Q & A with Tournament Organizer, Brandon T. Walker

This week's Q & A installment features our benevolent leader and tourney organizer, Brandon Walker.  El Jefe, himself.  Enjoy.

1. Now in its 6th year, can you tell us what the impetus was for the Desert Cup?

A: The idea behind the cup was taken from another friend of mine who was organizing a similar event.  His event was a vehicle to get all of his old friends together once and year and to keep people in contact.  Living in CA, I had the same desire to keep in contact with friends, as well.  So, the idea for the cup was born.  Initially, it was a challenge between my friends and my dad's friends - 2 four-man teams.  Once the word got out on how fun the trip was it became easier to grow larger and larger until we have the event we have today.  

I try my best to create a competitive atmosphere with prizes and money on the line, but at the end of the day it is a great excuse to get the guys together and to see and play some courses we may not otherwise.

2. How does the process work for planning the event? Take us behind the scenes.

A: The event planning process has a lot of moving parts.  It starts with a budget and then working to create an experience where we can see and do things that we might not otherwise do.  The last criteria lately has been to try and arrange play at "bucket list"-type courses.  Playing them in the "off-season" makes it affordable.  The things I am always struggling to get are 4 -5 quality places to play that are close to each other and a hotel that is willing to work on a budget to put us up.

3. What's the most stressful part?

A: A few of the more stressful items include - signing contractual guarentees before anyone has agreed to play, making sure we don't have any players back out - as I have already paid for them, getting logistically to each venue on time to play the afternoon round and the last small worry that everyone will have fun

4. Let's get into some memories - what is your favorite memory?

A: One of my favorite memories has to be playing in Palm Desert two years ago - I had a great day of singles match play. In my morning match, I was able to have an epic comeback over Hans and then followed that up by beating Brent in a great match in the afternoon.  I believe on the back nine, with Hans, I was down 5 holes and somehow shot like a 40 or 41 on the back to win out the match.  The pressure was intense and the momentum swings were huge.  Then in the afternoon while playing Brent I hit a super memorable blind shot to finish out the match.

5. What's the best shot you've hit at the cup?

A: I would have to guess the best shot I have ever hit was in Palm Desert in the match with Brent.  I believe it was on a par 4 and I was up in the match and trying to keep momentum going.  I hit my tee shot into a terrible spot and had a blind shot into the green and hit some miracle shot pin high to have a nice birdie putt.  It was one of those holes where after the tee shots it seemed like all of the momentum had switched to Brent and then that shot seemed to suck the life right out of him.  I am not sure if he remembers it, but it was one I may never forget

6. What's the worst round/ thing to happen to you?

A: I have to believe getting sick in St. George last year was pretty rough.  Mexican Food the night before made me very ill.  I ended up having a great morning round that Saturday in singles and winning my match.  That said, I got sick over the lunch break and was barely being able to get to the tee for the afternoon matches.  A thanks should go to Allen Boldt who carted me around and watched me throw up at the Iceburg.  Then, I followed that up by breaking a bumper off one of the golf carts in my somewhat triumphant return.  Kerry ate my lunch in the afternoon round as I was way out of it by that point.

7. Upon wrapping, what's the most satisfying part of the annual event?

A: I think the most satisfying part is always hanging out on Saturday night and listening to everyone's stories of how much fun they had together.  That is what this is all about getting back together as a group and enjoying each other’s company with a little prize on the line.  Listening to those stories and then the e-mails after the fact always get me fired up to begin planning the next event.

Q and A with the Commish

To continue building excitement, we will be posting interviews with the captains and commissioner. Today’s installment features a Q and A with Commissioner Terry Walker.

Q: Tell us about the first Cup you were involved in.

A: I was on the winning team of the first Cup in Palm Springs. Back then, the teams were the Old Guys vs. the Young Guys. Our team, who was comprised of Kerry South, Brent Pulver, Gary McBride, and me beat the young guys. It was a blast. In one match, I hit a miracle sand shot during the alternate shot with McBride as my partner. I was 135 yards away in a fairway bunker and landed it very close to the pin. We ended up beating Brandon in that match.

That first year we had a big Texas Hold 'em poker game. I ended up winning $80, which was pretty darn fun.

 

Q: What's your best shot that you've made or a memorable round?

A: My best shot is that one mentioned above from the fairway sand trap.

 

Q: What's the worst round you've had at the Cup?

A: I think that my worst round has receded from my memory. I have had many bad rounds than my good rounds -- to the tune of about 10 to 1. Looking back on my first tournament, I beat both Jeff and Brandon. Then again, I've had tournaments where I didn't score a single point. So, I try to remember the better days, not the bad.

However, the very worst round was the last round the first year we played in Mesquite. I can't remember the name of the course, but it's the one out near the Wal-Mart. There was a lot of long grass and when you pile that on how tired I was, I recorded a couple of snowmen... and those were the better holes. I think that I had a 10 on one hole on that back nine.

 

Q: What's the most common rule infraction you rule on?

A: The most common rule that I visit is the free drop issue. We also have problems with the ball in play. That said, the biggest problem we have in our tournament is SLOW PLAY. Last year, it was really bad -- we had a 7-hour round. One group was actually four holes behind. We have to play faster this year.

 

Q: What's was the most difficult ruling you've made?

A: My first year as commissioner, I had to make a ruling that ended up being not popular. I don’t remember the specifics, but I ended up ruling against Roger and he was not a happy camper. Most of the rulings are pretty easy as long as I have my trusty USGA rule book at my side.

Q: Tell us a little about meeting Jack Nicklaus:

A: I met Jack Nicklaus when I worked for First Federal Savings and Loan. We actually had a loan closing with Jack. Normally, Vice Presidents don't do loan closings. But in this case, the leadership of the bank all went to see the Golden Bear. Jack was paid in part for designing the Park Meadows Golf Course with a house (this is the Golden Bear House in PC). To convert that to cash, the bank did a loan for him. What made this especially memorable was the fact that this was the year that Sports Illustrated had named him Sportsman of the Year and he'd also won The Masters. It was winter, so a few of us drove up to Park City to have him sign the loan documents after a day of snowmobiling.

My boss had thought to bring a handful of issues of Sports Illustrated for him to sign. I was lucky enough to receive one, which is now framed and hanging on my wall.

Jack and Barbara came to the home and closed the loan in person - I was the one who worked with them. It was sort of like, "This is the note. You promise to pay $X per month... it's due on the first of the month, considered late on the 15th.” That sort of a thing. He was gracious and very patient with all of us taking pictures and getting the magazines signed. It was clear that he was tired, hungry and had a family waiting to have dinner with him. But he was never cross or short with us. I also still have the pictures I took with Jack that evening. The picture is actually 4 banker types in business wear and one guy in ski gear. I remember his bibs and turtleneck were a cream color. The picture looks like four bankers and some painter. It's certainly a fun memory of a great guy.