KCGOLFERMAGAZINE.COM 3

KC Golfer Magazine is published monthly by MG Publishing, LLC.

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© 2011 KC Golfer Magazine and MG Publishing, LLC.

CONTENTSENHANCE YOUR GAMEDream Bag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4The Advance Tee Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6The New Face of the Kansas City Golf Show . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Meet the Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Play KC – Stone Canyon Golf Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Cart Girl Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14–15X-tra Play – Alvamar Golf Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Imbibe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Cigar for the Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Charity Aware: Panera Bread Swing for Life . . . . . . . . . . . 20Improve Your Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Body Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

OCTOBER 2011

AutumnGolf Deals

at KCGOLFERMAGAZINE.COM

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Dream BagTimCarrigan

Outfit Your Bag with the Best of the BestAs the golf year wraps up, some golf equipment companies are working on their next set of productswhile others are already cranking out new stuff. All year long, we have featured items in this article thatcould make up a dream bag of equipment, and this time we feature the very latest and even one yet-to-be introduced item. We also cover some of our top picks from some recently published golf books.As much as we don’t want to admit it, snowy, cold, non-golfing months are ahead. So if you can’t playas much golf in the next four or five months as you would like, at least you can read about it.

The Cobra Long Tom Driver is a new introduction and while the namemay have come from a World War II era cannon, it is certainly fitting, es-pecially in terms of the stock shaft. At a whopping 48 inches long, thestandard shaft is much longer than anything you’ll normally find in thegolf shop. For the sake of comparison, most drivers have historically beeninching up from 43 to 45 inches or so with a number of drivers in themarket reaching 46 inches over the last couple of years. That long shaftis light at only 50 grams and we were surprised the clubhead was only445cc instead of the full 460cc as allowed under USGA rules. That dif-ference isn’t noticeable, however, but the sheer length of the club wassomething we found challenging to overcome in terms of feel and tempo.The club is a good option for someone who that extra length doesn’tbother and who wants extra clubhead speed anyway they can get it.

The Adams a12 OS hybrid is due out this month,so if you cannot find it, check back at yourlocal golf shop. The new hybrid featuresAdams new Velocity Slot technology,which is a deep groove that runs acrossboth the crown and sole just behind theclubface. This allows the face to flex andprovide more spring-like effect at im-pact. Not unlike a trampoline meanslonger shots across the face. The rest ofthe clubhead is elongated from the face tothe back, with more weight placed back andaway from the face to create a higher ballflight. In our testing of the 3-iron (19 degrees ofloft), we found it flew just as far as our other hybridsthat have a lower, more penetrating ball flight. How-ever, the a12 OS flew a lot higher, which means it wouldsettle softer on a distant green. The club is available inlofts from 17 degrees (the 2i model) through 32 degrees(the 7i).

You’ve heard about, knowabout, and maybe evenown the TaylorMadeR11 driver, but whatabout their new R11irons? A relatively newintroduction, these ironspack a ton of technologyand forgiveness into avery attractive and under-stated design. And no, theyaren’t painted white. With a cam-bered sole and weighting shifted to the edges of an undercutchannel, these clubs look, feel and play like players clubs, but pro-vide all the forgiveness of a game-improvement iron. That meansthe thin sole can cut through all kind of lies without getting hungup, but they are just as easy to hit as some other thicker-soledoptions on the market. They have a hot, thin face so they’re plentylong and the progressive offset provides forgiveness where youneed it. In short, these clubs look like player’s clubs, but have thehelp you need to score like a player.

A great-looking, functional newwedge makes up the next partof our dream bag. TheMizuno MP-R12 wedgesare a forged club made from1025E Pure Select carbonsteel to provide a soft,workable feel. They haveMizuno’s new conformingQuad Cut grooves on a preci-sion CNC-milled face. The R inthe name stands for “rounded”meaning the general shape of theclubhead – a shape preferred by many better players. They come intwo finishes, white satin and black nickel, and nine loft and bouncecombinations starting at 50 degrees through 64 degrees.

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We’ll skip the putter this month, because whatcould probably do you more good than a new put-ter is knowing how to use your old one. DaveStockton’s new book, UUnnccoonnsscciioouuss PPuutt tt iinngg,, islikely just that book. You’ve heard about Stocktonspending a week or a few days or even thirty min-utes with folks like Rory McIlroy, Yani Tseng, PhilMickelson, Michelle Wie, and others just beforethey go on a hot streak by winning tournaments,taking out competitors in Ryder/Solheim Cupmatches, or even capturing Major tournament ti-tles. He has become something of a putting gurulately and thus far has only shared a few hintsabout his approach via major magazine articles and television shows. Now, he hasteamed with Golf Digest senior writer Matthew Rudy to share a lot more aboutthis extremely important part of the game. Every reader, even those with greatshort games, will pick up some hints, learn a new approach, or come away with anew way of thinking about putting. There is little about mechanics, although hedoes spend time discussing the grip, forward press, and other parts of the stroke.He is clear, though, that mechanics are often personal and different styles can allbe successful, but what’s more important is the mental aspect of putting and theapproach golfers should take to see great results.

For another great book, think back over the historyof the PGA Tour. From the establishment of the TPCcourses (including Sawgrass and the land purchasefor $1), through the growth of sponsorships andTV coverage, the lawsuit with Ping over grooves,and the establishment of what are now known asthe Nationwide and Champions Tours, one man wascentral to all that change. Deane Beman, the for-mer PGA Tour Commissioner, chronicles the back-stories, controversies, conversations, trials andtribulations that took place during his twenty yeartenure in DDeeaannee BBeemmaann:: GGoollff ’’ss DDrriivviinngg FFoorrccee..The book shares a number of other stories youprobably have never heard, the most notable of which was a power coup orches-trated by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer over fundamental differences in howmuch business and what kind of business the Tour should conduct. Along withGolfWeek senior writer, Adam Schupak, Beman conveys an interesting history of thePGA Tour from his own unique perspective at the center of it all.

Another book that is less about golf as it is a remarkable true story with golf woventhroughout is TTiittaanniicc TThhoommppssoonn:: TThhee MMaann WWhhoo BBeett oonn EEvveerryytthhiinngg by KevinCook. The book covers the life and times of a man who became known as Titanicas he traveled the country for decades, making bets with anyone and everyone onanything and everything. He was an athletic and mental genius who could figure outany angle and then find a sucker who would be willing to hand over money bettingon it. He once took down Al Capone in a bet and eventually turned to golf to con-tinue to make his living. In an era where he could make many times more by hus-tling than playing legitimate professional tournaments, he ended up in matcheswith folks like Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, to name just two of the marquee nameswho appear in this book. Considered by many who knew him to be one of the bestgolfers of his era, Titanic rarely found himself on the short end any bet. For one ex-ample of how broadly interesting this book is, remember the Broadway play “Guysand Dolls?” The playwright, Damon Runyan, was a friend of Titanic’s and based hismain character on him. Why bother with fictional writings when Titanic Thompson’sreal life is this interesting to read about.

Mike Holmes

Sometimes the most simpleideas are the best. In 1935 a gentle-man by the name of Edward Stimp-son attended the U.S. Open atOakmont. After watching a putt byGene Sarazen roll off the green,Stimpson thought the greens were un-reasonably fast and decided to findout if he was right. He came up with

the Stimpmeter, a 3-foot-long aluminum tube through which he could roll agolf ball at a 20 degree angle. The speed of a green is still determined by usingthis simple device.

Like the Stimpmeter, I believe the process of obtaining a mortgage loan shouldbe simple. Everyone’s heard the horror stories of how intrusive and overwhelm-ing mortgage documentation can be. We do kill a lot of trees building a mort-gage file. Tax returns, bank statement, pay stubs, etc. Perhaps the best way toapproach the need for all of this documentation is to explain what constitutescredit worthiness in the eye of the mortgage lender.

There’s only four real components in determining the likelihood of repay-ment. Credit history, capacity to repay the loan, assets available for down pay-ment/closing costs and the property value. The credit history is easy. Mortgagelenders use a tri-merged credit report which is simply a report from each of thethree national repositories, TransUnion – Experian – Equifax, distilled into asingle report. Each of the agencies assign a credit score based on repayment his-tory, public records, inquiries, etc. Generally speaking, if the borrower has an ac-

ceptable credit score and no major public records such as bankruptcy or tax liens,the credit is acceptable. Capacity is the determination that the borrower has ad-equate income to service the new mortgage debt as well as other monthly in-debtedness. Things such as insurance, utilities, etc. are not taken into account.When adding up all of the indebtedness the total monthly obligation shouldnot exceed 45% of the borrower’s gross income (net income for self employed).Sufficient assets is, again, easily calculated by reviewing the borrower’s bank state-ments, mutual funds, retirement accounts, etc. If the total liquid assets areenough to satisfy down payment/closing cost requirements that piece of the ap-proval is taken care of. Lastly, a professional appraisal is required to determineproperty value. On a purchase transaction the lender will use the lesser of thesales price or appraisal to determine actual value and down payment require-ment and on a refinance the appraisal is the determinant of value.

A professional, licensed mortgage loan originator should cover these four areasin the initial conversation with the potential borrower. This conversation shouldexplain the need for all of the documentation required and alleviate the bor-rower’s concern that the lender is simply trying to intrude in their personal andfinancial lives. This conversation will identify any potential issues that mightnot allow for loan approval and/or explore alternative documentation that mightovercome the potential problem.

The Advance Tee Time

Mike Holmes – Senior Loan OfficerAdvance Mortgage Corporation – #262072

mholmes@advancemtg.com – 816-810-55857500 College Boulevard, Suite 1150

Overland Park, Kansas 66210

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The NEW FACEof the Kansas City

Golf Show

Dick Stephens (left) and business partner Kirk Tourtillotte of Varsity Communications at the Ryder Cup in Dublin

The driving range at a recent Kansas City Golf Show

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The Kansas City Golf Showbrings everything you can imagine about golf underone roof, including contests, giveaways, the top newequipment, hottest golf deals, instruction, resort andtravel information, and more. Next year’s version is al-ready set for February 24 – 26 and loyal patrons willfind a few improvements as new ownership takes thereins. Varsity Communications bought the show lastyear from Brian Wright and plans to continue Mr.Wright’s high standards while adding a few newthings of their own.

“We plan to take Brian Wright’s tradition of greatKansas City Golf Shows and build upon it,” explainedDick Stephens, president of Varsity Communications.“We have a few ideas to make things a bit more in-teractive, provide more opportunities for golfers tofind and buy whatever they need for the upcominggolf season, and create more of a lifestyle feel, but we’revery excited to take over such a great show that hasbeen under such solid leadership for several years.”

Stephens’ Varsity Communications operates sixother golf shows nation-wide, so they know a thingor two about how to put on a good show. “We’vebeen in this business for some time and run shows inLos Angeles, Hartford, Portland, St. Louis, and twoshows in the San Francisco Bay area,” he explained.“When we added the St. Louis show two years ago,we began looking at Kansas City as our next marketto complement that show and, of course, I havesome roots here that are near and dear to me.”

Those roots stem from the fact that Mr. Stephensgrew up here and stayed in the area through college,playing soccer for four years at Baker University.His connection to the golfing community runs deep.“One of my earliest jobs was at Smiley’s Golf Com-plex, and I worked at the original location and thecurrent one doing just about anything that needed tobe done while staying close to and growing my loveof the game,” he said.

So what about the Golf Show? Well, one thingthat isn’t changing is the Kansas City Golf Show’sstrong ties to The Golf Stop, who will continue as themain sponsor. Other sponsors and organizations willbe added as well. Superior Cadillac, for example, hasbeen added as a sponsor as the show grows intomore of a lifestyle feel, but other organizations likethe Kansas City Golf Association, the Midwest PGASection, The First Tee, and the Executive Women’sGolf Association will hopefully play a big role too.

New interactive features will be added, including

more chip, putt, and long drive competitions, the latter using an indoor simulator, of course. Stephensexplained more, “We’ll be hosting the new KansasCity Putting Championship at the show using oursetup to provide a 50-foot putting competition. Wewant to couple the latest in drivers and the opportu-nity for folks to test them out and buy what they likeas they compete in the long drive competition spon-sored by Superior Cadillac. We’ll provide wedge fit-tings and wedge set evaluations to go along with theindoor chipping contest. The goal is to make theshow interactive, fun, informative, and provide man-ufacturers and sponsors an opportunity to showcasewhat they have for golfers.” He went on to describekids’ programs and more giveaways, both at the doorfor everyone entering the show and throughout theevent, all for about the same price of admission thatfolks have expected from prior shows. He also wantsthe 2012 version of the Kansas City Golf Show to em-brace social media, with Twitter and Facebook up-dates encouraged of exhibitors and attendees alike. Ifyou can’t wait for more information, you can go to thenew website now at www.KansasCityGolfShow.comand learn more as the date of the show nears.

When asked about the state of the golf industryand how he can manage to expand when others areretracting, Mr. Stephens has a cautious but encour-aging answer. “In thirty years working in the golf in-dustry, I don’t think I’ve seen things so difficult, butone thing I believe in is golf will always endure as partof our culture and sports history.” He describes golfshows as a great way to get a pulse on the industry byspending three days with thousands of golfers andjust about every business and organization involvedin the local golf scene. What they learn over thosethree days and from their other shows and lines ofbusiness, they share with exhibitors and sponsors.“Our goal with every show is to grow the game lo-cally through one big event every year and do all wecan to help local courses and other golf businessesand organizations as much as we can. They’re theones that keep the sport moving all year long, we justwant to help by making a big impact over our threedays,” he shared.

Come February, Mr. Stephens and his team will bemaking that big impact at the Overland Park Con-vention Center. It will be bigger and better thanever and it will certainly be an event no golfer willwant to miss. I’ll see you there.

—Tim Carrigan

Golfers gather at a recent Kansas City Golf Show

Enjoying theKansas City Golf Show

Every year, a certain event marks the start of the golf season for thousands of area golfers evenif it’s often not held in golf-friendly weather. Over the last few years, it’s been greeted by rain,snow (including some “wintry mix”), and sunshine. Outdoor temps have hit the 70s and beenmired in the 30s. Such is our weather every February when the Kansas City Golf Show greetsa new golf year over three days at the Overland Park Convention Center.

We plan to takeBrian Wright’stradition of greatKansas City GolfShows and buildupon it.

“”

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Mike Zadalis: Tiffany Greens Golf Club

When did you start playing golf? I started playing golf at avery young age I have seen movies and pictures of me swing-ing a club as early as age 2. I played my first 9 holes of golfat age 5.Who taught you the sport?My father and grandfather taughtme the game early on, and then my uncle continued teach-ing me as I got older.What clubs do you play? I play Callaway irons, driver, wedges,putter, golf balls, and everything else.How did you get involved in the golf industry? I have beeninvolved in the golf business my entire life starting at age 12as a bag boy or club cleaner. My grandfather and uncle wereboth PGA Golf Professionals. I have worked in every depart-ment of the golf business and at every type of facility in 28years. Your favorite part of managing a golf course? My favoriteparts of managing a golf course are that no two days are everalike, and meeting so many people and establishing so manyrelationships and lifetime friendships.Your favorite personal golf moment? I have many favorite per-sonal golf moments, but the first one to come to mind is mak-ing a hole in one against my dad's (arrogant) boss in his com-pany's golf league and ultimately beating him in the matchwhen I was 16 years old. My dad was so excited that he quithis match and followed my match the rest of the evening andthoroughly enjoying me beating his boss! Favorite golfer? My favorite golfer is Fred Couples. I was for-tunate to have had the opportunity to play golf with him inthe early 90s and spend some time with him. Very real andgenuine guy.Best round, and where? My best rounds of golf is kind of athree way split. I shot 64 twice (Miracle Hills, Omaha, NE andWayne CC, Wayne, NE) but neither were in big time compe-tition. My favorite or best competitive round was my firsttournament as a freshman in college I shot 72 (Boat Club,Sioux City, Iowa) to win the event.Favorite hole at Tiffany Greens? My favorite hole at TiffanyGreens is Hole #1 "The Intimidator." It is the most uniquestarting in the entire midwest and is the ultimate Risk/Reward– you can start your round off with an eagle or possibly reachdouble digits. Funniest thing that happened on the golf course? One of myfunniest golf course memories is when my uncle (PGA GolfProfessional) and I were playing in a high stakes head-to-headmatch, and he was complaining that I wasn't "giving" him hisputt, he proceeded to miss it, and usually when he missed ashort putt he liked to smack his putter against his shoe in frus-tration. This particular time he missed his shoe and hit him-self rather hard in the ankle bone. Writing this is making melaugh out loud still today 20+ years later.What is your strength when playing golf? If I had to name astrength in my golf game, I would have to say the shortgame. I love the challenge of trying to get up and down fromanywhere, especially difficult situations. What are some things golfers should expect when playingat Tiffany Greens Golf Club? Some of things golfers can ex-pect when playing Tiffany Greens is the "Best Greens InTown & Widest Fairways Around!" It is a very fun course lay-out that rewards good shots and good play, and penalizespoor shots and poor play. We have the latest GPS YardageSystems on our golf carts. Golfers can expect fantastic courseconditions, great food, premier practice facilities, friendly cus-tomer service, and a great all around experience!

Meet the Pro

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Play KC

Stone Canyon Golf Clubhas adapted to the Kansas City area marketplace.

The Blue Springs course opened in May 2009 withplans to go private in 2010. But a lagging economy andan abundance of golf courses in the area set those plansback indefinitely.

“It would still be a wonderful private course,” StoneCanyon Director of Golf Tony Roberts said, alluding tothe course’s design, unique bunkering, bent grasses andtop playing condition.

Instead, the playing public reaps the rewards of theGreg Norman signature layout – and at affordable fees.

“We’ve priced ourselves competitively with everyonein the area,” Roberts said.

Green fees with cart are $45 weekdays, $55 weekends,but seniors (55 and under) can play for $35 weekdaysand after 2 PM on weekends. There are also twilight andjunior rates and periodic specials.

Stone Canyon this year has made itself more player-friendly by reversing the two nines, which has signifi-cantly cut turn times. The old 10th hole, a long drivefrom the clubhouse, is now the 1st hole. The new 10 isright in front of the clubhouse. The course also finishedpaving all cart paths on the course.

Another new feature this year was a teaming up withFalcon Lakes Golf Club in Johnson County. For $429,a card can be purchased for 10 rounds at either courseany day of the week, with cart, plus a free round – andit’s transferable. The card is good for one year.

Stone Canyon, a mile north of Interstate 70 off theWoods Chapel Road exit, continues to pride itself on itscondition. Fairways are bent grass – a relative rarity onarea links – and the greens are touted as among the bestin town. Many are extra large, too. Roberts credits su-perintendent Daryl Pearson for the top condition atStone Canyon.

The course has 44 bunkers, many craggy and deep.The fairways are generous, but many are bordered byrocky outcroppings and woods.

Some holes have extremely elevated tees with apanoramic view of the surrounding area. Water is a fac-tor on seven holes. Only four of the fairways are bor-dered by other fairways. The course has only eight par 4s,just three on the front nine.

Stone Canyon is not a course big on blind shots. Play-ers get a good look at the landing areas off the tee and canfeel confident hitting driver most of the time.

“The holes are very playable from every tee,” saidCraig Cole, of Overland Park, who has played the coursetwice. “It’s a good combination of short and long holes.”

Stone Canyon has four sets of men’s tees and onewomen’s set. The tips, known as the Shark tees, play at7,059 yards. The middle tees are 6,227 yards on the card.

Slope ratings range from 129 on the forward men’stees to 144 from the tips. The course rating for menranges from 68.5 to 75.2.

The hole most players may remember after a round atStone Canyon is 15, formerly No. 6. The hole is well

over 500 yards from every men’s tee. A creek crossesthe fairway diagonally about 300 yards from the tee. Thesecond shot for many players is a layup – either short ofthe creek or across it where the fairway continues.

“That may be the toughest hole I have ever played,”said Loren Stanton of Prairie Village, who played tworounds at Stone Canyon in August.

Judging the distance to safe landing areas on eitherside of the creek is difficult, Stanton said. “And then youhave to execute,” added Cole, who played with Stantonrecently.

There are other holes at Stone Canyon that require alot of thinking as well as skill, which Roberts said makesit such a challenge.

Roberts said the bent grass fairways may appeal to topplayers in particular. “It really rewards the good ball-strikers,” he said. The wide bent grass aprons aroundgreens allow players a choice of putting or chipping fromeven well off the green.

Greg Norman courses are located all over the world,with the closest one in Ohio. Stone Canyon was givenhonorable mention in Golf Magazine one of the BestNew Courses You Can Play.

“You have to call it – if not the top public course inthe area – one of the top two or three,” Roberts said.“Just the opportunity to play a Greg Norman designshould be enough to bring players out.”

—Kevin Murphy

Stone Canyon Golf Club

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ROYAL MEADOWS GOLF COURSEHome Town: Leavenworth, Kansas

How long have you been a cart girl? This is myfirst year.

Why you like being a cart girl? All the differentgolfers I get to meet. I'm definitely a people per-son.

Interests: Photography, playing with my pup-pies, watching football, & anything outdoors!

What you will be doing in 5 years: Living inTexas with my own photography studio.

Biggest Tip: $50

Favorite Food: Basically Thanksgiving dinner.

Favorite Music: Radiohead, The Format, PinkFloyd, The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Something people don’t know about you:I laugh a lot whenever I feel awkward.

Funniest thing that happened on the golfcourse: A couple of golfers had me give them aride back to the pro shop because their cart wasbroken down, so maintenance checked it out &the cart was fine, turned out they just had it inneutral!

Favorite Golfer: Rory McIlroy

Abby More photos of Abby online at www.kcgolfermagazine.com

Cart Girl Spotlight

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PAINTED HILLS GOLF COURSEHome Town: Kansas City, Kansas

How long have you been a cart girl? Two years.

Why you like being a cart girl? I love the out-doors and meeting new people.

Interests: Anything outdoors, swimming, camp-ing, fishing, hanging out with friends.

What you will be doing in 5 years: Selling cars.

Biggest Tip: $30

Worst Pickup Line: "You need to get in theshade with me, you’re so sweet you’re going tomelt!"

Favorite Food: Mexican food

Favorite Music: Oldies

Something people don’t know about you:I am terrified of all the bugs on the course!

Funniest thing that happened on the golfcourse: I almost tipped the cart over on a hilland two golfers had to run over and jump on theother side to keep it from tipping!

Brandy More photos of Brandy online at www.kcgolfermagazine.com

Cart Girl Spotlight

Abby More photos of Abby online at www.kcgolfermagazine.com

X-tra Play: Alvamar Golf Club

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Many golfers find when the leaves change colorsand the temperature cools, they play their best golf of the season. Is it because au-tumn is the perfect season to play? Is it because you’ve worked out the kinks all year,and now your swing looks and feels like you’ve been working with Hank Haney foreight months? Is it because you’ve found the right equipment?

Yes. e answer is yes to all of the above. And Alvamar Country Club is the per-fect venue to bring out your “A” game and dazzle your buddies. e Alvamar coursesare located in Lawrence, Kansas a short drive from the KC area.

e fantastic Championship Course (open to the public) offers the Quail Creekand Jayhawk nines, a challenging and scenic layout, and it’s one of Golf Digest’s top75 public courses. Bob Dunning designed the course, and it was created to ac-commodate golfers of all skill levels. e tips play to 7,092 for those of you inter-ested in breaking out the driver. “It has large tees, large, generous greens with gen-tle slopes around them, a lot of length and nice flowing challenges,” Dick Stuntz,the General Manager at Alvamar said. “And something we’re proud of, we are thefirst golf course in United States to have zoysia fairways from the inception. We havesome of the finest zoysia fairways you’ll play anywhere,” he said.

e Members Course (private) has its own accolades, and with some greatmembership opportunities at Alvamar right now, you can soon be playing the Hid-den Valley and Sunflower nines to your heart’s content. is layout is different fromthe Championship Course, with loads of trees and steep slopes, making these ninesmore of a target-based layout. e black tees over here max out at 6,829, and manypeople will tell you that Alvamar Country Club is one of the most difficult coursesto play in the Sunflower state. “It has small green targets that are severe around themand difficult to recover from. It’s not as long as the Championship Course, but moreof a target golf course,” Stuntz said.

Alvamar has great golf, and when you join, you immediately have access to 36holes – two courses with completely different styles – as well as great practice facil-ity with heated, indoor hitting bays that you need to check out. But they also offerother amenities such as two full-service dining areas, swimming pool, patio, andmore. “We have the Alvabar downstairs, with ten big-screen TVs, a full-service bar,and a patio,” Kursten Smith, Event Coordinator/Sales & Marketing Director said.“en we have the upstairs main dining room where we have our more formal din-ing.” ey offer lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.

Alvamar also rents out rooms in the clubhouse for meetings, showers, receptions,and other events. And if you are a member, they waive the rental fee. at’s great,especially if you want to hold a business meeting, then have lunch and play a roundof golf on a Friday afternoon.

A lot of families enjoy Alvamar, too. “We have a lot of families with kids here atthe club,” Smith said. With a social committee, there’s always something going on.e private swimming pool entertains kids and adults alike during the warmmonths. It has a slide and snack bar. “It’s a real aquatic-type park area,” Stuntz said.ey offer swimming lessons, an Alvamar swim team, lap pool time, and plenty ofother activities. “It’s a private pool, and we treat it like a private pool,” he said. “Oursupervision and management, along with the facilities, are outstanding.”

We still have great golf weather the next month or two, but winter will soon beupon us. So then what happens? “We even have sledding for the kids in winter,”Smith said. “It’s probably one of the best sledding hills in Lawrence. We put fire pitsout, and hot chocolate and cookies. e kids really enjoy it.” ings like this addto the overall Alvamar membership experience.

“We’re a private club, but we are very open for people to come out and give usa try,” Stuntz said. So if you are looking to join a club, give Alvamar a call and theywill certainly give you the grand tour, including play on both the Members Courseas well as the Championship Course. “We welcome people giving us a try.” And youshould take them up on the offer. e weather is great.

Right now, they are offering half price dues through March 2012. For more in-formation, visit www.alvamar.com or contact J. Taylor at 785.842.7767.

—Eric Catcher

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ImbibeWalter Bethay

Monica Reynolds Autumn Drinks

Ranchmart Wine and Spirits • 3748 West 95th Street, Leawood, Kansaswww.ranchmartwineandspirits.com • 913.381.9463

With the arrival of fall comes niceweather, changing leaves, some fabulous foodsand most important of all . . . some of my favoritedrinks! A few things that I am particularly enjoy-ing right now include Pinot Noir and some fun fallbeers. We have numerous offerings of each tochoose from here at Ranchmart Wine and Spirits. Pinot Noir: In addition to pairing wonderfully

with the foods that autumn has to offer, it alsoseems to be made for this weather. Ranging instyle from light and earthy to full and burstingwith fruit, there are Pinot Noirs out there to fitmost tastes. Popular sources include Oregon,

California and France, to name a few. Some bot-tles that I have been enjoying lately include EolaHills (Oregon), Orsi Papale (California), Sean Mi-nor (California), Erath (Oregon), and Big Fire(Oregon). These Pinot Noirs range in a variety oftastes, regions and prices. It is absolutely worthtrying different Pinots from different regions tosee which ones you like the best. Fall Beer Offerings: Now that the weather has

turned a bit colder, bigger more full-bodied beersare coming out in droves. Many different brew-eries come out with their version of either Octo-berfest beers, Pumpkin beers or both. October-

fest beers are typically a full-bodied, rich beerwith a medium to high alcohol content. Some ofthis seasons popular Octoberfest beers comefrom Sam Adams, Leinenkugel, and a local fa-vorite, Free State. Pumpkin beers are also fullbodied and rich but also include tastes of pump-kin and autumn spices. Many of them remind youof pumpkin pie in a glass. A few of the breweriesproducing a pumpkin beer this year include Hop-pin’ Frog, O’Fallon, and Schlafly. If you haven’t tried any of these fall beers yet,

I suggest you do it soon as these popular selec-tions always go fast. Happy drinking!

AUTUMN GOLF DEALS &More KC Cart GirlPictures and Videos Online at KCGOLFERMAGAZINE.COM

KCGOLFERMAGAZINE.COM 19

Best AshesCigar & Tabac, Ltd. • 6898 West 105th Street, Overland Park, KS

www.cigarandtabacltd.com • 913.381.5597

Golfers . . . sad to say this is the lastissue for the year. I would like to thank all thereaders of my articles for the great response tomy monthly specials. Be assured the specials willcontinue each month, but you'll have to come into find out what they are. While you are in thestore, put your name on our e-mail list to keepinformed of our events and specials. Cigar &Tabac, Ltd. is here for you.October is fantastic weather to play golf and

enjoy the less-crowded courses. It will also lenditself to a more relaxed and leisurely round of

golf. You may even have time for an extra cigar. Cigar & Tabac, Ltd. Brings you another great

cigar at yet another great price. Estaban Car-reras is the featured cigar for the month of Oc-tober. This line of cigars runs the gamut from mildto full-bodied excitement. This cigar should evenkeep your ball out of the sand. Maybe I shouldsay, if you get in the sand you won't mind asmuch because you'll be more relaxed. At any rate, Esteban Carreras cigars are made

in both the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.Different tastes and strengths for different peo-

ple. It's bound to please even the aficionado inyou. Cigar & Tabac, Ltd. brings this great cigarto you at another Buy 2, Get 1 FREE.So play all the rounds you can before the

weather begins to interfere, and remember to re-lax with a good cigar. Esteban Carreras is a richand delicious cigar and it's waiting for you in myhumidor.And best ashes from me,

Lyn Beyer

Cigar for the CourseLyn Beyer

Charity Aware

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With a successful track record of raising moneyfor cancer-related charities, the Panera Bread Swing for Life Golf Tourna-ment has targeted a cancer support organization that is new to Kansas Cityto benefit from this year’s tournament on Oct. 10th at Leawood SouthCountry Club.

All proceeds from the fourth annual Swing for Life tournament will go tosupport Gilda’s Club Kansas City, an affiliate of The Cancer Support Com-munity that will open a clubhouse near the Country Club Plaza this Octo-ber to provide networking and support activities to cancer patients. It isnamed for and inspired by comedian Gilda Radner of Saturday Night Livefame, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

The organization’s website, www.GildasClubKC.org states: “Gilda re-gained her gift of laughter and feeling of control when she joined with oth-ers living with cancer. Gilda’s Clubs are places where people with cancer andtheir families and friends learn to live with cancer, and hopefully beyond it.They are their lifeline to strength, hope and guidance. The effects are oftenlife-changing.”

Gilda’s Club Kansas City will become the 24th Gilda’s Club nationwideand, according to the Swing for Life tournament flyer, will join 54 otherNorth American affiliates of The Cancer Support Community “in fulfillingthe mission of ensuring that all people affected by cancer are empowered byknowledge, strengthened by action, and sustained by community. Gilda’sClub KC will offer social and emotional support to all people – men, women,teens and children – living with any cancer, along with their families andfriends, as a critical complement to medical care.”

The core components of Gilda’s Club include support, education, healthy

lifestyles, social connections, and resources and referrals – offered in a non-residential, homelike setting. All programs are free of charge.

“With more than 60,000 people in the metro area living with cancer, thereis a tremendous need for the Gilda’s Club program in Kansas City,” accord-ing to the organization’s website.

Panera Bread of Kansas chose to support Gilda’s Club KC for this year’stournament because “we like to give back to a group that is just starting out,”said tournament director Christie Glaeser, human resources and bakery op-erations manager for Original Bread, the local franchisee for Panera Bread.She noted that the current difficult economic times make it particularlytough for new charitable organizations to become established.

In addition, Gilda’s Club KC “is a cancer support network for all ages andall types of cancer,” Glaeser said, so it allows the Swing for Life tournamentto benefit more individuals because there are so many people affected by var-ious kinds of cancer. “This organization makes it possible for us to touchmore lives.”

Previously, the Panera Bread Swing for Life tournament has benefited twoorganizations dealing with breast cancer. For the first year of the tournamentin 2008 at Grand Summit Golf & Country Club, Panera partnered withBack in the Swing, which champions breast cancer survivors. In 2009 and2010 at Prairie Highlands Golf Course, it partnered with the Young SurvivalCoalition, which focuses on young women facing breast cancer.

Panera regularly supports many charitable causes, Glaeser said. It decidedto hold an annual golf tournament three years ago because there are a lot ofgolfers on the local Panera team and because a golf tournament is a goodway to raise funds to give back to the community, she said.

2010 Swing for Life Tournament

KCGOLFERMAGAZINE.COM 21

Since Swing for Life initially supported breast cancer charities, the tour-nament’s organizers thought it would be a good way to get men involvedwith breast cancer awareness. “It’s a great way for anyone to participate,”Glaeser said.

Swing for Life has been a success from the start, thanks to support fromPanera’s customers and its connections with vendors, according to Glaeser.“We’ve been growing the event every year,” she said, noting that it has grownfrom 40 to 50 participants the first year to 118 players last year. “We havemany people who have been coming since the first year.”

The tournament is “100 percent managed by us at Panera,” Glaeser said,and most of the tournament volunteers come from within the company,unless the charity wants to provide volunteers. Glaeser handles player andsponsor registrations, lines up prizes and donations for the silent auctionand works with the golf course on tournament details.

For the tournament on Oct. 10, registration, lunch and silent auctionbidding will begin at 11 a.m. and the shotgun start will be at 12:30 p.m. Aclosing reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. Panera Bread will provide lunch,and Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers will provide refreshments at theclosing reception.

There are several levels of tournament sponsorship opportunities that in-clude various amenities. The $125 individual registration fee and $500 four-person team fee include range balls, green fee, cart rental, lunch, a gift bagand a chance for placement prizes. The closing reception will feature pres-entation of tournament prizes, a raffle drawing and conclusion of the silentauction. About $22,000 worth of items was donated for the player prizesand the silent auction last year, Glaeser said.

Last year’s Swing for Life tournament netted about $20,000 for the YoungSurvival Coalition. With a three-year charitable donation total of about$47,000, Swing for Life’s organizers hope to continue to build on that success.

“Our goal this year is to donate $30,000 net of all the golf expenses,”Glaeser said. The “warm, welcoming community of support” that Gilda’sClub Kansas City aims to provide for people living with cancer will put thetournament proceeds to good use.

What a great way to positively impact the lives of cancer patients – byswinging a golf club.

—Linda Gallagher

Tournament Information:Where: Leawood South Country Club12700 Overbrook RoadLeawood, KS

When: Monday, Oct. 10, 2011

For more information contact:Christie H. Glaeser913-901-9540christie.glaeser@panerakansas.com

Learn more about Gilda’s Club Kansas Cityat: www.GildasClubKC.org

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Improve Your GameWow, time flies whenyou’re having fun! Our new e-Book – Tour Tempo 2 – TheShort Game & Beyond is now avail-able for download. For more in-formation, go to TourTempo.com.It applies the Tour Tempo theoryto the “scoring shots” – the putts,

chips and pitches from 60 yards and in that make up the majority ofstrokes played in a round of golf. What you’ll learn is that there is a dif-ferent tempo ratio for the short game compared to the long game. Andwith the videos and short game tones included in the book, you’ll learnhow to immediately improve your scores. In addition, TT2 serves as a mas-ter class in full-swing theory and is an insightful study into the shotmak-ing abilities of the game’s top players. In September, we also penned an article on Tiger for Sports Illustrated

and Golf.com available online at http://bit.ly/tiger-bad-timing. The nameof the article is Bad Timing - The golfing world wants to know: What’s wrongwith Tiger Woods’s swing? A simple yet revolutionary new thesis provides theanswer.The times, they are a-changin’ by Bob Dylan couldn’t be truer than last

month when 16 year old Lexi Thompson became the youngest player ever

to win a LPGA event. She was in the lead after three rounds at the Navis-tar LPGA event. Last year at the Kraft Nabisco Championship through thefirst two rounds she was second in driving distance to Michelle Wie withan average of 286 yards. Her tempo corresponds to Tour Tempo: driver – 24/7, irons – 21/7.

She’s my kind of golfer - as it was reported last year in The New York Timesthat she was “wearing a golf glove with the word Tempo written in hergirlish scrawl. It is there to remind her not to be in such a rush, to take hertime with her swing.” Well, it’s a good thing she has the glove to remindher to slow down; because now her tempo is about the same as Ben Hoganin his prime; and faster than Tiger Woods when he won the 2002 Openat Bethpage.As I was writing this on Saturday the 17th of September, Lexi is paired

with Meena Lee tomorrow in the final day of the tourney. Brandel Cham-blee said that this wasn’t a “fair fight” because Lexi (whose driving aver-age this week is around 280) is outdriving Meena by 50 yards. TiffanyJoh, her other playing partner - ‘tweets’ - “Alexis Thompson just don’tlaugh at me as you walk 120 yards past my ball tomorrow, k? Thanks.”Sunday update - Long-hitting Lexi walks away with the title, and be-

comes the youngest winner ever on the LPGA Tour. Sixteen years, 7months and 8 days young.Congrats to her on her historic win.

John Novosel

Check Your Tempo

KCGOLFERMAGAZINE.COM 23

With the end of the golfseason fast approaching, it is timeto think about how to improveyour game for next year. These up-coming winter months give you thechance to really improve yourselffor the next year. Take the time tosit down and make a list of things

you would like to improve upon and dedicate yourself to a routine to improve thosethings. Let’s discuss what a good routine should entail.A good routine starts with a good evaluation. This is your chance to address the

things you feel need improvement as well as uncover anything that may put youat risk for potential injury. A good evaluation should involve at least three parts:subjective history, examination, and discussion/implementation. The subjective history allows us, the provider, to learn everything we can about

you and what you have done to your body over the last however many years.Things like ankle sprains, occasional shoulder pains, backaches, etc are all keypieces to the puzzle that are many times overlooked. This information gives usa starting point, some direction as to where we need to focus during the exam-ination.The examination portion is where we take a look at “what can you do.” For a golf

fitness program, this should involve a series of movement tests designed to ex-

pose your areas that need improvement. Learning how well you move allows us tovisualize what areas to focus the program on. It also exposes the reasons why youhave the things written down on your list. For example, if someone has distancewritten down on their list of improvements and in the evaluation, we find they arelacking hip motion on either side. The examination gives direction for construct-ing the program and for keeping you dedicated.Lastly, there needs to be discussion and implementation of your program. Dis-

cussion is key because it allows us to gauge how much you can dedicate yourselfto the program. For example, someone who works 80 hours a week won’t be ableto realistically commit to two hours of exercise every day. These are things thatneed to be discussed to keep you excited and enthusiastic. Then we can finallyget to the exercise portion. This should be a program that is designed specificallyfor you and the things that were exposed in your examination. One thing I alwaystell my clients is, “If your instructor can’t demonstrate the exercise for you, don’twork with them.” Make sure you have an understanding of the exercises you andyour provider have constructed for you before you leave. If you develop a routine based off this type of evaluation, you should feel bet-

ter, stronger, and more balanced when next season hits. Just don’t be surprised ifyou have to alter what club you hit for what distance.

I would like to thank all the readers this year, as well as my home “editor andchief” (my wife), who is responsible for all the catchy titles.

Body HealingDaniel Laughlin

Make The Best Of This Off-Season

Sport + Spine • 7279 W 105th Street, Overland Park KS 66212 • 913.642.7746 • www.sportspinekc.com