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May 30, 2008
Palmer Attends USGA Grand Opening
On June 3, 2008, Arnold Palmer will attend the USGA Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History grand re-opening ceremony.
Moving forward The Palmer Center will be the premier institution in the world for the study and education of golf history.
The Palmer Center will offer more than 7,500 square feet of public space, with more than 5,000 square feet of that space devoted to permanent exhibitions discussing key moments in USGA Championship history. A collection of the nation's most significant golf artifacts and documents also will be displayed here. Many of these artifacts will be on display to the public for the first time.
The museum's galleries will provide visitors with engaging displays enhanced by multi-media elements and interactive kiosks. Collectively, the exhibits will present a new history of golf in the United States, focusing on the relationship between the game and the major historical, political and cultural events of the nation.
The signature architectural feature of the Palmer Center, the Hall of Champions, will celebrate every USGA champion and championship, beginning in 1895 with the first U.S. Amateur. A rotunda, illuminated by a clerestory, will feature all 13 USGA trophies, while listing winners of every championship on bronze panels that encircle the hall. Several kiosks situated throughout the exhibition galleries will host a new USGA Championship database that will allow visitors to search every championship by player, site and year.
For more information on the USGA Museum visit www.usga.org.
Posted by scurry at 12:30 PM
May 26, 2008
Five guys, one question: What's your favorite Palmer story?
Frank Nobilo, Robert Trent Jones II, Chi Chi Rodriguez and others tell their favorite Palmer stories.
Five guys, one question: What’s your favorite Arnold Palmer story?
A U.S. Open always draws experts from diverse fields to what for one week is the absolute center of the golf universe.
That makes it a good time to ask a variety of golf industry people -- players, architects, golf journalists -- about the one story they like to tell about golfing icon Arnold Palmer above all others. Here are some of their answers:
• Frank Nobilo, former PGA player & current commentator The Golf Channel: “You could say that Arnold Palmer kept me from quitting golf. It was back in 1995 at the Masters and I was playing dreadfully. I’d shot an 81 the day before and had thought about withdrawing. I was really about my game. I told my coach I was planning on quitting and he said, ‘Man, you couldn’t if you wanted to. You’re scheduled to golf tomorrow with Arnold Palmer.’ What was I going to do? Let Arnold Palmer play Augusta as a one-ball? So I showed up the next day determined to do my best. He didn’t know me from Adam, but Arnold greeted me on the first tee with the warmest handshake and twinkle in his eye. Just that look let me knew he was out there to have fun and I was invited to be a part of it. And what a time it was. Neither one of us was going to nudge our way onto the leader board, but it was a lively round and I got to have my own mini-Masters with Arnold Palmer.”
• Bubba Watson, professional golfer: “My favorite Arnold Palmer story? That was the day I got to meet him and shake his hand. Yeah, he probably shook a couple hundred other hands that day, but I spent the next week showing people that hand that shook the hand of Arnold Palmer.”
• Chi Chi Rodriguez, World Golf Hall of Famer: “People on tour used to complain that Arnold Palmer got preferential treatment. I’d ask them, ‘Do you want preferential treatment, too? Then start treating everyone the way Arnold Palmer does.’ When I came on tour in 1960, he was the man who came up and offered his friendship. He treated me with great respect. He’s old school like that. He treats everyone with respect. And, man, I loved the way he played the game. Some guys went for the pin some of the time, but Arnold always went for the pin. Still does. Man, you could put the pin thousands of feet below sea level on the deck of the Titanic and Arnold would scramble to find a scuba suit and get diving. He’ll always go for it. That’s why I like Sean O’Hair this week. He plays like Palmer. Had O’Hair hit a 9 iron instead of a wedge into the 17th at TPC everybody would be talking about him as a favorite here at Oakmont. Keep your eye on him.”
• Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: “My favorite Palmer moment may have came during the end of an interview I did with him a few years ago. He’d just gotten married and was a happy newlywed. I figured I’d ask him about if he used Viagra or not. I was a little reluctant to ask because I knew we’d get a lot of letters from people saying I was an impudent young jerk with no manners -- and I was afraid he might react that way, too! But I asked him and he came to life. He got a big smile on his face and said he didn’t need it. That he was still charging. I think the interview would have gone much better if I’d have asked him that first. He welcomed the question and was happy to talk about his virility. We got some letters complaining about the question, but Mr. Palmer didn't mind one bit.”
• Robert Trent Jones Jr., architect of more than 240 courses in 40 countries: “I could tell you tons of stories, but it would always come back to his warmth and generosity. The think I like about him, too, and this may surprise some people, are the courses he designs. I’m a big fan. Some marquee players design courses for their own ego, They never can get it through their heads that the key to designing courses is drainage, drainage, drainage. You need to spend 10 years working on bulldozers or hire people who have done the nitty-gritty. Arnold’s been smart enough to surround himself with the best people in golf, starting with Ed Seay and Erik Larsen. They're wonderful course designers and great people, too. Really, Arnold's building himself a nice legacy apart from his competitive career with the great courses he and his team have put together. My favorite Palmer designs? I like Orchid Island Golf Club in Vero Beach, Florida. I think they did a tremendous job at PGA West in La Quinta and Tralee Golf Club in Ireland has some brilliant holes out on the dunes.”
Posted by crodell at 06:23 PM