GOLF CHRONICLES
Joe Logan 
A few takeaways from the BMW Championship
Monday, September 10, 2018
By Joe Logan

A few takeaways from the BMW Championship at Aronimink:

 

- First and foremost, the fact that Philadelphia does not have an annual, first-class stop on the PGA Tour is a crime against golf.  Seriously, a crime.

 

As expected the crowds at Aronimink were big and enthusiastic, in the way that knowledgeable golf fans are.  I love walking the course, people-watching.  You see the upscale crowd donning shirts and hats and pullovers bearing high-end logos -- Pine Valley, Merion, Cricket and Philadelphia Country Club, etc., not to mention out-of-town clubs like Chicago Golf Club, Shinnecock, Pebble Beach and all manner of tournaments, like the Masters and the U.S. Open.  And then you see no-logo folks in cut-offs, tee shirts and flip-flops.

 

The whole scene at the BMW Championship was a reminder that Philadelphia is one of the premier golf cities in the country, a fact we demonstrate every time big-time golf comes our way.  We saw it at the AT&T at Aronimink in ’10 and ’11, we saw it at the U.S. Open at Merion in ’13, and we saw it again these past few days at the BMW at Aronimink.

 

The biggest crowds were following Tiger Woods, of course.  And why not?  Fans here are Tiger-starved and have been for most of his whole illustrious career.  How many times have Philadelphia fans gotten to watch Tiger in the flesh?  The ’10 AT&T at Aronimink, the ’13 Open at Merion and now this.

 

If the PGA Tour were to try to stick us with some off-week stop with a weak field, this town would shrug with in difference.  We saw that at the SEI Pennsylvania Class almost 20 years ago.  But a full field event in June or July with a rich purse and the biggest names in the game – hmmm, maybe the Comcast Championship? – and Philadelphia would got nuts.

 

It wouldn’t have to be at Aronimink or Merion; in fact, neither club wants a regular event.  But there are at least a half dozen courses in the area capable and worthy of hosting an annual PGA Tour event.  Lest we forget, Philadelphia is one of the biggest markets in the country without a regular stop.

 

So, come on business leaders.  Come on PGA Tour.  Make it happen.

 

- Aronimink got screwed.  You’ve got to feel for the club.  It did everything it could possibly do to stage a successful event.  What happens? A gully washer descends upon Philadelphia and much of the Northeast.  Could the timing be any worse?  No.  That is freakish bad luck.

 

- Tiger Woods. I don’t know about you but I am forced to bow with respect.  A year ago, all indications were that he was done, career kaput.  This comeback, with a fused back no less, is a bonus for Tiger and a blessing for golf.  The man who carried the game on his back for almost two decades is doing it again.  For how long, who knows.  One bad swing and he could drop to his knees in agony.  But for now, hey, who isn’t pulling for him?

 

-  The scores.  The 62s and 63s at Aronimink were other-worldly.  Aronimink is no easy golf course, even if they made it look like it.  It tough and it is 7,200-plus yards, even at par 70.

 

True, all the rain made for soft conditions but it was more than that.  PGA Tour players today are just that much better than even top amateurs and club pros.  Also credit, or blame, the modern golf ball. Until the dial back the golf ball, which they will not do, no golf course can contain today’s players.

 

 


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Tiger Woods after shooting 62 at Aronimink 
Eat my words
Thursday, September 6, 2018
By Joe Logan

For once, I don't mind eating my words.  Like now, after what Tiger Woods did at Aronimink in the first round of the BMW Championship.

 

It was one of those 8-under par 62s that makes you shake you head in disbelief, good enough for a share of the lead with Rory McIlroy. 

 

A 62 would have been impressive during Tiger's heyday but now, with a fused back and a career that everybody, including him, thought was shipwrecked, that is well beyond impressive.

 

Going into this season, I was among the many people who firmly believed that Tiger had no chance – zero, zip, nil – of resurrecting his career.  I said that to anybody who asked me.  He had fallen too far and his back was too damaged and fragile and heck, he is on the wrong side of 40.  Even Tiger told people that he was finished, no chance of coming back.

 

But back he is.  He didn't win this year but he could win this week and he can certainly win next year.  Even the possibility of him winning a 15th major is no longer unthinkable.  (See PGA Championship, 2nd place, with rounds of 66, 66, 64).

 

So I will be back at Aronimink tomorrow. Tiger Woods is still the show. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Professor Joe Bausch 
Bausch Collection adds 119 courses, updates, for total of 476
Friday, June 1, 2018
By Joe Logan

The last time I checked in with Joe Bausch, the good professor was marinating in the joy of Villanova basketball -- because his beloved Wildcats were on a run that would culminate with its second national college title in three years.

 

Bausch’s non-hoops time was devoted to chemistry, of course, which he seems to understand and enjoy, and golf – specifically playing and photographing as many new golf courses as is humanly possible.

 

Since last July, Professor Bausch has added 119 more courses to his golf course photo gallery, the Bausch Collection, for a total of 469.

 

Of that total, new courses: 52

Updated albums: 18

Destination courses: 49

 

The breakdown of new courses, scattered across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and New York is as follows:

 

1.  Rookery South

2.  Rookery North

3.  Sunningdale

4.  Metropolis

5.  Crossgates

6.  Forsgate Palmer

7.  Hopewell Valley

8.  Mystic Rock

9.  Shepherd's Rock

10.  Fox Chapel

11.  Vince's Par 3

12.  Engineers

13.  Newberry

14.  Irem

15.  Green Spring Valley

16.  Southampton

17.  Quogue Field Club

18.  Maidstone

19.  South Fork

20.  Jericho National

21.  Wyoming Valley

22.  Glen Maura

23.  Fiddler's Elbow - Forest

24.  Fiddler's Elbow - River

25.  Cranbury

26.  Forest Hill

27.  Carroll Park

28.  Willow Brook

29.  Harbor Pines

30.  Hanover

31.  Squires

32.  Eastlyn

33.  Springfield Golf Center

34.  Pines at Clermont

35.  Highlands of Donegal

36.  Laguna Oaks

37.  Heritage Links

38.  Village Greens

39.  Atlantis

40.  Mercer Oaks West

41.  Hooper's Landing

42.  Briarwood East

43.  Royce Brook East

44.  Royce Brook West

45.  Island Hills

46.  Tallgrass

47.  Greystone

48.  Bethpage Red

49.  Bethpage Green

50.  Skytop

51.  Bidermann

52.  Country Club of the Poconos

 

Destination courses:

 

1.  Pinehurst No. 2

2.  Streamsong Red

3.  Streamsong Blue

4.  Pikewood National

5.  Steelwood

6.  Yale

7.  Sylvania

8.  Inverness

9.  University of Michigan

10.  Country Club of Florida

11.  John's Island West

12.  Dunes Club

13.  Maketewah

14.  Pine Tree

15.  Whistling Straits - Irish

16.  Yeamans Hall Club

17.  Ocean Course

18.  Barefoot Fazio

19.  Barefoot Love

20.  Barefoot Dye

21.  Barefoot Norman

22.  Thistle

23.  Prestwick

24.  Palm Beach Par 3

25.  Breakers Ocean

26.  Cavalier

27.  Princess Anne

28.  PGA National:  The Fazio

29.  French Lick Ross

30.  Mountain Lake

31.  Pinehurst No. 4

32.  Pinehurst No. 8

33.  Pensacola

34.  Cotton Creek

35.  Gulf Shores

36.  Rock Creek CC

37.  Pete Dye Golf Club

38.  Abbey Course at St. Leo

39.  World Woods Pine Barrens

40.  World Woods Rolling Oaks

41.  Lake Jovita South

42.  Cleveland Heights

43.  Lake Jovita North

44.  Streamsong Black

45.  Boston Golf Club

46.  Belterra

47.  Cambridge

48.  Royal New Kent

49.  Old Hickory

 

Updated photo albums:

 

1.  Applebrook

2.  Huntingdon Valley

3.  Jack Frost

4.  Timber Trails

5.  Concord

6.  Mainland

7.  Architects Club

8.  Mainland

9.  Country Club of Scranton

10.  Lancaster

11.  Woodcrest

12.  Spring Ford

13.  Lehigh

14.  Tumblebrook

15.  Waynesborough

16.  Philadelphia Cricket Wissahickon

17.  Broad Run

18.  Hickory Valley Presidential

 

After this latest addition of courses, I asked Joe to do me and his readers a favor.  From these new courses, pick his five favorites and write a sentence or two explaining why they stand out in his mind.

 

Here is what we wrote:

 

Pines at Clermont:  You're down at the Jersey Shore and a number of courses await you.  Wait, you've never heard of Pines at Clermont, have you?!  It is a fun, very cheap, 9-hole course that really serves it purpose.

 

Bidermann:  This private club, located in Winterthur, Delaware, has a serene atmosphere and excellent Dick Wilson-designed layout.  I'm fortunate to know a member and gosh I'm glad I do!   Joe Logan’s story on Bidermann

 

French Lick:  Donald Ross course:  In the hometown of Larry Bird (The hick from French Lick!) is a fabulous example of the genius of the golden age architect Donald Ross.  This resort course nicely demonstrates how Ross could come up with a fun, challenging layout on a small piece of land.

 

World Woods:  This destination site in Central Florida contains two Tom Fazio layouts and is a perfect place to play two in a day!  The Rolling Oaks course is an Augusta National inspired layout, while the Pine Barrens has some looks and feel of Pine Valley.  

 

Streamsong Black:  The latest course part of the Streamsong Resort in Central Florida is designed by local architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner.  It has a look and feel unlike any course I've played.  If you enjoy being able to utilize a ground game and watching your ball roll and twist and turn, this place is for you.


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Joe Logan 
On the matter of Donald Trump
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
By Joe Logan

From time to time, I get an email from a reader unhappy that I have posted yet another story about Donald Trump.

 

I got one just this morning. I’m guessing it was because I posted a story yesterday on the fact that Stormy Daniels, the porn star Trump is accused of having paid off, is bringing her strip-show act to a gentlemen’s club across the street from Trump’s International GC, just up the street from Mar-a-Lago.

 

I won’t identify the reader but here is his email:

 

 

 

Joe-

 

Might want to lay off the anti Trump crap on your site. Stick to golf.

 

 

 

In my email reply, I told him what I would tell anyone with a similar complaint:

 

 

Thanks for your advice, which I am sure is well-intentioned and heartfelt.  Thing is, Trump is so much a part of golf, it is hard to ignore him.  Even before he was president, he was one of the major golf course owners in the country; since he has become president, he has become the face of golf, as much so as Tiger Woods.  That is a fact, not crap.

 

This is not a political website, to be sure.  Generally, I avoid politics.  That has become more difficult since Trump was elected, because of his involvement in golf.

 

I’ve got readers who hate Trump and I’ve got readers who love Trump.  My rule of thumb is, post Trump-related stories only if they are somehow connected to golf.  Anything else Trump-related or political, I steer clear.

 

My other rule of thumb is, if I find a story interesting, or compelling, or disturbing, I believe many of my readers will also.  I post stories all the time that I disagree with or that I find distasteful, or mule-headed.  To me, it’s part of the job.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write.  I hope you’ll visit myphillygolf.com as often as possible.

 

Joe

 

 

I do post plenty of Trump stories.  I don’t apologize for that.   Like it or not, the man dominates every news cycle and his every move is scrutinized, even on the golf course.  But like I said, I don’t stray from the golf-related stuff.

 

I also don’t deliberately dwell on the negative Trump stories.  I have all kinds of Google alerts set up to funnel stories to me, among them "Trump golf," which makes no distinction whether stories are positive or negative.   I posted a positive story today, a CNN International report crediting him with having a "pretty good" golf swing and a golf game that stacks up well against his presidential predecessors.

 

As I said in that email, I post stories all the time that I take no pleasure in passing along, often golf business or golf industry stories that report that rounds are down, or that yet another course is closing, or that golf’s business model is out of whack, or that millennials find the game stuffy and too time-consuming.

 

I operate on the presumption that the people who come to myphillygolf.com are knowledgeable, sophisticated news consumers.  I try to give you anything that I think you might want to see, or ought to see, or at least have the opportunity to see.  And I try to err on the side of letting you evaluate the information for yourself.

 

Until I become convinced that is the wrong way to operate, I’ll continue doing it.

 

 

 

 

 


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Bausch Collection adds "Destination Courses," hits 370 courses
Friday, July 7, 2017
By Joe Logan

Now, where was I?

 

In the months since my last blog post I have been busy, but not nearly as busy as Joe Bausch, curator/photographer of the Bausch Collection, MyPhillyGolf.com’s invaluable repository of golf course photo galleries.

 

Since I last updated his progress a year ago, Bausch, a Villanova chemistry professor, has played more golf than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson combined and likely visited more golf courses than a fertilizer rep.  With Villanova out for the summer, Bausch is up and out of his house every morning, off on another golfing quest – always with his trusty camera.

 

The results of Bausch’s passion (some might say obsession) are readily visible on MyPhillyGolf.com – the Bausch Collection is now up to 370 galleries and growing by the day.

 

In addition to the 29 new galleries, Bausch is most pleased about the expansion of the Bausch Collection from a regional resource to include a new category we’re calling "Destination Courses."

 

The first destination course Bausch posted was Erin Hills, host of last month’s U.S. Open.  In recent days, he has added 10 more Destination Courses.

 

Here is a breakdown of the courses Bausch has added or updated:

 

Destination Courses

1.  Dormie Club

2.  Erin Hills

3.  Cabot Links

4.  Highland Links

5.  Cabot Cliffs

6.  Whistling Straits - Straits

7.  Tidewater

8.  Blackwolf Run - River

9.  Blackwolf Run - Meadow Valleys

10.  PGA National - Champion

11.  Kiva Dunes

 

 

New Galleries

1.  Rossmore

2.  Sawmill

3.  Foxchase

4.  Cedarbrook

5.  Wedgewood

6.  Hershey's Mill

7.  CC of Harrisburg

8.  Wanango

9.  Foxburg

10.  Indiana

11.  Deal

12.  Hollywood

13.  Glen Brook

14.  Pomona

15.  Hamilton Trails

16.  Latona

17.  Wilmington CC - North

18.  Hayfields

19.  Bent Creek

20.  Rolling Road

21.  Twin Oaks

22.  Lehman

23.  Pinelands

24.  Washington Twp

25.  Tanglewood Manor

26.  Wolf Hollow

27.  Fox Hill

28.  Sparrows Point - Inside Nine

29.  Sparrows Point

 

Updated Galleries

1.  Lancaster CC - Highlands

2.  Blackwood

3.  Turtle Creek

4.  LuLu

5.  French Creek

6.  Bala

7.  McCall

8.  Ridgewood

9.  Overbrook

10.  Atlantic City CC

11.  Llanerch

12.  Deerfield

13.  Cobb's Creek

14.  Springfield

15.  Linfield National

16.  Twisted Dune

17.  Scotland Run

18.  Phoenixville

19.  Greate Bay

20.  PineCrest

21.  Linwood

22.  Honeybrook

23.  Reading

24.  Pitman

25.  Seaview Pines

26.  St. Davids

27.  Riverwinds

28.  Applecross

29.  Locust Valley

30.  Valley CC

31.  Pickering Valley

32.  Bella Vista


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A few memories of Arnold Palmer
Monday, September 26, 2016
By Joe Logan

The outpouring for Arnold Palmer has been heartwarming and deserved.  He was truly one of the most remarkable American icons of the past century.

 

When the news alert hit my cell phone last night, and the generous and respectful tributes began to pour in, I couldn’t help but think back over my own interviews and personal encounters with The King over the years.

 

A few:

 

- Whenever Palmer was in the room, it was a pleasure to stand back and watch the adulation, the adoration.  Everyone smiled when they saw Arnie.  Everyone wanted to get a moment with him, to tell him how much they loved him.  Even very rich men swooned like little kids.  Women melted, no matter how old he was.  Arnie just exuded magnetism and charm.

 

Unlike many celebrities who shrink in such situations, or become aloof, Arnie basked in it, loved it.  He knew that to make fan for life, all he had to do was be cordial and, say, "Hello, nice to meet you."

 

One such moment still stands out in my mind.  It was late in Palmer’s Champions Tour career, when he was pretty much a ceremonial golfer but still the biggest draw in the field.  One day, when he walked off the 18th green, he was approached by a woman who began to gush over him.

 

I’ve seen plenty of famous people – plenty of famous golfers – who would have blown right past that woman.  Palmer did not.  He stopped and listened to what the woman had to say.

 

"Arnold, you probably don’t remember me," she began.  His ears perked up; he was intrigued.

 

She launched into a tale about how 25 or so years ago, when she was a girl, she had shyly run up to him at a tournament and asked him to autograph her visor.  He had stopped then, as now.  Now, years later, that little girl was having her second moment with Arnie, holding out that visor to show him that she still had it.

 

Palmer looked at the visor, then at the woman.  It was obvious he had no recollection of her or of autographing her visor.  But he didn’t tell her that.  He smiled and said, "It’s so good to see you again..."

 

Palmer left that woman on Cloud 9, just like he left so many other people in life.

 

- The first time I ever interviewed Palmer was in 1983, at a Champions Tour event outside Boston.  He was 53 at the time, no longer competitive, frustrated with his game.  But he was still Arnold Palmer, in all his glory.

 

For much of the hour-long interview in his hotel room, he sat at a table, autographing the stack of photos and memorabilia that get sent to him every day.

 

-  Palmer always gave some of the best press conferences in golf.  Many of today’s star players go through the motions of press conferences reluctantly, sometimes sullenly.  More than a few of them only show up for press conferences because the PGA Tour requires it. They don’t need think they need the press any more. If they have something to say, they’ll say it on Twitter, not to the media.

 

Not Palmer.  He valued his relationship with the press, and even cultivated personal relationships with many of the writers and TV people who covered him.  Ask Palmer a question and you’d likely to get a long, thoughtful, candid answer.  And he never ended a press conference until all the questions had been asked and answered.

 

- It was no secret that Palmer’s relationship with Ben Hogan was chilly at times.  Even when Palmer was the biggest star on the PGA Tour, you wouldn’t know it from Hogan’s reaction.

 

I once asked Palmer about his relationship with Hogan.  There was a long silence before Palmer finally said, "He never called me by my name..."

 

- I shook hands with Palmer a number of times over the years.  He had maybe the best handshake ever.  Here is a blog post I wrote about it in 2013:

 

 

When NBC’s Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller welcomed Arnold Palmer into the booth at Bay Hill a few moments ago, Hicks joked that it was good to feel Arnie’s handshake again.

 

I totally agree – you never forget Arnold Palmer’s handshake.

 

It’s not that Arnie is one of those bone-crusher guys, not at all.   His is just a firm, friendly, manly handshake.  Two quick pumps and he releases.

 

What makes it so unforgettable is Arnie’s hand itself: it’s big and strong and as padded as a major league catcher’s mitt.  The fingers he wraps around your hand are as thick and beefy as sausages.  You feel like you’ve fallen into the embrace of a mama bear or something.

 

And I don’t care who you are, or what you can or cannot do for him, Arnie looks you in the eye, smiles and says it’s good to see you.  It’s one of the reasons Arnold Palmer is one of the great ambassadors the game has ever had.

 

- In the early days of Golf Channel, before they had a stable full of high-priced on-air talent, it was a leaner operation.  Most nights, primetime programming consisted of Peter Kessler hosting interview shows.

 

For one of those shows, on Sunday nights, they flew in a steady stream of newspaper and magazine writers down Golf Channel studios in Orlando.  Oftentimes, they’d put you up overnight at Bay Hill Resort because Palmer, who owned Bay Hill, was one of the founders and early investors in Golf Channel.

 

I was one of the writers they flew in, probably a half-dozen times.  One Monday morning after the Sunday night show, I walked into the restaurant at Bay Hill for breakfast, before heading to the airport.  It was early and the place was almost empty, except for staff and one table over in the corner.  There sat Arnie and Winnie, just the two of them, having breakfast.

 

Arnie looked up in my direction and nodded.  I nodded back.  I didn’t want to intrude; I took a table on the other side of the restaurant to give them their privacy.

 

- I once spent the morning at the offices of Arnold Palmer Enterprises, across the road from Latrobe Country Club and only steps from Palmer’s home.  The offices also serve as a sort of Palmer Museum, full of memorabilia from his legendary career.

 

Palmer’s longtime, loyal assistant Doc Giffin, had promised to give me a tour.  Palmer himself wasn’t expected to be there that day but it turned out he was.   At one point, he came out of his office, shook my hand and we chatted for a few minutes, before he was off to make a phone call.

 

A day later, I was back, along with a couple of fellow golf writers.   Doc had invited us to play Latrobe CC, the course where Palmer grew up and which he has owned for many years.  Afterward, we had lunch in the Latrobe grill room, a comfortable, no-frills place.  It still ranks as one of my Top 10 days in golf.

 

 

 

 


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Bill Lyon 
My days at the Masters will Bill Lyon
Thursday, August 4, 2016
By Joe Logan

As I watched Bill Lyon toss out the first pitch at the Phillies game last night on TV, I must confess my eyes got a little watery.

 

At the risk of stating the obvious, Bill Lyon, the retired Inquirer sports columnist who is chronicling his battle with Alzheimer’s in the paper, is one of the all-time greats.

 

Besides being a superb and deservedly-celebrated columnist, Bill is one of the most decent men I have ever known.  He grew up on a farm in the Midwest and he has made his way through life like -- well, like a man who grew up on a farm in the Midwest.

 

In 33 years as the Inquirer’s premier sports columnist, Bill never wrote a cheap hit-piece on anybody, at least not that I saw.  Oh, he would take somebody down a notch or two, if they needed it, but he never did it in a mean-spirited or snarky way.  Why clobber somebody over the head with a bat when you can do the job with a hatpin?

 

During my 26 years at the Inquirer, Bill sightings were rare, even after I moved to the Sports Department in 1995.  You might see him in the old office at 400 North Broad Street once, twice a year, tops – the joke was that Bill was required to present himself in person to the editors at least once a year.

 

The beat writers who covered the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers saw Bill more often, usually in the press box at games.  Since my beat was golf, my sightings were less frequent.

 

But every year, I could count on seeing Bill for a week, at the Masters.  For a stretch of years there, the Inquirer sent me and Bill to the Masters.  The Inquirer had prime seats, side-by-side, in the media center, and I always looked forward to spending serious time with a man who earned his place in the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame at the keyboard.

 

For an entire week, Bill and I would talk – about Augusta National, about Tiger, about office politics back home, about his dear wife Ethel, who was battling cancer and emphysema.  If he said it once, he said it a thousand times, "She’s the toughest woman I know, like a linebacker."

 

 

Daily Routine

 

Our daily routine at the Masters was to arrive at the media center in the morning, check our emails, read what other writers and columnists had written that day, then take a stroll around the golf course.  Bill called Augusta National the "cathedral of sports."  He isn’t much of a golfer, if at all, but he always said the Masters was his most fun week of the year covering sports.

 

We especially liked walking the back nine at Augusta, lingering for an hour or so at Amen Corner.  We might follow the leaders, or we might not. It would be early in the day so the daily deadline pressure had not yet kicked in.  We were both waiting to see what would unfold before we could begin planning what to write for the next day’s paper.  (This was in the days before you had to live-blog every hole, every shot, every development.)

 

One of the truly great benefits of covering the Masters is that press credential gives you access to the clubhouse.  Most days, Bill and I would enjoy our lunch --leisurely and luxuriously for a couple of newspaper hacks -- on the clubhouse balcony overlooking the course.  You never knew who might sit down at the table next to you – Amy Mickelson and a couple of other player’s wives, big-time sports agents, a past Masters champions, anybody from the world of golf.

 

No matter what we ate (burger, club sandwich, chicken sandwich), both of us invariably ordered Augusta National’s famous peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Once, when ordering the cobbler, I joked to the waiter, "And don’t be stingy with the ice cream."

 

Bill laughed out loud.  He loved that line.  Thereafter, every time he would order the peach cobbler, he would wink at the waiter and say, "And don’t be stingy with the ice cream."

 

 

Big fan of Bill

 

One morning, when we were about to head out on our daily trek around the course, Bill needed to pop into the restroom.  As I waited by the door, I noticed a vaguely familiar face approaching, headed out to the course.

 

After a moment, it dawned on me who it was: Joe Queenan, the acerbic author, critic and essayist.  Queenan has lived in NYC for years but he has written extensively about having grown up in Philadelphia.  As is his custom, I gather, he was dressed in black, perhaps to reflect his often dark moods. "Aren’t you Joe Queenan?" I asked.

 

Queenan didn’t know me from lunchmeat, so he looked at me quizzically, then looked at the press credential hanging around my neck.  "Philadelphia Inquirer," he said, nodding.  Queenan told me he loved reading the Inquirer as a kid, especially the great sports columnist Bill Lyon. 

 

"Well, if you stand here for another minute or two, you can meet him,"  I said. Instantly, Queenan’s scowl turned into a smile.  "Seriously?"

 

"Seriously," I said.

 

When Bill walked up, I introduced him to Queenan, who proceeded to gush over him like a teenage girl meeting Beyonce.  Bill stood there with his aw-shucks modestly, thanking the stranger for his gracious comments.  When Queenan left, Bill admitted he had no idea who Queenan was.  Later, back at our laptops, I had Bill do a Google search on Queenan.  He was suitably impressed.

 

No techie

 

Like many newspaper scribes of his generation, Bill adapted to the transition from portable typewriters to laptops as best he could.  But he was no techie, not even a little.  Fortunately, Bill’s son was a techie and he had rigged Bill’s laptop to function with almost one-button ease.  Compose a column?  Two buttons, tops, to get it ready to go.  Send the column to the office?  Same thing.

 

Not everything worked every time, though.  Occasionally, something would go horribly wrong and Bill would panic that he might have accidently deleted his column.  Not that I am tech-savvy myself but I would stop whatever I was writing and plunge in to assist, often as my own deadline loomed.  When we would finally resolve the problem, the look of relief that would sweep over Bill’s face was unmistakable to total.

 

Bill’s son also had his laptop set up so that when Bill turned it off, the shutdown process would end with a photo of his grandkids that popped up, in their jammies, saying, "Night, night, Pop-Pop."  That was music to Bill’s ears.   He would listen and watch his grand kids with glee every evening, then turn to me with a satisfied grin, like the fawning Pop-Pop that he was.

 

His column

 

From a beat-writer’s perspective, there was another important thing about Bill that was impossible not to appreciate.  Even though he was the big dog, the lead columnist, before he settled on a topic for his column, he would run it past me.  "What are you planning to write?" he would ask.  "I don’t want to get in your way."

 

That was flat-out, nice-guy courtesy.  He didn’t have to do that.  If he wanted, Bill could have stepped all over whatever I was planning to write – that’s the prerogative of the lead columnist.  I would have had to adapt.  But he never did.  If I was already halfway through a story similar to what he had in mind, Bill would pick another topic.  He always had two or three good ideas he was considering.

 

 

Meatloaf and pancakes

 

In the early years, when Bill finished his column and packed up to leave the media center, I would often invite him to join a few of us for dinner, or take in one of the many functions and parties that go on in Augusta during Masters week.

 

Thanks, but no thanks.  Bill had his routine and he stuck to it.  Year after year, he stayed in the same modest motel on the edge of town – I think it was a Days Inn – where he could dine alone over a meatloaf dinner, or maybe the roast turkey special, then return to his room to watch whatever ball game he could find on TV.  In the morning, after a hearty breakfast and the morning paper, Bill would return to the golf course and we would do it all over again.

 

One of Bill’s annual rites of spring was to buy another item of Masters merchandise.  Since he is not one to drop a bundle, his trip to the merchandise center was well-considered.

 

Most of us come would out of the merchandise shop with two or three bags full of swag for ourselves and our friends and family back home.  Bill was a one-bag guy, usually a shirt with the Masters logo – well-made, carefully picked.  That was it.  That was enough.

 

 

Bill is what he seems like

 

I miss those weeks at the Masters with Bill.  Of all the high-profile people in the media I have known over the years, Bill may be the most genuine.  He does not present one face to his reading public and another behind the scenes.  He’s no Jekyll and Hyde prima donna.   He is exactly what he seems like.

 

As I watched Bill toss out that baseball last night, it was obvious that advancing age and Alzheimers are beginning to take their tolls.  It makes me sad.  I makes me pine for the old times on the balcony of the clubhouse at Augusta, where we could dine like kings and joke to the waiter, "And don’t be stingy with the ice cream."

 

 

 


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