Patrick's Blog

On the range this morning that’s Martin Kaymer (center), winner of last year’s PGA at Whistling Straights. This is a great place to watch your favorite players swing different clubs and put the golf balls out there with unbelievable accuracy…

Golf fans aren’t deterred by a little heat and humidity Thursday at the PGA Championship in Atlanta.

Hopefully everyone stops by the merchandise tent… be sure to say Hi to us!

WEDNESDAY EARLY EDITION: Caught this scene of greens crew out early making sure the Highlands Course is near-perfect in every respect. Gotta love these guys… their contribution to the game is immeasurable.

The 93^rd PGA Championship week is under way, and I’m at the Atlanta Athletic Club in John’s Creek (just north of Atlanta) ready to witness the year’s last major. First round play begins Thursday, but I thought I’d give you a small sneak preview of the course and a few of the pre-tournament preparations.

An early Tuesday morning stroll told me the ACC’s Highland Course is ready to take on all comers, especially holes like the 260-yard, par 3 15^th, shown here with a Golf Channel crew recording some last-minute player tips. David Toms scored an ace on this hole in 2001, the last time the PGA Championship was played here.

The course is immaculate, playing at 7,467 yards (270 yards longer than ’01), and despite some last minute afternoon thunderstorms on Monday it’s fast and firm, with sloping greens designed to challenge the game’s best players. And the players are here – on the range, in the bunkers, prepping on the course for the tests to come…

Heat and humidity will be factors, too, and the misting stations are in full-blast mode to accommodate golf fans, already arriving in force.

Of course, if the temperature gets to be too much, we’re here, in the air-conditioned PGA Golf Shop tent, ready to share stories and smiles, and of course, eager to show you our Stonehouse 2011 PGA Championship images and gifts.

Come by and say hi.

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.

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.

Shooting Kohler, Dodging Maytags…

All the modern inconveniences.
- Mark Twain, Life On The Mississippi

Recently I had a shoot scheduled at Whistling Straits, future home of the 92nd PGA Championship. here The weather was great, so I decided to drive from Omaha to Kohler, Wisconsin , a trip of 540 miles. I knew what needed to be shot and exactly when and where to set up. I actually looked forward to the seven and a half hours of cruise control on the Interstate – just settle back, relax, decompress.

It would have worked out that way, too, except for a washing machine… in the right lane of eastbound I-80 in Iowa; the one that revealed itself when all of a sudden traffic bunched up and the vehicle in front of me swerved abruptly; the one I nearly missed by inches. Nearly.

Don’t ask me how a washing machine ended up on the Interstate highway. I only know it isn’t there now. It exploded when it got hit by a car. My car.

Luckily no one was hurt. The car (a rental) was a little worse for the wear, but drivable. I even made it to the golf course in time to shoot that day. But relaxed? Forget it. The washing machine was a “Life-Flashes-Before-My-Eyes” moment.

Fortunately, they put me up at the Inn on Wood Lake, with all the touches the world has come to expect from the Kohler family. Here the attention to detail is something you have to experience for yourself.

If you’ve never been to the Destination Kohler resorts, you’re missing one of America ’s great retreats. Golf, spa, accommodations, shopping, food, service… everything is first-class. Especially this time of year. Check out the Blackwolf Run image – the Fall colors are spectacular.

Do yourself a favor: Plan a trip to Kohler. Walk, bike, fly or drive there. But watch out for washing machines. As for me, the only Maytag I want to see for awhile is the Maytag Blue on top of my filet.

All the Best,
Patrick Drickey