MET GOLFER • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 35 34 39 Nov 2013 DSA 3 V3 11/4/13 3:16 PM Page 36
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34 39_Nov 2013_DSA_3_v3 11/4/13 3:16 PM Page 34 COVER STORY UnlikeA tradition of charitable work on behalf of golf in the Met Area and beyond makes Jim Nantz this year’s Distinguished Any Service Award winner. OtherBY JEFF DAY “ ello, friends.” It’s the trademark salutation of CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz, and it comes from seemingly everywhere: The Masters, the PGA Championship, the Super Bowl, the NCAA Men’s Final Four. It has been with us seemingly forever. Nantz, who spent much of Hhis childhood in New Jersey, dreaming of a job with CBS, started with the network back in 1985. He has been the sports fan’s good friend for almost three decades—and a good friend to golf all the while. Nantz now lives in California but spent most of his career in Con- necticut. He is a three-time Emmy Award winner and five-time National Sportscaster of the Year, as well as one of only three people to receive media honors from both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Basketball Hall of Fame. In addition to hard work and good fortune, Nantz credits golf for teeing up his drive to professional success. WWW.MGAGOLF.ORG THE MET GOLFER • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 35 34 39_Nov 2013_DSA_3_v3 11/4/13 3:16 PM Page 36 Caption Two cats lamely “Golf was a vital part of my life that opened up Bronx to the country’s largest, with seven facilities auctioned off umpteen all kinds of avenues in my professional career,” says and 13 satellite sites now in operation throughout progressive sheep. Minnesota Nantz, who was introduced to the game by his the Met Area. grew up. Two subways father, also named Jim. He worked during sum- “I’ve had a lot of involvement with The First gossips. Umpteen purple mers at Battleground Country Club in Manala- Tee and still do,” says Nantz, who spoke on behalf elephants bought one almost irascible orifice, however two pan, N.J., before being recruited to play on the golf of the sport to our country’s leaders during The quixotic poisons abused one team at the University of Houston, where he First Tee’s Congressional Breakfast in 2011. “I’m subway, because silly orifices famously roomed with Fred Couples as well as very proud to spread the word of golf and try to gossips quickly. future PGA Tour pro Blaine McCallister. Nantz introduce the sport and all of its wonderful virtues earned a degree in radio/television in 1981. “Golf to as many people as I can.” really set the course for my life,” he says, “and “Jim has assisted and provided overwhelming because of it I feel indebted to the game.” support for our work and also that of our chapters, TO COME ; JIM KRAJICEK; TO COME A setting—and school—worthy of your passion Golf is a game you never stop learning. Now you can refine your skills Royal Isabela Golf School on Puerto Rico’s top golf course and one of the most spectacular Getaway Package settings anywhere. Learn, play, relax and tell one unforgettable golf story after another. Stay in a luxurious Casita overlooking dramatic Atlantic cliffs while you work on strategies to improve your game. Package features: CENTER: MGA; CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JIM KRAJICEK; LEFT: TOP FROM CENTER: MGA; CLOCKWISE Circle of friends: Nantz’s work Nantz, a longtime member at Winged Foot and for which we are very grateful,” says longtime First • 3-day Golf School (Mon-Wed) and play puts him in the the Stanwich Club, has used his celebrity status to Tee CEO Joe Louis Barrow, Jr. “Our ability to • 14 hrs supervised instruction and tailored practice company of presidents be a visible advocate for the game in the Met Area positively impact young people is stronger because • 2:1 student-teacher ratio • Unlimited golf on Royal Isabela Golf Links after classes (George H.W. Bush) kings and beyond. In 2001, he lent his voice to the MGA of people like Jim.” • Lodging for 1 or 2 golfers in 1500-sf Casita (Arnold Palmer), and Hall of Foundation’s promotional video, a valuable tool Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports, praises Famers (Nick Faldo), but he (1 bdrm w/ living rm, patio, pool, ocean views) during the MGA’s Capital Campaign, which raised Nantz as the voice of Sports on the “Tiffany Net- also makes time for charitable Visit royalisabela.com • 2013 Golf School start dates: 9/30, 10/28, 11/18, 12/16 efforts with groups such as $5,000,000 and helped the MGA Foundation work,”with a masterful grasp of storytelling. “Jim or call 855.609.5888 • Rates from $1,747 per golfer for 3-night pkg (dbl occ) The First Tee (center) and change the lives of thousands of deserving young has contributed so much to golf throughout his to book your stay. • Call 855.609.5888 for other rates and dates individuals with important people. The following year, he acted as master of career and truly is committed to promoting and causes like D.J. Gregory (top ceremonies at the groundbreaking for The First growing the game,” McManus says. left). He has also penned a Tee of Metropolitan New York at Mosholu Golf Nantz learned much about giving back from memoir that focuses on his Course. In the ensuing years, the local First Tee President George H. W. Bush, who became a sur- A Private Golf Community on Puerto Rico’s Northwest Coast • 21-Hole Links-Style Golf Course late father. chapter has grown from that one facility in the rogate father, friend and mentor to Nantz while 20 Charming Casitas • Farm-to-Table Dining • Open-Air Bars • Private Walkway to Secluded Beach Tennis • Approximately 10 Miles (15-25 min) to Aguadilla International Airport with Non-Stop Service from JFK and Newark • 1 1/2 Hours to San Juan International Airport 36 THE MET GOLFER • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.MGAGOLF.ORG 34 39_Nov 2013_DSA_3_v3 11/4/13 3:16 PM Page 38 Nantz’s own father was suffering from Alzheimer’s. friend to golf in the Metropolitan Area.” “He has just been such a guiding light in my life,” Nantz also had a productive nine-year run co- says Nantz of Bush. “His heart is so big, such a hosting the Three Amigos Golf Tournament in caring individual—his love of people, his kindness Houston with Couples and McCallister. The tour- to everyone is downright saintly. And of course nament’s proceeds were divided equally between one of his biggest mission statements as President the University of Houston and a charity near and was trying to encourage and employ the Ameri- dear to each of the “Three Amigos.” Nantz choose can people to be a point of light, to volunteer, and to raise money for Alzheimer’s. that no life was complete unless it included serv- “At the time, our dearly beloved coach Dave ice to others.” Williams was suffering from Alzheimer’s,” Nantz says. “Little did I know that within a couple of years of starting the Three Amigos, my father would be “More than any other sport, golf has a heartbeat diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and it took on a much that cares about people,” Nantz says. larger and deeper meaning.” As Nantz was entering the most satisfying stage of his professional life, he had to watch his father “Jim is an outstanding broadcaster who knows sink ever deeper into the throes of Alzheimer’s, to the game of golf, and he’s good at it too, but above the point where he had no recognition of anything, all he’s a wonderful man and a dear friend,” Bush including his son. Nantz had laid out the blue- told The Met Golfervia email. While Nantz follows prints of his father’s retirement. Dad would man- the lead of “41,” as he calls the former president, age his son’s busy schedule while tagging along to he also believes that giving back through golf is golf tournaments, NFL stadiums and college simply ingrained in the game’s culture. basketball arenas. Had it not been for Alzheimer’s, “More than any other sport, golf has a heart- the elder Nantz would have seen his son pull off a beat that cares about people,” he says. “It’s just the rare broadcasting trifecta: calling The Masters, basic nature of the game. Etiquette, kindness, Super Bowl and NCAA Men’s Final Four in the playing by the rules and doing good things— same calendar year, a feat Nantz first completed in golfers are people that care for other people, and 2007, then again in 2010 and this year. it’s one of the tenets of the sport to give back.” Those plans would never come to pass, but Nantz has long supported Bush’s annual Nantz was able to tell his father’s story through fundraising outing at Cape Arundel Golf Club in his New York Times bestselling memoir, Always Kennebunkport, Maine. He has also been instru- by My Side, which chronicled his professional mental in helping others with their own causes. career while living life with a parent with In 2008, with Nantz’s assistance, D.J. Gregory Alzheimer’s. Nantz’s father passed away in 2008, was able to achieve his dream. Gregory, who has and in January 2011 Nantz teamed up with Hous- cerebral palsy, told Nantz that he wanted to walk ton’s Methodist Hospital to create the Nantz every round of every PGA Tour event and write a National Alzheimer Center (NNAC), which today book about the experience.