Earl Woods wasn’t merely out to raise an on-course killer.
As a former Green Beret, he adopted a take-no-prisoners approach to parenting, instilling in his son the unwavering belief that life, like golf, should be pursued full-bore. Go big or go home. Otherwise, why bother? The implicit point was that one should always strive to kick the other guy’s butt, whether in Ping-Pong, PlayStation or the PGA Tour.
This competitive outlook found expression in Earl’s penchant for bold proclamations. (Remember the one about Tiger Woods doing more than any person to shape the course of human history?) It also came through in private conversations, including exchanges like the ones he had with the architect Beau Welling more than 20 years ago.
“He would say things like, When (Tiger) starts designing courses, you better watch out,” Welling recalled on a recent episode of the Destination Golf podcast.
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At the time, Welling worked for Tom Fazio, and he’d gotten to know both Earl and Tiger through Fazio’s involvement with the TGR Foundation and its educational programs for kids. Welling enjoyed his rapport with the elder Woods, who, like his son, had a knack for smack talk, imparted with a smile. When Woods told Welling that he “better watch out” because Tiger would soon be a competitor, he was joking. Sort of.
Welling, for his part, would rib right back.
“I’d say, Well, he can charge a lot more than I can, so that’s good for me,” Welling said.
As it turned out, Tiger Woods and Welling would become not so much competitors but collaborators, teaming up on designs spanning from Bluejack National in Houston to El Cardinal in Cabo San Lucas and beyond. Their partnership, born in 2007, endures today. Each man also has his own design firm, and these are busy days for both.
On the Destination Golf podcast, Welling discussed some of his recent projects, including his restorations of Oak Marsh, a Pete Dye design at Omni Amelia Island in Florida, and the Chanticleer course at Greenville Country Club in Greenville, S.C. The latter has a personal connection for Welling. Chanticleer was his home course when he was a kid.
Though he played well enough to compete in college at “the golf powerhouse of Brown University,” Welling never harbored illusions about his abilities on the course. Golf design was the more natural path, a gratifying way to stay connected to the game that married his interest in art and science. But little did Welling know how far that path would take him. In the podcast, Welling described the many forks he’s followed in his career, ranging from his work with Tiger to his prominent — and improbable — place in another sport of Scottish extraction that he fell in love with as an adult.
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