expansion

Being fortunate enough to know Mr. Palmer a little, we're positive that any opportunity to do good or influence young people matters more to The King than all the dollars and divots. So, sorry Skins Game '92, you lose out to addressing Wake Forest grads during the 2005 commencement. And please sit down those in Madrid excited by his Spanish Open victory, the U.S. Navy Memorial has something to say about USCG veteran Arnold Palmer's honor and courage.

The unenviable task of deciding which moments would make the cut for this list fell to writer Chris Rodell, with the able assistance of ArnoldPalmer.com's Scott Curry. We offer it with the full understanding that many of you will have your own ideas on the subject. Thankfully, Arnold Palmer has provided enough moments in his life for all of us to have our own "Best Moments" list. On his 80th birthday, here's ours: