Fenn (left) and Walters

Chip Shots Golf Show:
Having Fun With Golf Radio

By David R. Holland, Regional Staff Writer

“We were at the Colorado Open following the last group of the day, when one of the players hit a ball in the water on a par-3,” said Fenn, a Class A PGA pro. “I’m watching the player take his drop and I look over and here’s Jerry pulling the ball out of the water and stuffing it in his pocket.”

What’s kind of strange about that is the fact that Walters and Fenn both don’t have to buy golf balls. Being in the golf business the balls are free. That’s not all. In another event Fenn actually saw his co-host go in the water knee-deep looking for a ball and he emerged covered knee-deep in mud.

“The cart girl had to go get some water for Jerry to wash off before continuing the round,” Fenn remembered.

And that brings up another subject Walters loves to talk about -- free golf. He’s in heaven. He gets to play golf free and it is sort of a motto for him. Even his e-mail address uses the phrase “free golf”.

Walters even has a mock-up of a book entitled “How to Get Free Golf” a friend put together for him. He uses the prop when he gives talks at various business luncheons around the metro area.

“I even have dreams of one day publishing such a book,” Walters said. “It would not only tell you how to get free golf, but also free logo golf shirts, caps, balls and so forth.”

“On his free golf excursions,” Fenn said, “he’ll try anything to get free stuff. Once we were in the Arrowhead Golf Shop and he holds up a logo shirt and tells the pro how good he’d look in it.” Sometimes it works. He gets the free golf shirt.

But being Scottish in a previous life might also denote a golf lover. Walters and Fenn are both that -- avid fans and players.

Walters and Fenn have a lot of fun on Chip Shots -- puns roll out and their ads claim: “All Seriousness Aside”. They joke about other uses for binoculars (girl watching) at The International. And Fenn, at times, serves as his straight man.

Both are entrepreneurs -- Chip Shots is a sole product of the duo. Their agreement with The Fan is that they sell the advertisements and formulate the schedule of the show. Fenn said he knows of only a handful of shows like Chip Shots in the country, including San Francisco-based "Hooked On Golf," hosted by John Abendroth and Mitch Juricich and heard on KNBR (680-AM).

Content-wise the highlight each week is an interview with people in the golf business, tour players, former tour players and instructors. There’s a trivia question for prizes, plus a Rules of Golf and a Player of the Week segment. The golf show also includes free golf giveaways, an editorial from Walters called “Double Bogey” and a look at the lighter side of golf.

Some of Walters’ Double Bogey topics have been why The International volunteers shouldn’t be getting autographs and the excitement and nervousness he felt when he caddied for Gary Hallberg in the Colorado Open and the relief when Hallberg carded a 63. He talked of the thrill the day his son Colby began to grasp the concept of the golf swing and he talked about fighting a losing battle boycotting plastic mats on ranges throughout the Denver area.

Walters also writes a monthly column for Metropolitan Tee Times, in which he has expounded on his frustration of hearing people use the word “golf” as a verb -- as in “where are you going to golf today?”

“People play golf! They don’t go golf,” Walters preaches.

Imagine doing an interview with Gary McCord and David Feherty. Do you think Jerry and Stan got a word in edgewise? Nope. What a fun job that must have been just listening to those two ramble on and on.

Other famous guests have included Byron Nelson, Dave Pelz (the short-game expert) and former CBS golf announcer Ben Wright talking about his book just published last month.

“We asked Feherty to do a promo for us,” Walters said. “He wouldn’t follow our script so he just said something like: ‘Golf fans, these guys have sad, pathetic lives so you have to listen to them.’ ”

Fenn, who is a teaching pro at the Golf Academy of Northern Colorado at Collindale, also founded the successful Denver Golf Expo. He was named Colorado Golf Association Publicist/Writer of the Year in 1998. He is a 1973 graduate of Colorado State University and earned his Class A PGA Professional status in 1978.

Fenn started the Denver Golf Expo in 1993 and has watched it grow each year. It brings together many in the golf business to show the latest products, hear about golf travel opportunities and even see the latest in physical therapy. Visitors can get golf instruction, play games and win door prizes.

During the major Colorado golf events such as The International and the Colorado Open, Walters and Fenn broadcast live on the scene. At this year’s Senior Open, Dale Douglass will be joining them from the location after his play for the day. The Senior Open is scheduled for September 10-12 at Plum Creek Golf and Country Club.

September was the month for one of Walters’ annual highlights: “Jerry has a tournament each year he calls ‘Walters’ Wedgee’ -- he has two brothers and all three alternate hosting the event,” Fenn said. “One of the highlights was giving a Jesper Parnevik Best Dressed Award, which Jerry won three years in a row. They finally decided to retire the award.”

Walters adheres to a light-hearted “Rules for Good Players”, which he will fax to you upon request.

It includes such gems as: Rule No. 4: "There shall be no such thing as a lost ball. The missing ball is on or near the course somewhere and eventually will be found and pocketed by someone else. It thus becomes a stolen ball, and the player should not compound the felony by charging himself with a penalty stroke."

Rule No. 10: Definition of Gimme -- an agreement between two losers who can’t putt.

Listen to Chip Shots; the world of golf needs more guys like Walters and Fenn. And Walters really isn’t Scottish, his ancestry is British and French Canadian.