Venture capitalist Jay Rice and banker Chris Parisi had a four-hour talk Wednesday about future partnerships with their companies - a typical business meeting. Except it was on a golf course.
"Golf allows us to get to know each other personally," said Rice, a management director for North Atlantic Capital, based in Portland. "We don't always have enough time in meetings that last around 15 minutes. It's too hard to build personal bonds."
Dressed in shorts and soaking in the warm afternoon sun at the Woodlands Club in Falmouth, Rice and Parisi talked business while playing 18 holes of golf.
"Sometimes you wind up only talking business on the golf course," said Parisi, a vice president of Key Banc Capital Markets, based in Cleveland.
Increasingly, businesspeople like Rice and Parisi see the commercial benefits of hitting the greens with clients and associates.
Businesspeople are hitting the links to build rapport and network. They also are attending seminars and reading books that give advice about networking on the greens.
Once seen as a game for the wealthy and white, golf is seeing a growing number of players. The National Golf Foundation estimates 2 million golfers start playing each year, and since 1997, 23 golf courses have opened in Maine. And with pro golfers such as Tiger Woods starring in ads for Nike and Buick, golf continues to increase in popularity.
Maine businessmen want to use this trend to their benefit, said Doug Van Wickler, golf director at the Woodlands Club.
"A huge portion of our members uses the country club as a pure means to entertain clients and engage new business," he said. "We have insurance guys, businessmen and all walks of life. Golf is a great opportunity to network."
Stephen Goble, an owner of three McDonald's franchises, uses golf to look for sponsors and donors for the Ronald McDonald Foundation. Rick Rand, the Maine account manager for Mortgage Guarantee Insurance, likes to take clients for a game to pitch insurance deals.
Many chambers of commerce use golf tournaments as a way to raise funds and help businesspeople network. For example, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce is holding its ninth annual Scramble for Scholars golf tournament on Sept. 30 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
"Golf is a casual way to make business progress," said Melanie Baillargeon, communications director for the state chamber. "It's a relaxed atmosphere where you can be human besides getting business done."
Businesspeople also look to network at public golf courses that attract traveling businessmen or those who do not want to pay for pricey club memberships, said Deanne Langmaid, assistant general manager at the Nonesuch River Golf Club in Scarborough.
"The ones who don't play golf much come here," she said. "We're more affordable. We have wider fairways and less difficult holes than the private courses. You don't totally embarrass yourself here."
Not embarrassing yourself while conversing and gripping a nine iron could mean the difference between a friendly merger or a hostile takeover. Major corporations like IBM and Merrill Lynch have noticed the significance of relationships developed on the golf course and have sent executives to learn how to sell themselves on the fairways. They take lessons from experts such as Business Golf Strategies, a consulting firm out of New Jersey.
In addition to seminars, business consultants have written books on how to conduct business on the golf course. A search for those golf-and-business books on Amazon.com, the online retail site, yielded enough results to cover the links of any back nine.
One book, "Business Golf," lists the 10 commandments of what to do and watch out for on the greens with a client or business associate. The book stresses that it's not the bogeys or handicaps that reflect a player's business sense, but how someone acts while playing.
Back on the course, Rand said that he likes to play golf at a fast pace and, sometimes, to bet on a few games to keep it interesting.
"It's typically a small bet," he said. "It keeps you focused. No one's hurt if it's a few dollars. I can be competitive."
Real estate owner Don Neidetcher likes to take his time trekking between the greens and meticulously plans each shot. He also likes the atmosphere of golfing with a business associate. "I have no phone calls or interruptions," he said.
Van Wickler agrees that how a person handles hitting more balls to the pond instead of the fairway says a lot about one's character.
"To be very successful in the business world, you need a high level of integrity," he said.
"Businessmen treat golf the same way. Golf is one of the few sports where we call our own penalties. No one else can see the ball move but you. Do you play it as it lays? Do you win or lose graciously?"
Rice and Parisi had gotten to the fourth hole last week, where the 430-yard fairway has three sloping sand traps. A pond and woods are on both sides of the hole. It is the hardest green at the country club.
After three shots that sent his ball to the woods and into the sand, Parisi couldn't help but smile and told Rice, "You already won."
"It's like having dinner with someone," Rice said. "You see how they react under pressure, see if they're cheaters. It's actually better than dinner."
The two returned their clubs to the bags. Instead of driving a golf cart to the next hole, they pushed their golf bags themselves and walked on foot.
"That's another way to learn about one's personality," Rice said.
Source: Portland Press Herald (Maine)
