While unseasonable snow and hail storms absolutely ruin Spring hopes for many parts
of the country, the weather in Georgia yesterday was like high summer up
north. A few colleagues and I had the
pleasure of escaping winter’s return and joining tens of thousands of pilgrims
on the trek to Augusta. Truly, The
Masters each year must be like the great pilgrimages of history. Believers come from all over the world,
dressed in golf shirts showing logos from home courses listed on Golf Digest’s
Top 100, or they wear Masters attire purchased in years past that shows their
devotion to the Faith. They descend en
masse on an otherwise quiet city, tying up traffic for miles and marching in
perfect step and long lines toward hallowed gates, to see the best golfers in
the world compete for the championship they most want to win. It's an impressive scene.
Come to think
of it…. I’m sure Chaucer could write an incredible Canterbury Tales sequel about this.
For his “Augusta Tales” he could just recycle his CT Prologue, with its indelible description of the earth’s re-birth,
as April pierces the drought of March to the root. All he would have to do is change the “tendre
croppes” reference to Azaleas, and add in astoundingly perfect turf, and it’d
be good to go. This year, the
"Secretary of State's Tale" and the "The 14 Year Old's Magical
Mystery Tour" would be among the best stories, I'd bet.
Yesterday was
especially unforgettable for the Allen Edmonds sojourners. Colin Hall (our SVP
of Marketing, Golf and International) and Jim Kass (our SVP of Operations) and
I waited patiently (why would we not?) at a sun-soaked table, behind the ropes
around the back of the world-renowned clubhouse, for Jack Nicklaus to finish
speaking with the 14 year old Chinese phenom who qualified for this year's
Masters. The prodigy was seeking wisdom from The Oracle of the Six Green
Jackets. After their conversation about
how to play key shots on the course, and after several pictures of the boy's
family with Jack – Andy O’Brien, our host and everyday partner in our
relationship with Nicklaus Companies, ushered us into the living room of Jack's
cabin for the week. Barbara was there, son Steve checked in to drop off
purchases from the ANGC pro shop, son Gary came in with a couple of his kids to
say hello to Grandpa… and we sat down with Jack to talk for over an hour!
Instead of a quick meet and greet, it was all about soles, no-tie laces, golf
swing support requirements, Jack's view of the future of golf shoes, shoe
construction, lightweight materials and the challenges of finding a
perfect-fitting golf glove. Now I know how he remembers his championship rounds
across the decades shot-by-shot. The man has incredible attention to detail and
extreme standards of excellence. 
We presented
Jack with three of our new golf hats with the icon of his "Yes Sir!"
birdie putt on 17 in 1986, without any
expectation that he would wear one of them.
For years, he has worn a "Golden Bear" logo hat at his
appearances. But his grandson took one
of the three for himself to wear, Gary grabbed another, and then (to Andy's
surprise) Jack said he'd wear the third for the Par 3 Tournament. It was a white hat with a blue “Jack on 17”
logo. He joked, "I'm always wearing a black hat in some people's eyes when
I play with Arnie, so I'll wear the white hat today." I chuckled at how the good friends still
compete so intensely -- Jack at 73 and Arnie 10 years older. Jack also wore our green and white
"Muirfield Village" golf shoes that we've developed together over the
past 18 months.
Andy O'Brien
and I met later in the afternoon to head to the Par 3 course, where we bumped
into Golf Digest's Mr. Fashion -- Marty Hackel.
It was Marty who first introduced Andy, Colin and me to each other two
years ago, which set our relationship with Andy and Jack in motion. After the Par 3 Contest introductions and
opening tee shots, Andy headed off to catch his plane back to Florida and I was
able to watch the Big Three (Gary Player, too) play the first three holes before
I, too, had to leave for home to get back to work.
While waiting
at the airport, my wife called and let me know that she had just heard on TV
someone yell: "Cool logo, Jack!" to him. She also alerted me that our other great
partner in our foray in to the golf business -- Ben Crenshaw -- had made a
Hole-in-One during the Contest. Ben
represents us on the Honors Collection – the classic, and more traditional
spiked golf shoes that he prefers. Very
appropriately for golf’s greatest historian and keeper of the traditions of the
game, Ben was wearing our LEGENDS model shoe as his high wedge spun out of the
ballmark and perfectly followed the sloping contour of the green to drop into
the front of the cup. It was a great
ending to the day for me, and a great start to the tournament for Ben.
Here are
links to the Par 3 Contest Highlights videos…
And here’s
hoping Spring comes soon for all of us who can’t wait for Winter 2013 to end
Paul
Paul D. Grangaard
Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation
