Thursday, August 30, 2007
Headed for hiking in Switzerland
Today is Thurs Aug 30. Tomorrow night I leave for a week of hiking in Switzerland. There are 8 of us hiking the Haute Route from Chamonix France to Zermatt Switz, under the famed Matterhorn. If there is a computer avail I will post some blogs and tell you all about my trip
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Stricker Wins
What a great moment today, for Steve Stricker at the Fed Ex cup playoffs. A win by two strokes, he was having trouble holding back the tears as he was being interviewed on the 18th green. He said he was beginning to wonder if he would ever win on the PGA tour again. His relatively new caddie was there to share it with him since his wife Nicki has now retired from being Steve's caddie in order to raise their child.
Steve is one of the more respected and liked players on the PGA tour. I have never met him, even though we are from neighboring states, Minnesota and Wisconsin but I have always been a big fan of both he and Jerry Kelly another Wisconsin Badger. I have, however, played a round of golf with Jerry Kelly.
When I was on my quest to play the Top 100 golf courses in America, I played the Olympic Club in San Francisco with Mike Butler. Mike had played on the PGA tour years ago and as we were on the first tee, the head pro came out of the pro shop and said there was a guy here, who was in town, between tour stops who wanted to play Olympic and it turned out to be Jerry Kelly. He was on a mini tour then and neither Mike nor I had ever heard of him, but it was quite a day. They swapped stories about Mikes old days struggling on the PGA tour and Jerry's struggling to move from his mini-tour to the PGA tour. I just played my usual game, but the competitive juices came flowing from both of them and it was a pleasure to watch these two go head to head.
We all exchanged phone numbers and a couple years later Jerry called me. He remembered I was a concert promoter and was looking for some help getting tickets to a concert in Fla. I certainly knew who he was when he called. He had won 2 million dollars on the tour that year.
I have seen him a two or three times since, at the Greater Milwaukee Open, The Masters and the Tour Championship.
The story about that round is in my book A GOLFERS DREAM; HOW A REGULAR GUY CONQUERED THE GOLF DIGEST TOP 100 GOLF COURSES IN AMERICA. You can find more about the book at www.GolfersDreamBook.com or www.amazon.com
More later
Larry Berle
Steve is one of the more respected and liked players on the PGA tour. I have never met him, even though we are from neighboring states, Minnesota and Wisconsin but I have always been a big fan of both he and Jerry Kelly another Wisconsin Badger. I have, however, played a round of golf with Jerry Kelly.
When I was on my quest to play the Top 100 golf courses in America, I played the Olympic Club in San Francisco with Mike Butler. Mike had played on the PGA tour years ago and as we were on the first tee, the head pro came out of the pro shop and said there was a guy here, who was in town, between tour stops who wanted to play Olympic and it turned out to be Jerry Kelly. He was on a mini tour then and neither Mike nor I had ever heard of him, but it was quite a day. They swapped stories about Mikes old days struggling on the PGA tour and Jerry's struggling to move from his mini-tour to the PGA tour. I just played my usual game, but the competitive juices came flowing from both of them and it was a pleasure to watch these two go head to head.
We all exchanged phone numbers and a couple years later Jerry called me. He remembered I was a concert promoter and was looking for some help getting tickets to a concert in Fla. I certainly knew who he was when he called. He had won 2 million dollars on the tour that year.
I have seen him a two or three times since, at the Greater Milwaukee Open, The Masters and the Tour Championship.
The story about that round is in my book A GOLFERS DREAM; HOW A REGULAR GUY CONQUERED THE GOLF DIGEST TOP 100 GOLF COURSES IN AMERICA. You can find more about the book at www.GolfersDreamBook.com or www.amazon.com
More later
Larry Berle
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Playing the top 100 golf courses in America
Hello
This is my first blog, hopefully the first of many. From 1992 to 2002 (in 10 years) I played the Golf Digest Top 100 golf courses in America. I have written a book about it which you can find at www.golfersdreambook.com It is the story of my quest to play all of the top 100 (over 10 years I ended up playing 117, as the list changed every two years). It is the story of the courses and their history and most importantly the networking that I did to get invited onto these exclusive clubs.
I visited the best from Shinnecock to Pebble Beach to Augusta National and Pine Valley and more.
I am often asked what are my favorites. For years it was two!! Cypress Point and Merion. Cypress Point, just up the road from its more favored brother, Pebble Beach, Sandy Tatum once called it the Sistine Chapel of Golf. It's setting along the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean are fantastic.
Merion, in Philadelphia may have some of the most interesting holes in all of golf. It is where Bobby Jones closed out his Grand Slam,where Ben Hogan staged his great comeback after his nearly fatal car accident. it is also the home of the famed wicker baskets on top of pins, designed to keep golfers from reading wind conditions from the flags. For years it was thought that it was too short to ever be awarded another major championship-- but low and behold the USGA has awarded it a U.S. Open in 2013. I, for one, can't wait.
Larry Berle
This is my first blog, hopefully the first of many. From 1992 to 2002 (in 10 years) I played the Golf Digest Top 100 golf courses in America. I have written a book about it which you can find at www.golfersdreambook.com It is the story of my quest to play all of the top 100 (over 10 years I ended up playing 117, as the list changed every two years). It is the story of the courses and their history and most importantly the networking that I did to get invited onto these exclusive clubs.
I visited the best from Shinnecock to Pebble Beach to Augusta National and Pine Valley and more.
I am often asked what are my favorites. For years it was two!! Cypress Point and Merion. Cypress Point, just up the road from its more favored brother, Pebble Beach, Sandy Tatum once called it the Sistine Chapel of Golf. It's setting along the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean are fantastic.
Merion, in Philadelphia may have some of the most interesting holes in all of golf. It is where Bobby Jones closed out his Grand Slam,where Ben Hogan staged his great comeback after his nearly fatal car accident. it is also the home of the famed wicker baskets on top of pins, designed to keep golfers from reading wind conditions from the flags. For years it was thought that it was too short to ever be awarded another major championship-- but low and behold the USGA has awarded it a U.S. Open in 2013. I, for one, can't wait.
Larry Berle
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