AVONDALE, La. – In New Orleans they do almost everything with music. And so it was the perfect town to implement walk up music for the first time on the PGA TOUR at the Zurich Classic. Some teams picked tunes to pump them up. Others to make them smile and relax. And there were certainly some great moments. Take Justin Rose – a former champion – he couldn’t resist a quick dig at his teammate Henrik Stenson. Rose had the DJ play “Goldâ€� by Spandau Ballet – of course in reference to him besting the Swede at the 2016 Rio Olympics. After raising his arms in triumph on the first tee he walked to Stenson for a high five and a “Sorry Bro,â€� much to everyone’s amusement. The biggest cheers might have come for the duo of Alex Cejka and Ben Crane. The pair cranked out Whitesnake’s “Here I go Againâ€� and performed a quick lip-syncing and headbanging performance. One fan let them know, “Y’all got to hit a good shot after all that now!â€� To which they did. Chris Stroud and Brian Stuard picked Metallica’s “Enter Sandmanâ€�. It was a popular choice as the fans rocked along with it. While the song had clipped off before the famous line one clever observer quipped as they walked off the tee, “Off to never never land.â€� England’s Tommy Fleetwood had his partner Chis Paisley in stitches with their choice of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhereâ€�. As the lyric pounded out… “I want to be with you everywhere,â€� Paisley couldn’t contain himself. His tee shot was immediately followed by a loud “fore rightâ€�. The first player to hit off in the morning, Joel Dahmen, also lost his ball well right after “I’m Alrightâ€� from Kenny Loggins – made famous in the Caddyshack soundtrack – had him too pumped up. But paired with Denny McCarthy the duo carded a 10-under 62 to rocket to 15-under and into contention. Charles Lewallan and his daughter Tiffany arrived at the first tee on hour before play started just to get a prime spot. The 61-year-old from Long Beach Mississippi was incredibly keen to see how the players took to the new concept. “I think it’s great. It’s a bit different and they seem to be having a good time with it. I loved the headbanging,â€� Lewallan said. “We game early just for this and it has been very entertaining.â€� The man in charge of the music was local lawyer Brett Bonin who DJ’s in his spare time at schools, volunteer groups and local golf tournaments. “You’ve got to do something cool on the side,â€� Bonin – who works for the Louisiana office of alcohol and tobacco control – said. “A good friend of mine got asked to do it but he had several other events going on; I’ve filled in for him whenever he had a conflict. “I’ve done a lot of golf tournaments here with music; I’ve done golf tournaments where they play loud music the whole time; that’s how I ended up being asked to do it.â€� Manned with his computer, an iTunes playlist and an amp and mixer Bonin had clipped each team’s song request down to 10 seconds. He and two friends were up to 1am making sure everything was in order and teed up to the right moment in the song after not getting the final cleared list until after 9pm Friday night. Three different players even called to make sure they had it right. “It’s a level of complexity that you never, ever deal with regular DJ work,â€� Bonin laughed. One of those levels came soon after with Charley Hoffman’s caddy asking for his song, “California Loveâ€� by Tupac, be played longer and during Hoffman’s swing. Bonin said he didn’t have that authority but when Hoffman himself insisted the Presidents Cup player did indeed hit his ball with the tune still blaring. “There’s like 20 different people giving you instructions and trying to figure out who trumps whom is very difficult,â€� Bonin said. They also had to do sound checks in the early hours Saturday with people placed on other holes on the course, making sure the volume wouldn’t adversely affect players out there already playing. Another Presidents Cup player – Louis Oosthuizen – had “Hakuna Matataâ€� play prior to his opening shot. Of course, it means, “no worries, for the rest of your days,â€� but Oosthuizen’s ball sailed left into a bunker. The team still made birdie. Other clever choices from teams included “Down Underâ€� from Men at Work with all-Australian team Cameron Percy and Greg Chalmers; a bagpipe version of Flower of Scotland from Russell Knox and Martin Laird and Toto’s “Africaâ€� from South Africans Tyrone Van Aswegen and Retief Goosen. Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar went with local favorite Louis Armstrong’s “When the Saints Go Marchingâ€� and had them dancing in the stands. And the 36-hole leaders Michael Kim and Andrew Putnam gained respect for poking a little fun at themselves. Choosing “Still D.R.Eâ€� by Dr. Dre they clipped at the lyrics, “Guess who’s back. Still doing this huh? Yeah, Check me out,â€� Putnam is currently 105th in the FedExCup and Kim is back in 171st. Keeping it light and with a fun vibe this week has helped them to a hot start. Those vibes are set to continue for all when the music returns Sunday.
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