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THE LIFE

JEFF BABINEAU jbabineau@.com Man on a mission

MAJ. DAN ROONEY, USING GOLF AS HIS VEHICLE, PILOTS THE FOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION THAT HAS RAISED MILLIONS FOR SURVIVORS OF FALLEN TROOPS

Owasso, Okla. Golfweek’s Best review: The silence of a warm, tranquil The Patriot , P74 spring evening at the newly minted Patriot Golf Club near Tulsa is pierced by the pulsating stereo Rooney, a professor emeritus vibrations of “My Maria” wafting at Oklahoma State University. loudly from a customized golf cart The Rooneys also own a club in next to the 16th green. Michigan named Grand Haven. It Beneath the poignant backdrop was on Dan’s way there on United of an American flag, the sharp Flight 644 late one night in 2006 acoustic guitar chords and melodic that he sat in seat 24A and cried vocals of Brooks & Dunn drift into as he watched Army Cpl. Brock the still air of the valley. The cart’s Bucklin brought home one final owner, Maj. Dan Rooney – part-time time to his grieving family. On the Dan Rooney realizes a dream with the opening PGA professional, part-time tarmac that night was Bucklin’s of his Patriot Golf Club at home in Oklahoma. Oklahoma Air National Guard F-16 then-4-year-old son, Jacob. The fighter pilot, full-time humanitarian flight’s captain asked passengers – stands nearby over an 8-foot putt Rooney, 37, has flown three tours to wait onboard as the flag-draped for eagle as the music blares. in Iraq, and now he’s piloting his most coffin was carried off. Half the “I’m a lonely dreamer on a highway important mission: He is at the helm passengers exited anyway. in the skies.” of the Folds of Honor Foundation, Rooney found his life’s calling Wondering if he makes the putt? trying to ensure no fallen soldier, that night. What if that were him? He Obviously you haven’t met Major Dan. nor any fallen soldier’s family, is left was determined to find a way to make behind on the field of battle. It’s a sure young Jacob and others like him ■ ■ ■ massive, sometimes overwhelming had the opportunity to pursue their task. In less than three years, using dreams through higher education – You know how gifted golfers are Patriot Golf Day as its fundraising something to “undo” a little suffering. fortunate enough, on those rarest vehicle, the Folds of Honor He also would find a way to reach occasions, to find the zone? Maybe Foundation that Rooney founded – those people who departed that shoot 59? That’s where Rooney is named for the 13 folds that transform plane. His mantra: Freedom isn’t free. in his life right now. In the zone. The a flag into a triangle – has raised more The Patriot is more than a golf self-described “small-town guy from than $5.3 million and provided college course. It features 18 holes and a Okie” has a lovely wife, four beautiful scholarships for more than 1,400 palpable spirit, designed by Robert young daughters, is a PGA of America children of troops killed or wounded Trent Jones Jr. and his team and pro who can it out there with in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of officially christened on Memorial Day Rickie Fowler, owns and operates these children’s pictures dot the with the inaugural Patriot Cup. The a few golf courses and flies F-16s refrigerator in Rooney’s home. course begins with a breathtaking in his “spare time.” “We’re changing lives,” Rooney opening shot to a fairway deck “I’m so blessed,” said Rooney. said. “That’s so powerful.” some 140 feet below. An American He’s even writing an autobiography. flag flies to one’s left; the Tulsa Every time he’s pushing Mach 2, ■ ■ ■ skyline sits off in the distance. soaring through clouds at some 1,600 “It sure doesn’t look like mph, he pinches himself. Up there, Rooney’s latest flying vessel doesn’t Oklahoma,” said 2004 British Open he’s a young boy again, the plane have wings. It’s his Patriot Golf Club, champion Todd Hamilton, on hand for his magic carpet. which he built with his father, John the Patriot Cup. “This morning, when

72 Golfweek . June 11, 2010 . www.golfweek.com ‘It was tearful. You forget how good we all have it. I know that sounds sappy, but it’s not. It’s real.’ – Brad Faxon, on hearing the bell at The Patriot chime 13 times, symbolizing the 13 folds that transform a flag into a triangle

his dreams run in Technicolor red, white and blue. The holes of The Patriot are named after great Americans, from Abraham Lincoln and George Washington to the Wright Brothers and PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FOLDS HONOR COURTESY PHOTOS winner Bobby Jones. The mission of Dan Rooney and the Folds of Honor Foundation is to help the families of those The sweeping, difficult dogleg killed or disabled in action, including Jacob Green, son of late Army Cpl. Brock Bucklin. 18th hole is named for Dwight D. Eisenhower. “My favorite I walked around the back of the At 1300 hours each day (1 p.m.), patriot of all,” Rooney said. clubhouse and saw that flag flying everything at The Patriot stops, and Young Jacob, the son of the Army at half-mast, wow . . . it really hit a bell atop the Folds of Honor tower corporal whose coffin Rooney watched home what today was all about.” rings out 13 times. “Chilling,” PGA being removed from that plane in “The is a great story,” Tour veteran Brad Faxon said. “It was Grand Rapids years back, is growing added Kevin Dukes, a Tulsa knee tearful. You forget how good we all up, and he and Rooney have developed surgeon and golf partner of Major have it. I know that sounds sappy, a special relationship. “Jacob just Dan’s. “But the story behind the but it’s not. It’s real.” turned 8, the same age as my oldest course? Even better.” At a black-tie gala later that night at daughter,” Rooney said, “and he’s Tulsa’s Hard Rock Casino, the tables a really neat little boy. What a cool ■ ■ ■ that fill a ballroom have Kleenex next bond I have with him. I think we to the flower centerpieces. Ginger were brought together for a reason.” Twenty-five PGA Tour, Champions Gilbert Ravella addresses the room Rooney has a special coin he earned and LPGA pros showed up for the first and speaks emotionally and eloquently after completing his pilot’s training Patriot Cup pro-am event, which was about the heroics of her late husband, years ago. It is always in his pocket, unique in format. Each group included Air Force Maj. Troy Gilbert, an F-16 and has accompanied him on combat a tour pro, three amateurs and a pilot whose final act of bravery in missions. The night of the first Patriot military member. Before play, Jones 2006 helped save the lives of 22 Cup gala, he gave it to Jacob as a gift. and his wife read a moving poem special-ops troops in Iraq. Gilbert “A reminder to him,” he said, “that he wrote set to music – a mother’s perished on his mission, leaving somebody is always thinking of him.” heartfelt farewell to a son who died behind five children, including There are tens of thousands of young in battle. Golf has experienced 9-month-old twins. The Folds of children just like Jacob, whose moms great changes through the years, but Honor stepped up with scholarships and dads have made the ultimate the pain of war has changed little. for all five children. “It makes a huge sacrifice. If Rooney gets his wish, The Patriot is billed as “great impact for their future,” Ginger said. not one will be left behind. If he were golf for the greater good.” Part of its “We are reminded we are not doing it all himself, the task would be proceeds benefit the Folds of Honor, alone.” too tall. A deeply spiritual man who which has its foundation headquarters lives in the realm between fear and on site. It’s no coincidence that Rooney ■ ■ ■ faith, Rooney said, “Amazing things chose Memorial Day to launch. are happening; it’s so neat. I really “This isn’t a holiday,” he said. Rooney begins Memorial Day by believe there’s a greater force.” “It’s not a day to take the family to looking into the faces of his friends Major Dan smiles. “I’m not the the lake. We’re here to honor the and invited guests and beams, “It’s a one piloting this plane.” fallen, and to remember the great great morning to be an American, isn’t – For more information, sacrifices that they have made.” it?” A greater patriot you will not find; visit www.FoldsofHonor.com

Golfweek . June 11, 2010 . www.golfweek.com 73 THE GOLF LIFE

Patriot games OKLAHOMA COURSE FULFILLS ITS MISSION IN ROUSING FASHION

By Bradley S. Klein Owasso, Okla. Maj. Dan Rooney makes for a good story. His golf course might make for a better one. The 37-year-old Oklahoma native is the only PGA golf professional who’s also a certified Air Force fighter jet pilot. Rooney has served three tours of duty in Iraq. For two years, he has been Each month, making the Golfweek profiles rounds of board a course that is on rooms, media a Golfweek’s Best outlets and list or might be veterans groups, a candidate raising awareness for inclusion. and $6.5 million for the Folds of Honor Foundation scholarship program to benefit the families of U.S. troops disabled or killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. that weave through limestone canyons green often transitions across two Rooney’s patriotic commitments and incorporate lowland meadows, landscape “rooms.” now have a fitting home, 19 miles traditional Midwest uplands prairie The course starts from a launchpad northeast of downtown Tulsa in the and densely wooded ground. tee 140 feet above the fairway floor burgeoning suburb of Owasso. What It’s no easy maneuver to make holes of a 5 routed through a canyon. makes The Patriot Golf Club isn’t just work through such diverse landscapes, Heading to the second tee, the land the charitable spirit behind it but the least of all across a site that has 250 feet opens up so that the fairway spills fact that it’s a stunning technical and of elevation change. The enduring out into a vast meadow. The course aesthetic achievement. The course sits genius of golf at The Patriot is that ascends gradually, weaves back on very tough ground. In the hands golfers don’t march from one ecology through rugged canyon, and at the of lesser talents, golf here could have to the next, as if the holes were simply eighth hole again transitions into open been a disaster. But the design team slotted into isolated compartments. prairie. The par-4 12th takes golfers of Robert Trent Jones Jr. and his Instead, the transitions are more from woodlands at the tee and fairway associates, Bruce Charlton and Jay elegant and subtle and come within back to limestone outcrops at the Blasi, has routed compelling holes the hole, as the journey from tee to green. And so it goes, with nothing

74 Golfweek . June 11, 2010 . www.golfweek.com The par-3 17th at The Patriot Rater’s notebook: The Patriot Golf Club

1. Ease and intimacy of routing: 8 6. Variety and memorability Two returning clockwise loops, close of par 4s: 7 connections from green to tee and readily A rare course without a fairway bunker in walkable on a site with 250 feet of elevation the landing area of any par 4. Lots of width change. There’s one steep hike, from the and minimum rough make for generous 16th green to 17th tee, where a cart is landing areas, though the second hole and provided. With so many of the longer the short, nearly drivable fifth have a creek holes routed downhill, the course tends running down the middle. Fairway contours to play shorter than its listed yardages. create slightly uneven stances throughout, fostering uncertainty on approaches. 2. Quality of feature shaping: 8 Features are melted beautifully onto the 7. Variety and memorability native landforms. Credit goes to golf-course of par 5s: 7 contractor Landscapes Unlimited and to Amazing variety, with three of them within Robert Trent Jones’ lead shaper, Ed Taano, risk/reward reach in two. The 603-yard 10th, for a superlative job on a site with what which plays into a prevailing southerly could have been awkward transitions. headwind, is a solid three-shotter across rolling prairie land. Wonderful touch 3. Natural setting and overall at the 15th and 16th holes, back-to-back land plan: 10 par 5s that share a well-bunkered fairway The layout seamlessly transitions through through an open meadow. four distinct landforms: limestone canyon, lowlands meadow, uplands prairie and 8. Basic conditioning: 9 woodlands. The course sits at the south end Geared for firm, fast play, with Meyer of the Stone Canyon real-estate development, zoysiagrass fairways and a tighter, faster with home sites set back, above golf surface of Cavalier zoysiagrass for greens corridors and out of sight from play. approaches and surrounds. Fairways are generous – 50-60 yards wide, on average 4. Interest of greens and – with little rough. Many of the 45 bunkers surrounding chipping contours: 9 are offset on diagonals. A1/A4 bentgrass greens are on the large side, averaging 7,000 square feet and 9. Landscape and tree management: 9 with diverse shapes and contours that Generous setbacks of tree corridors, with

THE PATRIOT GOLF CLUB/DAVID BRYAN are exposed to the wind. In allowing for the occasional strategic tree for driving ground-game approaches, the design but always with plenty of room on one team has devoted meticulous attention to side. A rocky stream bisects three holes the area around and behind the putting and laps around a number of greens, surfaces so that short-game options including the delicate par-3 sixth (6A). abound on a 360-degree basis. 10. “Walk in the park” test: 9 5. Variety and memorability Gyroscopic views, often behind the , of par 3s: 7 not just ahead. The Tulsa skyline looms in The five par 3s cover the compass the background, and the golf path through and the golf bag. (I played gap , and across the creek and canyons is serene. 3-, two 6-irons and an 8- from Overall rating: 8.0 (not cumulative) heavy-handed. the 6,721-yard tees.) Alternative, short sixth Each hole is memorable yet integrated Note should be made of the generous holes (6A and 6B) work, and the 13th is compositionally. It all makes for a moving site model developed by the Tulsa-based outfitted with teeing options set 90 degrees experience symbolically as well as a fine apart to provide different angles past a steep Planning Design Group for the Owasso test of golf. A strong contender for top-100 ravine to the largest green on the course. status on Golfweek’s Best Modern list. Land Trust LLC, owners/developers of the 3,300-acre Stone Canyon >> 5900 North Patriot Drive, Owasso, Okla. 74055 property. In addition to the 250-acre >> www.thepatriotgolfclub.com, 918-272-1260 parcel for The Patriot, there’s room for >> Par 72; 7,158 yards >> Private club, limited public access a 1,500-home community, a 750-acre >> Local membership: $25,000 initiation plus $595 monthly; national membership: nature preserve, 26 acres donated to $15,000 initiation plus $300 monthly; $2,500 from each membership goes to the town of Owasso for an elementary Folds of Honor scholarship fund school, and a 25-acre practice field >> Three tee times daily set aside for one-time public access at $150 per player, that includes a hybrid four-hole course with 10 percent donated to Folds of Honor for use by the University of Tulsa >> available; walking always allowed golf team. ❍

Golfweek . June 11, 2010 . www.golfweek.com 75