What famous person have you played golf with?

[HackBlack]

I think there has been a previous thread about what tour players you know and/or have played golf with. Tell us a story about a celebrity you know and/or played golf with who is NOT a professional golfer. Below is mine

This happened yesterday.

As part of July 4th weekend, I took Monday off so that I would have a 4-day w/e. Taking advantage of that time, as well as a timely call Saturday morning by the grandparents, who wanted to take our daughter on a train ride, allowed me to play and/or practice 3 days in a row, which is a rarity for me.

Well, yesteday morning, I'm trying to decide where to walk-on. I drive to the closest course. From the road I see golfers on 2 green, 2 fw, 2 tee and 1 green. I pull into the parking lot and it's a little full for a Monday so I leave. Several people with the same idea as myself, I guess. I then drive to one of the muni's, which has 2 courses. The one I played on Sunday was closed for aeration on Monday. AND, the shop tells me that the greens on the open course are pretty slow and still recovering from their recent aeration a couple of weeks prior. I tell them I'll try another course, which that guy thought was a good idea.

I then remember an online coupon for the first course I visited. I head back to the house, get online and print it out. $27 including cart and beverages (free fountain cokes for me. YA! #1). I drive back to the course, pay, get some range balls (which they didn't charge me for YA! #2) and hit the range. There are 3 others on the range, a couple older gentlemen and some young guy who needs a ton of lessons.

I loosen up and head to #1. The young guy tees off with a couple of his buddies who came straight from the parking lot. I then proceed to the tips (74.4/135 about 7,150 yards, not that it really matters, but this was my Round 2 for the OG/YG). The 2 older gentlemen drive past me up to the whites (2 tees ahead..about 6,050 yards). I think nothing of it and tee off...striping it 295 down the sprinkler line. I then drive up the the 2 gentlemen and ask if they want to join up, since there are several groups ahead of us. They say sure and ask me if I had a tee-time. I say "No. The shop said hit some balls and go play". They tell me they had a 10:00 tee-time. My phone says 10:02. Oh well!

Anyway, we make introductions, Maury and Jack, and they proceed to hit nice draws that go about 240-250, just in the right rough. We play a few holes and they ask me the typical "where do you work", "what do you do for them", "do you live near here", etc questions.

On 4 I ask them if they get to play everyday.
Jack's reply: No, they play about every other day 'cuz they get tired.
On 5 I ask them what they did before having the opportunity to play every day.
Maury's reply: We're old baseball players and are now executives for The Cats.
At some point I find out the Jack lives in town and Maury lives in California.

The Cats refers the the Fort Worth Cats, a local Independant League baseball team.
Official Website of the Fort Worth Cats

Well, needless to say, Maury's last answer piqued my interest. But, I didn't want to start being too nosy and asking questions like a 9 year old little leaguer. (I should have! haha)

As we play, we discuss The Cats in general, fireworks night on July 4th, how Independant League player contracts work when an MLB squad is interested, etc. We also talk about the baseball swing and how it relates to golf. What interested me was that these guys, being "old baseball players" hit a nice consistent draw. Most ex-baseball players and/or current players, at least from my experience, generally hit a high fade, due to too much reliance on the right side, pivoting on the right foot, etc. Any of you in a softball league probably know what I'm talking about.

On 18, I'm wondering how Maury can be an executive for The Cats and live in California. So, I ask him if he's a Scout. He doesn't answer. But, Jack starts laughing and says, "Ya. He's a scout all right...scouting for brunettes." From there, the converation takes a sudden turn on how Texas women compare to California women.

So, we finish 18. Maury and Jack are pretty solid players. Maury says he shot -2 on the back. I don't know about that. But, he did have 2 birdies. I don't know what they shot for 18. We all shake hands, I say I'll look Jack up if I get the family out to a Cats game and then we go our separate ways.

Well, I get home and go straight to the computer and google.com
Jack Lindsey played for The Cats back in the '50s and was a SS/3B.
Maury Wills played SS for the LA Dodgers from 59-72 (with a couple stops w/ the Pirates and Expos) and is considered by many to be a future HOFer. He was the first player to steal 100 bases in a season, breaking the record of 96 set by Ty Cobb in 1915.
Official Website of Maury Wills - Home
Historical Player Stats | MLB.com: Stats

For the younger baseball fans, he is also the father of Bump Wills, who played from 77-82, mostly for the Texas Rangers.

Maybe next time I'll ask nosy questions like a 9 year old little leaguer wearing his jersey and glove at a MLB game.

[ringin]

Several years ago I was playing in quite a few charity scrambles each year. I had the opportunity to play with several sports celebrities including Kenny Landreaux (LA Dodgers), Linda Cohn (SportsCenter), & Van Earl Wright (Fox Sports Net). The most fun, by far, was James Worthy at a Lakers Youth Foundation event. He actually wasn't supposed to be playing with our group that day, but he showed up late and they sent him out with us. He rolled up in a cart when we were on the second hole. According to him, he hadn't touched his clubs in weeks and looked like he just rolled out of bed. He jumps out and says, "Hey guys, I'm James and I'm playing with yall today". We just said cool, and all hit our shots from that fairway.

He didn't hit the ball very straight, but as big Worthy is, he hit the ball a ton.

We get to a par 3 which was a hole in one / closest to the pin hole. HIO gets a nice Mercedes coupe, but in the circle gets a bottle of Jack Daniels. We all proceed to miss the green, but James knocks one to about 4 feet and instantly asks the hole attendant for his bottle of JD. Somehow JW convinces us that we need to do some shots of Jack (bad idea in retrospect), but we couldn't turn down Big Game James. Next thing we know, there are 3 Laker Girls riding around in carts with our group, local TV stations & camera men are following us and everything erupts into just a crazy scene. That's the first and only time I've ever had to play golf in front of television cameras...and with James Worthy, Laker Girls, and a ton of other people watching, the stress level was peaked. But I hit some good shots and didn't look too stupid I think.

We finished out the rest of the round, and he was nice enough to hang out with us at the dinner that evening. Former Laker Michael Cooper even showed up for the dinner and hung out with us for a while. We talked Lakers, basketball, golf, while James managed finished off the rest of his winnings from the par 3. Fun guy to play a round of golf with, and a really nice guy.

[Stiofan]

Originally Posted by HackBlack

Cats[/url]

Maury Wills played SS for the LA Dodgers from 59-72 (with a couple stops w/ the Pirates and Expos) and is considered by many to be a future HOFer.

Wills has been passed over so many times for the HOF, he's now out of eligiblity, except for the Veterans Committee. A real shame, especially to this Dodger fan who grew up watching him play.

The only celeb I've played with outside a tournament, was Corbin Bernsen. Decent player but totally out of control as far as his temper. Otherwise a very nice guy.

[C-Tech]

Closest I came to any celebrity was playing one hole with Cliff Harris of the Dallas Cowboys. After Tom Landry passed away, Cliff took over as celebrity sponsor of a FCA golf tournament in Arkansas that I always participated in.

I did play golf with the sports marketing director for Univ of Arizona. I remember her first name was Cassidy and that she is on TV occasionally locally.

[alangbaker]

Originally Posted by HackBlack

I think there has been a previous thread about what tour players you know and/or have played golf with. Tell us a story about a celebrity you know and/or played golf with who is NOT a professional golfer.

Did anyone ever see the TV cartoon "Transformers"?

One day at a local muni here in Vancouver, a single joined our threesome. And after the usual, "So what do you do?" questions, I learned that this guy was the voice of Optimus Prime!

[Keith]

I was playing golf with my older brother in Spokane, WA in like 94 or 95 and had some girl and her brother join us. The girl was smoking us. She was home visiting from Arizona State Uni. Turns out it was Wendy Ward.

I played in the group right behind NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell at West Seattle Golf course a couple of years ago.

[TwillDog]

Didn't actually play with him, but played in a scramble and John Goodman also participated.

[C-Tech]

Forgot about the time I was on the same course with Chris DiMarco. He was in town for a wedding. I didn't even know he was there, but after we finished, the cart guy asked if we had seen him. I shot 85 that day from the whites, while he posted a course record 65 from the tips...

[Darth Fader]

I have played in a pro-am with Sandy Lyle and i have played Marc Warren in a couple of club events. Sandy Lyle was and is one of the most pleasent and personable pros to have played the game,nothing was to much bother for him,an absolute gent.

[Texas Wedge]

Larry Dierker (former Astros coach) hosts a charity golf tournament every year for the church and he seems like a really nice guy. Part of being in the tournament means you get to tee off (scramble) on one hole and Larry tees off with you and you get to use his drive if it is better than anything in your group. But then he just goes back to the tee box to wait for the next group to do it all over again.

[Fileygolfer]

One of Englands 1966 World Cup Winning (Soccer) squad is a member at my club and I bump into him often.
Thats Norman Hunter for those this side of the pond.
Also had the joy and laugh of playing with Wilf Paish, John Helm and Tessa Sanderson for 9 holes some years ago.

For those who don't know them,
Tessa is an Olympic Gold Medalist - Javlin
John is a TV commontator
Wilf is an Athletics Coach and helped Tessa to that Gold.

[Leaguegolf]

Hey Fileygolfer........Does playing golf with you count? Your professional exploits are still a must read around here!

[LBlack14]

Gilbert Dionne (not sure 'bout the spelling). He played in the NHL and won Stanley Cups as a teenager, if I'm not mistaken. Also played for the Cincinnati Cyclones later in his career.

Some of you hockey fans can probably fill in the blanks about him, but anyhow, he was a friend of a friend.

[JackSomebody]

I have played with the famous JIMSOMEBODY. A perfect gentleman on and off the course. Very instructual. Very kind. Doesn't make you feel incapable. Plus he can beat me with only 1/2 the clubs in his bag. I don't care what he says his handicap is....to me he will always be Scratch.

[Ty_Webb]

I played with Gavin Hastings once. For those of you who don't know, he played rugby for Scotland for quite some time. I think he may also have come to the US and acted as kicker for one of the NFL teams for a little while.

We played in the Halford Hewitt about ten years ago in some of the filthiest weather I can ever remember playing in. Wind was blowing a solid 45mph and gusting up to 55mph. It started hailing on us at one point. That was a bit much.

I met up with him again in St Andrews in 2000 at the Open. We were in a bar in the middle of town and I was chatting to him for maybe half an hour. Really nice guy, but my god he was fighting the ladies off. There was just a steady stream of them coming up to him and he brushed all of them off. Great for me That was quite a night.

[JimSomebody]

Originally Posted by JackSomebody

I have played with the famous JIMSOMEBODY...

Thanks for the kind words, Jack. I must be famous: everyone I know has heard of me!

I've never played with anyone famous. Closest I've come is that my group once let former Vikings running back Darrin Nelson and his playing partner play through us on a par 3 (they were only a twosome). It was a routine, friendly play-through; we didn't go ga-ga over him or anything. Nice guy. I forget if he made par or bogey.

[troll4poker]

There is a bit of a backstory to this one, but bear with me. While in college I dated a girl whose God parents were close friends with a Big Ten college basketball coach. We went to a few games and sat directly behind the bench and i got some great photos. Anyway, one evening when I was to pick her up for dinner she calls and tells me to bring one of the 8x10s that i had printed and her God parents were going to get it signed for me. I pick her up and we go by their home to drop off the pic and as we walk into the television room I see The General Robert (Bobby) Montgomery Knight sitting on the sofa. (I was later told that the look on my face was priceless). We spent the entire evening talking and socializing with him about everything EXCEPT basketball. At the end of the evening as we are leaving he invites me and my dates Godfather to Bloomington for a round of golf. I at that point in my golfing life was a 6 Hcp and was pretty comfortable playing against anyone on any given day, however on that day I shot the worst round I had the entire season (nerves i guess). To understand this u have to understand the mentality of a boy growing up in Indiana, playing basketball in Indiana, and having your favorite college team winning the National Championship the year before and your playing partner for the day being the coach of that team.

For all of you Bobby Knight critics, I will tell you what I have always told my mom (who cant stand him). I dont agree or even like some of the things he has done and if all you ever see or know of the man is what is seen on the televised games, Sportscenter, or any other sportscast, you have every right to have dislike for him, BUT having spent some time with him in person, listening to him talk informedly and intelligentally (sp) on several subjects OTHER than basketball, I have even more respect for him than I ever did before.

And just for the record, I was able to play with him a couple of times, (subsequently better rounds than that first one) and he is as intense on the golf course as he is on the basketball court.

[HackBlack]

Originally Posted by troll4poker

There is a bit of a backstory to this one, but bear with me. While in college I dated a girl whose God parents were close friends with a Big Ten college basketball coach. We went to a few games and sat directly behind the bench and i got some great photos. Anyway, one evening when I was to pick her up for dinner she calls and tells me to bring one of the 8x10s that i had printed and her God parents were going to get it signed for me. I pick her up and we go by their home to drop off the pic and as we walk into the television room I see The General Robert (Bobby) Montgomery Knight sitting on the sofa. (I was later told that the look on my face was priceless). We spent the entire evening talking and socializing with him about everything EXCEPT basketball. At the end of the evening as we are leaving he invites me and my dates Godfather to Bloomington for a round of golf. I at that point in my golfing life was a 6 Hcp and was pretty comfortable playing against anyone on any given day, however on that day I shot the worst round I had the entire season (nerves i guess). To understand this u have to understand the mentality of a boy growing up in Indiana, playing basketball in Indiana, and having your favorite college team winning the National Championship the year before and your playing partner for the day being the coach of that team.

For all of you Bobby Knight critics, I will tell you what I have always told my mom (who cant stand him). I dont agree or even like some of the things he has done and if all you ever see or know of the man is what is seen on the televised games, Sportscenter, or any other sportscast, you have every right to have dislike for him, BUT having spent some time with him in person, listening to him talk informedly and intelligentally (sp) on several subjects OTHER than basketball, I have even more respect for him than I ever did before.

And just for the record, I was able to play with him a couple of times, (subsequently better rounds than that first one) and he is as intense on the golf course as he is on the basketball court.

I can't provide the link here, but there is a youtube video of Coach Knight getting a bunker lesson that's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

[CristieKerr]

Originally Posted by LBlack14

Gilbert Dionne (not sure 'bout the spelling). He played in the NHL and won Stanley Cups as a teenager, if I'm not mistaken. Also played for the Cincinnati Cyclones later in his career.

Some of you hockey fans can probably fill in the blanks about him, but anyhow, he was a friend of a friend.

I hate to nitpick (but it's hockey, how can I not?), but he was like 22 or 23 when he won the Cup. But yes, he did win the Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1992-93 against Wayne Gretzky and the Kings. People may know his older brother a bit more, Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne. On a Gilbert note, I'm pretty sure his number was retired by the Cyclones organization.

Either way, that's awesome as all get out. I'd love to play golf with a Cup winner!



My old roommates father played golf with Detroiter Alice Cooper. I have not played golf with anyone famous so I figured I'd mention him. Apparently he is quite the intellectual and not like you'd expect. But I've heard that from more than him.

[troll4poker]

Originally Posted by HackBlack

I can't provide the link here, but there is a youtube video of Coach Knight getting a bunker lesson that's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

if your talking about the one with *sam* then i have it, my uncle sent it to me. was gonna post it here, but since Coach tends to occassionally, and since we
are a family friendly site i thought better of it