Vinny Del Negro is a man of many athletic talents. First and foremost, he is a basketball player. An 11-year veteran of the NBA, Del Negro spent the most prominent years of his life dropping dimes and raining threes as a member of five NBA teams.
In his later years, Del Negro took on a secondary basketball role: coach, in which he served as a member of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers from 2008 to 2013. And a third role, still: broadcaster, where he served first as a radio analyst for the Phoenix Suns, and later as a television analyst for NBA TV, where he still contributes today.
But truthfully, Del Negro is a golfer at heart. He’s played for the overwhelming majority of his adult life, and he’s become a pretty good player. The good thing about being a man of many athletic talents is that he’s managed to navigate those spheres of influence into a series of strong golf invites, as he explained to hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar.
When it comes to a “dream” foursome or tee time, Del Negro admits he’s lucky, because he’s played with many of his heroes already, and at some of the greatest venues in the sport.
“Wow that’s a tough one,” he said. “It would probably be, my favorite course that I’ve played is Pine Valley. For whatever reason, I just like the whole environment there. I loved that the first time I played there 15 years ago or whenever it was, when I went to lunch, I could tell you every hole and how they were different. I think there’s very few courses where you could sit down after a round [and say that].”
As for his potential playing partners, the list doesn’t get any less star-studded.
“I’ve had the great honor of playing with Mr. Palmer, Annika, some of the great players,” he said .”But I’ve never played with Tiger, and I’ve met Jack Nicklaus, but I’ve never played golf with him. So those two for sure. And I’ve never played a round of golf with Phil, and being a lefty that’d probably be fun.”
Hey, a man can dream, right?
“Tiger, Phil, Jack and myself at Pine Valley, that’d be a heck of a day.”
To hear the rest of Del Negro’s Subpar interview, check out the video below.
