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January 29, 2009
Palmer Chosen for Southern Conference Inaugural Class of 10
The Southern Conference, once the home of most Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference schools, chose Arnold Palmer among its inaugural Hall of Fame class of 10.
"We're extremely proud of this announcement, one that's been 88 years in the making," league commissioner John Iamarino said. "The achievements of this first group of inductees are truly remarkable."
Palmer, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, played at Wake Forest from 1948-50 and 1953-54. He was the NCAA's stroke-play medalist in 1949 and 1950, helping the Demon Deacons win the 1950 SoCon title. Palmer won the Southern Conference championship in 1948 and 1949. As a pro, Palmer won seven major championships, including four Masters.
Others named to the hall were Jerry West of West Virginia; Sam Huff of West Virginia; Dick Groat of Duke; Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice of North Carolina; Frank Selvy of Furman; Adrian Peterson of Georgia Southern; Melissa Morrison Howard of Appalachian State; Valorie Whiteside of Appalachian State; and Megan Dunigan of Furman.
Others named to the hall were Jerry West of West Virginia; Sam Huff of West Virginia; Dick Groat of Duke; Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice of North Carolina; Frank Selvy of Furman; Adrian Peterson of Georgia Southern; Melissa Morrison Howard of Appalachian State; Valorie Whiteside of Appalachian State; and Megan Dunigan of Furman.
Posted by scurry at 04:21 PM
January 28, 2009
CHERRY HILLS COUNTRY CLUB TO HOST 2009 PALMER CUP
Historic Cherry Hills Country Club will host will host the 2009 Palmer Cup. Site of seven USGA competitions and two PGA Championships, Cherry Hills is where Arnold Palmer won his lone U.S. Open. The annual Ryder Cup-style competition will be played June 3-5. Cherry Hills will be the furthest west site for the Palmer Cup.
"Cherry Hills is very excited to host the 2009 Palmer Cup," said Cherry Hills Head Golf Professional John Ogden. "Arnold Palmer is synonymous with Cherry Hills and naturally we are thrilled to host a tournament of this caliber which bears his name. The membership is looking forward to seeing how the top collegiate players in the world handle the newly restored William Flynn masterpiece."
Cherry Hills Country Club was born in 1922 from wealthy businessmen in the city of Denver and carved from the earth by well-known designer William Flynn, who charged the princely sum of $4,500 for his architectural services. But, as anyone knows, you can't just buy tradition. This intangible is earned over time, stamped with the seal of approval by those who have walked its fairways and become champions under the most challenging of conditions. Cherry Hills certainly has earned its place on the American golf landscape. Champions at competitions held at the venerated course have included some of the game's greats: Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Jay Sigel, Hubert Green, Andy North, Ralph Guldahl, Vic Ghezzi and Lewis Oehmig. After hosting the 2005 Women's Open, Cherry Hills joined Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., and Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., as the only courses to have hosted the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women's Open.
Currently under restoration, Cherry Hills will play approximately 7,600 yards when it is finished in the spring. Not only will the renovation add length to the storied venue but will also return it closer to the original concept of Flynn. The Palmer Cup will be the first major event played at Cherry Hills following the restoration.
"We're extremely honored to be playing the Palmer Cup at such a fine course as Cherry Hills," said GCAA president
Mark Crabtree. "It's always great to be at a venue that has hosted so many championships, but staging the Palmer
Cup at the site of Arnold Palmer's 1960 U.S. Open triumph is extra special."
Posted by scurry at 10:38 AM
January 20, 2009
Interview with Arnold Palmer from the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
MARK STEVENS: We'd like to welcome Mr. Arnold Palmer to the media center for the 50th Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Mr. Palmer is the host this year. He actually won the very first Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in 1960. Of his 62 TOUR wins, he has won five times at the Hope after playing in 42 of the 50 events here. And he actually won the last of his 62 events right here at the Hope in 1973. We're going to start out and have Mr. Palmer give a few general comments about coming back this year as the host and then we'll open the floor up to questions. Thank you very much.
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, good morning and nice to see you all on this Inauguration Day and to be here. As you know, I keep reasonably busy with my various jobs that I have around and to be here for the hope this year is a great pleasure. And it's a particular pleasure since a good friend of mine, Ernie Dunlevie has also been 50 years at this tournament.
I think one of the things that always attracts me is the fact that the golf courses here in the desert are pristine. They are all always in such great condition and the conditions for playing are so good.
Other than that, and seeing a lot of my old friends that I haven't seen a lot lately, it's fun. It's fun for me to be here and to be a part of this this year.
MARK STEVENS: Okay. Thank you. We have a microphone over here. So please make use of those.
Q. Good morning, Mr. Palmer.
ARNOLD PALMER: Good morning.
Q. Can you talk about the good feelings you have when you come back here? Is that more than just the fact that you won the golf tournaments here?
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, yeah, the feelings are wonderful. As I say, seeing a lot of my old friends and being able to talk to them and have a drink with them and just watch what is going on and kind of comparing from the first Classic to this one, and seeing all the things that have happened is fun. It's fun for me and I've been reminiscing quite a lot, just at the various clubs and seeing the various people that I am seeing.
Q. What's the biggest change that you've seen in this tournament? Is it the gallery or what?
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, one of the things is the press. The press is far more represented here now than it was in the first one. And the galleries certainly I think in 1960 you could have probably shot a gun off and not hit anybody. But it has steadily increased from that first one and certainly I think that's something that is very important. I think the fact that the tournament and the prominence of the tournament has increased rather dramatically over the last 50 years.
Q. How would you describe the state of your golf game right now and do you play much and do you wish you could play more?
ARNOLD PALMER: I do not play much. I play occasionally in the Bay Hill Shoot out. I played yesterday about 12 holes and my back got sore and I quit. So that is one of my serious considerations when I play, the fact that I have a bit of a back problem and can't seem to shake it off. It doesn't prevent me from doing most of the things I want to do, but it does have a radical affect on my golf game. And my golf game is not good. Occasionally I hit a good shot and I'm like the every day golfer that goes out and walks up the 18th hole and all of a sudden he hits a shot or makes a putt and can't wait to get back the next day. But it is not competitive any more for me.
Q. I know this is, you've been going near to this day of not being able to play very much, but does that make you sad?
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, it makes me sad that I can't hit the golf ball the way I once did. That is a very sad situation mentally for me. When I play with some of my friends, amateurs or pros, and compare, it's hard to take. But I enjoy it. And I do it because of the friends that I have and the people that I enjoy being out there with.
Q. I'm wondering if you were able to watch the Inauguration or the oath this morning and even if you weren't, what your thoughts on that were.
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I watched it. I watched Obama take the oath and I watched most of his remarks. And I thought they were fine. I think he's starting out pretty good. He's got a pretty rough task in front of him. And I hope he can stick with it. I hope that he can go down the middle as he has indicated he might and get some things done.
Those of us in the golf business are feeling a pretty radical affect on our business in the game. It doesn't matter whether it's selling equipment or whether it's building golf courses, or whether it's sponsoring golf tournaments.
Q. Back in the day this tournament used to drawing most of the best players on TOUR, in recent years there have been a lot of players who have passed it up, what's changed about that do you think?
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, that's a tough question because I understand where you're coming from with the question and how to answer it without getting into a crossfire is difficult. It's been so very good for all of the players, the people who are out here playing and I would just hope that they would understand that they need to support the tournaments as much as they possibly can. I was a player and I knew and I know that you can't play every week. But when I hear some of the reasons for not playing it disturbs me a little. And they do need to get out and support the events. I suppose like everything else, if there's a dramatic reduction in tournaments, they will then understand and maybe they will support them a little more than they do.
Having been a player and having the experience of understanding what it means to play and be supportive is very, very important.
Q. In your prime, obviously every tournament on TOUR would love to have had you in their field. And yet you know you couldn't play every week. How do you balance the demands of some of the top players who are in such demand with their need to make sure they have some time off?
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, you can't, there's not a way that you can predict or know what the top players are going to do. Certainly some players start out with a routine and they stick with that routine throughout their career.
On the other hand, a lot of the players will play every week or as much as they can. I used to try to spread my tournament appearances so that I never missed a tournament more than two years in a row. If I missed it, I tried to go back the next year. Tournaments like the Hope, of course I played every year because I just simply enjoyed being here and the conditions under which we were playing.
But in my early years and when I was playing pretty well I was playing somewhere close to 30 tournaments a year. I mean that was hitting it pretty strong.
Q. Slightly frivolous question, what advice do you have for somebody who is 80 years old and just beginning to play golf?
ARNOLD PALMER: I don't know anybody 80 years old who is just beginning to play golf.
(Laughter.)
I knew what you were saying.
(Laughter.)
Q. I'm looking for a free lesson.
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I would probably give them the same advice I take personally, since I'm almost 80 years old and I still go out and practice and hit the ball and I enjoy that. Sometimes I actually enjoy more hitting and practicing than I do playing. So I do that a lot. And that would be my advice to someone that's 80 years old.
Q. I'll bet you can break 120 though.
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, it's getting difficult to do that. I know. I understand. But hitting balls and working at your game, even though you're not maybe taking it to the course is something that is enjoyable, it's enjoyable for me.
Q. I'm wondering if you had ever talked to George Lopez about the last, previous two years about his experiences hosting this and then maybe if you feel like this tournament needs for the foresee able future another of course you can't have another Bob Hope, but somebody to really be established as the host of this for 10 years, 20 years, whatever. Do you think this tournament needs that?
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I have not talked to George, so I can't talk about that. I suppose that because of Bob Hope and the fact that he was such a great host and provided a lot of interest in the tournament that that's probably the type of thing that they're looking for here. And hopefully they will find someone that will be able to do that.
Q. You talk just a little bit about the experience of playing in the pro am and that, I assume you met some friends, made some lasting friendships and the fun of it all.
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, that of course was part of what I enjoyed. And I have to say that even though that becomes a detriment to some of the players playing with the amateurs, I found that it was pretty enjoyable. And today I still have many friends who I met here playing in the pro am. And they're good friends. And in addition to that, some of them were people who had the wares for my association business wise. And that has worked out extremely well over the years, even though I haven't played in a number of years, the friendships and the business associates that I have made through this tournament have been extremely valuable.
Q. From what you know about Tiger Woods, do you expect him to come back as good as ever and how much of a bonus would it be if he came back and played at your tournament?
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, first of all, I don't think there's any question about the fact that he is capable and will be capable of taking up where he left off. I think that's, in my mind, that's a foregone conclusion, that he will be just as good or better than he was.
What would it mean if he came and played at Bay Hill to defend it? It would mean a great deal if that was his first event back, which is certainly, let's say, possible. We would love to have him do that. And it would call attention to my tournament and the fact that he is the defending champion.
I think that the most recent situation is that he will come and he will be back and what tournament he chooses, who knows. I don't know. Unless and there's one other circumstance that could kind of foil the whole thing, and that is that he might become ambassador to some country in the world, now that he is, he was at the Inauguration and he played a reasonable role in that. So he may get appointment from the President, who knows.
Q. Kind of off subject, but I assume that you were pleased with the results of the football game on Sunday.
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, you don't know what you just said. Or you do know what you just said, but you don't know how that affects me. Because both football games I had a very keen interest in. One, the Steelers have been a team that I have rooted for since I knew what a football was; and the other thing is that Arizona, who happens to have a coach that is a very good friend of mine, and also a scratch player, golfer, you didn't know that, he is a very good player, and he is the offensive, was the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And we played some golf when he was there.
So I had a definite interest in those games and since I was forced to make a choice for the coming Super Bowl, I will, I don't mind telling you, unless you know already.
Q. No.
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, every year they have a poll and I won it a couple years ago right when I was here. And this year I've made my selection and reluctantly, however, but I'm picking the Steelers 28 14 over Arizona.
Q. When you remember winning here the first one of these, what specific memory comes to mind?
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I think that as I mentioned earlier, one of the things that I enjoyed so much here was the conditions. The golf courses from day one have been excellent. Excellent playing conditions. And of course the people, the gallery. In the early days, I knew everyone in the gallery.
(Laughter.) Well almost.
(Laughter.)
And that hasn't changed too much over the years. But those are the things that stand out. As I said, playing Indian Wells and Eldorado and Bermuda Dunes, that was fun. And the golf courses were ideal.
Q. In the spirit of Inauguration Day I'm wondering if you can talk about which Presidents you've played golf with and maybe who you had the most fun playing golf with.
ARNOLD PALMER: Well, I've had the good fortune to play golf with quite a few Presidents. Jerry Ford was a good, he was a personal friend. Oh, you could almost name it from there. I think the man that I spent the most time with on the golf course and personally was President Eisenhower. I played a lot of golf with him, I played exhibitions with him for the Heart Fund, and after a number of years when he was told he shouldn't play golf any more, we used to just visit. And I, when he lived at Eldorado I would go there to his house and we would spend a couple hours in the afternoon just talking and maybe sipping on a beer or something like that. So he and I were, I would say, very close. He was one of my close friends.
MARK STEVENS: Okay. Well, thank you, Mr. Palmer, for being here for the 50th anniversary of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
ARNOLD PALMER: Thank you.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports ...
Posted by scurry at 03:24 PM
January 15, 2009
Arnold Palmer to Attend the KPMG Golf Business Forum
Arnold Palmer, one of the world's most recognized sportsmen, iconic golfer, business executive and talented golf course designer, will attend the sixth annual KPMG Golf Business Forum to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Arnie, as he is affectionately known to sports fans across the globe, was voted 'Athlete of the Decade' for the 1960s, a time when his popularity and success reached heights never seen before in world sport. Before, during and after that great decade, he amassed 92 championships in professional competition, including seven Majors. He also participated in seven Ryder Cup Matches, six times as a player, successfully captaining the side in 1963, and again as a non-playing captain in 1975.
On May 5, Arnold Palmer will be recognized for his lifetime commitment to the business and the game of golf and will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in front of an expected audience of more than 300 international industry professionals at The Celtic Manor Resort, Wales, venue of the 2010 Ryder Cup.
"Arnold Palmer is not only one of the world's greatest golfing legends, he is also an icon of today's international golf business," said Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG's Golf Advisory Practice in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMA). "Arnold's presence at the 2009 Golf Business Forum will make this year's event exceptionally special and we are privileged not only to be able to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to him in person, but also to have the opportunity to hear insights from one of the golf industry's pioneers and most revered businessmen."
The Golf Business Forum, which has established itself as the leading golf business event for the EMA region (Europe, The Middle East and Africa), will this year focus on topics relating to financing, development, golf tourism, and design, and will include interactive panel discussions, country focus sessions, key-note presentations from industry experts, and an array of networking opportunities.
For more information about the Golf Business Forum, visit: www.golfbusinessforum.com
Posted by scurry at 04:19 PM
January 14, 2009
Arnold Palmer and Bob Hope
Two old friends will be getting together in the desert this week and the golf world is invited to whoop it up right along with the chuckling chums.
Arnold Palmer and Bob Hope have been linked in golf and fun for more than 50 years. The gala 50th anniversary of the Bob Hope Classic, Jan. 19-25, will be hosted by Palmer, the man who through dint of being a five-time Hope winner, could for years have practically claimed co-ownership of the tournament.
“It is very special to me to be asked to serve as host of the 50th anniversary Bob Hope Classic,” Palmer says. “I enjoyed some of my greatest success in the Hope in the early years and have loved the Palm Springs area ever since I first laid eyes on it.
“I consider it a great honor to follow in the footsteps of Bob Hope as host of this wonderful tournament, which has been a PGA Tour mainstay for so many years. I thought the world of Bob Hope and spent many priceless hours with him on and off the golf course.
“He loved the game and was a great contributor to its growth and popularity.”
The Hope, coming just two months prior to the March 23-29 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club, (www.arnoldpalmerinvitational.com), puts Palmer in the unique position of hosting two marquee PGA tournaments before the season’s first major, a fact not lost on Hope organizers.
“We are privileged to have Arnold Palmer as our host for this special year and we know Bob would agree,” says Hope Classic president Dave Erwin. “There is not a more appropriate person to help us celebrate our 50th year of this wonderful event. In addition to his success here as a player, it was because of Arnold’s classic style and unmatched connection to his adoring fans that we ever reached such an honorable milestone.”
The Palmer-Hope relationship predates by nearly four years the wave of sporting and celebrity popularity that would make the Palmer name as famous as Hope’s. It was in 1954 after the Latrobe golfer’s pivotal U.S. Amateur victory that Hope invited the 25-year-old Palmer to New York to appear on the monthly “Bob Hope Show” in the then-still fledgling television industry.
“I was in awe of Bob Hope and the situation,” Palmer told Kingdom Magazine recently. “Bob made me feel like I had known him for years from that very first show. And I was surprised at how casual he was about it. He made some offhand comments about how to play golf and how good he was.”
No one, not even the soon-to-be professional himself, sensed at the time just how good Palmer was about to become.
It wasn’t until the Masters in 1958 that Palmer truly vaulted onto the national consciousness, a place from which he’s never been dislodged.
He went on to win 92 times on the PGA Tour, highlighted by seven major championships. The total ranks him fifth on the all-time winner’s list, but it was his go-for-broke style and approachable, charismatic personality that’s made him an indelible fan favorite.
Many of his career playing and course design highlights have Coachella Valley desert roots. He played his first tournament there in 1956 at the Thunderbird Invitational, a tournament that was home to his first desert win in 1959 with a come-from-behind final-round 62.
The next year he won the inaugural Palm Springs Golf Classic, the tournament that would be renamed for host and golf fanatic Bob Hope. He won the Hope again in 1962, ‘68, ‘71 and in ‘73 overtook and fended off a tenacious Jack Nicklaus for what would be his final victory of his stellar PGA Tour career.
He returned in 1986 to participate in the first Skins Game played at PGA West.
He skipped the tournament for the first time in 1997 when he underwent successful prostate cancer surgery. But he was back the next year and in 2001 he shot a 1-under par 71 to become the first player in tournament history to shoot his age.
And, competitive golf aside, Palmer’s had more than his share of memories that had nothing to do with pressure putts and high-stakes golf.
In 1963, he appeared in Hope’s popular movie, “Call Me Bwana.”
Palmer’s left his mark in other ways, as well. Arnold Palmer Design Company has designed five Palm Springs-area courses, three of which -- SilverRock Resort, Bermuda Dunes and Palmer Private at PGA West -- are in this week’s Hope rotation.
After a week of galas, golf and recollections about both Palmer and Hope, who died at age 100 in 2003, Palmer will return to Bay Hill and begin immersing himself in the upcoming Arnold Palmer Invitational. Much of the pre-tournament buzz centers on speculation if defending and five-time champion Tiger Woods will make his heralded return to Tour golf after following up his stirring 2008 U.S. Open victory with knee surgery.
“We’re sure hoping that it will be his time to make his return to professional golf,” Palmer says. “I hear he’s training very hard. I hope he’ll be ready to make his return to defend again at Bay Hill. The tournament date’s moved to the end of March and that should help our field, always a strong one, be stronger still. Also, being later in the spring will improve weather and course conditions. We’re very excited at Bay Hill.”
But first things first: Palmer will be spending time treading much-loved and familiar ground. It’s a place studded with so many Palmer courses, memories and events (and don’t forget Arnold Palmer’s Restaurant, www.arnoldpalmers.net, in La Quinta!) that reporters filing stories from the desert can be excused if the datelines refer to PALMER SPRINGS, Calif.
Because that’s what it’ll be all next week.
Posted by scurry at 02:13 PM
January 07, 2009
Picture Gets Clearer With GOLF CHANNEL -- Now in High Definition
Reprising his role when GOLF CHANNEL originally launched in 1995, co-founder Arnold Palmer officially launches the network’s new HD channel to help kick off its coverage of the 2009 PGA TOUR season. (Photo credit GOLF CHANNEL/Mark Ashman)
ORLANDO, Fla. (Jan. 7, 2009) – GOLF CHANNEL’s exclusive coverage of the first three PGA TOUR events of 2009 in high definition is merely a tip of the cap to the network’s newly launched HD channel, which will bolster the network’s schedule with more than 2,100 total HD hours of tournaments, original programming and news this year.
The tournament season kicks off Thursday with the exclusive telecast of the Mercedes-Benz Championship from the picturesque Plantation Course in Maui, Hawaii, which will air for the first time in high definition. GOLF CHANNEL will then stay in the islands for the PGA TOUR’s Sony Open in Hawaii, the Champions Tour’s Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and the LPGA Tour’s SBS Open at Turtle Bay, all shown in HD for the first time.
GOLF CHANNEL HD and its standard definition channel will simulcast more than 100 tournaments in 2009 featuring many of the world’s best players like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Lorena Ochoa. These players, among other stars, will appear in GOLF CHANNEL’s HD coverage of full-round PGA TOUR events plus all early round and weekend lead-in action from spectacular venues, such as the TPC at Sawgrass and Pebble Beach Golf Links. HD coverage also will include some of the biggest events in golf like the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, as well as The Presidents Cup and Solheim Cup – two continental clashes that have become major events on the golf landscape. And viewers will travel around the world with a generous slate of European PGA Tour events in HD.
"Golf benefits from HD more than almost any sport. For the first time, GOLF CHANNEL HD viewers will be able to fully appreciate the stunning beauty of Hawaiian courses like at Kapalua and Turtle Bay or at Scotland's Loch Lomond,” said GOLF CHANNEL President Page Thompson. “With the incredible picture quality and wider screens, HD viewers will be able to immerse themselves more fully in the strategy of the game, now seeing the full scope of the rolling terrain and the subtle contours of the greens that are so difficult to perceive in standard definition."
Bolstering GOLF CHANNEL tournament coverage this year will be technical features designed to enhance the HD viewing experience, including the Emmy Award-winning Mutual of Omaha Putting Line powered by AimPoint graphics technology, which shows viewers where a golfer must start his putt in order to hole it at the optimum speed and the path the ball must follow.
Complementing live golf action, GOLF CHANNEL also will feature more than 125 original hours of news in HD. Live From will generate news coverage from golf’s major championships, including the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship, as well as marquee events like THE PLAYERS Championship, The Presidents Cup and Solheim Cup.
Original Programming Produced in HD
Rounding out GOLF CHANNEL’s HD portfolio will be a host of original programming. New series like the unpredictable Hank Haney’s Project Barkley (working title) or the thought-provoking Golf in America will be produced in HD. In addition, Big Break Prince Edward Island will be the first Big Break to air in HD, along with specials such as Uneven Fairways and Nicklaus Around the World.
GOLF CHANNEL’s dedicated HD channel reaches nearly 16 million homes across the United States. Research has shown that viewers that have HD are twice as likely to watch GOLF CHANNEL and other live sports on TV, especially the PGA TOUR.
The dedicated HD channel is yet another milestone for GOLF CHANNEL. Since launching in 1995, the network has set the gold standard for other niche cable start-ups and is now available in more than 120 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies.
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For more information contact, GOLF CHANNEL Public Relations, 407/355-4653
Posted by scurry at 09:06 AM