Читать книгу Who's That With Charlie? - Charles S. Mechem - Страница 8
ОглавлениеA Word from Arnold Palmer
OVER THE YEARS, I have been able to benefit from the advice of quite a few wise people as I made my way through the challenging business career that sprouted from the early success I enjoyed on the pro golf tour. Right at the top of that list is my close friend Charlie Mechem, whose counseling I have relied on for going on twenty years.
One of the best decisions I ever made was to bring Charlie on board as a personal consultant shortly after he completed his five-year term as LPGA Commissioner in the mid-1990s. As Charlie points out later on in this unique and entertaining book, much of the valuable advice that I got from him was literally face to face for ten years as he sat in an office next to mine with the door always open at my Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida. I always looked forward to the steaming paper cups of coffee he would bring to the office for the two of us to start the new business day. I think one of the reasons that Charlie and I get on so well is that our backgrounds are very similar. We were both small-town boys who grew up during the Great Depression and World War II and were raised by parents with solid, basic American values. Not a bad heritage!
Although Charlie and his lovely wife, Marilyn, moved west in 2005 to be closer to their children year-round, our association has since continued, mostly on the telephone, except for the time we get together during the few weeks I spend at Tradition Golf Club in La Quinta, California, in the dead of winter.
It’s no wonder that Charlie has been so successful in the various executive positions he has held during his business career. He is a meticulous person. He thoroughly investigates the matters at hand. He prefers to know the bottom line before there is a bottom line. He likes to participate in creative activities and inspires people to do their best no matter what they are pursuing.
I first got to really know him during his years with the LPGA and, like everybody else in the world of golf, could see that he was certainly the person who could stabilize and advance the LPGA at a critical stage of its existence. He was clearly the right person at the right time. That was proven during his term as Commissioner and since then. He brought a sense of purpose to the organization beyond its public face in competitive sports.
Besides the business side of things, Charlie has been a great companion and sincere friend. I am pleased to be counted among the many who dot the pages that follow.
One final note. One of my favorite things about Charlie is his sense of humor. We both love to joke and laugh—as the pictures in this book clearly show. In that spirit let me note that I’m not going to say anything about Charlie’s golf game except that it was not a major contributor to his success! Happily, he didn’t need it.
Arnold Palmer