The Golden Tee Blog

The goal of the GTB is to give the community insight into the lives of us hardworking marketing-types at Golden Tee Central.  Most of the time, my workaday life is as mundane as yours – toiling away on my dusty keyboard, filing copious amounts of TPS reports and slingin’ copy slop to “sell them games.”  But once in a blue moon marketing opportunities pass by my desk that rekindle the wide-eyed, optimistic business geek I once knew in college.  A “Pre” Duffer Dan, of sorts.

And the following tale is one of those instances.  Enjoy…

Story of the Tune

"It's Golden Tee" by Ira Dean Band is the ass-kickin' new title track for Golden Tee 2010

Some time ago the marketing team got a call from a manager plugged in to the country music biz.  He said, “Hey, have y’all heard the new Montgomery Gentry song, One In Every Crowd?”  Not country fans by nature, none of us had heard the tune yet.  He replied, “Well, the first word is Gawwllden Tee and it’s climbing the charts!”  A quick Google search confirmed his claim and sure enough, Montgomery Gentry is HUGE!  So, what do we do with this?

*Phone rings…*

On the other line spoke a fella that it seems I’ve met a million times before – a friendly, fun, dude-who’s-got-people.  ”Hey, man,” he said.  ”This is Ira Dean and I’ve been waitin’ to talk to y’all…”  Turns out Ira is a singer/songwriter from Nashville who co-wrote the tune for Montgomery Gentry.  He  was also the bassist for the band Trick Pony, where he spent years touring to sold out crowds and stopping at Golden Tee havens in every city along the way.  A country star and longtime Golden Tee fan, Ira explained how he had written this little ditty a while back about the game he loves and how he was hoping the Montgomery Gentry song would finally connect us.

A professional song about Golden Tee?  I just had to hear this…

So when the demo arrived, I blasted it across the marketing department and smiled from ear to ear.  It really was a song about Golden Tee Golf and in the exact words of Ira, “It f***’n rocks, man!”

*Opportunity knocks…*

Hey, I’m paid to promote IT’s games and we just so happen to be working on our Golden Tee 2010 launch.  After working through some of the logistics to bring this song from “Tune to Tee,” a small video team from IT zipped down to Nashville to shoot a music video with Ira Dean Band.  For one day, I felt like I worked for MTV (or CMT in this case) – our video team and I captured Ira and the band in studio, followed by a Golden Tee shoot at Sam’s Sports Bar and Grill in Nashville – an amazing sports bar near Vanderbilt University that proudly boasts 4 new HI-DEF Showpiece Golden Tee machines (if you’re in the area, this is THE place to play).

The video is nuts and is currently in editing for our 2010 preview launch.  And the tune? It’s got it all – including a sick harmonica track and a billy-rock banjo on top of some heavy guitar, bass and drums.  The lyrics are about having a good time, livin’ life and playin’ Tee – something we can all relate too.

The Inside Scoop: GT 2010

I can tell you now, a shortened version of the video will be created for possible inclusion in GT 2010 and the full track will hopefully be featured in the new 2010 HitList.  Additionally, the team and I are working on the Golden Tee 2010 trailer and we’re using It’s Golden Tee by Ira Dean Band as the title track of the video.

We’ll release the video – which includes the 2010 course previews and feature announcements – in late July, so stay tuned to Goldentee.com and the GTB to not miss out.  And I promise you – you’ve never seen a game preview that rocks as hard as this…

Until then, here’s a GTB exclusive photo gallery documenting our adventure in Nashville with Ira Dean Band.  Click on the thumbnails below, then use the navigation to view the slide show.

[View with PicLens]

Stay tuned to Goldentee.com and the GTB regarding the launch of It’s Golden Tee and our official 2010 preview site!

Good times,

- DD

Finally, I made a cut!

Okay, everyone made the cut, but still I played a little bit better and learned a lot of things while playing at Eddy’s Sports Pub at the 2009 Indy Open.

And while writing the tournament recap for goldentee.com is always fun, it doesn’t necessarily allow me the freedom to post some of the fun and interesting things I saw this past weekend at the tourney. Talking about how good the waffle fries were at Eddy’s isn’t exactly big news, (although it should be), but those who were there and even those who weren’t can appreciate honesty like this.

If only there was a place where I could post all the cool and goofy things that Golden Tee players might enjoy? Hmmm…. I think I found the perfect spot.

Here are few things from the 2009 Indy Open that you won’t find on Goldentee.com. Enjoy!

*Andy Haas and Steve Sobe started a game on Woodland Farm, Sobe teed off and Andy followed suit. The trackball malfunctioned during Andy’s shot and his drive went about a foot forward. Without a moment of hesitation, Sobe quit out both games and the two started over. What an awesome gesture of sportsmanship by not only a great player but also great person. Sure, we’re a little bias here at IT because we work with him, but Sobe truly is the ultimate Golden Tee ambassador.

*Tough luck for GT pro Chris Litzinger. The man puts up a -28 only to lose to a -29. He then puts up a -27 and loses to a -28. Even though he didn’t win, he sure can play (like you didn’t know that already).

*Billy Mac shoots a personal best -31 in the qualifier on Bonnie Moor! I mean, wow!

*Big props to everyone working at the location, aka Eddy’s Sports Pub. The waitresses and bartendresses couldn’t have been nicer, and the bar even provided a FREE limo service between one and three AM to discourage drunk driving. And yes, we definitely made good use of such an awesome feature.

*Sunnywood 16 is a tough par-3, and throughout the entire weekend I managed to birdie it once. It was amazing to see how the top players approached this hole, and the shots that managed to hit on the green. Learned a lot just by watching, now will see if it helps me any.

*I might be one of the few people to have a double bogey Golden Tee Great Shot.

* You knew this was coming – the food was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. I’ve never had jalapeno mozzarella sticks before which were amazing, as was the burger, omelet(s), and delicious waffle fries.

Good times all around!

-AK