The 19th Hole: Woody Moriarty

By |  November 22, 2016 0 Comments

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Woody Moriarty // Superintendent // Blue Hills CC, Kansas City, Mo.

Woody, what can I get you? Jim Beam and Seven, tall.

How do you spend an ideal Saturday? I have three kids and I’m a big sports fan. I like keeping up with my kids’ sports. The girls (ages 20 and 18) play basketball and volleyball. I coached the girls in basketball. Football, baseball and basketball for my son, he’s a sophomore.

Favorite movie of all time? The Godfather.

Have you tried Topgolf yet? No, but I’m just not into it. I like the environment of being outside and playing golf, not hitting into a bunch of bells and whistles or a light show.

Blue Hills hosted the Tom Watson Children’s Mercy Classic for a long time. Any memories stand out? My first year I had the five great golfers: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Gary Player and Lee Trevino. I was impressed by the way Palmer was so nice to everyone. Palmer is walking out the door to go play, and one of our members says, “Mr. Palmer, Mr. Palmer!” Palmer thought he was going to get another question. And then the member says, “Did you know we have a soft spike rule here at Blue Hills?” Palmer turned around real calm and said, “Today you don’t have a soft spike rule.”

If you could change one thing about golf, what would it be? We’re under a complete bunker reconstruction, we’re doing it in-house… it chaps me how much time is spent on bunkers. It’s a hazard. Now you hear the pros would rather be in the bunker than the tall rough. Did you see the Ryder Cup and how they rolled the edges? It sets a precedent. I like to pay attention to detail, but at some point it’s too much. Golfers are pampered.

Are you a big Kansas City barbecue fan? I bet there’s 20 good barbecue joints here in town. I love the varieties, and there are a lot of new ones popping up. But I’ll stick with Gates for my double-decker beef sandwich, and Gates for the actual sauces. But Jack Stack has the best burnt ends and beans in Kansas City.

What teams do you root for? I grew up in Kansas City, I went to the old ball parks for both the Royals and the Chiefs. But I’m a diehard Royals fan and a K-State Wildcat.

How have you changed with the changing times? Well… I’ve gained weight, and I hired more assistants — how’s that? I’ve gained 30 pounds but I’ve been able to hire three assistants rather than two.

It’s all that barbecue. Like I said, I love the different varieties.

Photo: Golfdom

This is posted in 19th Hole, Featured, People

About the Author: Seth Jones

Seth Jones, a 25-year veteran of the golf industry media, is Editor-in-Chief of Golfdom magazine and Athletic Turf. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Jones began working for Golf Course Management in 1999 as an intern. In his professional career he has won numerous awards, including a Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) first place general feature writing award for his profile of World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman and a TOCA first place photography award for his work covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In his career, Jones has accumulated an impressive list of interviews, including such names as George H.W. Bush, Samuel L. Jackson, Lance Armstrong and Charles Barkley. Jones has also done in-depth interviews with such golfing luminaries as Norman, Gary Player, Nick Price and Lorena Ochoa, to name only a few. Jones is a member of both the Golf Writers Association of America and the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association. Jones can be reached at sjones@northcoastmedia.net.


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