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Meeting a tour player?

907golfer12

907golfer12

Makin a comeback!
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Have you ever met a tour player? Where did you meet them? What were they like?

I personally have met 2 tour players. Boo Weekly and Mark Wilson. I met both at the Mercedes-Benz Championship (which I'm going to again this year.)

Boo, I must say, is one big guy, and his caddy is even bigger. But they were both very nice guys, Boo let me look at the clubs in his bag for the week, and his caddy let me hold one of Boo's irons.

Mark Wilson, was just as nice, and very very humble. When I talked to him, his caddy was over talking to the Ping rep about something, not sure what as I was talking to mark. He did show me his driver, it was a 7.5 Rapture that week, and it was set pretty open.

But back to the humble point. While talking to him I said "Sorry Mark, but could you remind me what tournament you won?" Really I had never heard of him, but didn't want to be rude and tell him that. But he replied "You probably have never heard of me, but that's okay. I know that I'm not a big name, but I won the [insert his win here, I forgot]." I then said "Oh, that's right. Well I wish you good luck with the tournament, and I hope you win." He calmly said "I'm just happy to be here with my family, but thanks, I really appreciate the support," and then he gave me a Ping hat.
 
Two of the pros I met are also listed in the thread that Smalls linked above(David Ogrin and Jill McGill). When I worked at a CC, Curtis Strange was a member there and I saw him in there a few times and served him lunch in the "Men's Grill" one time. I didn't want to bother him as he was a member there but the head pro, who he was eating with was nice enough to introduce him to me before they ate. Extremely nice guy!!

At a senior tour event in Greensboro NC I had club passes and was able to get a few autographs after the players signed their cards because I was basically hanging out in the clubhouse. Notables were Ray Floyd, Hal Irwin, Gil Morgan, Chi-Chi, and Lee Trevino(who talked with us for a few minutes).

Most of these people I met at a golf course or a tournament with the first two I mentioned(in the other post) at Busch Gardens. All of them were very friendly.
 
It's pretty cool when you meet a pro (or any celebrity, I would think) in a setting where you aren't thinking about it. At a tournament, it's always in the back of your mind that you may see and/or talk for a moment with a pro but meeting one in line for a roller coaster? Or in a mall? I've met several Chiefs players not at Arrowhead Stadium. One was actually at a driving range!
 
Smallville said:
It's pretty cool when you meet a pro (or any celebrity, I would think) in a setting where you aren't thinking about it. At a tournament, it's always in the back of your mind that you may see and/or talk for a moment with a pro but meeting one in line for a roller coaster? Or in a mall? I've met several Chiefs players not at Arrowhead Stadium. One was actually at a driving range!
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Yes it is, I have the pleasure of seeing a famous musician every now and then. He is related to my old roomate, so I first met him years ago at a family function, and his son plays basketball for a coach I work with, so he comes to see us at the shop once or twice a year. One of the most down to earth people I have ever met, but that may be from the years he spent touring with the Grateful Dead:bulgy-eyes:. We recently got some great seats for his last show and got to do the after party thing as well. Extremely talented and a great guy.
 
My wifes best friend was having her wedding about 9 yrs ago in Westchester NY and my friend and I went into the hotel bar for a drink before the party started. There was Darren Clark and Lee Westwood at the bar. The tounament was in town and they were at that hotel. We instantly recognized them and bought them a round. We talked for a while and then had to go to the reception. It was a cool experience. Very nice guys.
 
Sir Shanksalot said:
My wifes best friend was having her wedding about 9 yrs ago in Westchester NY and my friend and I went into the hotel bar for a drink before the party started. There was Darren Clark and Lee Westwood at the bar. The tounament was in town and they were at that hotel. We instantly recognized them and bought them a round. We talked for a while and then had to go to the reception. It was a cool experience. Very nice guys.
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That does sound fun, I'd love to try to drink Darren under the table!!
 
Sir Shanksalot said:
There was Darren Clark and Lee Westwood at the bar.
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Darren Clark in a bar? I'm shocked! Shocked I say!

What are you going to tell me next? That you saw Colin Montgomery in the office of a divorce attorney?!?!
 
i have meant brant snedeker, kenny perry, anthony kim, dudly hart, and stuart appleby.

i met brant one day at my country club because he was playing there with some family friends or something like that. this was in 2007, so it was cool to see him fresh on the tour. he is a really nice guy and i chatted with him on the range for a few minutes about his college experience at vandy, since it is in nashville. he said it was really cool to play there and he really liked his coach. i probably wont play there because they specialize as a medical and science school, and they have a really good golf team.

i met AK a few days before the ryder cup. it was just a quick chat though. i asked him what he was thinking about being the young gun of team usa and he said that he loved filling that position because it would allow him to really make some noise. he was also a down to earth person and very friendly

i met kenny perry at a celebrity scramble i played in. unfortunately KP didn't stick around to play due to prior commitments, but i talked to him in the pro sho and had him sign a ryder cup flag for my teammate. he told me that if i ever wanted to get on board at Lipscomb University, he is great friends with their coach. what is funny too is that a week later i played in a tournament and a friend of mine that goes to Lipscomb HS was in my group. apparently his dad and Kenny Perry were highschool teammates and his dad beat Kenny all the time in highschool.

I met Dudley Hart at the Honda Classic around 2001. I was little so i don't remember much of it.

i met stuart applebee because my dad is a wine rep, and one of the brands he carries endorsed stuart. they had a dinner party so i went with my dad and got to talk to him for a while. the most interesting thing that he said was that being a junior in Australia was pretty different from being a junior here, which has probably changed since he was a teenager
 
What PGA or LPGA players have you met?

What PGA or LPGA players have you met?

I am not sure if this has been a topic before, so apologies if it has. I know we have probably all been to some tour events etc., and wondered who all everyone has personally met and your experience with it.

My profile picture here is of me & Annika Sorenstam (obviously). I am not tall, 5'5", so I was amazed when I was taller than her! I heard her speak at sports forum here in Dallas, Texas. She had a really wonderful speech. I'll have to type out the hilights sometime when I get a moment. I will say, the person asking her questions ended the day with the question, "If you had a 3 foot putt to save your life, would you take the shot or let Tiger take it?" She laughed and said, "Oh no, I alone would take that shot!"

I have also met Charles Howell III who was extremely nice. I am sure he doesn't remember this, but I was in business classes at Oklahoma State at the same time as he and his wife. He was just a polite back then. When I ran into him, he was playing the 16th at the Bryon Nelson tournament here in Dallas. He hit a shot way left and under some trees where a little boy was sitting. He hit it right by the little boy. The kid would have to move for him to take the next shot, but the kid was just looking up at him in awe. Very, very politely, Charles Howell III asked him if he would help him win that day by coaching him from a different spot. The kid had just huge eyes and moved over in the grass so he could hit the ball. I bet that kid will never forget that!!!
 
I've never had the pleasure, unfortunately. One of these days I may try to attend an event in person but haven't yet.
 
I keep waiting to bump into Anna Rawson, Natalie Gulbis, Morgan Pressle, Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, Jeehea Lee, or even Kim Welch at the airport and flash my winning smile and maybe get a picture, but it never seems to happen. When I lived in California I used to run into minor celebrities from time to time, but I've not met a pro golfer yet.
 
Paula Creamer....she's sponsored by one of my biggest clients (CDW) and got to meet her and chat her up a bit. She's short but definitely cute.
 
Arrrrgh--long post that went into cyberspace. I'll try later to re-create it. I'm not happy with my computer today.
 
I caddied for Tom Lehman back in 1993 when he was playing on the Ben Hogan Tour, it was only on the Wednesday Pro AM unfortunately and at the time I certainlly didn't know who in the world he was or who he'd turn out to be in the very near future. Kinda neat story though.
 
Dang! I totally forgot about meeting Todd Hamilton. I was at a Dallas Stars hockey game in one of the Exec Suites bars. I was wearing a camouflage Taylormade hat. (Yes, I'm from Texas). He came up to me and was like, "I like that hat, where did you get it?" I told him my ex-boyfriend had picked it up for me in Waco, TX. I asked him to sign it, but we realized the pen wouldn't show up on the dark camouflage.

He pulled out a dollar bill from his wallet and signed it for me. He also got my address and shipped me a full color, personalized autographed photo of himself about 2 weeks later. Really nice guy!!!!
 
Craig Mac said:
Hit the back button a few times then copy and paste, shouldn't be that difficult.
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Never works for me.

The short version--

I've volunteered at the Sybase for a few years now, always as a standard bearer or walking scorer. So I get to meet players in groups of three, though beyond handshakes at the beginning and the end, there is essentially no convesation.

The two biggest names I've walked with are Christina Kim and Yani Tseng (early last year, before she'd won anything, but I could tell she was about to bust out). I'll put the list together again later; this makes me realize I need to keep better track, and not just rely on my memory.
 
MistyKeene said:
Dang! I totally forgot about meeting Todd Hamilton. I was at a Dallas Stars hockey game in one of the Exec Suites bars. I was wearing a camouflage Taylormade hat. (Yes, I'm from Texas). He came up to me and was like, "I like that hat, where did you get it?" I told him my ex-boyfriend had picked it up for me in Waco, TX. I asked him to sign it, but we realized the pen wouldn't show up on the dark camouflage.

He pulled out a dollar bill from his wallet and signed it for me. He also got my address and shipped me a full color, personalized autographed photo of himself about 2 weeks later. Really nice guy!!!!
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All that, and no digits???
 
No numbers? weak. :call-me:

Taylormade camo hat + Waco, TX = <insert punchline here>

Remember, we kid because we care :cowboy:

MistyKeene said:
Dang! I totally forgot about meeting Todd Hamilton. I was at a Dallas Stars hockey game in one of the Exec Suites bars. I was wearing a camouflage Taylormade hat. (Yes, I'm from Texas). He came up to me and was like, "I like that hat, where did you get it?" I told him my ex-boyfriend had picked it up for me in Waco, TX. I asked him to sign it, but we realized the pen wouldn't show up on the dark camouflage.

He pulled out a dollar bill from his wallet and signed it for me. He also got my address and shipped me a full color, personalized autographed photo of himself about 2 weeks later. Really nice guy!!!!
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thanks1974 said:
Paula Creamer....she's sponsored by one of my biggest clients (CDW) and got to meet her and chat her up a bit. She's short but definitely cute.
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Short???
 
Having lived in Waco for 2 years...:shut-mouth:
 
I have met a few tour players. Most of the time it was at pre-tournament functions, and other times it has been on the golf course. A few passing words, and a hand shake for the most part. The fun story is I went to my local course to play as a single. I arrived at the first tee, and the starter paired me up with a young lady who was also a single. I hit my ball, and proceeded to move to the ladies tees. Mean while the lady had already tee'd up from the mens' tips. When we got to our balls she was about 15' past me. During the round we talked about Vegas, and other non golfing subjects. She was kind enough to point out a couple of issues in my golf swing even though she thought I had a decent swing. We even discovered we lived in the same zip code. Long story short, she shot a 68 (-3), and I was quite humbled with a 78. When we were leaving the course, she asked if I wanted an autograph which I kindly refused telling her the golf was quite enough, and that I appreciated watching her play. I am not a name dropper, but I will tell you the best conversation on golf I ever had was with Mike "Fluff" Cowens after he started hauling Furyk's bag. Very nice gentlemen. I walked up to him as he was sharpening a pencil, and asked him if he was allowed to speak to the public. He replied "I am now, and this is still America". :cool:
 
thanks1974 said:
No numbers? weak. :call-me:

Taylormade camo hat + Waco, TX = <insert punchline here>

Remember, we kid because we care :cowboy:
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:cowboy: :cowboy:Yee haw - I'm 100% cowgirl, so all that totally fits me I promise!! I wear cowboy boots as much as I wear spikes!!! :cowboy: :cowboy:

And for all the disses about not getting a phone number, I had heard he was married, so I didn't even go down that path!!! Plus, I was there with 3 guy friends, so he prob thought I was taken. Or at least that's what i'll tell myself :wink:
 
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