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Duck Soup, the unofficial band of the PGA TOUR, will be performing all the great music of yesteryear at the Shell Houston Open. And don’t be surprised to see some PGA TOUR professionals joining the eight-man ensemble on stage.

The Austin-based party band will be performing after play on Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31, in a venue dubbed the Budweiser Select Bunker, an open-to-the-public tent near the 18th green of the Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club. Duck Soup promotes itself this way: Whether it be a black-tie affair or a very casual event, this recipe will serve an unlimited number of guests:

1 Plump Bald Guy
1 Lg. Bunch of Talented Musicians, Finely Tuned
3 Cups 60’s rock-n-Roll Hits
1 Cup 50’s Classic Rock
2 Tbsp. 70’s Groove
1 Dash 60’s Funk
Simmer for Hours of Fun and Laughter

“We are bringing back some on-site entertainment that everybody can enjoy,” says Steve Timms, Shell Houston Open tournament director and president of the Houston Golf Association.

Duck Soup was a regular at The Bunker when the Shell Houston Open was played on the now defunct Tournament Players Course at The Woodlands. The late Payne Stewart, Mark Brooks, John Daly, Robert Gamez and Andrew Magee were among the many touring pros who took to the stage with Duck Soup. Anybody with that day’s tournament ticket is invited to enjoy Duck Soup’s high energy performance at the Budweiser Select Bunker.

Founded by vocalist Sam Irvin in 1984, Duck Soup still holds true to its roots by playing classic dance music—focusing on those incredible 60’s, but not failing to remember the best of the 40’s, 50’s, 70’s and 80’s, along with an original tune or two.

Duck Soup has regularly performed at PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour stops through the years. Irwin, the lead singer and admitted golf addict, has entered into a love affair when it comes to entertaining PGA TOUR fans. “Our goal is for everybody to have a good time,” he says.
“Bringing back Duck Soup is another way to add value to Shell Houston Open tickets,” says Timms. “We look on this as another enhancement for the golf fans of Houston.”

Since PGA TOUR regulations require that electronic devices must be checked at the gate, the Houston Golf Association is offering an option for tournament attendees. The Verizon Wireless/LG Technology Center will provide complimentary access to computers, blackberry devices and wireless phones.
The Shell Houston Open will be played the week of March 26-April 1 on the Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course. Tickets may be purchased and printed out on-line with a major credit card at www.shellhoustonopen.com.

Six Texas facilities were included in Golf Range Magazine’s Top 100 Golf Ranges in America. They include DA Spring Creek in Plano, Games People Play in Beaumont, Golden Bear Golf Center at the Highland in Carrollton, Golfsmith Golf Center & Harvey Penick Academy in Austin, Hank Haney Golf Ranch at Vista Ridge in Lewisville and Jim McLean Golf Center at WaterChase in Fort Worth.

Games People Play also was named for having the best inventory control and was one of the top 25 golf shops. DA Spring Creek also received recognition for the best cross promotion between the range and golf shop and was one of the top 25 shops. Golfsmith’s Austin facility also was included among the top 25 shops.

David Pilsner of Bay Oaks C.C. was elected president of the Southern Texas PGA while Marc DeWall of The Clubs at Cordillero Ranch in Boerne and Glenn Lee of the Hills C.C. in Lakeway were elected vice president and secretary respectively.

Clayton Hromadka and Kelly Overstreet have joined the STPGA staff as tournament manager and tournament coordinator.

Louisa Bergsma, director of operations for the STPGA, was inducted in Lamar University Cardinal Hall of Fame in January.

Four Seasons Resort & Club at Las Colinas was the lone Texas golf shop named one of Golf World’s Best Golf Shops in America.

Angelyn Horrell of the Four Seaons Resort & Club won the best staff training or incentive ideal award from the Association of Golf Merchandisers.

Trip Kuehne of McKinney teamed with Danny Green to win the Southern International Four-Ball. The duo posted 62–66–67–195.

Marty Wells named general manager of the Butler Field Trail Golf Club in El Paso, scheduled to open this spring.

The following are the results of the Southern Texas PGA Pro-Scratch Tournament held at Walden on Lake Conroe Golf Club in February:

Although not quite as elaborate as first announced last fall and after the withdrawal of Donald Trump, the U.S. Pro Golf Tour seems to be on course to reach its goal of being the premier development tour right behind the Nationwide Tour.

The USPGT, offering $3 million in prizes, kicks off in Texas with the Firewheel at Garland Classic at the Firewheel Golf Park Bridges Masters and Champion in Garland March 15-18. It will be one of 10 72-hole events offering $300,000 purses, including $40,000 to the winners. Fields will be cut to the low 70 and ties after 36 holes.

“It’s a shot in the arm for all of us, especially the city of Garland,” said Rachel Tamez, coordinator of special events and tournament director at the 45-hole golf facility. “We feel the touring pros will find the layout challenging but fair.”
Stuart Deane, the Australian native who now makes Texas his home, will be in the field. Deane won $1 million last year in the Trump Million Dollar Invitational, which featured members of the USPGT and was held at Trump’s new course on Canouan Island in the Grenadines.

Last year’s leading money winner on the USPGT, Gibby Gilbert III will also be in the field. The son of Champions Tour player Gibby Gilbert earned $250,000, including $180,000 for winning the season-ending USPGT Tour Championship.

Some of the professionals competing in Garland will also get the chance to audition for Golf Channel’s Big Break VIII. Dr. Travis Fox, a renowned psychologist and clinical hypnotherapist, will conduct one of his “Beat the Bogey Man” clinics.

Other events on the USPGT schedule for 2007 will be held at Tunica National Resort in Tunica, MS; the University Club in Baton Rouge, LA; the Golf Club of Stonebridge in Shreveport, LA, the Greystone Golf Club in Dickson, TN; the Cannon Ridge Golf Club in Fredericksburg, Va; the Desert Green Golf Club in Albuquerque, NM; the Quail Creek C.C. in Oklahoma City, OK; Pala Mesa Resort in San Diego, Ca; and Mission Hills Resort in Palm Springs, CA
The tour will also feature regional satellite series under the Tight Lies Players Tour and the California Players Tour names, each featuring 16 54-hole tournaments with purses of $125,000. Fields will be cut to the low 50 and ties after 36 holes. The Tight Lies kicks off March 22-25 at the Victoria Country Club and continues the following week at the Northshore Country Club in Portland. They will be followed by back-to-back events at Ellendale Country Club in Houma, LA and Oakwing Golf Club in Alexandria, LA in early April.

In May, the tour will feature tournaments at the Hillcrest Country Club in Lubbock, the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, NM and Sonoma Ranch in Las Cruces, NM. June events are scheduled at Black Bear Golf Club in Delhi, LA and Gray Plantation Golf Club in Lake Charles, LA, while July tournaments are slated at The Territory in Duncan, OK and Texarkana Ranch in Texarkana.
In late August and early September, the Tight Lies tour will be at Fairway Oaks C.C. in Abilene and Santa Teresa Country Club in El Paso. After an off week for the last USPGT event in Palm Springs, the series winds up at the Towa Golf Resort in Santa Fe, NM and back-to-back events in Mississippi at Ewindance C.C. in Gulfport and Northwood Country Club in Meridian.

Ranking schools were being held at Kingwood Lakes and Oak Hurst in South Texas, along with sites in California and Florida in February for members of the tour, who pay $8,500 to join. The top 100 players will earn full exempt status on the USPGT. Others will get to play on the regional tours.

At the PGA Show in January, Gary DeSerrano, President of the Tight Lies Players Tour and VP/Event Development for USPGT, said, “We feel like our 2007 schedule provides one of the best opportunities in development golf. It provides a uniform platform that they can belong to on a nation wide basis.” DeSerrano believes the regional tours will provide golfers with the opportunities to take their games to the higher level by gaining battlefield promotions or by trying to gain one of the 10 spots available in Monday qualifying events.

Robert Bender, who formerly worked for the United States Golf Association and the Hooters Tour, will be the tour director for the USPGT, while Kris Neal and Steve Thorwald will handle the duties for the Tight Lies and California events.
“We’re trying to position ourselves just behind the Nationwide,” Bender said, pointing out that the USPGT purses were $100,000 more than the Hooters Tour now offers. He added that the USPGT professionals could make a nice living while honing their games for chances at the PGA Tour Qualifying School in the fall.

Short of the Super Bowl, the Masters could easily be
considered the largest sporting event in the country. In fact, many will argue it surpasses the Super Bowl in many ways, including the shortage of tickets. If you are trying to make the trek, experts will tell you it can be the toughest ticket to get. What if you could not only gain access to tickets or badges to the Masters, but airfare, luxury accommodations, full course meals, and more? You can. It’s all available for the taking thanks to services that provide the ultimate in trips to golf’s greatest tournament.

We spoke to a couple of Texas based companies that provide the above mentioned getaways. First, was Kent Maggert from TeamGolf. TeamGolf works in many different facets of the golf industry all year long, but right now it’s largely about the Masters. This year they will have somewhere between 15 and 20 different packages to the 2007 Masters. The length of stay will range from 2 days to one week. Their client base is nationwide but this spring, half of the business is originating from Texas and California.

Kent Maggert expands on the Masters opportunities: “TeamGolf provides upscale turnkey packages for people who wish to attend The Masters for a few days or the full week. Our basic programs include tickets to the event, lodging in private homes, and transfers from the homes to the golf course and back each day. All the homes we use have a minimum of four bedrooms, 3 baths, and are over 3,000 square feet. Programs are often customized to include in-home prepared meals by a private chef, dedicated vans and drivers that handle all their transportation requirements, and golf in the Augusta area. Costs of these programs can range from less than $10,000 for a basic three night, three practice round package for a group of four to as much as $50,000 for a full week program that includes all amenities. The more expensive packages are usually purchased by our corporate customers who will bring in different groups of clients throughout the week.”

TeamGolf has been in business for thirteen years. The company is owned by touring professional Jeff Maggert and managed by his father Kent Maggert. We all know how tough it can be to get tickets to the more popular sporting events, but imagine having to organize tickets and all of the above.

“TeamGolf is somewhat unique in that we assemble all our packages from the “ground floor.” We do not go through brokers. We lease our homes directly from the homeowner; we purchase tickets from the ticket owners since all competitive round tickets are owned by individuals for life; all our van drivers are hired by TeamGolf locally to insure intimate knowledge of the local area. We also have several TeamGolf representatives that stay in Augusta during Masters Week to insure that all programs run smoothly. With this approach we can assure a first class product at a competitive price.”

On Point Sports is another company we spoke with that has full access to Masters Heaven. Like TeamGolf, they provide turnkey packages so companies can entertain clients, but they also specialize in programs that provide incentives to employees. Imagine being a salesperson and if you hit your quota your company rewards you with a trip to the Masters. On Point Sports works with companies that do just that. It’s such a popular program that they are sold out of many of this year’s packages. One they do have left is the Executive Masters Experience Package which includes 5 nights accommodations in a 4 bedroom private home in Augusta, Masters Badge for 4 days (Thursday–Sunday), daily VIP corporate hospitality, full-size SUV rental with unlimited mileage, and much more.

Philippe Tanguy is the founder and CEO of the company. He has been offering these trips for four years now, and is really capitalizing on success at the office translating into trips to the Masters or other sporting events.

“The corporate incentive travel program is one of the most powerful methods of attracting business, retaining profitable clientele, increasing profits, enhancing product awareness, and improving employee productivity. We are seeing a lot of companies realizing that cash based incentives don’t really have the same lasting impact as non-traditional incentives like travel. On Point Sports’ Corporate Incentive Travel Programs use sports and sporting events to bring people together and share in the same excitement and experience. The Masters is a prime example of a sporting event that companies are incorporating into incentive programs to drive sales force performance, etc.”
Of course, if you want to go to the Masters you can get there other ways. It won’t be as nice, but Masters badges are available for purchase just by themselves. They range in price depending on which day you would like to attend. Practice rounds can be found between $250 and $500. Badges to actual tournament days found online averaged in the range of $800–$900 per day, with the price increasing for the weekend.

Even with the Masters experience being one of the most difficult to attend due to demand, there is availability. It’s not cheap, but for the corporations or the avid fan it can be an experience you will never forget.