1972 Golden Gate Pacific Coast Classic

Transcription

♪ Interwest is a retail independent insurance agency offering a full range of business and personal insurance products. We're proud of our partnerships with Monument Administrators and the Preferred Club Program, our alliance with KVIE, and thankful for the opportunity to serve our local communities. Hi, I'm Frank LaRosa at the celebrated Pebble Beach Golf Links. Welcome to Tee Time: Golf in Northern California. Today we're going to talk with the greatest golfer that ever played the game Jack Nicklaus. He's gonna talk about his legacy both on and off the course and his passion for giving back. Also on the program, the sport's greatest female player Annika Sorenstam, She'll talk about life after golf and her commitment to living and promoting a healthy life style. It's the best of the best on Tee Time. ♪ In the pantheon of sports greats, few names compare. Fewer athletes have so thoroughly dominated their sport: seventy-three tour victories including 18 major golf tournaments. Six Ryder Cup wins. Eight senior championships. Eight-time PGA top money winner of the year. Even a Presidential Medal of Freedom. With all that, you'll be happy to know that Jack Nicklaus is an approachable and down to earth guy. You had 73 tour victories 18 majors with so many does one stand out among the others? Well, I think they all stand out to some degree. Every time you win it's something special. And it's, you know, you've beaten the best players in the world and it's, it's a great accomplishment and it's fun to compete, it's fun to win. I've had many times that I competed very well and haven't won, and there was in '84 I guess at Pebble when Tom chipped in. And you know, even then it was a great week. You know if Jack would ever get his game in shape he said man we'd really kill him. We caught up with Jack at the Links at Spanish Bay in Monterey where he was one of two award winners honored by the Langley: an annual charity event designed to acknowledge golf's greatest legends. You'd think the man most golf publications call The Golfer of the Century might still be playing every day... but this active 72-year old says... he's into a different sport. I play about 10 times as much tennis as I do golf. Really? Yeah, I play tennis quite a bit and I don't play much golf anymore, so that's my exercise now. I've played tennis, well, I usually play two or three times a week and I play golf maybe once or twice a month. Are you competitive on the tennis court? Well, my expectations aren't so high so it's okay. If you put trees here then you're going put trees in front of that bunker. Besides tennis, Jack's focus nowadays is on his thriving golf course design business. More than three hundred courses have been crafted by the Golden Bear. He cherishes his time with wife Barbara, their five children, and twenty-two grandchildren. Perhaps most important is his philanthropic work, especially the Children's Health Care Foundation, which provides medical services for kids in south Florida. You get yourself in that position and you have a chance to do it and you see the rewards that, particularly kids, to see the rewards that happen from what the results are -- it's very rewarding. Nicklaus may be a legendary athlete with old-fashioned values. But his opinions about the state of the game... and how it needs to change... might be considered outside the mainstream. Modern technology, he says -- high-tech golf clubs and balls -- is making thousands of golf courses obsolete...too easy for the professionals. At the other end, he says the 99-percent of us who are recreational golfers also have frustration. I think that the game of golf has some problems and I think we - takes too long to play golf, the game is probably too hard for the average person, and it probably costs too much. Most people that are playing golf want to enjoy it, have fun, and get around it and get the game over with and move on with life, they don't want to be spending five and six hours on the golf course. Possible solutions, says Jack: shorter, easier holes for the casual player...perhaps even a twelve-hole course. To keep the sport alive, he says there's also a growing need to attract golf's next generation. If you do not start the game of golf by the time you're eight years old, you start after eight, 89% of the kids leave the game. And of course the reason for that is, all these kids are playing these other sports and they're starting at 4 or 5, 6 years old, by the time they get to be about 8 years old, they've selected two or three sports they're going to play. And golf is not one of them. So if we can get that into those parks' programs, a lot of those kids will select golf, and be part of their life. ♪ As one of golf's greatest, Jack Nicklaus is living history. A testament to the rewards that come from hard work, talent, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. Everybody goes through the who's going to be in my fantasy foursome, and you're top of the list on all of them. Who's going to be in yours? Well I've always said mine is a five-some mine is my four boys. There's a lot of guys that I've played a lot of golf with in my life that, that I always enjoyed playing with... I mean obviously Arnold and Gary and Tom and Lee and all those guys I played a lot of golf with ...but if I ever have to go out and play a round of golf and I want to go to Pebble Beach, I wanna take my four boys and see if they'll let me have five on the course. I have one more question I want to read you because I want to make sure I get it right because you said the older you get the stronger the wind gets and it's always in your face. Well I think a lot of people have said that and I think it's absolutely true. I'm not sure the wind at this point in your life the wind seems to be at your back. You've done a lot of things and you're just out there just doing it and taking care of the game and all the charity events that you are involved with. We just appreciate everything you are doing. Well I enjoy it and I think the only time the wind is in my face when I actually play. That's for everybody. The rest of the time I hope it's down hill and down wind. Jack it's a big thrill thank you. Thank you very much. ♪ It's not every day, or on every golf course that you get to play a round of golf with your best buddy. The dog Luke has become a way of growing the game. Yes I think so. I think he understands when there's a frustration going on. He'll walk away when we're pretty upset about a certain shot. He gets it. 7-year-old Luke walks the course while Ron Carcamo plays golf here at Indian Valley Golf Course in Novato, California. So how did you find out about this golf course where you can bring a dog out? Well that's a funny story because I live 500 yards from this golf course and I never I lived there for 11 years and I never stepped foot on this golf course and then somebody told me that they allow dogs on the golf course and i thought it would be great given the time compression we have nowadays to actually golf and bring the dog out and get a four hour walk with the dog. This dog friendly 18 hole public course is open to golfers and their 4-legged friends. So you've only been playing about five years. Are you better with Luke than you are without? Oh I think so. In fact I was just for my course. I'm a 10 handicap and I just went to another course last weekend and they didn't allow dogs. I shot 20 over on that course. Today Luke and Ron are in good company. Utah come here and say hi to me. Come here. Come on buddy. Hi. How ya doin' kid? Trout how long has Utah owned you? Well I got him when he was about this big 6 years ago. Trout and his dog, Utah, spend a lot of quality time on the golf course. I get out of the car in the morning people say hello Utah people don't even recognize me. he's more popular than any of the golfers here. Does he help your game? Ya know, no I wish I could say yeah he helps my game, but he doesn't I think half of the joy of being out here is with him. Well this is definitely the first time I've been licked on a golf course. I've been licked many times. ♪ Having a good time today? what time is your tee time today? I think it's at 11. OK, Barry. We do have people call and say I've heard that you are dog friendly is it ok if I bring my dog? We give them the parameters taking care of their dog making sure dog is on a leash or under control. They have a great time. At Indian Valley...the "dog days" of summer extend throughout the year...giving both humans and their canine companions the chance to relax... and "paws" for a refreshing round on the links. it's a nice thing to be able to bring your dog out and take him with you. They're bringing their dog up here because they know the dog is friendly and they're going to have a great time here. ♪ Pebble Beach is one of the spectacular and famous golf courses in America if not the world. But let's be honest it does cost a pretty penny to play here. If maybe muni golf fits your golf budget a little bit better we found a course just down the beach a little bit offers a lot of the same beautiful scenery at about one tenth the cost. ♪ Our golf adventure continues here at Pacific Grove Golf Links on the Monterey Peninsula. This 18-hole public course dates back to the 1930's and has picked up some bragging rights along the way. In 2012 Golf Digest ranked the course in the top ten for value in the United States. what makes it so unique to get into that type of a ranking is what we have we're known for our back nine which is built in 1960. It's a link style 9 holes. It was built by Jack Neville who also helped design Pebble Beach. The front nine was also built 30 years before by Chandler Egan a very well-known amateur golfer back in the early 20's and 30's. so we have two unique 9 holes and then of course it's the value. you're in Monterey peninsula just north of Pebble Beach golf courses and here you can play with nine holes on the ocean our green fees on the weekend is $52. Majority of our play comes from the bay area. A lot of it is it when it's hot in the Bay and the Valley Fresno Sacramento Stockton area Modesto and of course the South Bay. It's usually pretty cool here. All those human visitors are often joined by "animal aficionados." Deer love to walk the course. These graceful creatures may seem indifferent to the golfers. But my theory is that they've seen so many players of all abilities, they can tell from your stance whether you're going to hook or slice. They make sure they're standing in the right place. It's quite interesting because people are walking up and down the streets there's deer everywhere. They are on both sides of the golf course or in this area there's probably upwards 40 or 50 deer around and they are very tame If you're looking to get out of the heat especially in the summer months come to the coast of the Monterey Peninsula Pacific Grove Golf Links book a tee time. ♪ Annika Sorenstam is regarded as the greatest female to ever play the game. With a total of 72 LPGA Tour wins and 10 Majors. Sorenstam was the first player to cross the 20 million dollar earning mark in LPGA history. Her round of 59 is the lowest single round by any woman and she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003. Annika we are in a gorgeous setting here at Old Greenwood and this is a part of the world you have adopted. I have. By looking at the view you can see why. This is an amazing place and actually I've been coming here since 95. Growing up in Sweden being used to some mountains, some snow. I was looking for place where I can really relax and recharge my batteries. People would say Annika doesn't play golf anymore gee you're busier now than you were before. Life is really good. I love what I do I'm still very involved in the game of golf. I don't play as much but I do a lot of clinics. I've played charity events and you know I still feel like I get my competitive juice and i really enjoyed mentoring some players. I also have a partnership with The First Tee. I think they do a terrific job and got over 200 chapters in the country to really get kids to understand the game, but also teach them the life skills lessons and my foundation partnered with The First Tee we teach them what we call the nine healthy habits which is the backside of the skill's lessons. Which is eating right, making the right choices having vision what you want to do. The way you communicate with your family and community. Its been really really interesting and fun for me to share the knowledge and share my experience to these kids because you know I'm living my dream and it would be great if I could inspire a young one to follow their dreams through the game of golf. you mentioned growing up in Sweden and you played lots of sports in Sweden but golf wasn't the original sports you played. It wasn't a sport I fell in love with early. I was a tennis player I played soccer. I played volleyball actually anything with a ball plus downhill skiing those were my passions and when I got older I realized you know golf is kind of fun. It's a tough sport. It's the toughest sport that i ever tried. it really seemed like the more I played the more I got hooked and I thank my parents for introducing the game to me. What's the biggest mistake we amateurs make? Well they want to try and hit it too far. They swing too hard and they don't use their body and you know you I do a lot of clinics and I do a lot of Pro-ams so I've seen it all. Outside of golf lets talk about that what inspires you or who inspires you outside golf. I look at people who are successful people who are happy people that you know really make a difference in life and I don't necessarily have one person in mind. I think there are a lot of people out there that are tremendous people. I think bottom line you have to be true to yourself and true to your values. If you can go to bed and wake up and feel good about yourself I think that's a good start. I realized that golf is just a little part of life it was a big deal for me early on and part of the foundation of who I am, but it taught me a lot about life and one of the things I want to share with my kids especially my young girl to understand as a girl you can achieve things sports is important because it teaches you about life but i want you to do something you are happy about and something that drives you. You need to have some sort of passion every day about something. How would you like to be remembered? I'd like to be remembered as somebody who was obviously competitive and somebody with lot of sportsmanship and someone that wasn't afraid to take on a challenge if need to be. ♪ Jack Nicklaus the greatest golfer that ever lived. One of his companies has designed thousands of golf courses all over the world. We're going to visit one in Truckee, California that has Jack's signature on it. ♪ Mike, I don't know if there's a more beautiful view anywhere were on the 13th tee box you've got the mountain behind. Boy, I bet when there's snow on it's pretty spectacular. Yes it is. It is. It's very picturesque. You were here when Jack Nicklaus opened the golf course. Yes, it was a great day. Very memorable. Jack Nicklaus and his company have designed almost 300 golf course including four in Northern California. But it's Nicklaus' very own signature course that's tucked away in Truckee, California. So what distinguishes a Jack Nicklaus course and what is it about Old Greenwood that keeps people coming back? Well it's a beautiful setting. It fits in well with the natural contours the Sierra provides. It's very typical of Jack's courses that it plays to his style of golf which is that high fade that high cut. Everything is a little big doglegged to the right usually. Very wide open off the tee. The difficulty gets around the greens. There's a lot of bunkers a lot of water features. I've never quite understood why Nicklaus gets to call a high fade and for me it's just a slice. I think this is one of Jack's best. He likes to make it tough, but you got to hit straight here. Not necessarily far. You want to keep it on turf. There's wildlife out here that you don't see in other places. There's a bear that lives over on the 6th hole we call him Roscoe. And the ball travels a bit further which is nice for the average golfer. That's the really good part. Maintaining a mountain course, especially a Nicklaus signature course, presents a special set of challenges. We start early in the month of March and we actually snow blow our greens to get them uncovered. The rest of the golf course is typically covered with about 3 to 4 feet of snow. We'll be out there blowing greens in blizzard sometimes and might seem a little counterproductive but it's important to get the greens uncovered early so we can see what the winter dealt us and throw some tarps on them and bring the soil temperature up and actually start growing start growing some grass. ♪ From the court ... to the course. I could get used to living up here. A mountain getaway enticed Sacramento Kings radio announcer Gary Gerould to play an afternoon round of golf on Nicklaus' home turf. G-man we've been friends a long time. I mean long before either of us had gray hair. What a treat to find you up here at Old Greenwood today and we're going to play a few holes. I'm excited about that because in my mind there's nothing better than playing mountain golf I love the smell of the pines. Now we're playing golf. That's a golf shot. Jack Nicklaus signature course the fact that he influenced every nuance, every swale, every green, every bunker every curvature whatever. He was the man and so in my mind that just ratchets Old Greenwood up to the top of the list. I mean it's way up there. This is really special. Yeah. That was just a bit outside. G-man 18th hole it doesn't get much better than this we're dead even to this point. This is for all of the marbles right now buddy. Is that pressure? That's pressure on you. You do know what? I have big shoulders. I like pressure. I thrive on pressure. Oh, yeah. He came to play. ♪ Get up there. It's right online Nice. I love golf. G-man golf to me is about playing with friends. It's not how many shots we hit it's about the laughs we have. We had a lot of them today. I really enjoyed running into you today and thanks for playing with me. Pleasure is all mine and believe me you can't go wrong at this Jack Nicklaus signature Golf course. ♪ Pebble Beach has witnessed some of professional golf's most memorable finishes including Jack Nicklaus winning the first US Open held here in 1972. Our next destination Cypress Point Club was built in 1928. It's one of America's most exclusive private golf courses. But today we visit to honor one of golf's greatest legends all for a good cause. ♪ You know Jim, you look over our shoulders here at number sixteen at Cypress and this, this was your office for thirty-four years, that's a pretty exciting place to come to work every day. It was a pleasure coming to work going to a little piece of heaven. Jim Langley is more than the former golf professional at Cypress Point Club to most, he's a living legend. You were a tour player for a while. You were the head golf professional here for 34 years, you married the cheerleader, you got four boys that are all tall and handsome and they look like movie stars. They look like their mother. Embracing life is something Jim doesn't take for granted. People that know you know that a point in your life you were involved in an accident. and I've heard you say that that kind of changed your perspective on life. It was a learning experience. I'm glad I had the opportunity to deal with it and gain from it because sometimes you go through life taking it granted. You know life changes in the blink of an eye. You know what you have and you should not miss anything. Today Jim's life is about helping others. You've had this career. You've decided that there's still more to be done in your life and your name is on a very exciting fundraiser that the northern California PGA sponsors. It's called the Langley. Tell people what you said when you found out it was called The Langley. I had no idea what they wished to ask me, but they wanted to use my name. My concern was I didn't know if people would what a Langley was. And five years later The Langley is one of the country's most successful, spectacular fundraisers in the five years under your name and your guidance we've had Arnold, Palmer, Ken Venturi, Tom Watson Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus that's a pretty good deck of cards you've got there. We fortunately have been able to select and tell the kids, the scholarship winners of the scholarship this year and we've had some just terrific young ladies and men have won the scholarship the last five years. The Langley, a tribute to legends is a golf tournament that raises money for charity, scholarships and community programs and is partnered with the Northern California PGA Foundation. The NCPGA Foundation is designed to impact lives through the game of golf. We want to give back to the charitable causes in and around northern California. Would you have a couple comments about your feeling about the Northern California section? We've been very flattered that we've had some of the great golfers be honored in the capacity and as a result it helps us build our coffers up and give back to the community. You worked for Jim for six years before you took over the job. What'd you learn from Jim? Learned a lot. Just one aspect about working for Jim was everything in the golf business. But more than that Jim Langley teaches you how to be a better man, a better person, a better father, a better husband, and it makes you want to be a better person in life. Today, when Jim comes back to Cypress Point as a member-not an employee-- the memories come flowing back. I had a dear friend and we happened to be working together at Cypress for years and Frank Shea was his name. When Frank couldn't caddy any longer we put him in the shop 2 or three days a week. But then we he couldn't do that any longer I used to come pick him up at his house and we'd come out and look for golf balls once or twice a month. So ever since then when I still come out and look for golf balls occasionally we always have a spot where I left the ball for Frank Shea in his memory. There it is. Frank Shea. God rest his soul. It's been said that without humility, there can be no humanity. Of the many great names in golf few exhibit more humanity than Jim Langley. I think you have to put something in front of yourself I think it's perhaps at the end of the day you have to realize what I have done to help somebody else and how do you extend and beyond being selfish self-centered so you have to sacrifice. And it's I think that's the meaningful part of life. You know standing on the 18th tee at Pebble Beach Golf Links you can't help but recognize that golf is unique. No ordinary person will ever hit a home run off a Major league all star pitcher. And none of us will ever knock down the heavyweight boxing champion, but as we all have that opportunity to maybe hit that one spectacular shot just like Jack Nicklaus or Annika Sorenstam. A memory we are going to have for a lifetime. I'm Frank LaRosa, thanks very much for joining us on Tee Time: Golf in Northern California. I'll see you on the first tee. ♪ I love this game! ♪ Interwest is a retail independent insurance agency offering a full range of business and personal insurance products. We're proud of our partnerships with Monument Administrators and the Preferred Club Program, our alliance with KVIE, and thankful for the opportunity to serve our local communities. ♪