"The nicest person you've ever met..."

Magnet #1172 - George Herbert Walker Bush

Is it weird that I kinda believe PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem when he calls Bush the First that? I mean, honestly, in this presidential portrait, the dude actually looks like the nicest person ever.

So, tonight, along with Frank Chirkinian, Ernie Els, Doug Ford, Jock Hutchison, and Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki, the World Golf Hall of Fame inducted George Herbert Walker Bush (1989-1993).

Here's why.

What?

I know my limitations - and going on about golf is certainly not one of them! Though the write-up is actually an interesting read - I had no idea he was so involved in the game. I mean, I have a vague recollection of Bush on a golf course, but I feel like that's every U.S. President ever. Isn't it like a requirement or something?

Anyway, I'm just happy to have found something apolitical to magnetblog about for a more recent president! I feel like from Bush on, it's almost impossible not to get into their politics when talking about them, and honestly, I don't have the heart for any Dem/Rep debate.

It's a magnetblog, after all!

Poker chips in golf?

Magnet #1123 - Transitions Championship

Ladies and gents, that's a wrap on the Transitions Championship 2011.

With my pavilion right beside the merch tent, it was too hard to go by it and not pick something up. Of course, my first inclination was magnets. When I couldn't find them, I told the merch coordinator she needed to make magnets next year, and she showed me a whole slew of magnets they had on the shelves. Took a second for her to understand I meant fridge magnets. (What? The Masters has them!)

I won't lie, though. I haven't a clue why folks would need magnets on their hats. I'm not entirely sure why they need these magnetic poker chips, either.

Of course, I was the one who almost asked over the radio, "I need those swingy thingies over at the pavilion, please."

And the one who thought Trevor Immelman shot a 500 instead of a 5 under on the first round.

And the one who picked Carolina all the way for the pool, not realizing it was the wrong sport.

Yeah, I know next to nothing about golf. Believe me, my disinterest in golf isn't a lack of respect for the game - the shots golfers make are incredible, the powerful swish of the swingy thingy is actually pretty cool (when I'm not ducking and covering), and there really is something about a boy and a beautiful swing. Really, I get it. The game is amazing.

I just get so frustrated trying to make my way across the course to the far away gates, in starts and stops, waiting for play to continue. A field trip out there takes a good 30-45 minutes - for a run that normally takes 15!

I can't stand the numbers. And there are so many numbers to keep track of. Just can't do it. The final scoreboard up at the clubhouse? Makes me nuts. No, really.

But, I think my biggest issue - and if you know me - you know this to be true...I can't be quiet. I'm THATgirl who no one lets go with them to study in the library because I hate the quiet. Like, companionable silence is wonderful. But when it's huge groups of folks standing around and all you can hear is the crazy-ass squirrels rummaging around? Argle. Being quiet is hard!

So. I've now worked a golf tournament three years in a row, and have yet to actually hit a bucket or stand on a tee (or whatever). But, I think it's ok. That way, everyone else can leave me to concentrate on the consumer experiences for our brands, rather than paying any attention to golf.

Or, at least that's what I'm saying, anyway.

Yay for another successful tournament!

Better than most

Magnet #1026 - TPC Sawgrass, 17th Hole

Using this magnet for today, because someone reminded me that it's already been a year since our golf course tv shoot down in Tampa.

Same friend picked this up for me at THE PLAYERS Championship earlier this year. The 17th hole island green is the signature hole for the TPC Sawgrass Stadium course, in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.

The 17th is one of the hardest on the TOUR, because the green is set on this island-slash-peninsula in the middle of this water feature. It was built kind of accidentally - Pete Dye (the course's designer) didn't intend for it to be that way - but they were digging and digging and digging, and one day, Pete brought Alice out on the course under construction, and she suggested the island. And so it came to pass.

It's definitely a storied hole. The record for one tournament is 50 balls in the water, rather than on the green. And check out this fun retrospective on the hole. Of course, it gives me yet another reason to like birds, but whatever.

Royalty of the garden

Magnet #780 - Amen Corner, Augusta, Hole 13

Man, these three magnets are soooo pretty! I doubt they do the actual course justice, but they're a start. Thank you so much for my magnets, Erin! I love 'em!

The final leg in our holy roller at Augusta is Hole 13, Par 5, 510 yards.

This one's called the Azalea, a signature shrub of Augusta - indeed, several varieties line the entire left side of 13 from tee to green.

This hole would definitely be my mom's favorite place to hang out, as evidenced by the quarter-mile of azaleas she once planted along our driveway.

Of course, I look to the history of the course to tell me why there's a huge emphasis on horticulture here. From what I gather, it's mainly because the 365 acres they built the course on was filled with the natural architecture of a golf course, but also some trees and shrubs that had been there since as early as the Civil War, when it was owned by Fruitland Nurseries.

After reading some of these older articles though, I have to say I wish I'd kept the Masters on my DVR. I'd love to go back and watch, not for the golfers, though Phil Mickelson pulled off some miracles in his pursuit of the green jacket this weekend, I know. But I'd love to go back and match up the holes to the flowers.

Whoa. Now that's me, channeling my mom.

eta:
Well, look at that. @cnnbrk and @PGATOUR should take a hint. With the exception of this eta, I just magnetblogged three magnets about the Masters - without talking about Tiger! It can be done! Even from Amen Corner!

Swirling dervish

Magnet #779 - Amen Corner, Augusta, Hole 12

The second in our golfing trinity at Augusta is the Golden Bell, Hole 12, par 3, and only 155 yards.

I was thinking that with it being only 155 yards, it'd be fairly easy. (I can say this with absolutely no authority, since I've never been on a golf course to actually golf.) But, from what I understand, this hole has a supremely narrow green, with Raes Creek in front, and a bank of azaleas and Golden Bells behind it.

On top of that, hit that corner on a windy day, and man, are you in trouble!

Historically speaking, the original name of the tournament was the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, and it wasn't for another five years (1939) that they could convince Bobby Jones to go with the name the Masters Tournament.

I imagine that it takes years for any golfing event to build up an audience, so I'm betting those first couple of years it was Bobby and his buddies rounding up everyone they knew to come out to Augusta to watch some guys hit a ball around. But, even without being an official PGA TOUR event, judging by what I saw on tv this weekend, it's certainly well attended, with guesstimates being somewhere around 35,000 folks a day. Whoa. I can't even imagine.

Of course, now, I've got this insane urge to watch that cuteboy Jim Caviezel play Bobby Jones in Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, and also to see that cuteboy Joel Gretch play Bobby Jones in The Legend of Bagger Vance. Then again, I've also got a hankerin' to see Happy Gilmore, Caddyshack and Tin Cup, too.

Shoutin' in that Amen Corner!*

Magnet #778 - Amen Corner, Augusta, Hole 11

Ok, ok. I'm taking the easy way out, but ya'll should know, I'm so far behind on everything - in work, in life, in getting timely information from the Paley Center. Moving on.

So when my friend brought these next three magnets back for me from the Masters, I took it as a sign from on high that I should use Amen Corner as the last three magnets that I'm behind! Tomorrow we'll be back in real time! Amen to that!

Augusta National Golf Club has a storied history that you can find here, but it was founded in 1934 by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts on the site of an old plantation in Georgia. The course itself is considered one of the most beautiful in the world.

So this magnet is Hole 11, a par 4 that's about 505 yards. It's the most difficult according to the PGA TOUR. It's the beginning of Amen Corner in the southeast corner of the course, made up of the second shot at 11, all of the 12th, and then the tee shot at 13.

I love that Hole 11 is called the White Dogwood because of all the White Dogwoods lining the fairway, that's sweet. Also, seriously. How is this course not in North Carolina with all those dogwoods!

*Amen Corner, dubbed so by golfer/writer Herbert Warren Wind in 1958. There's this whole debate around it, but supposedly, it was based on a song he knew as a kid at Yale, Shoutin' in that Amen Corner!

New balls please

Magnet #772 - Definity Fairway's PAL

Got this magnet from the Essilor booth at the Live Your Vision Pavilion - they're Definity Fairway Transitions SOLFX Lenses, which apparently is a golfer's best pal.

The magnet was packaged with a T-shirt, as a giveaway for making a putt. Dudes, I was so excited to see one of our partners giving away magnets, it was kinda like last year, when VSP gave away theirs!

What? Thought I'd share, since I'm spending some of the weekend reviewing the telecast of the Transitions Championship from a branding perspective. Because that's what we do.

Mind you, I'm not a big golfer, so as I'm watching the telecast, I'm hoping golf knowledge soaks in through osmosis. Bogeys, Birdies, Eagles, 8 irons, 9 irons, hooks and shanks, and how to tell whose balls are whose, the whole shebang.

The ball thing I'm very confused about, only because I really don't understand how people know whose balls are who when you come up on the green. It's not like they all run out there and put down those chippy things right after their shots.

They have to walk over there, don't they? And when they get there, how do they know? Do they have people watching all the greens, and do those folks tell the golfers which ball is theirs? And, if you're just a regular golfer, golfing with the guys, how do you know which ball is yours?

Do they Sharpie their names on the balls?

Huh? Huh? Huh?

Hope floats

Magnet #742 - Seahorse

Day three. Done.

I'm thinking in the next day or so, I'll likely be regretting that I did this seahorse magnet from the NC Aquarium. Apparently, my boss while I'm here is trying to set up a kayaking experience for the three of us who've been working long into the night and day.

I fear it. Right now. I'm happy because it's the end of a rather long work week, and I'm just hoping to stay afloat from now to the end of the tournament.

We've got so much planned, it's going to be awesome. Now. We just have to execute against the workplan.

Today, we released 33 banners. For serious. Two designers, two PMs, two clients, one brand sponsor, just trying to get one tent going.

Two tents down. Six to go.

Woot.

Healthy insight in every light

Magnet #395 - Meerkats from Cape Town, South Africa

A friend of mine brought me back this magnet from her trip to South Africa. How funny is this Meerkat family!

Alas, I haven't watched Meerkat Manor, so all I can think of when I see this is Amy Adams in Junebug, when she said her favorite animal was the meerkat and that kid from the O.C. fighting with the VCR to record the show about them. Heh.

Speaking of cool animals, last night around 1:30-2, as we were wandering around the Innisbrook complex - we saw not one, but two (!) armadilloes! How freakin' cool is that? Honestly, I thought they were native to Texas, not Florida. Still. Innisbrook armadilloes! Neat!

But, the real reason I picked this magnet for today, is because as you may have seen yesterday, Retief Goosen of South Africa won the inaugural Transitions Championship. Congratulations!

So funny that I walked by you two days ago, and was like, hmmm, wonder if he's one of those golfers.

I know, I know. But I'm not a huge golf fan. I think you need at least a few people like that to work this sort of event. That way, you don't feel like you're missing out if you don't get to see any of the actual tournament.

Though, I'll be honest, from our perch in the corporate skybox on the 18th green, we watched yesterday's last few putts, and then trophy ceremony. That was pretty damn cool.

Anyway, yay, Goosen!

Oh! Before I forget. Below are many, many, many pictures from the Transitions Championship. It was a great two weeks, filled with insight to how this world works and doesn't work, the learning curves and fun times, and teamwork and strife, and fun Tournament crushes and yelling matches. Yep. All in a day's work.

In the end, we can step back and say that we lived the vision we concepted months ago, put on a fantabulous event, and we're looking forward to next March. After we all get a little bit of sleep. Heh.

Riding Shotgun with Ponch pictures
Transitions Championship pictures (mine)
Transitions Championship pictures (official)

Props to Big Al

Magnet #285 - Florida

On my way home, I picked this magnet up at the fabulous Tampa airport, because the gator just cracks me up.

I just spent the last few days at Innisbrook Golf Resort, where I learned to drive a golf cart like a pro, but still have never held a real live golf club in my hand.

On the fourth hole on Copperhead course, there's this fairly big water feature (heh, new term for me) with Big Al, the alligator. Someone showed me a picture of Big Al on Monday, and then I saw her myself in the exact same place the next day. But, I had convinced myself that the gator was actually just a stupid prop that the groundskeepers just moved from place to place.

So yesterday, I was driving one of the clients out on the course, rather blase about the gator prop, as we were approaching the water. He says to me, "You think it's a prop? Well, that's an interesting theory."

Just as we were passing the gator, just close enough to see her eyes, the darn thing was startled by our golf cart and hopped up and dove into the water.

Freaked. Me. Out. I slammed on the brakes, and we pitched forward, and all the while the client chuckled his ass off at me.

Yeah. Umm, Big Al.

Not a prop.

Lights on. Lights off.

Magnet #280 - Tanglewood Park

Most people know Tanglewood Park in North Carolina for its fabulous golf course. At our house, we know it only for one thing. Or millions, actually.

Every year on the Friday night after Thanksgiving, we go to Tanglewood Park to see the lights. It's just what you do, you pile everyone you can into the big blue van, and you twist your way through 4 miles of park and 180 lighted displays.

There's the really fun part, where you all get to hang out with your family in very close quarters, while you all ooooh and ahhhh over the pretty, pretty lighted displays, while playing holiday music in the speakers that only work up front. But, the best part is that you get to just sit in the car the whole time, the ultimate lazy attraction! (Unless, of course, you want to do that free hayride. Outside. Out in the cold. Uh. No.)

Then, there's the not as fun part, with the stops and starts and the exhaust fumes of the cars ahead that give you motion sickness and a case of nausea in the close-quartered car, cars breaking down (sometimes your own), and oh, there's part where you're actually driving in a circle...watching lights.

And yet, every year we go. Scratch that. Suddenly my sisters and I, adults now, have found excuses not to go. Napping's a good one. TV's a better one. There's inevitable guilt leaving our younger cousins to the mercies of my mother and Tanglewood, but hey, you just gotta do what you can to save your own skin.

This year's the first Thanksgiving and Black Friday in a while that I'm not spending in North Carolina. I'm posting from New Jersey...having just spent the morning cursing the Bergen County Blue Laws that prohibit any big box stores to open before 7am, despite what the ads and the flyers say.*

But, I gotta admit that there's a little part of me that kinda sorta misses the pretty-pretty lights.

Kinda.

Sorta.

Though, my cousin and I just did ALL of Tanglewood. Here! Seriously. Just like seeing it live! But in 8 minutes!

Awesome.



*Dudes. Seriously. Bergen County, NJ. Get with the program. It's Black Friday. You see us outside in the middle of the night, lining up outside of Best Buys and Targets. Turn your lights on, and let us in. I honestly can't believe you're letting some silly old law cost you millions in tax revenues lost during those 3-4 hours that everywhere else is open!

Fore! Geddaboutit.

Magnet #225 - Fripp Island Resort

I've never been to the Fripp Island Resort, a friend of mine brought this supercutesy magnet back for me. Had to go look up what this place included, and it's your basic luxury resort in the South. Golf and Beach. Beach and Golf. By all accounts, a lovely place to vacation. And play golf.

I picked this particular magnet because today in 1895, the first U.S. Open Championship tournament was held in Newport, RI. It was a 9-hole course, a 36-hole competition, and played in one day. And the winner was this Brit named Horace Rawlins. His winnings? $150, a gold medal and the cup trophy. Not sure who the corporate sponsor was.

Ahhh, you're noticing the golf theme, huh. You're gonna see golf pop up from time to time during the next several weeks, as I've picked up a client with an keen interest in golf. Golf.

Dudes, ya'll don't even want to know the nongolf shenanigans going on the last time I was on a golf course 15 years ago. It's why I'm fairly allergic to golf and golf courses.

But, you can't sit in a room full of avid golfers and not know the difference between a range and a course (they're lucky I didn't say diamond), a club and a bat, or Tiger Woods and Tigger. So, it's Golf for Dummies for me.

Shut it. I can hear you laughing from here. I've had wonderful success with the Dummies (and Idiots) guides. Besides, I just need something to give me the basics.

Then, I gotta go get me a hot golf pro.