AJ is our Newest Rock Star!!!

The Golf Belles are stoked to embrace AJ as our newest Golf Belle, and she is a ROCK STAR!

In over a month AJ has built a charity tournament for Tornado Disaster Relief in Alabama, become an active Golf Belle in her regional area and on Facebook with over 800 friends Plus is launching and opening her own fashion boutique, Polka Dots & Pearls Boutique.

Sleep for AJ is not an option 😉

AJ’s Quest is a Quest for Business Empowerment! Empowerment is a multidimensional social process that helps people gain control over their own lives.  It is a process that fosters power in people, for use in their own lives, their communities, and in their society, by acting on things that they define as important.  Empowerment is a process that is similar to a path or journey. Her journey is to open a clothing boutique and be a successful business owner while also being an active team member of the Golf Belles.

AJ’s Bio

Hello, my name is Angela but I have been called AJ since I can remember. I was born and raised in Glencoe, Alabama. Graduated in 2000 from Glencoe High School. I have one brother who is married and they have a 3 year old little boy who is my pride and joy! What is odd  is that I am the ONLY right handed person in my whole family!!

I have a B.S. in Exercise Science & Wellness and B.S.Ed in Physical Education from Jacksonville State University.

I grew up playing Golf, Softball, Basketball, and Volleyball.  I was introduced to golf when I was 12 and fell in love with the game!! My biggest regret was not accepting any of the golf scholarships I was offered in college. I still play every week and participate in the scrambles.

My friends joke that they can’t figure me out because I play every sport, rock climb, white water raft, ride 4wheelers, camp, fish, wear 6 inch heels, and obsessed with fashion. I like to call myself a Tomboyish Prissy Country Girl with style.

I worked in sporting goods for almost 4 years, Victoria Secrets off and on for 6 years where I held a management position.(talk about 2 totally different work environments)  Once I left Victoria Secret I worked at 2 different hospitals for their business office. Opening a clothing boutique and being a part of the Golf Belles is definitely going to be the perfect combination for me! I am so excited to see where these new adventures lead me!

Please visit AJ’s  Facebook profile to connect with her and follow her retail store adventure at Polka Dots & Pearls Boutique.

You can contact AJ at angela@golfbelles.com

Glove It Marketing Launch and Dani’s Quest to Play Golf

We are so excited about the following 2 announcements:

Glove It, LLC Partners With Golf Belles To Drive Their Marketing Efforts And Empower Their Social Media Strategies

To see the announcement published check it our on Golf Wire

http://www.thegolfwire.com/stories/235628

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Plus we have launched Dani’s Quest to Play Golf which is part of the Quest for Women’s Golf Empowerment currently on Facebook but we will also have a Blog Site and Website.

Golf Belles Dani’s Quest to Play Golf

“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.” — John F. Kennedy

Hi my name is Dani with the Golf Belles and my Quest is the Quest to Play Golf. I really want to be a golfer so with the help of the Golf Belles, and the Quest sponsors Glove It, Sweet Spot Putter and some soon to be named other sponsors I will all be set up to start learning the game of golf.

The Golf Quest Division is dedicated to the mission of inspiring women that there is limitless potential to gains on and off the golf course. Like me, many Pro Golf Belles, Golf Belles Angels and members of the Global Golf Sisterhood will establish our own personal “Quest” through our personal Golf or Life Aspirations.

Follow The Quests on the Women’s Golf Empowerment site or sign up and Like the Golf Belles Facebook Page

Sunday at the Masters

Sunday at the Masters

How lucky are we! On the final day of the Masters we get to drive up Magnolia Lane and park on the grounds! Because our whole group was together I had to sit in the luggage compartment of the SUV with our chairs. Our game plan is to place our seats on the 18th green so we can watch the action at the end of the tournament. We are first delayed by security.

Every day when we enter the grounds our passes are scanned. Today the scanners are broken! So we are forced to pull over and wait! Nobody behind us could enter either and after a time they decide to let us through. Our hosts Jim and Stephanie have explained our strategy – be the first at the holding rope area and when the release us rush – but don’t run – to the 18th green and place our chairs in the front row.

We soon find out that this will not be possible. The new rules for this year only allow Augusta National members and one guest or people on the “preferred patrons” list to enter early. The rest of us are told to go to a different holding area where we will be allowed to enter only a minute or so before several thousand other patrons! In the confusion we are separated from some of our group. While we wait, we talk and joke with the other patrons. A man cagily asks where I am planning to place my chair and offers to buy me “Azaleas”, a drink, from the clubhouse if I tell him. Another Patron describes how he became the 17th person in New York City to own an i-phone by buying a place in line. We talk about the strict rules and how easy it is to lose one’s passes. I feel less like cattle when Michael points out to me that Gary Player’s son is also waiting with us. When we are finally released it is a mad rush – without running – to the 18th green.

Because I am vertically challenged I am forced to follow one of our group without having the slightest idea where I am going. I see a man trip over a trash can and fall and a couple of other people fall around him. After some scary moments we get to our spots but are only able to get fourth row from the ropes. We stay to stake out our territory for a while, we find out where the rest of our group will be and then we go to watch the players practice.

The feeling of Sunday at the Masters is electric and awesome! Not “like totally awesome” but full of awe. It’s not just that so many of Golf’s greatest have performed great things at Augusta National, it’s the unique qualities of the rich culture and history of this golf course and this tournament combined that, for me, make this experience not unlike a pilgrimage to the very essence of the game of Golf.

Where else in North America do the spectators know enough about the game of Golf that they only applaud good play? Where else can you place a chair that will remain in the same position for the entire day, whether you are there or not? What other tournament does not allow more than four minutes of commercials during the televised coverage? I feel so privileged to be at Augusta National and at the Masters.

I love the fact that the leader boards are still updated manually. We could hear the roars from all over the golf course when someone made a great shot. We would then wait with anticipation to see if it changed the leader board. We didn’t actually see  Phil Mickelson’s daring 6 iron escape on 13 from the trees but we could hear it! We did see the raw emotion from both Phil and his wife on the 18th green as he won his third Green Jacket as the 74th Masters Tournament Champion. What a wild ride!

I am so thankful that we were able to witness a piece of Masters history

and I am so grateful to our hosts for the invitation of a lifetime!

Our Masters Golf Odyssey ~ Saturday Sitting on 6 Watching 16

Saturday Sitting on 6 Watching 16

Today we are driving ourselves to the Augusta National golf course and plan to find a good place to sit and watch. This time we are later in the day so we park to enter at the main gates. This is where the large gift shop is.

Just like everything else at this tournament the gift shops are run with military precision. It’s easy to see why they make tens of millions on Masters products – not that the products are expensive – in most cases the items are less expensive than at private golf courses – the sheer volume is incredible! We were told on the first day if you see something you like – buy it because it will be gone by the end of the tournament. It’s not a scam it’s true! The Masters mallet putter head cover I wanted was sold out by today.

We found a great spot to set up our chairs on the 6th hole. The players drive over our heads on this par 3 and because our chairs are right beside the ropes the players pass right by us on their way to the green. We also have a great view of the 16th green.
As we have come to expect we make friends with the people sitting around us and we take great delight in watching two young boys who desperately try to bump knuckles or high five the players as they pass by.

Most players or their caddies are very gracious and even throw the boys golf balls.

Our Masters Golf Odyssey ~ Friday and Uncle Cliff’s Pimento and Cheese

Friday and Uncle Cliff’s Pimento and Cheese

Michael and I decided to take our own vehicle to the golf course and planned to walk the entire 18 backwards to get a feel for the golf course.

You just can’t see on television the elevation changes and therefore blind shots and the diabolical, as Michael calls them, undulations of the greens.

We parked at Amen Corner went through security and made our way to 18 and began to walk. I have never in my life seen a golf course as pristine and manicured as Augusta National.

Clifford Roberts’ mandate for the golf course was that it would always be in the best condition and he wanted the tournament to always be the best experience for the patrons. This we saw demonstrated in many ways. Augusta National has bought much of the land around the golf course so that the patrons would not have to walk too far or take a shuttle bus.

 

The cost of food and beverages is amazingly low, $1.50 for sandwiches, $1.00 for lemonade and pop and $2.75 for a beer! No other alcohol is served and beer sales end at 4:00PM. Sandwiches are wrapped in green paper so that if one of the hundreds of employees miss picking up a piece of trash the green will blend in with the grass. Uncle Cliff’s favourite sandwich was pimento and cheese so it stays on the menu. American cheese chopped up with pimento mixed with mayonnaise and served on white bread. Michael gives it two thumbs up.

 

The staff is amazingly well trained, friendly and respectful. The lines move so quickly you almost don’t even realize you’ve been in a line! The washrooms are permanent and there are many attendants to point the way to vacant stalls and to continuously clean.

The members, and keep in mind that this is one of the most exclusive clubs in the world, all wear their green jackets and their duty for the tournament is to act as ambassadors.

Our Masters Golf Odyssey ~ Thursdays Drive Down Magnolia Lane

Thursdays Drive Down Magnolia Lane

How can I describe the first drive down Magnolia Lane?

Surreal comes to mind, heavenly, beautiful, awe inspiring all sound like clichés but these were the thoughts I had as we drove through the canopy of magnolias and passed the famous yellow pansies Master’s logo in front of the stately, oh so recognizable, club house.

If one is lucky enough to have “official” parking passes, you are allowed to park in the golf course parking lot where they pick you up in golf carts to take you up to the course where you proceed to the roped area just to the side of the Eisenhower Cabin.

This is where you wait with your chairs until you are allowed on the course to place your chairs. Once your chair is placed it is an unwritten rule that no-one will move your chair for the entire day. Amazing, but true!

Once the rope is released it is a mad dash – without running! We had decided we wanted to be in the front row on the first tee and due to Jim’s incredible speed and knowledge, we got our spots!

On Michael’s right was a fanatic golfer, like us, who is a family friend of KJ Choi. We had a great time for 5 hours with him sharing how we felt about Tiger (total dislike of his arrogance and ungentlemanly behavior on and off the course but respectful of his talent) and the swings and games we admired and how this experience (it was his first Masters too) was for us.

He shared with us that KJ’s and Matt Kuchar’s wives (Matt was also playing with Tiger and KJ) thought that they decided to put Tiger with KJ and Matt because they were known to be two of the nicest guys on the tour and would, therefore, be nice to Tiger. I can’t even imagine the additional pressure they had that day. He also shared with us that Tiger had requested to be allowed to stay in one of the member cabins on the golf course, no doubt to avoid the media scrutiny but Augusta said NO! Take that Tiger!

My favourite swings of the day were – in no particular order; Matteo Manessero from Italy – at 16 youngest golfer ever to compete at the Masters – beautiful solid swing, Rory McIlroy – swings out of his shoes, Freddie Couples – at 50 years of age the most beautiful fluid swing and he hits the ball a ton – 300 yards off the 1st tee, Phil Mickleson – 313 yards OVER the right sand trap – right before he hit Bones his caddie said, “I wouldn’t tell you to go for it if I didn’t think you could make it”. He had to hit it 298 to clear the bunker, Mike Weir – cause, you know, he’s our boy, and Tiger – what a circus!

The Augusta chronicle has a picture of me behind Tiger after he hit his tee shot – you will note that I did not applaud.

But on another public Masters photograph of Tiger’s Thursday first tee picture, June 2010 Golf Digest, page 171, Tiger almost got in the way of our shot 😉 Notice the guy in the dark golf shirt, white golf cap and on one knee….secret service and Tiger had 6 with the threesome and over 75 at the course monitoring the entrances and public areas, didn’t stop the planes though….

My favourite moment of the day was undoubtedly Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. They were the honorary starters and we were right up front to see Arnie hit first – incredible swing for an 80 year old man and then Jack…..

Right before Jack hit he turned to Arnie and said, “Now how did you do that?” and then he smoked one 260. Pretty amazing for a 70 year old! The rain held off for awhile but once it started to really come down Michael and I decided to take a taxi home.

Shocking flat rate cab prices just for Masters week, the cheapest flat rate was $30.00 for what would normally be a $8.00 fare! We watched the rest of the day on TV and we were so happy to see Freddie on top of the leader board and Tom Watson within striking distance.

Hooray old guys!

Our Masters Golf Odyssey ~ Wednesday ~ A Taste of Washington Ave

Wednesday ~ A Taste of Washington Ave

No driving today! Yay!

All of our group except Stephanie, Michael and I went to the course early.

Michael and I wanted to experience Washington Avenue so Stephanie dropped us off later and we walked the Avenue and later we walked back to the McMansion. There were the usual vendors selling stuff and we had heard that John Daly’s touring bus would be parked along Washington. It is actually a little bit of a circus and very different than anything I was expecting.

What we didn’t expect was to see the man himself, along with his incredibly buxom girlfriend, hawking his own stuff!

So because I am always interested in reading biographies, especially about bigger than life characters like John Daly, I bought his book and John was kind enough to sign it and take a picture with me.

The walk home did us both good after two days sitting in the car.

The evening was great with our houseful and three other friends, dinner, fine wine, fun, fun, fun…

Excited about actually stepping on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National tomorrow 🙂

Our Masters Golf Odyssey ~ Monday and Tuesday

Monday

After making pancakes and Michael’s special eggs for our hosts we got on the highway to Savannah, GA, a city we have both always wanted to see. I was fortunate enough to be there a year earlier on the way to a conference but it was Michael’s first visit to this stately Belle of the South. We were again struck by the courtesy and hospitality of everyone we met and had a fantastic day touring the squares and the Mercer home made famous by the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”. Lunch was fabulous with peppered shrimp and jambalaya, yum, yum.

Reading about “Uncle Cliff” has been fascinating. Clifford Roberts was really the man behind course and the tournament. Bobby Jones was the inspiration and the name to attract both members to the club and golfers to the tournament. Because they began the fundraising and the building of Augusta National at the beginning of the depression it almost never came to be! And when it was constructed even the cachet of the Bobby Jones name could not entice membership! The corporation that originally bought and constructed the course even had to declare bankruptcy and restructure because they couldn’t sell enough memberships to pay their creditors!

Considering the exclusivity of the Club and the tournament today this is so hard to imagine. Only a man with incredible drive could have accomplished his creation. He is a very interesting character study.

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Tuesday

Another early morning. We made breakfast for the crew, which now include Jim and Stephanie’s son-in-law and two of his friends from Seattle, and hit the road to drive back to Charlotte for a dinner meeting. We had breakfast at the Waffle House in Aiken. Michael had grits, our server was outstanding and the food was prepared on the grill right in front of the breakfast bar. Anyone visiting the South has to experience the Waffle House!

Along the way we planned to stop at Asheville, NC close to the Blue Ridge Mountains to tour the Biltmore Estate. Once the largest single family home in North America and built by the “poorest” son in the Vanderbilt family it is a sight to see!

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The grounds are beautiful and the house is as magnificent as I’ve seen. One could spend hours just looking at the art! It’s hard to imagine that once upon a time a family of three (and many guests) lived in the home. The once 126,000 acres have been pared down over the years to 8,000 acres with walking and hiking paths and two of the heirs live in more modest homes on the grounds. The family built a beautiful inn nine years ago where we had a delicious lunch and discussed the merits of a golf course on the unused acres on the other side of the river with the very knowledgeable waiter. Then onto Charlotte for our meeting and the long drive back to Augusta.

Reading about Clifford Roberts continues to fascinate. “Uncle Cliff” had a reputation of a “benevolent dictator”. The current rules at Augusta reflect his iron fist; no cell phones, cameras or electronic devices on tournament days, no outside food or drink except water but then only with the labels removed, absolutely no running, shouting, or overly demonstrative cheering. Anyone in infraction of the rules are immediately withdrawn from the course AND whomever provided them with their passes lose their credentials for life! Yikes!

Our Masters Golf Odyssey

I decided to write this Blog series on the Masters over a year ago as that is when of this adventure transpired. The Blog series did not take a year to write but because of one thing or another we did not publish it until it was too late so we decided to hold off until this years 2011 Masters and here it is.

The Masters is timeless so other than the winner on Sunday most of what you will read this week will apply to what is happening currently in Augusta Georgia. In some instances it does feel like time has stood still and you can feel Bobby Jones and Uncle Cliff’s presence as you stroll down the edge of the fairways at Augusta National.

In any case we will be posting our entire week experience along with pictures and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Happy Masters Week!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Week of Southern Hospitality

Sunday

We arrive at the airport in Calgary. An omen of the week to come – we are asked if we wish to upgrade to 1st class for only $89.00 per person – hooray!

On the second leg of the very comfortable flight we watched “The Legend of Baggar Vance” a movie about the daughter of a man who spent his fortune to build a beautiful golf course in the South only to see it fail because of the depression. He died, his fortune lost and the daughter is determined to have the course succeed so she talks Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen into playing a match at the course with the local hero. As we were to find out, the story is eerily familiar to the creation of Augusta National.

We pick up our rental car and drive from Charlotte NC to Augusta at record speed! We were told that Southern drivers treat the highway like a NASCAR race so we plug in the radar detector and away we go….but apparently record speed is too fast and our radar detector was not functioning because we got pulled over and had to post a $185.00 bond to cover Michael’s speeding ticket. That’s 1 or 2 less pairs of shoes for me!

On the way we had dinner at Applebey’s (my first time at that chain) and were immediately struck at the politeness and courtesy of the server. We were to discover that this is just the way Southerners are. We also noticed that there seemed to be a Waffle House at just about every exit sort of like the number of Tim Horton’s in Canada except even more! Tried to buy wine along the way but because Georgia still has “blue Sunday” we could not buy alcohol!

We arrived at our mini-mansion about 4 miles from the golf course and were greeted with a jack and diet coke by our very hospitable hosts Jim and Stephanie. I had never been quite sure of the connection Jim had with Augusta National, only that because of his connection he was able to attend the Masters every year, had club house privileges and could even play the course if he wished.

I was surprised to discover the Jim’s great uncle was none other than Cliff Roberts who along with Bobby Jones founded the Masters tournament and built the golf course! Jim is the caretaker of his family’s memorabilia and was approached by the author of a book published in 1997 entitled “The Making of the Masters”. Jim donated pictures and gave the author access to his grandmother’s and great grandmother’s diaries and as a result was awarded passes and access.

Wow!  The owners of the home we rented for the week had a copy of the book so we borrowed it for our long drives over the next couple of days.

Say Hello to our Newest Pro Golf Belle Niki…

The Golf Belles are thrilled to announce that Niki Vens has joined the Golf Belles family and Leadership Team as a Pro Golf Belle and our Chief Operation Liaison Belle. 🙂

We were fortunate to meet Niki at the recently PGA Show in Orlando, and she immediately wanted to get involved with us. With her extensive background in the merchandising and management side of golf we are excited for Niki to be a part of our operations team. Niki has been playing golf since she was 14 years old and attended ASU to obtain her degree in Professional Golf Management, where you graduate as a PGA Member with a business degree. Although she has completed the schooling side of both college and the PGA, she has yet to complete her final requirement, the playing ability test. Therefore our relationship with Niki fits perfectly into our mission: “Aspire to live your dream ~ Inspire others to live theirs!”

GolfBelles plans to help Niki achieve her dream and she will be a perfect contribution to help us achieve ours! Whether you are interested in growing your current business or planning the most memorable golf event ever Niki will be happy to help! We are so happy to have Niki in this mentorship role with the GolfBelles, and as a volunteer, she is here to serve the best interests of all our clients. If you have any questions of just want to chat, please feel free to email Niki at niki at golfbelles.com.