{safe_alt_text} They’re game!

Oregon execs on the joys — and shanks, slices and traps — of golf.

We tracked down the executives profiled below to ask them about their game and collect some golfing stories. Here’s what we found out: Golf is more than a game. It’s a chance to cement friendships, to bond with kids. It’s a rare opportunity to watch, up close and personal, professionals performing at the peak of their careers. Golf can honor departed friends, celebrate successes and give people a chance to laugh at themselves. 

“Play for the love of the game and the friendships that are made on the course,” advises one of our profile subjects. “Relax and enjoy,” says another.

It’s good advice.


Dave Fiskum Partner, Conkling Fiskum & McCormick

Home course: Illahe Hills Country Club
Dream course: The Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii
How often do you golf: Three times a week
Most famous golfing partner: Sam Snead
Best golfing experience: Watching my son play well and caddying for him in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Tournament in Delaware several years ago. He made it to the final 16 in match play.
Most memorable bad shot: I was playing in the member-member tournament three years ago at Illahe. The final match to determine the winner came down to the last putt on the last hole — a three-footer — and it was my turn to putt. Of course, I missed it. But my partner, Mike Bennett, bailed us out by winning a pitch-off to gain the title.
Best golf advice: What’s the most important shot in golf? The next one.

Dream day at St. Andrews

One of my best golf experiences occurred last summer when my family took a long-awaited trip to Scotland, my first to the reported birthplace of golf and the homeland of my wife’s parents. We were there for my son to play in the British Mid-Amateur at Muirfield, a thrill in itself. But another highlight of the trip was when we arrived in St. Andrews on a Sunday. Golf courses there on Sundays are closed to golfers and transformed into parks for the public.

We arrived to a very sunny day and the thrill of walking around the Old Course at St. Andrews with literally hundreds of other visitors. And no one disturbed the golf course! We were able to take all of the important pictures, including the one with my son on the Swilcan Bridge where Jack Nicklaus had walked in his final British Open only a few weeks before.

When we played the course, I managed to par the famous 1st and 18th holes, but the 17th, with the road hole bunker, was another story. My drive cleared the hotel, one of the most unusual shots in all of golf, but my second shot reached the famous road hole bunker. It took me four to get out.
— Dave Fiskum

Phil Doud President, John and Phil’s Toyota

Home course: Trysting Tree
Dream course: Pebble Beach; a trip to play Plantation in Maui is coming up
How often do you golf: Three or four times a month, in spurts. I play more when I’m away from home.
Most famous golfing partner: Don’t have one; my favorite partner is my son, Matt, who worked at Pebble Beach as a caddy.
Best golfing experience: Playing Pebble Beach and Spyglass with my good friend, John Mills, my son, and the golf pro from Trysting, Sean Arey. We had a great time.
Most memorable bad shot: It was actually a series of shots on a hole I played in California. I dubbed my drive and muffed my second shot. I topped my third shot, it went down the fairway, ran over a hose, skipped within 3 feet of the pin, and I sank the putt for a ho-hum par.
Best golf advice: Take lessons. It’s best to start when you’re 12 or 14, but no matter how old you are, stop and take lessons from a good teaching pro.

Ken Smith Management supervisor, Wieden+Kennedy

Home course: Heron Lake, Portland
Dream course: Old Course at St. Andrews
How often do you golf: At least once a week
Favorite golfing partner: My wife, Barbara
Best golfing experience: A golfing trip I just took with my dad through the heartland of Scotland.
Most memorable bad shot: On the first tee, the first time I played Bandon Dunes, I shanked it straight into the shed; hung it right inside.
Best golf advice: Keep your hands relaxed.

John Mazzocco Principal, Bluedot Communications

Home course: Pumpkin Ridge
Dream course: Cypress Point
How often do you golf: Twice a week
Most famous golfing partner: Don Johnson
Best golfing experience: 70 at Witch Hollow. All luck.
Most memorable bad shot: My last 3 iron
Best golf advice: Buy a rescue club!

It was a birdie — really!

One day I had a birdie at Cypress Point. Hit driver to 3 feet. No one believes me, but I happen to have the picture you see here to back it up. I had hit out of turn just before we took the picture. If you zoom in you can see my ball right of the pin. As I was walking up to the green, I said hello to the greens-keeper, who had an OSU hat on, as did I. He congratulated me and then hopped in his cart and rode away. I finished the round (took a quadruple bogey on 17) and walked up the hill to the clubhouse.

Out of the clubhouse comes Jim Nance from CBS, who comes up to me and says, “Heard you had a birdie on 16. Pretty rare, great shot.”
— John Mazzocco

Tom Hughes Marketing manager, Adidas America

Home course: Whatever course I have been invited to play that day.
Dream course: Pacific Dunes
How often do you golf: 30 times a year
Most famous golfing partner: Leslie Nielsen and Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Best golfing experience: A day with my best friend, Ted Byers, on the Sheep Ranch at Bandon Dunes. We teed off at sunrise and played until noon with no one else on the course. Nothing like having your own private oceanfront golf course for a morning.
Most memorable bad shot: 8th green at Pebble Beach. Trying to be cute with a lob wedge, over a trap onto about 10 paces of green. Great shot ‘til it landed, rolled, rolled some more and off into the Pacific. Can’t imagine a prettier place to double-bogey.
Best golf advice: Leave any temper or attitude you might have somewhere other than the course.


Honoring a friend

I  throw a charity golf tournament, the MMH Invitational, as a memory to my best friend Matson Haley. It also helps fund a scholarship at Santa Clara University in his name.

For 13 years we’ve gathered 20-40 friends of Matson’s from Santa Clara and Jesuit High School and ventured off to Sunriver for three days. We’ve played Harbour Town GL for the fifth and 10th anniversary events. Needless to say, there are thousands of stories from Hilton Head to the Owl’s Nest. Unfortunately, I can’t reveal any of them without ruining the reputations of people throughout Northern California and the Portland area.
— Tom Hughes

John Mills Recently retired after 29 years with Hewlett-Packard

Home course: Trysting Tree
Dream course: I’d love to play the Augusta national course in the spring someday.
How often do you golf: Average 30 rounds per year
Most famous golfing partner: The Pac-10 men’s golf championship was held at Trysting Tree in 1992. I carried a leader board with the group that contained Phil Mikelson, Notah Begay and a player from UO. I walked 18 holes with them, and they all shot 69 or better. It was a phenomenal day, watching these guys up close that were going to be such great pros.
Best golfing experience: I shot 68 at Trysting Tree six years ago, 4 under par with no bogeys. That was a great day, and I did it playing with Steve Oien, a great friend who I’ve played with hundreds of times — my most familiar and friendly match play partner.
Most memorable bad shot: Well, I’ve never hit anybody with a ball. I did dunk it into the ocean off the 18th tee at Pebble Beach. I got caught up in the moment.
Best golf advice: Other than lessons from a teaching professional, I would advise golfers to play regularly with someone who plays off a lower handicap than yours. They’ll make you better

Jack who?

Jack Nicklaus and his wife had a connection with the Seattle Symphony during the 1980s. Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were playing a match at Sahallie Country Club as a benefit for the Symphony. The morning of the match, Nicklaus had not yet appeared out of the clubhouse while Palmer and two great Northwest pros — Don Bies and Rick Acton — were warming up at the first tee. Palmer raises up and asks loud enough for all to hear, “Don, who’s our fourth today?” There were probably a thousand people watching, and they all burst out laughing. Truly a favorite golf memory of mine.
— John Mills



Zeta Rennie Principal, Staffing Solutions, LLC

Home course: Riverside Golf and Country Club
Dream course: Bandon Dunes
How often do you golf: Every weekend
Most famous golfing partner: Writer for Golf Digest and two college golf coaches
Best golfing experience: Golfing vacation in Thailand; we played golf with the senior amateur of Thailand, and my score was lower than his! He left after only playing nine holes.
Most memorable bad shot: I only remember the good shots.
Best golf advice: Play to play great.

Darren Welborn President/CEO, WRG Design Inc.

Home course: Columbia Edgewater Country Club
Dream course: Augusta, St. Andrews
How often do you golf: Once a per week
Most famous golfing partner: Michael Jordan at Rancho Sante Fe Farms Golf Club. Lost $24.
Best golfing experience: Pinehurst and Kapalua — Plantation
Most memorable bad shot: I have erased them from my memory.
Best golf advice: “Never break your putter and your driver in the same round or you’re dead.” — Tommy Bolt

Thomas P, Luersen Regional vice president and managing director, Destination Hotels and Resorts

Home course: Crosswater
Dream course: St. Andrews
How often do you golf: Once or twice a month
Most famous golfing partner: I have had the pleasure of playing in several ProAms over the years, but my most memorable experience was playing with John Daly and Greg Norman at the TPC in the Woodlands, Texas.
Best golfing experience: “Walking in the ropes” at Augusta for the Masters with Jeff Maggert, who won second place that year and at Crosswater, walking John Daly and Fred Couples in the Shell Wonderful World of Golf.
Most memorable bad shot: On the range in Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., my playing partner shanked a shot that went 180 degrees to his right and hit an older gentlemen on the range, in the chest.... Ouch!
Best golf advice: Play for the love of the game and the friendships that are made on the course!


Palmer makes surprise visit

I was involved in the opening ceremony at a new Palmer Course in the Woodlands in Texas. The event included Arnold Palmer and Ed Ceay entertaining our members and then playing a 9-hole event. On the same day, the Golf Digest Tournament was being hosted at the TPC in the Woodlands, where a young college player was getting a lot of attention...Tiger Woods. Following the Palmer opening and a successful, delightful day with Mr. Palmer, I was in the limo taking him back to the airport. Spontaneously, he said he wanted to “stop by the TPC and say hello.”

To the unbelievable surprise of the Golf Digest organization and the college players, Mr. Palmer arrived during their lunch banquet. He was greeted with a warm welcome and he was asked to speak from the podium. He gave a classy and appropriate speech about the game and their roles as great players of the future. However, as he was given a standing ovation, he quickly stopped where he was exiting, turned around and returned to the podium. Much to everyone’s surprise, he was visibly upset. He stood in front of the hundred golfers or so, and proceeded to scold them and their coaches about their lack of respect and class. They had not taken their hats off during their meal. He reminded them all of the proud and rich history of golf and that gentlemen of golf would never wear their hats during lunch. Then he promptly left the room and loaded into the limo. I sat in the limo wondering what he would say. All he said was, “I hope these young men and their coaches understand their importance in the future of game.” It was a memorable day for me and those golfers and coaches who were there.
— Thomas P. Luersen



Monte Mendenhall Regional community manager, PacifiCorp

Home course: Stone Ridge
Dream course: Pacific Dunes
How often do you golf: Once a week
Most famous golfing partner: Chuck Cottier, former manager of the Mariners. He was my minor league manager with the Quad City Angels. His winning percentage with the Mariners was no better than .457. He was actually a better manager than a golfer.
Best golfing experience: Shot one over par at Bandon Dunes a couple of years ago.
Most memorable bad shot: Broke a window on a home across the Smith River (California) from my buddy’s backyard. It was a $120 shot.
Best golf advice: Nothing increases your golf score like witnesses.

Coni Crone Office manager, Bullard Smith Jernstedt Wilson

Dream course: I would love nothing more than to golf at Augusta.
How often do you golf: Weekends, weather permitting
Most famous golfing partner: I haven’t golfed with anyone famous yet, but I have met a lot of wonderful people on numerous courses.
Best golfing experience: Weekly golfing vacations. For me, this is total relaxation. I’ve only experienced this twice so far, but plan on doing this a lot more often. Of course, getting a hole in one was quite an experience as well!
Most memorable bad shot: Last year on my birthday, I was playing at the PHRMA Annual Golf Tournament and walked up to the ladies’ closest to the pin hole. I hit a 5-wood, off the cart path, off a tree and stuck it on the green, right next to the pin. I won the KP that day. Pretty awfully amazing!
Best golf advice: Relax and enjoy.

Jim Edmunson Owner, attorney, Cary Wing Edmunson P.C.

Home course: Diamond Woods
Dream course: Grand Cypress, Orlando
How often do you golf: Weekly or more
Best golfing experience: At Bandon Dunes soon after it opened several years ago. Wind and rain howled the first day and no one scored well. The second dawned sunny and calm. I placed a 3-wood perfectly in the fairway, hit the green and birdied. Although the highest handicapper by far, I had the tee for the second hole and put my drive next to the cup. Four hours later, I strode down the final hole at only 10 over par — my personal best score by a mile at that time. A triple bogey on the 18th didn’t take any luster off a magical round that still ranks as shot-for-shot my best ever.
Most memorable bad shot: On the first tee box, at Trysting Tree in Corvallis. My drive sliced straight for a group in the next fairway. I yelled “FORE!” and three of the players ducked — but not the fourth. I watched in horror as he was hit and dropped to the ground shaking. I raced to his aid, only to discover he was convulsing in laughter. “I heard you shout,” he said. “But I thought there is no way your ball was going to hit me.”
Best golf advice: Play courses that test you and improve your game. Avoid courses that present few obstacles, even though it is gratifying to score low.


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