Tools

Handicap: +2

How much do you play? 40 rounds a year would be a good guess.

When/why did you take up the game? I was 9. I used to stay with my grandparents in the summer. My grandfather was an old retired Air Force guy, he had some clubs in the closet, I started hitting them in the backyard, and my grandmother made him take me to play … I played a lot of team sports as a kid and kind of gravitated to golf.

Where do you play? Pleasant Valley.

What’s your best score? You gotta throw out the 59 at War Memorial because of the course par (65). My best competitive score would be a 65 at Monticello Country Club a long time ago. I probably shot my best round ever last year, a 64, at PV, but it wasn’t a tournament round.

If you had to choose one amateur partner in a four-ball, who would that be? J.C. Halsell, just because he’s my usual four-ball partner and I’d hate to pick somebody I don’t play any four-balls with. We play in the ASGA Four-Ball every year in the spring. We’ve finished second several times but never won it. We have won some four-balls around the state.

If you could partner with one pro, who? Tiger, of course. Anthony Kim would be a close second, just because I’d like to see a little bitty guy hit it that far.

“Caddieshack” or “Tin Cup”? I’m a “Tin Cup” guy.

What’s your best golf memory? Going to the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2008 at Milwaukee Country. That was sweet. I played in the U.S. Junior Am as a kid, but that was not like this … I shot 78-74 in the qualifying and missed match play. It was two days on two separate courses. Brown Deer Park, where they have the Milwaukee Open, was the other course.

If you couldn’t be playing golf, you’d be ….? Watching a Razorback game, tailgating.

What type clubs do you play/prefer? Titliest irons and woods. I have a Bettanardi custom putter. Driver is the D2. Irons are AP2’s. Vokey wedges.

What’s the best course you’ve played? I would say Pebble Beach. It has those four or five holes that separate it from any others.

What course haven’t you played that you want to? Augusta National, with St. Andrews a close second.

What’s the best hole in Arkansas? I love challenging short par fours, so I’d say No. 7 at Pleasant Valley. I think it’s a hard short hole. Hard tee shot. The guys who can hit it a long way can go for the green, but it has a lot of slope, it’s severe.

If they held a tournament of the top CEOs in Arkansas, who would win it? Stan Payne would be a good one to pick. J.C. [Halsell] is the handiest stick. He’s really a good player and doesn’t play hardly any golf.

(More at Arkansas' Top Executive Golfers.)