This was as much fun as the two Pete Dye interviews I did. Great stuff, Kelly!
http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=4151From the article:
JF: What’s next for you?
KBM: Mexico. I’ve been doing reno work at a club in Central Mexico called Torreon. I’ve been working on the greens 7-10 days at a time.
It’s been a wild time. I almost got shot at during a soccer game we went to. They have a pro team in the town, and we went to a game and I guess there were some bad guys, some banditos coming through the area in vans, and they didn’t stop at a police road block set up at the game, so the cops opened fire. Well they were fully armed, and they came out of the van and returned fire with machine guns. We’re in the stadium when the machine gun fire breaks out, and though we were never in danger, the players ran off the field and we all ducked under our seats. We thought maybe they were trying to shoot their way in…we had no idea what the intention was.
That went on for five minutes, but eventually the gunfight ceased, they moved on, and we got ourselves together and walked out of the stadium. The minute the gunfire started the players left. It was scary. There were little kids frightened out of their minds. To have that happen was unfortunate.
JF: What is the strangest, zaniest thing you have ever had to deal with while trying to build a golf course?
KBM: Oh, that…
(Laughter)
JF: How about on a site?
KBM: Well again in Mexico at another course with a lot of water, they gathered all the crocodiles on the site in little canoes and roped them, and put them in the canoe one by one and transported them to a preserve a few miles away and – lo! and behold! – somehow all the crocs came back! So while I’m making site visits, I had to cross bridges and all they had installed were narrow pieces of metal to get over a 60 foot water way! So I’m on my hands and knees going across because I’m afraid I’m gonna fall and get eaten by crocs! I’m afraid of heights, and lemme tell you something – once you look down, you’re done!