Patrick's Blog

The finish at this year’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits was exciting, perhaps even a little controversial, but there sure wasn’t anything arguable about the ace Tom Lehman scored on the par-three 17th hole Saturday afternoon.

Undoubtedly one of the most contentious holes the players face all season, 17 at the Straits Course is called “Pinched Nerve” for a reason, but the 1996 Open Champion barely seemed to notice as his tee shot found the cup.  223 yards.  One swing.  A great moment.

Ironically, I just happened to have a Limited Edition print of 17 with me in the merchandise tent.  Someone suggested we sign it and give it to Lehman, and… Voilà!  The moment was preserved.  All of us in the tent signed a letter to accompany the print, which was presented by the Whistling Straits management team to Tom.  I wasn’t at the presentation, but I understand TL was very pleased.

A fortunate coincidence – the kind we love at Stonehouse.  Preserving the memories of those special shots, holes and events is our mission, one we always appreciate sharing with friends and fans around the world.

Have a special golf moment you want to remember?  You’ve come to the right place.

Best,
Patrick

Being here at Whistling Straits this week reminded me of this:  When you watch the pros play golf on TV, you see them extremely focused, unsmiling for the most part, almost mechanical in demeanor and movement.  In the words of Jack Nicklaus, the players are “…in the midst of 50,000 people, alone with their game.”

That’s why I enjoy going to practice rounds – that’s where I get to see the players as human beings, not just golf machines.   In practice rounds the players can loosen up to an extent that’s impossible when millions of dollars in prize money are on the line.  They smile, sign autographs, and joke with each other and with fans.

Practice rounds allow amateurs like me to observe the world’s best players hone their craft, too.  Often the pros put three, four, or even five balls in play on certain holes so they can test clubs, ball flight or swing techniques.  It’s amazing to watch these guys, even when they’re just taking it easy.

The televised tournaments may generate more drama, but practice rounds definitely generate more fun.  If you want to really enjoy a tournament, take in some practice rounds.  And by the way, if you do, bring a couple Stonehouse mini-prints with you – they’re perfect for autographs.

The weather has been delightful since I arrived – light rain in the morning giving way to clear, sunny skies and temps in the mid-80′s by afternoon.  Wonderful golf weather to set the stage for the 2010 PGA Championship.

The Straits course appears to be in great shape.  In case you’ve never been here, this flagship of the Kohler Resort courses is a Pete Dye masterpiece of links-style design – over 7,500 yards of dunes, pot bunkers and rolling greens set along two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline.  This year I’ve brought images of #7 and #17, perhaps two of the most beautiful and challenging par-3 holes the players face all season.

Who will hoist the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday?  That remains to be seen, but I know this year’s PGA Championship will be fun to watch, and I certainly look forward to watching in the air-conditioned merchandise tent, where I’ll be signing prints and shaking hands with as many Stonehouse fans as possible.  If you’re coming up, I invite you to stop by.

We were delighted to see one of our very own Desk Caddies sitting on the table in the EPSN announcer’s booth during last week’s Open Championship. Looked pretty good – hopefully everyone who has been ordering them think they look great, too.

At about 18 seconds in, they start panning in on the announcers and right there on the left side of the table is one of our very own Desk Caddies! So, for everyone out there wondering what that really attractive-looking box was on the ESPN announcers desk was, now you know. And they make a great gift, too!

2010 marks the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship, and we’re extremely honored that an image from the Stonehouse Golf Collection has been selected to help recognize this important milestone:  A special Limited Edition gicleé of our “Rainbow” image of hole #17 on the Old Course will be signed by all of the players and hung in the St. Andrews clubhouse.

I personally oversaw the print’s production and numbering – 1 of only 125 editions – and I believe this is the first time a photographic image has been selected for this purpose, so I’m very grateful.  It’s the best of all possible scenarios for Stonehouse.  We’re here to create and preserve lasting memories of golf, and this image, with its panoramic view of the 17th green, Swilcan Bridge, the 18th “Tom Morris” tee and fairway, and the historic R&A clubhouse overarched by a delicate rainbow, is a fitting tribute to the game’s oldest and most revered Championship.

This week, as you watch the drama of the Open Championship unfold, you might give a thought to the fact that you’re seeing more than a golf tournament.  You’re witnessing the continuation of a historic tradition, a tradition in which the world’s most talented competitors have displayed their skills – a tradition now celebrated, in part, with the help of the Stonehouse Collection.

Best regards,

Patrick

Among the year’s most pleasant developments so far is an arrangement between Stonehouse Publishing and Premier Golf, one of the nation’s best-known golf destination travel agencies.

Premier Golf intends to use Stonehouse Mini Prints as confirmation gifts for clients who book golfing tours – customized golf-centric packages that can range from attending the Ryder Cup, to virtually any destination golf course in the UK or U.S.

Patrick Drickey, Stonehouse photographer and founder,  sees the arrangement as a natural extension of both firms’ expertise.  “For over 20 years, Premier has been recognized as the “go-to” travel specialist for golf enthusiasts,” he said, “and the addition of Stonehouse Mini Prints as confirmation gifts is the perfect way to say “thank you” to clients.

“Chris Gurney, Premier’s Director of Business Development told me our first effort for the agency, a Turnberry image, was a ‘huge hit’, and we’re proud of that.  It underscores what we know about how our golf course prints can help meet client-relations goals on an on-going basis.  People tend to hang to our golf prints.”

The Premier Golf print program will include customized stickers, special feltweave envelopes, customized vellum inserts and logos.

First of all, we must thank everyone who entered the “Show Us Your Stonehouse Print” contest by sending us photos of where you’ve hung your Stonehouse Golf prints. It’s humbling to see our images displayed so nicely in so many homes, offices, clubhouses and yes, even bathrooms. It’s great to think about golf anywhere, isn’t it?

Our winner really impressed the judges and his story exemplified one of the things we have always believed about golf pictures from the Stonehouse Collection: looking at the photo is a great way to share the experience and re-live the experience of having played a great course.

So congratulations to Jay D. from New Palestine, Indiana on winning a framed Signature Edition print from the Stonehouse Golf Collection! Jay – we hope to get a picture of where you hang your latest addition to your own collection! Thank you for entering and for being such a great collector.

Here is Jay’s entry:

To whom it may concern:

Please see the attached photos of my Stonehouse prints.  I have a total of 15 prints which surround the inside wall of my pool room.  These are all of my top courses I have played and these make for great conversation while playing pool or when having visitors in our home.

I like Stonehouse prints because of the panoramic view of the course and you have a wonderful selection of courses.  This is the only room in our home where I can decide what pictures are hung on the wall… which means my wife likes them too.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Jay D.

Well said, Jay! A gift certificate for your framed Signature Edition print is on its way!

The first week in France has been everything we’ve hoped for.  Flew into Nice from London; saw many golf courses from the air, none of which I recognized (future assignments?)  We stayed in a villa overlooking the harbor at Cannes., and from that base we explored the area.  First was the little town of Eze, just 10 miles from Monaco.  Great food – what would you expect? – and friendly people, especially when I try speaking French.  You’d think I’m a comedian on stage.  Raucous laughter.  Every time.

Getting around the French Riviera is easy… trains and inexpensive bus shuttles can take you almost anywhere you want to go.  And weather?  San Diego perfect, as my son would say.  One of the many reasons the beaches at St. Tropez are world-famous.  Nice scenery, too.

Dinner at Villefranche-sur-Mer was right on the water, and the catch of the day was grilled to perfection.  Excellent wine served by the pitcher, fresh croissant for breakfast.  A villa in Villefranche is on our wish list for the next trip to France.

World Cup soccer on big screen TVs in every club and restaurant, it seems.  Fans everywhere, of course.

This week:  Italy.

About three weeks ago I arrived in Philadelphia to photograph the famous Aronimink Golf Club, site of this year’s AT&T National Tournament hosted by Tiger Woods.  Tiger had been there only a week before to check out final arrangements, so I was able to experience the course at close to its playing level for the pros. Let me tell you, this is one heck of a Donald Ross design.

No history of golf in the Philadelphia area can be told without mentioning Aronimink. It was incorporated as a club in 1900, although its true genesis stretched back several years to the Belmont Golf Association (reorganized as Aronimink) and its role in founding the Golf Association of Philadelphia in 1897.

Golf was catching on in the U.S. around the turn of the century, and the citizens of Philadelphia were determined not to miss out on the game’s rising tide of popularity.  The demand for professionally-designed, 18-hole tracks was growing. So much, in fact, that Aronimink actually outgrew and moved its facilities four times before finally acquiring its present site in 1926.

The club had the foresight to hire Donald Ross to design the layout, which today retains much of the character for which his courses are so well-known.  At first glance, the casual observer might think the mature trees are Aronimink’s only real scoring obstacles, but Ross never designed a course with only one defense. Aronimink’s arsenal of hills, bunkers, valleys, and doglegs present what Ross called “a supreme test” to many of the world’s best players at this year’s AT&T.

Having seen it, walked it and photographed it, all I can say to the players who are about to take on Aronimink is… Good luck fellas,  you’ll need it.

Tiger Woods. Phil Mickelson. Tom Watson. This week, golf’s top players and stories gather for the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach – one of the world’s iconic venues – to contend for the coveted championship of the United States.

We’ll all have to wait until Sunday to see who hoists the winner’s trophy, but in the meantime fans around the world will able to enjoy the unmatched beauty and windswept challenges of Pebble Beach.

Big Sur’s most famous golf course holds a special place in the history of the Stonehouse Golf Collection.  Pebble was the first course shot by Patrick; the first venue captured in his trademark panoramic format.  And it should come as no surprise that his image of hole number 7 continues to be the most requested in the Stonehouse Collection.

This week the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach holds center stage in the world of golf… and in the hearts of all of us at Stonehouse.