A business-like game

S.J. Cahn

The first hole at the Newport Beach Country Club provided an answer

Monday to one of golf’s more puzzling questions, at least for those

who don’t own a set of clubs: Why in the world do you play?

It was there, as part of the Toshiba Senior Classic’s Monday

Pro-Am, that foursomes and their professional partners paused for a

moment, posed for pictures and blew off a little steam before trying

to loft a drive over a trio of palm trees to the fairway beyond.

It was, in other words, a sunny afternoon of networking, terrible

tee shots or not.

The stereotype of the businessman-golfer repeatedly on display may

be even more lasting than that of doctors making the Wednesday

afternoon rounds -- of golf, not patients. But the reasons for it,

and why the executive office is so often big enough for a little

putting, aren’t necessarily stock or superficial. Many cut to the

core of how business gets done.

“Whenever you can have somebody locked down in a cart with you for

five hours, that’s priceless,” Bill Czerwinski, of PC Wholesale in

Bloomingdale, Ill., said after finishing his tee shot on the first

hole. Czerwinski had come to Newport expressly for a few days of the

golf in and around the Senior Classic.

His golf-cart partner at Monday’s pro-am, Gary Woods from Tempe,

Ariz.-based Insight company -- who was also in town for the

tournament and who Czerwinski jokingly said would be buying millions

from him -- added that a round of golf provides a chance to build and

firm up relationships.

Woods’ point was echoed repeatedly by golfers in Monday’s pro-am

as well as Newport-Mesa business people as the central reason for

golf’s seemingly ubiquitous presence in the corporate world.

“I heard it stated that approximately 75% of Fortune 500 CEOs are

avid and probably low-handicap golfers,” said Dave Elliott, associate

vice president of Vanguard University, who is in the midst of putting

together a charitable tournament at Mesa Verde Country Club. “I feel

that anytime you can get with a prospective client, friend, referral,

etc., in a recreational atmosphere that they enjoy makes for better

conversation and getting to know them better.”

For years, Newport architect Rush Hill, head of the Hill

Partnership, “avoided playing, based on the excuse ‘it took too long’

from an already overbooked schedule.”

“A few years ago, I finally learned how important golf was to

assist in building relationships,” Hill said. “So much of business is

based on relationships, golf becomes an important contributor to the

networking process.”

Now, Hill said, 50% of his golfing is business-related. “It’s not

necessarily because it is the ‘best’ way, but it certainly is the

most fun way to conduct business.”

MEETINGS NEW AND OLD

The game, players said, offers the chance to meet new people and

to solidify already-existing relationships.

“You never know who you might meet out here and what their issues

might be,” said Bob Callahan, a Newport Beach attorney who was taking

part in Monday’s pro-am.

Typically, though, a round of golf is more an opportunity to

expand on a relationship that make a new one.

“Most people are not willing to commit four to five hours of their

business day without a prior relationship,” said Dylan Gormly, a

Balboa Peninsula resident and associate with real estate firm CB

Richard Ellis. “I would say that there are people who have been

successful in meeting with someone due to a great ‘opportunity’ to

play an exclusive or even pricey club, but for me, that is not

exactly an option I have at this stage in the game.”

The exception can come at tournaments -- often charitable ones --

or other organized events.

“I do not know that I have ever used golf to access someone that I

could not otherwise set a meeting with,” Hill said. “I have, however,

met several individuals that I would have never met had I not played

golf.”

But even, then, said Bill Mitchell, a former Irvine Co. executive

and Shady Canyon Golf Club member who now does consulting, “the

tournaments or ‘mixers’ [are not] particularly productive unless you

can get your ‘target’ in the cart with you.”

Once golfers get that “target,” client or friend onto the course,

the game also can offer a slice of insight into a player’s character.

“The ethics and behaviors displayed on the golf course is a good

window into the way people conduct other parts of their lives -- kind

of like how people treat waiters and waitresses,” said Newport Beach

Fire Chief Tim Riley, adding that he obviously doesn’t have to cut

business deals on the course. “I don’t necessarily play ‘business’

golf for this reason, but it does surface from time-to-time.”

Hill added that, while not the primary reason to play a round, “it

is an important by-product. If you have the opportunity to spend

four-plus hours with someone that is mentally out of control, you

will think twice if you want to get into a business venture with the

person.”

A RELAXING ROUND

The reasons to play are not all serious ones. There’s also simply

the fact that golf is a way to relax, said Bill Thomas, a Costa Mesa

resident who works at Heritage Escrow.

“I am in contact with commercial brokers, developers and

transactional attorneys on a daily basis,” Thomas said. “In a

high-pressure atmosphere that they work in, sometimes getting away

from the stress and onto a golf course is a relaxing respite for them

and a chance for me to build relationships, which leads to more

business.”

Finally, the best reason to play is perhaps an age-old one.

“As many people say, I have never had a bad round of golf when the

alternative was to go to work,” Gormly said.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He may be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.