Cabin Bluff

You know that Cabin Bluff is a special place the moment you arrive.  It has one of those “don’t blink you might miss it” kind of entrances that immediately heightens your senses and curiosity. As you pass through a random livestock gate, your eyes peer down a long road cut into a thick forest lined with towering pines that feels more like North Carolina than Coastal Georgia.  I took a deep breath and downshifted from my multitasking world which I happily left behind just a few miles back on I-95.

Established in 1928, Cabin Bluff was built as a a corporate outdoor retreat that hosted Presidents, wealthy travelers and many distinguished sporting enthusiasts from around the world.  Just seven miles north of the Florida state line and tucked away on 75,000 acres amidst the coastal marshes of Georgia’s Cumberland River, you quickly appreciate as you pull into the property why Cabin Bluff has attracted the Who’s Who of the Outdoors.

My arrival at the main lodge reminded me of my first day at summer camp.  The sounds and smells of the woodlands and coastal sea marshes unleashed my inner child and adventuresome spirit.  A friendly laid-back staffer welcomed me and assisted me to my charming rustic cabin.  As I threw down my bags and cascaded backwards onto the comfy bed, I realized I was about to experience a weekend I wouldn’t soon forget.

Cabin Bluff is a luxurious yet rustic retreat with twenty private rooms featuring private baths and stone fireplaces.  The 1,700 square foot state-of-the-art conference facility overlooking a picturesque pond provides the ideal destination for a corporate retreat.  From its home-style breakfasts to its signature oyster roasts,  Cabin Bluff’s cuisine is Southern hospitality at its best.  With a maximum capacity of forty guests, there are many moments when you feel like you’ve escaped to your own private estate.

There are countless outdoor activities and adventures to enjoy.  Long revered as a premier hunting destination for quail, turkey, deer and boar, exceptionally trained guides are available to give you instruction whether you are a seasoned hunter or timid first-timer.

One of the highlights of my visit was a hunting dog demonstration.  Cabin Bluff’s pointers and retrievers are uniquely trained and used in pairs to steady, flush and retrieve fallen birds providing a first class hunting experience.  The skill, intelligence and physical stamina of these dogs is remarkable.  The guys were particularly impressed when one of the dogs retrieved an ice-cold Bud out of a nearby cooler at the end of the demonstration!

Another highlight is the golf course designed by PGA Tour Champion Davis Love III.  This brilliantly conceived design features six thoughtfully constructed greens with three distinct pin placements. The combined 18-hole layout is peppered with plenty of bunkers, water hazards, and unforced carries to satisfy any golfer’s appetite. Guests can grab a cart, head straight to the first tee and play anytime they like.  Six, 12, or 18 – it’s fast, enjoyable and fun.

Cabin Bluff is a treasure trove for deep-sea fishing as well as inshore excursions.  Boating, tennis, hiking, biking, canoeing and kayaking are also available.  And if you’re so inclined, you can hone your marksmanship skills on the 13 station sporting clays course. Often referred to as “golf with a shotgun,” this sport may get you hooked, like it did me, on the very first shot.

Guests are encouraged to unwind and relax at Cabin Bluff.   The service is impeccable, uncomplicated, and tailored to fit your pace of activity and adventure.  When my group of female anglers felt more inclined to boat cruising than doing “serious” fishing, our Captain eagerly obliged and deadheaded across the Intracoastal Waterway treating us to a delightful afternoon on Cumberland Island.

Cumberland Island is a designated National Seashore and can only be accessed by boat or ferry.  Historic, pristine, and known as a private getaway for the likes of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, the island is also famous for being the secret site of the late John F. Kennedy Jr.’s wedding ceremony to Jacqueline Basset.  Our group enjoyed a fun, spontaneous outing hiking around the island, touring the Carnegie mansion and spying some wild horses that still roam freely on the island.  Not something you get to see everyday!

Throughout the weekend, I found myself immersed in the extraordinary beauty and peace of Cabin Bluff.  It’s a place where you can unplug and kick-back with a good book in one of the large wooden swings or enjoy the tweeting birds (and not your smart phone) while sipping some morning joe on the front porch of your private cabin.

While a weekend is clearly not enough time to experience all the amenities Cabin Bluff has to offer, it’s a highly recommended start. For years this secluded and exclusive retreat was a day’s bounty for only a privileged few.  Thankfully today this destination bucket can be filled and crossed off anybody’s list.

The gauntlet – qualifying for the PGA Championship

With the approach of the last major of the season, the PGA Championship, I am reminded of how difficult it is to make a living as a professional golfer and the challenging journey it can be to obtain that ultimate access – becoming an exempt player on the PGA Tour.

Golf is an individual sport where pros have to go out week-after week and make cuts to make paychecks. There are no sponsor-laden, multi-million-dollar, LeBron-James-type contracts. No team to carry your load if you become sidelined with an injury.

Getting your PGA Tour card is one part of the quest – keeping it and playing at the highest level is another. Just ask Tiger. Since his fall from grace earlier this year, Tiger has struggled to get his once untouchable A-game back on track. A year that has cost him millions in sponsorships, who could have imagined the #1 player in the world going the entire 2010 season without a corporate giant’s logo emblazoned on his bag?

The PGA Championship has a unique qualifying process. PGA professionals from across the country compete in a series of year-long qualifiers that advance them to the final test, the Professional National Championship.

The 43rd PNC was held June 26-30th at French Lick (Ind) Resort. The Championship featured a $555,000 purse and a 312- player field representing 43 states and 41 sections. The top 20 finishers qualified for the 156-member field competing in this week’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Golf club in Kohler, Wisconsin.

Mike Small, head coach for the University of Illinois, posted an 8-under par (278) victory on the Pete Dye Course winning by 3 three strokes and claiming his third record-setting PNC.

A one hour special “The Road to the PGA Championship,” by CBS Sports featured behind-the-scenes stories of Small’s victory as well as some of his fellow competitors.

The coverage included tournament highlights and several heart-warming player profiles such as Bruce Smith, 43, the PGA director of instruction at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas, Texas.

Smith makes an emotional return to Whistling Straits this week, where in 2004, the site of the 86th PGA Championship, he was coordinating a fundraising project for medical expenses to aid his daughter, Kennedy, who has undergone 10 lifetime surgeries for a rare birth defect – lymphatic malformation of the face. (The campaign blossomed into the Kisses Fore Kennedy Foundation, benefiting families of children born with similar birth defects.)

No qualifier has ever gone on to win the PGA Championship.
I haven’t checked with the odds makers to see what Small’s chances are of winning this week, but he’ll probably be happy to make the cut.

As for Tiger, he’s hoping the golfing gods shine brightly on him and grant him some redemption. After all, this was supposed to be the year that spelled GRAND SLAM for Tiger with the four Majors being played at some of his favorite and most successful venues.

Nevertheless, the PGA Championship is known for producing its share of fairy tale endings.

In 1991, an unknown Arkansas pro named John Daly drove all night from Memphis to make his tee time as the 9th alternate and became the Cinderella story when he won the Wannamaker Trophy at Crooked Stick in Indiana. In 1997, Davis Love III sank the final putt on the 18th at Crooked Stick (Ind), with a dramatic rainbow appearing just over his shoulder, to win his first major championship. And underdog Y. E. Yang stunned the golf world by beating Tiger Woods in the final round of the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

Yes, sports fans… anything’s possible at this week’s PGA Championship. Anything’s possible in the world of professional golf.

Sometimes, great golf PR is all about timing

The Donald Ross Course at French Lick Resort.

One of the toughest things in my business is that sometimes we make things look too easy.  I pick up the phone, make a call and score an interview for a client.  It looks effortless and simple, but what is often overlooked or not understood, is the years of investment my company has made in building the “right” relationships and working behind the scenes which allows for the “stars to align” and that opportunity to happen.

Golf is a relationship business.  We support clients and associates in the golf industry.  It is a formula that can be difficult to measure in the short term (especially for bean counter types) but always delivers in the long run.

This is one of the most challenging things about the nature of public relations – although PR is essential to driving the positive perceptions about a product or service – like the value of art, it is often valued in “the eye of the beholder” (and not the client) because their isn’t an objective way to measure the value of an individual piece.

I was reminded of this and the ongoing PR process – networking, connections and relationships – with a series of events that happened over the past month and which keeps GMS on top of our game.

Several weeks ago, I invited Brendan Sweeney, the Director of Golf Sales for French Lick Golf Resort, in French Link, Indiana to be a guest on my radio show, the Golf Insiders on ESPN1080 in Orlando.  French Lick was the host site for the 2010 PGA Professionals National Championship, June 27-30, 2010.  We interviewed Brendan on the final day of the championship as the winner was putting out.  The top 20 finishers qualified to play in the final major of the year – The PGA Championship.

It was a major PR opportunity for French Lick to get radio coverage on the PNC and to promote the golf resort in Orlando. (Brendan lives in Orlando and is a big fan of our radio show so it was a win-win all the way around!).

Two weeks later, a client of mine called to see if I could arrange a foursome of golf as a birthday present for her brother who lives near French Lick.  What perfect timing given that I had just had Brendan on the show. I call him and arranged a VIP day of golf on July 15th – on the house!

Fast forward to July 29^th – the Monday following the British Open Championship. Our local ESPN station hosts a series of scramble tournaments called “The Monday After the Majors,” which my radio show, The Golf Insiders and my golf company, Golf Marketing Services, help to promote.

GMS always has a team in the event hosted by long-time, local sports talk celebrities, Mike Tuck & Jerry O’Neil.  As a “thank you” gesture,  I invited Brendan to play.  We had a fun day on the links although our team did not win the Central Florida Claret Jug!

Fast forward to Friday July 23^rd. Brendan calls me asking if I can arrange to get him an interview on the “Tuck & O’Neil” radio show to promote CBS Sports’ television special, “The Road to the PGA Championship” on Sunday July 25th – a one hour highlight show featuring French Lick and the PGA Professionals National Championship.

Brendan called at 2:05 pm.  I figured it would be a long shot since the Tuck & O’Neil show goes on air at 3:00 pm but told him I’d give it my best shot (lead time is often a luxury in the PR biz!).

I called Jerry and reminded him that Brendan had played in the tournament earlier in the week.  He said “Yes!” to the interview and we made it happen.  Brendan provided a “Stay & Play” golf package for two at French Lick as a prize for the next “Monday after the Majors” event and it was a home run for everyone.

My breathtaking round of golf at Red Tail

Red Tail Golf Club in Sorrento, FL

I grabbed my sticks this weekend and teed it up at Red Tail Country Club in Sorrento, Florida.  In case you’re not from the Orlando area or even if you are, Red Tail may be one of the best kept secrets in the Sunshine state.

Designed by Dave Harman and opened in 2006, Red Tail is a pleasant surprise from the minute you drive through its secluded gate.  Surrounded by countryside as you venture 30 miles off I-4, passage through a covered bridge before the entrance to the Rocky Mountain-style clubhouse, is your first clue that Red Tail is not your typical Florida golf club.

With rolling fairways and century-old magestic oaks, Red Tail offers an unusual natural setting that will test the most accomplished golfer’s shot making ability.  The 7152 yard, par 72 links-style course offers six sets of tees that provide countless ways to set up the golf course.  Hit it off the fairway and you may be posting a few unexpected doubles or triples and looking for the beverage cart early in your round.

Fresh off my non-stop consumption of the British Open coverage last week, my right brain was in the right place to practice some creative shot making of my own. A bump & run pitch shot off the second cut of rough at the 14th green, slammed into the cup, providing my only Watson-esque birdie of the day. 

High marks to Red Tail for frequent and easy to find yardage markers and barber poles in the fairways along with well-defined and clearly staked hazard and out-of-bounds areas. All the things you expect at a private club.

The one issue I had with this course, and my pet peeve with courses in general, was seeing the pin placements.  Generic white flags are difficult to see and determine depth perception.  I don’t understand why superintendents don’t use colored flags and make them a standard practice to mark pin positions?  Nothing against technology or the use of pin sheets, laser guns and GPS systems, but there is something simple and refreshingly uncomplicated about determining the location of the flagstick with the naked eye.  Call me crazy, but red (front), yellow (middle), blue (back), work fine for me. 

Overall, my experience far outweighed my score on this beastly hot summer day.  As the sun was setting, I was taken by Red Tail’s breathtaking landscape, nestled within acres of beautiful farmland, complete with an overlooking gallery of cows and an old weathered homestead that sits uncompromising on a hill within this community of sprawling new country estates. 

Red Tail’s interesting contours, waste areas, bunkering and natural vegetation provides a lay-out that requires local knowledge and a focused mind but is a fair & challenging track that will bring me back often and is a must play for any golfer in the Orlando area.

The G! Report has arrived!

The G! Report has arrived! I finally have given up all resistance to having my own blog. I admit, like most of the golf industry, I am not always an early technology adopter. When I do something, I want to do it right.

As a radio program host, and owner of Golf Marketing Services, I always find myself in the midst of whatever is happening in golf. Sometimes, I find myself in some interesting and unusual situations. So here I am, world!

Armed with a iPhone, and working in golf’s inner circles, I am ready to report and share on the G! Report. Stay tuned!