Do wine and golf go together?
Popes, bears etc. Of course they do. I'm fortunate that it's a pairing I specialise in.
Can I ask for a favour? I’ve just come home from a run of dinners, conferences, and events. I’d forgotten how much I loved doing it. And much people enjoyed them. In the UK you can book me through Blackburn International. And in the USA I’ve teamed up with events and speaker specialists Let’s Engage. All to share the stories you read about here.
I’d be immensely grateful if you could share this with anyone who books events (or even get in touch if that’s you).
Click on the picture for more. And - if you can - share with friends and contacts. Especially those looking to create an unforgettable experience at a conference, client event, or corporate entertainment. Every event I’ve done came with a repeat booking and the testimonials are here to read.
Current most popular presentation: “The PGA Tour’s Wine Consultant… yes, that’s an actual job. And I had it.”
Somewhere in the stand behind Tiger Woods and George HW Bush in the photograph below is me.
I was sitting behind Barbara Bush and various friends of hers. I remember the scene distinctly. As there was a Secret Service agent either side of me in the stand. One was very happy for me to know he was carrying an automatic weapon under his blazer.
I’d gone the day before to speak to a wine dinner for one. A media mogul called Victor Ganzi. His wife was there too. We discussed the wine (a selection of Napa Cabernets) and American politics. Victor disagreed with my view that the young senator from Illinois - Barack Obama - was likely to get the Democratic nomination to run for President. He assured me that Hillary Clinton was comfortable it would come her way. As she’d told him so when they’d had dinner at her and Bill’s house the previous evening.
Mrs Ganzi - a remarkable woman who smoked and knitted throughout dinner, and spoke with the voice of Marge Simpson’s twin sisters - said she was at least enjoying dinner with me more than what was to come the following night. “George and Laura Bush don’t drink” she rasped. She couldn’t smoke in The White House either. And they ate early because George got up early to exercise. I poured her another glass, realising this evening was likely sandwiched between the next and current US President.
If the dinner was something to remember, the next day was something never to forget.
After sitting behind Barbara Bush, I was taken out to say hello to the former President - the senior President Bush. Remembering to still say “lovely to meet you, Mr President. And great to meet you too Tiger”. As a bit of a treat I was asked if I’d like to “walk the course” and accompany Mrs Jim Furyk. We would be watching Tiger - then in his pomp - play local hero Mike Weir. With the added bonus that Mike Weir was a golf-celebrity-winemaker. (Although now apparently defunct.)
The intersection of wine and golf is a particularly attractive one if you’re into wine and golf. Fortunately for the corporate speaker, this describes a very large part of corporate America. This story plays well.
Keen golf fans will know that this was the tournament where “honour was satisfied”. The Americans won. Captained by Jack Nicklaus. But there was an upset in the last pair, in the last round. Tiger Woods was meant to be preeminent. But… the local hero Mike Weir held him off. That was the game we were watching.
So by the 18th tee, I was at the heart of something extraordinary. And trying to discuss the matter with International Captain and all round golf legend Gary Player:
Gary Player: “So what do you think will happen now? They’re pretty much tied”
Me: “I think Tiger needs to work on his drive”
*Thwack*
*Plop*
Gary Player: “You’re absolutely right”
It turns out that being made to practice my swing on wet Lancashire Wednesdays at school (where bizarrely we had our own golf course) had paid off. I’d called the end of the 2007 Presidents Cup correctly, on the last tee, to one of the greatest names in golf.
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It was one day in an extraordinary job, at an extraordinary time. Working at clubs across the country. Being distracted by Sylvester Stallone’s caddies (he had two women from the local Hooters bar. In uniform). Hosting a dinner in a bomb-proof safe room. Escaping a midwest tornado. Being coached by VJ Singh. And then one day taking a couple of days off to gatecrash the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Like I say, if you think of someone who’d love to hear it in person… send them over to Let’s Engage. And tell them you’re coming too.
Golf - even more desperately uncool than sherry?
Shall we talk yoga and wine? Cause I love offering both and always get shit on by purists( yogi's) and or the sober crew( no disrespect) about what I call a perfect pairing! Yoga first, then wine, of course *insert eye roll here.