By Al Pscholka, for MoodyontheMarket.com. Accompanying photo featuring (L-R) Ryan Ogle of the PGA, David Frost, and Jeff Fettig from Harbor Shores.
While the big event is still more than ten months away, preparation and work continues on the 2020 KitchenAid Senior PGA tournament. South African golfer and third generation vintner David Frost was at Harbor Shores Monday night, talking golf, wine, and partnerships.
Frost was in town meeting with corporate sponsors for next year’s event. He will be making his fourth appearance at Harbor Shores in next year’s Senior PGA. “The golf course has really matured, it’s just beautiful and the greens have softened up a bit,” Frost said. Frost put on a chipping and putting clinic for sponsors, something he knows a little about. Frost shattered a 16 year PGA record for fewest putts in a tournament for a 72 hole event, needing just 92 putts in four rounds at the MCI Heritage Classic in 2005.
“It’s all about the fundamentals,” Frost explained. “The set up, the stroke, the preparation and the ability to read greens,” he said. “And never trust a caddy to read a putt – he doesn’t know how hard you will hit it,” Frost added.
The other fundamental Frost was talking about was the relationship between sponsors and golf. “This is really a great opportunity to build meaningful relationships with customers,” he said. “Partnering with the PGA is not just good business, it’s good for the community,” he added.
Frost supports youth golf in his native South Africa and discussed the life skills the game helps develop in young people. “It’s about life skills, learning social skills, and having a lifelong sport to play; look at me, I ‘m still playing competitively at 60,” Frost stated. The KitchenAid Senior PGA also has a tradition of supporting young people and the community with donations flowing to the Benton Harbor Boy’s and Girls Club and the First Tee program.
Frost also brought some with him to Harbor Shores. Unlike some celebrities who merely put the name on a bottle, he’s from wine country in South Africa. His father’s vineyard was the first place he hit balls and the pocket money he made from picking grapes funded his first set of clubs. Frost bought a 300 acre vineyard in the Paarl wine region in 1994. He described the smell of the grapes in the vineyard and said after the bunch is picked, it’s the last three or four berries that produce that magical smell.
Frost is hoping that magic and his touch around the greens are with him next Spring when the Senior PGA returns to Benton Harbor and Harbor Shores.
