The Stonehouse Golf Blog

Lots of fun and friends at the “GREEN GLORY” book signing last weekend at The Bookworm in Omaha. Weather was a little chilly, but that didn’t keep friends and golf fans from visiting.

Left to right, this is me, with friends Ed May, Chris Murphy and Mike Hill. Photo courtesy of Deb Trivitt, Trivitt Public Relations.

We started at about 1 pm on Saturday and didn’t finish up until five o’clock. Originally we shipped 100 books to the store, which they began selling the weekend of The Masters. At the signing we sold 38, had additional orders for 12, and left 20 signed copies for the store to sell.

Want a signed copy of “GREEN GLORY?” The Bookworm has a few copies for sale at $55.00 each.

Photo credit Dr. Daniel Schafer.

My thanks to everyone who attended, with special thanks to Janet Grojean and Phil and Beth Black of The Bookworm, to Stu Pospisil of the Omaha World-Herald for his timely mention in the paper, and last, but certainly not least, to PR pro and longtime friend Deborah Trivitt of Trivitt Public Relations, for her help and ideas in setting all this up. Deb, you’re a pal.

Best, Patrick

Congratulations to Adam Scott on his hard-fought Masters victory. A playoff in that rainy weather had to be uncomfortable and well as nerve-wracking, but I’ll bet he doesn’t remember the rain at all. Well done.

I hope we have better weather when I go to The Bookworm, 8702 Pacific, this coming Saturday, April 20, beginning at 1pm, to sign copies of GREEN GLORY.

We’ll have books on hand, or you can certainly bring a copy you may have ordered. In the meantime, GREEN GLORY will be on sale here, on our website, www.stonehousegolf.com.

By the way, we received another endorsement for the book from Greg Nathan, Senior Vice President of the National Golf Foundation (NGF), who said: “As a long-time serious collector of golf course coffee table books, GREEN GLORY stands in a category of one. for those who love golf courses and the imagery that brings them alive.” Thank you, Greg.

I look forward to seeing friends and golf fans at The Bookworm. Remember, every book purchase helps support the noble work of The First Tee and the future of golf.

Best,

Patrick

The players are preparing, Augusta National is receiving its last-minute trimmings and touches, but… are you ready?

This year, why not add to the thrill of the majors with a copy of “GREEN GLORY: A Visual Tribute To The Courses Of The Majors – Golf’s Renowned Venues”? It’s 250 pages of gorgeous paintings and photographs of the world’s greatest venues – including a whole section on The Masters and the wonderful layout of Augusta National Golf Club.

Discover the wheres, the whys, the hows and the whos of golf’s greatest events, with informative text and championship information that goes back over 60 years to 1950, and the period when our modern “Big 4” events were first termed the “Grand Slam” by none other than Arnold Palmer.

Why not have Jack Nicklaus’s introduction, and Rees Jones’s tribute to Course Superintendents on hand while you watch this year’s action at Amen Corner?

Get ready for the majors. Order your copy of “GREEN GLORY” today. And remember, with every sale a donation is made to The First Tee, and the future of golf.

Enjoy it all,

Patrick

We’re ready… after a couple of years in the making, our tribute to the majors is printed, bound and ready to ship. The feedback we’ve received since we “pre-released” it in Orlando has been outstanding, and I want to thank everyone who helped us make “GREEN GLORY” possible.

Right now we’re contacting all the clubs featured in the book, asking them to consider it for an event gift and/or pro shop sales, and the response has been wonderful – which is, I guess, just another way of saying that the audience we assumed would be there, is.

Want your own copy of “GREEN GLORY”? Just go to the web page and put it in your shopping cart. I’d hurry, though. I’m starting to get a bit concerned about the number of first edition books still available. At the rate the clubs are buying, we’ll run out sooner than anticipated.

Want it autographed? On Saturday, April 20, I’ll be at The Bookworm, 8702 Pacific, in the Countryside Village Shopping Center, beginning at 1pm to sign copies, first edition or not.

That kind of writer’s cramp I don’t mind.

Best regards, Patrick

Heard of Kickstarter.com? It’s a site where creative projects – books, films, videos, visual art, etc – can post requests for funding to help get produced. Pretty amazing idea, and already catching on in the world of creative ventures.

“GREEN GLORY” is now a Kickstarter project, too. We’re requesting funding to help finance the marketing of the book – get it off to the right start with ads, emails and whatever publicity we can garner.

Want an autographed, first edition copy of “GREEN GLORY” for only $50? We’ve got some pretty nice premiums to give away – autographed books, prints, Desk Caddies, Humidors. Take a look… you might want to pledge something.

Dan Murphy and I put together the video for “GREEN GLORY.” If you get a chance, go to Kickstarter and watch it.

We’re up for only 30 days, so if you want to see our presentation, do it before March 1.

Oh, and don’t forget… “GREEN GLORY” goes on sale on www.stonehousegolf.com March 15. Click here to preview Green Glory.

Thanks,

Patrick

Our new book, “GREEN GLORY” made its first public appearance at the Association of Golf Merchandisers (AGM) pre-Expo event on January 23.

Stonehouse had a table, set up with an initial run of 100 books to sign and distribute. Linda Hartough, publisher Steve Hayes, writer Mort Mortensen, editor Sally Sportsman and I were on hand to autograph copies and meet the pros and golf industry colleagues who attended.

What a night it was… initially slow, at the end of the first hour a young Canadian pro and his assistants stopped by and bought five autographed copies. After that the floodgates seemed to open, and for the next hour we were selling and signing books in bunches. Among the friends who dropped by was Bob Denney, Senior Writer at the PGA, with the promise of a review in the members’ magazine.

The evening couldn’t have been more perfect; on-the-spot reviews were glowing, accompanied by questions galore about this course or that, about Mr. Nicklaus (he contributed the Introduction), about Rees Jones’s tribute to Course Superintendents, and best of all, about volume book purchases for member events.

Although “GREEN GLORY” won’t be available for public sale on the website until March 15, we’ll soon be shipping copies to the clubs and courses included in the book, accompanied by special offers for member/member and member/guest event gifts. We’re able to customize the dust covers to feature different courses and event titles – sure to please both club members and guests alike.

Then beginning March 15, we’ll sell the book online for $55, or $75 for an autographed first edition. Within the next few days we’ll have complete ordering info up here, so if you’ve been looking for the perfect gift for the golfer in your life, or if you want a solid addition to your golf library, check out the “flip book” sample we’re going to post, and stay tuned.

We’re printing only so many first editions, and judging by the reception in Orlando, they won’t last long.

All the best,

Patrick

Just wanted to let you know that I appeared on a neat Google “Hangout” program this week. “World’s Greatest Golf Holes” is a 20-minute interview I had with Mike Root, owner of Fitnessforgolf.com, a really great website, “specially designed with golfers in mind.”  Mike’s son Jay produced the hangout, which is available for viewing at http://youtu.be/4tj8Ecc2U6c along with other interesting golf-related programs.

We had a pretty in-depth conversation, talking about the creation of the Stonehouse Collection, our products and history. Mike also makes a 10% discount offer on all Stonehouse products to Fitness For Golf members, whose subscriptions include advanced golf assessments, golf fitness, in-depth golf instruction as well as customized golf workouts at www.fitnessforgolf.com. There’s a special code, so members have to watch the video to take advantage.

It’s definitely worth a look-see.

My thanks to Mike and Jay… and to you, of course.

As always,

Patrick

The 2013 Stonehouse Golf Calendar is off the press. It’s beautiful; 12 images of wonderful courses, chock full of information, a helping hand for The First Tee.

But that’s not all: Thanks to an inborn inability to proofread on the part of yours truly, it also contains a glaring error. When I first noticed it I felt bad. Then I thought: why not turn my mistake to your benefit?

So here it is, my “Where’s Waldo?”™ calendar challenge.

You find the error, tell us what it is, and I’ll give you a FREE mini-print of your choice of our “Popular Prints” images. That’s right. Your choice of any of the 48 images listed on the web site… FREE.

Here’s what you do: Order a Stonehouse 2013 Calendar (remember, $1 of every calendar purchase helps The First Tee), find the mistake, then go to the “Contact Us” page on our web site. Tell us what the mistake is in the “Questions/Comments” section, along with your image choice and your mailing address. If your answer is correct, we’ll mail you your FREE mini-print.

Oh, and don’t forget to sign up for our Collectors Club while you’re at it… club members are eligible for valuable discounts on Stonehouse products.

To sweeten the deal, I’ll even give you a hint: the mistake isn’t in the calendar dates, or the actual course images.

There you go. Have some fun… my treat.

Regards,

Patrick

P.S. To borrow a phrase, “I can’t go on like this forever…” To be eligible to win, you have to respond before December 15.

I don’t know what final Ryder Cup attendance figures are, but at least a quarter of a million people were estimated to have visited Medinah over the last weekend.

In the Merchandise Tent, I think we saw them all. The shot below shows the “Friday Frenzy” with 45,000 square-foot space packed like a sardine can.

In contrast, take a look at Sunday afternoon… empty shelves and few customers. But no complaints here.

My point is, you never want to underestimate the power of emotion. Fierce competition leads almost always to explosive sales numbers, and the Ryder Cup is one of golf’s most emotional, most competitive events. Why? Pride.

So we have to give credit to Jose Maria Olazabel and the European Team for that incredible Sunday performance. One for the record books… and that includes sales records, too.

If you’ve never experienced a Ryder Cup, you owe it to yourself… the best event in GOLF!!

I’ll see you in the Merchandise Tent,

Patrick

Move over. Step aside. Take a slow, deep breath. 

Medinah is full to overflowing with golf fans on this, the first day of Ryder Cup competition, 2012. I can’t remember crowds this large, this emotional, for any major. Face paint, flags draped over shoulders – you’d think you were witnessing a big-time college bowl game.

Momentum moves back and forth with every hole; inside the Merchandise Tent we hear the crowd reactions. The air virtually crackles with tension.

One thing is certain: Both teams want this. Both teams are ready. Both will be here to the very end.

If you’ve got a ticket, don’t miss this. And while you’re here, stop by and say hi.

Patrick