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| Johnny Miller at recent Lexus event. (Lexus) |
Johnny is a part of my golf family. I grew up with him. When he was at his peak in the early and mid 1970s, I was playing high school golf. Johnny was a great ball striker and one of the best iron players ever. Hall-of-Famers such as Lee Trevino and Lanny Wadkins have said as much.
So, as you might imagine, it was more than pretty cool that Lexus, my gracious hosts, seated me next to Johnny Miller at the front table during the champions dinner and awards ceremony in Pebble Beach on a recent Saturday night. Johnny was on my left; my wife was on my right. Peter Jacobsen was next to Johnny. We talked, ate dinner and talked some more, until it was time for Peter and Johnny to hand out the awards and pose for pictures with the winners. Those were a fun two hours.
What was Johnny like?
The same guy you hear on TV, perhaps easier to converse with than I expected. I didn’t know what to expect. I had wondered what he would be like in person. It was easy, though, comfortable. It wasn’t an interview, just dinner-table conversation, which made it better.
The real thing. “This is a good Coke,” Johnny said not long after we were seated. “They’re all different.” You don’t drink diet soda? I asked. He said no because he’s allergic to so many things, including artificial sweeteners, apparently. I said that he didn’t look like he was having trouble keeping the weight off. His reaction seemed to say that he thought he could be doing better.
Comparing short arms. One of the first things I said to Johnny was how I liked watching him play when I was a teen and would pretend to be him during my solo rounds at my local nine-hole golf course. I mentioned that I related to his height and how he bent over a lot to reach for the golf ball. I knew he was fairly tall (6’2”) and figured he might have short arms, like me. Johnny got to his feet. Let’s see, he said. We stood shoulder to shoulder, his right, my left, our arms hanging at our sides. He told me that he always thought he had the shortest arms of a tall golfer, but I think I had him beat. (I’m almost 6’4” and my sleeve length is only about 33 inches.) Johnny said during his playing days he played irons that were a half inch over regulation, but is now considering an extra two inches on his irons. He doesn’t play much golf, though, and he doesn’t miss it. He’d rather be fly fishing in a mountain stream. In fact, he told me he was heading up toward Redding in a few days on a fishing trip.
His mom’s blackberry pie. I asked Johnny if he ever foresaw himself doing TV work. No, he said. He’s signed on for three more years with NBC. After that it sounds like he’ll be gone, except for an occasional event. He wondered aloud who might take his place. I said, “You must enjoy it.” He’s still in the tower after 20-plus years. Johnny said he feels like he has something to offer and brings something different to the game. My wife told him how she appreciates his candor. He told me a story about his mom’s blackberry pie. He always wondered why it was the best. His mom finally shared the secret: mostly ripe, sweet berries, plus a few select tart ones. An approach that can also work well for golf commentary.
More on Johnny’s playing days, the yips, Peter Jacobsen and other stuff. I now realize this is too long to finish in one installment, so I’ll plan to share more about Johnny and Peter later. Come on back.
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While The Babe may not have approved, I'm quite sure "My Lady's Putt"... the humorous illustration at left... provoked ample amusement in 1930 when it was published in Punch magazine's yearly Almanack. After all, the British weekly was the era's go-to source for sophisticated satirical humor, and competitive golf for women was still... relatively speaking... in its infancy.
Polo style golf shirts, it's fair to say, have become ubiquitous. 
TOMI OTEE shirts are tapered, but in no way binding... which creates a flattering silhouette that allows for ample movement. Color-wise, both the men's and women's styles come in a myriad of solids and stripes. Contrasting trim can be found in the TOMI OTEE company logo... a jaunty little golden age golfer... It's also present in collar trim and in TOMI OTEE's "golfer's quiver", an innovative tee pocket, elegantly built into the pocket of each shirt. It's a unique feature that sets these polos apart... and allows a golfer to have some extra tees at the ready when needed. 
THE GRAND BALLROOM OF THE INN AT SPANISH BAY was packed on Saturday night with hundreds of happy golfers who had just completed the 2012 Lexus Champions for Charity. During three near-perfect December days on the Monterey Peninsula, these men and women had played three famous tracks: The Links at Spanish Bay, Sypglass Hill Golf Course and world-renowned Pebble Beach Golf Links.