A technology systems sales rep stands over a 20-yard pitch from the heavy rough. Only the top third of the ball is visible from any angle in the thick grass, and the sales rep sets up with a mid-iron. He waggles once before I stop him.
“What club are you using for this shot?” I ask.
“Um, a 9-iron,” he replies.
“Are you sure about that?” I ask.
“Yes. This doesn’t look like a 9-iron to you?” he replies.
“Let’s just check to make sure,” I say.
The salesman lifts the club and looks at the bottom. It’s a 6-iron.
I play a handful of pro-am tournaments every year and in each, beyond making sure everyone has fun, I try to impart new ideas for improvement to each player. Sometimes, however, the job is as simple as saving players from themselves.
Seven-time PGA Tour winner and one of golf’s great personalities, Peter Jacobsen, told me the advice Arnold Palmer gave him as a young pro.
“When you have the chance to win, your focus needs to be on your game,” says Jacobsen. “But most of the time, being a professional golfer is about the people around you. It’s about helping others to enjoy their own game and relationships.” This is what Palmer told Jacobsen and they were words he would live by. I try to keep them close when playing in pro-ams.
The Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation Pro-Am was held at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course this year and I was invited to host a group of amateurs. The Innisbrook clubhouse is being renovated and the rough is being grown for the upcoming Valspar Championship. The rough was jungle-like and fit for a U.S. Open. The tournament director apologized for the condition of the rough before groups were sent out to their respective holes for the shotgun start.
The Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation – named after the swashbuckling Puerto Rican with eight PGA Tour wins and a Hall of Fame induction – supports at-risk kids with access to education and golf. The Foundation improves academic performance and the self-esteem of kids in the Tampa community. This year, the tournament shared a couple of the organization’s success stories, which each tournament participant would be supporting.
My presence at the event wasn’t solely about the kids. Most pro-ams offer a paycheck to pros and this one paid enough to cover my expenses for the Valspar Championship qualifier in the coming weeks. If all goes well, the charitable ripple effect of the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation will have expanded.
Our group is sent to the 16th hole to start our round – the signature hole in "The Snake Pit.” When I learn where our group is headed, I laugh.
“What’s the deal with that hole?” Someone in our group asks.
“Once we finish it, the course gets easier,” I reply.
While I’ve played the Island Course at Innisbrook a handful of times, this would be my first real trip around Copperhead. The NEXT Tour, an international virtual golf tour, set their event on Copperhead recently, so I knew what the holes looked like on a simulator. But how would that experience compare to the real thing?
The tee shot on 16
The 16th hole is a 458-yard par-4 dogleg with water looming right and carving into the fairway. The tee shot is perilous. A wall of trees and pine straw protects the left side of the hole, potentially locking a bail-out shot in jail. The back tees were set mercifully forward, and yet I still managed to find the water with my opening swing. Snake Pit: 1, Baldwin: 0. Fortunately, it was the only time my ball didn’t end up on land all day.
My group had three players who worked for two of the main sponsors of the Valspar Championship. They were happy to be out of the office, but Copperhead might require every ball in their bags. One of the golfers sensed this early and shortly after we teed off, was working on two open Modelos.
The 18th hole was our third of the day and two of my partners sent their approach shots deep into the grandstands, which were being built. Their balls clanged off steel beams, echoing across the property, testing the stability of the structure. Fans would have been in mortal danger had there been spectating on this day.
The Copperhead Course is beautiful, with elevation changes that make it feel like you’re playing in Georgia or Tennessee. The first hole, a downhill par-5, is set in the same direction with the same elevation change as the driving range, making the opening tee shot feel like an extension of the warm-up (assuming golfers aren’t playing in shotgun start). It’s a beautiful opening hole that’s just demanding enough.
I made my first birdie of the day on the 2nd hole, a dogleg-left par-4 with water down the right. That’s where my technology sales rep playing partner mistook a 6-iron for a 9. After we cleared up that misunderstanding we were off to the 3rd, a tricky par-4 with water right and a green that’s banked like a NASCAR track corner.
The 5th hole is a 600-yard par-5, straight up a hill leaving a blind second shot. Players going for the green in two have to hit two perfect shots while navigating an uneven lie off an upslope, and a blind downhill shot over a tree. It’s a great test of commitment, skill, trust and strategy. My partners, however, didn’t need the extra challenge. We spent most of the hole looking for balls in the trees, rough and pine straw. I began offering tips more freely: square up the shoulders in the setup; make sure your hands are set up in front of the clubhead; accelerate through the chip shot; it’s okay to pick up your ball and go to the next tee.
The 6th hole is called “Sidewinder,” and it’s a 450-yard, narrow dogleg right, requiring a high fade to hold a fairway that slopes severely from right-to-left. I loved it but thought it would be maddening to play in competition. I scrambled around the hole and saved par.
The 9th hole was my highlight of the day. I hit a great drive on the 400-yard par 4, leaving 86 yards to the hole. My approach was a perfect 60 degree wedge that never left the flag, took one bounce and disappeared. The shot was uphill and with the hole tucked over a greenside bunker, we couldn’t see the green. When we approached the green, the only thing we saw around the hole was a ball mark right in front of the hole.
“Where is your ball, Mark?” a partner asked.
I walked up to the flag and looked down. “Right here,” I said as I picked the ball out of the hole triumphantly.
I don’t know what I expected, but clearly my partners had been waiting for such a shot because the response was met with the same enthusiasm one might express when finding a $5 bill on the cart path. After a few subdued fist bumps, we moved on. Maybe they were just playing it cool? After all, this is what pros are supposed to do.
The par-3s on the back nine are memorable holes, especially 13 – a 170 to 200-yard shot over water to a green that gets narrower the farther right you look. On this day, the pin was accessible and the tee was forward. With PGA Tour tournament pressure, a right pin and stiff breeze cause heart palpitations.
We concluded on the downhill par-3 15th, the opening hole of The Snake Pit. By the time we finished, the course had bitten all of us. We shook hands and made our way back to the clubhouse for lunch. Our team wouldn’t be taking home any prizes on this day, but our score was respectable, the course was spectacular, and the day was fun.
I hope to be back here soon. I hope this round serves as my first practice round for the Valspar Championship. If the qualifier is a success, this pro-am will have contributed to it. If you see me sheath my putter during the Valspar Championship, or show up to my tee time in a fedora cap, just know it’s a nod of appreciation to Chi Chi Rodriguez and his good deeds.
The Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation Pro-Am was held at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course this year and I was invited to host a group of amateurs. The Innisbrook clubhouse is being renovated and the rough is being grown for the upcoming Valspar Championship. The rough was jungle-like and fit for a U.S. Open. The tournament director apologized for the condition of the rough before groups were sent out to their respective holes for the shotgun start.
The Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation – named after the swashbuckling Puerto Rican with eight PGA Tour wins and a Hall of Fame induction – supports at-risk kids with access to education and golf. The Foundation improves academic performance and the self-esteem of kids in the Tampa community. This year, the tournament shared a couple of the organization’s success stories, which each tournament participant would be supporting.
My presence at the event wasn’t solely about the kids. Most pro-ams offer a paycheck to pros and this one paid enough to cover my expenses for the Valspar Championship qualifier in the coming weeks. If all goes well, the charitable ripple effect of the Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth Foundation will have expanded.
Our group is sent to the 16th hole to start our round – the signature hole in "The Snake Pit.” When I learn where our group is headed, I laugh.
“What’s the deal with that hole?” Someone in our group asks.
“Once we finish it, the course gets easier,” I reply.
While I’ve played the Island Course at Innisbrook a handful of times, this would be my first real trip around Copperhead. The NEXT Tour, an international virtual golf tour, set their event on Copperhead recently, so I knew what the holes looked like on a simulator. But how would that experience compare to the real thing?
The tee shot on 16
The 16th hole is a 458-yard par-4 dogleg with water looming right and carving into the fairway. The tee shot is perilous. A wall of trees and pine straw protects the left side of the hole, potentially locking a bail-out shot in jail. The back tees were set mercifully forward, and yet I still managed to find the water with my opening swing. Snake Pit: 1, Baldwin: 0. Fortunately, it was the only time my ball didn’t end up on land all day.
My group had three players who worked for two of the main sponsors of the Valspar Championship. They were happy to be out of the office, but Copperhead might require every ball in their bags. One of the golfers sensed this early and shortly after we teed off, was working on two open Modelos.
The 18th hole was our third of the day and two of my partners sent their approach shots deep into the grandstands, which were being built. Their balls clanged off steel beams, echoing across the property, testing the stability of the structure. Fans would have been in mortal danger had there been spectating on this day.
The Copperhead Course is beautiful, with elevation changes that make it feel like you’re playing in Georgia or Tennessee. The first hole, a downhill par-5, is set in the same direction with the same elevation change as the driving range, making the opening tee shot feel like an extension of the warm-up (assuming golfers aren’t playing in shotgun start). It’s a beautiful opening hole that’s just demanding enough.
I made my first birdie of the day on the 2nd hole, a dogleg-left par-4 with water down the right. That’s where my technology sales rep playing partner mistook a 6-iron for a 9. After we cleared up that misunderstanding we were off to the 3rd, a tricky par-4 with water right and a green that’s banked like a NASCAR track corner.
The 5th hole is a 600-yard par-5, straight up a hill leaving a blind second shot. Players going for the green in two have to hit two perfect shots while navigating an uneven lie off an upslope, and a blind downhill shot over a tree. It’s a great test of commitment, skill, trust and strategy. My partners, however, didn’t need the extra challenge. We spent most of the hole looking for balls in the trees, rough and pine straw. I began offering tips more freely: square up the shoulders in the setup; make sure your hands are set up in front of the clubhead; accelerate through the chip shot; it’s okay to pick up your ball and go to the next tee.
The 6th hole is called “Sidewinder,” and it’s a 450-yard, narrow dogleg right, requiring a high fade to hold a fairway that slopes severely from right-to-left. I loved it but thought it would be maddening to play in competition. I scrambled around the hole and saved par.
The 9th hole was my highlight of the day. I hit a great drive on the 400-yard par 4, leaving 86 yards to the hole. My approach was a perfect 60 degree wedge that never left the flag, took one bounce and disappeared. The shot was uphill and with the hole tucked over a greenside bunker, we couldn’t see the green. When we approached the green, the only thing we saw around the hole was a ball mark right in front of the hole.
“Where is your ball, Mark?” a partner asked.
I walked up to the flag and looked down. “Right here,” I said as I picked the ball out of the hole triumphantly.
I don’t know what I expected, but clearly my partners had been waiting for such a shot because the response was met with the same enthusiasm one might express when finding a $5 bill on the cart path. After a few subdued fist bumps, we moved on. Maybe they were just playing it cool? After all, this is what pros are supposed to do.
The par-3s on the back nine are memorable holes, especially 13 – a 170 to 200-yard shot over water to a green that gets narrower the farther right you look. On this day, the pin was accessible and the tee was forward. With PGA Tour tournament pressure, a right pin and stiff breeze cause heart palpitations.
We concluded on the downhill par-3 15th, the opening hole of The Snake Pit. By the time we finished, the course had bitten all of us. We shook hands and made our way back to the clubhouse for lunch. Our team wouldn’t be taking home any prizes on this day, but our score was respectable, the course was spectacular, and the day was fun.
I hope to be back here soon. I hope this round serves as my first practice round for the Valspar Championship. If the qualifier is a success, this pro-am will have contributed to it. If you see me sheath my putter during the Valspar Championship, or show up to my tee time in a fedora cap, just know it’s a nod of appreciation to Chi Chi Rodriguez and his good deeds.
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