Welcome to My Desert

Welcome to My Desert

“Welcome to My Desert”

Although I don’t live anywhere near the Phoenix Convention Center, I want to welcome all the GHS leadership and members to Arizona!

This has been my home since 2006 when I moved to Troon Village, in what is known as north Scottsdale. My Scottish friends always raise an eyebrow when I say I live at Troon. Thirty-five years ago when developer Jerry Nelson hired Tom Weiskopf to design the course at Troon Country Club, he named the whole project Troon, as a tribute to Tom’s Open Championship win at Royal Troon in 1973.

It’s been a great privilege to be part of this golf community. And it is also a great privilege to be part of the Golf Heritage Society travel team — except this time I don’t have that far to go!

2024 GCSAA Show 

GHS exhibits for the 3rd time

My first experience being part of the GCSAA Show was in 2022 at San Diego. It was quite a thrill to be among all the major exhibitors like Toro, and of course the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) who are strategic partners with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America to put on this extraordinary Conference and Trade Show. I wrote a story about it — Ship Ahoy! — you can find it here.

It’s exciting for me and the other GHS board members who got to be entrenched with thousands of other passionate golfers, and especially the ones who take care of the turf on which we play the game we all love so much.

Some GHSers at our booth in 2024: Deb Haueisen, Ben Ellis, Glenn Haueisen, and Mel Lucas

The GCSAA was established in1926 and Donald Ross was one of the original founders. The more than 19,000 members from the United States and 78 countries are the men and women who manage and maintain the game’s most valuable resource — the golf course. Their mission is to advance their profession and improve communities through the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game of golf.

That’s why members of GHS resonate so much with these golf enthusiasts, since we, too, seek to promote an appreciation of the history and traditions of golf, played on the largest golfing landscapes the world over, that are maintained by our golf brethren.

This 2024 iteration of the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show was like no other, as it was billed as, and delivered on, bringing interactive experiences .

The agenda included many educational sessions for the 10,000 + golf industry attendees plus the awesome session that I got to attend called “Ladies Leading Turf” with three exceptional women who told their inspirational stories to a standing-room only crowd.

Taba with Forrest Richardson

Ladies Leading Turf Session

Jan Bel Jan with Amy Bockerstette

A golf course – a story to be unfolded…

Since I don’t drive at night anymore, I was not able to hang out for fun dinners but I did get to experience one great event hosted by ASGCA Past President, Forrest Richardson, called ”Taco Social” — since he had a 3-5pm option. Lucky me.

I got to eat great food, meet Forrest’s wife Valerie and drink Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc! What a fun event in a spectacular setting! Forrest is a golf course architect and among the many courses he has created he also re-designed Mountain Shadows in Paradise Valley. It is one of the best short courses I have played anywhere in the world. Forrest has designed courses from Utah to Sweden to India. Part of his design philosophy that I really like is:

“A golf course is a story to be unfolded. For the greatest enjoyment there should be anticipation, intrigue, the occasional chase scene and even a pinch of humor.”

I hope everyone comes away with a sense of accomplishment, especially if some new members decided to join GHS as they have done at the other GCSAA Shows we have participated in!

This should give you more of a sense of Forrest Richardson’s sense of humor and style — check out this restored BMW 1959 Isetta car. Forrest said similar ones have sold for as much as $200,000 at the Barrett-Jackson auctions that take place here in Scottsdale.

 

Taba with the Forrest Richardson 1959 BMW car

Taba, a Special Guest on Ted Odorico’s Golf Talk Live

Taba, a Special Guest on Ted Odorico’s Golf Talk Live

November 2nd, 2023 – Taba Dale, as a writer/author & GHS board member was a special guest on Golf Talk Live with Ted Odorico.

From Ted’s intro:
“Taba took up golf late in life, having no family or childhood exposure. She realized that her goal to be a “decent” golfer was not materializing (after becoming a decent tennis player within 10 years).Taba found that if she focused on the aspect of being in nature while playing golf a whole new world opened to her. So she began writing about golf and has never stopped, beginning with short stories and now entire books.

She became a board member of the Golf Heritage Society (the first woman to join the board!) opened up another avenue when the editor of the GHS journal, The Golf, published a couple of her stories. Not just because of the joy of seeing her pieces published, but she experience the exhilaration of connecting with so many like-minded golf enthusiasts. We are all in love with and passionate about the game of golf!”

Taba Dale in an interview with Ted Odorico - November 2023

The Velvet Strand

The Velvet Strand

The Velvet Strand

by Taba Dale

What choice do you have if you are a wave?
You are pushed, you are pulled
By the tide, by the moon

You can’t ever resist a rock in your way
You are compelled, repelled
Never long, always soon

You’ll eventually be awash on another shore
Without a care where you land
It could be The Velvet Strand

You’ll be carrying little creatures from near and afar
You’re a wave after all
Fáilte Ireland, says the sand

The Winged Ventriloquist

The Winged Ventriloquist

There is no sign of even a ripple in the water or a coastline across the bay. I can only see as far as the low drystone wall built of dark grey Liscannor flags.

There is no wind. Not even a blade of grass moves.

The dunes of Lahinch out the dining room window are invisible. It is quiet and peaceful. Very welcome after a sudden, tragic bereavement that shattered life as we knew it.

There is an almost imperceptible lifting of the fog. Still no sign of the horizon where the bay and the Atlantic Ocean beyond meet the sky.

Without seeing them, I know the three miniature ponies in the field in front of our house will be grazing. Their long manes fall over their eyes like the fringe of Sacagawea’s deerskin dress.

The cows on the other side of the ancient hairy rock wall will appear later in the day. They always do. Like clockwork. Rain or shine.

The sweet smell of wild honeysuckle reminds me of my childhood. While walking to elementary school I used to pause and try to drink the nectar of the tiny tubular golden flowers.

But there is nothing more intoxicating than hearing the magical sound of the skylarks out on the golf course in Lahinch before darkness falls. They trill and whistle while suspended directly overhead. I crane my neck to spot them, but they, too, are invisible.

It is like the illusion of a ventriloquist — they project their constant stream of wondrous warbling birdsong while hovering hundreds of feet in the air or in flight.

A silent goodbye to all that is not seen and will never be seen again.

Interview on The Women of Golf – Podcast

Interview on The Women of Golf – Podcast

The Women of Golf – Podcast

It was great fun to be interviewed by Ted Odorico. We covered such an incredible range of topics — a very important one being The Golf Heritage Society (GHS), of which I am a board member. We are certainly excited about the GHS Annual Convention coming up October 11-14, 2023 in Lexington, KY. Ted’s questions allowed us to explore my journey as a writer, and touch on the fact that I am also a golf tour operator with my partner, Kevin McGrath.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST 

(If interested only in the 2nd part of the podcast – my interview – please forward to 31 minutes)