© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
SAN ANTONIO (November 15) – More than 100 corporate in-house lawyers, outside counsel and current and former Texas Supreme Court Justices hit the links at the TPC San Antonio—AT&T Canyons Course on Thursday afternoon for the General Counsel Forum’s 2nd Annual Charity Golf Classic.
The Forum, in conjunction with the Texas Access to Justice Commission and Foundation, raised $48,000 for the Foundation to enhance and expand the quality of justice in civil legal matters for people who face barriers in gaining access to the civil justice system in Texas. The participation and number of dollars donated increased by more than 50 percent from last year’s inaugural charity golf tournament.
“This group does the best job in the country at bringing corporate counsel together to support access to justice,” said former Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, who was on the winning team of last year’s tournament. He came close to repeating as tournament champion again on Thursday—his foursome, which included Justice Paul Green, posted a 61, which tied for the second best score of the windy (and chilly) afternoon.
Austin Industries fielded this year’s champion with general counsel Charles Hardy, Steve Doyle, Justin Holt and Steve Henry, who joined as the company’s chief legal officer and senior vice president in July. They finished with a 59.
Hardy must have known his team was in contention—he was found asking Leaderboard’s Jeff Hedrick how his team’s score measured up before leaving the course to get ready for the evening’s Magna Stella Awards.
Not everyone was as confident. Ron Taylor, vice president and special counsel of Blue Cross Blue Shield, lamented after his team failed to put together back-to-back birdies on its first two holes.
“I have a feeling we are not going to win,” he said.
The second place prize was awarded to Nexen Petroleum U.S.A. Inc.’s Sean Johnson, Jones Walker’s Josh Norris and Jeff Phillips and Ogden, Gibson, Broocks, Longoria & Hall’s Tom Gregor.
One of the more compelling storylines heading into the charity classic was whether Flexjet’s Amanda Willis would win her fourth long drive competition of the year. Before the 11:45 a.m. shotgun start, she said it all depended on the advantage.
“Sometimes the ladies’ tees are not that much further out than the men’s tees,” said Willis, whose average drive is about 250 yards.
She was 10 yards short of this year’s winner, Johnny Johnston, a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch in San Antonio. Close, but no cigar.
Speaking of cigars, there were lots of them on the course. If players didn’t bring their own stogies, they had ample opportunity to pick one up on Hole No. 6 or DW Legal Solution’s “Stogies and Shooters” tent on the turn. San Antonio’s own Tito’s Handmade Vodka was also a hit.
Other hole sponsors included: Bracewell & Giuliani; Kiersted Systems; Precision Discovery; Dell; Duggins Wren Mann & Romero; AT&T; Yetter Coleman; USAA; Richards Rodriguez & Skeith; D4 Discovery; Chevron Phillips; Vinson & Elkins; Exxon Mobil; Erickson Partners; CenterPoint Energy; and Baker Botts.
“It’s a tough course—we haven’t hit anything great,” said David Pluchinsky, a partner at Beirne, Maynard & Parsons. “I love how wide open it is.”
Pluchinsky’s foursome had at least one great shot. Teammate Jeff Kaplan, deputy general counsel at Houston-based LyondellBasell, won the closest to the pin contest on Hole No. 8.
There were more great shots to go around. Sidley Austin’s Tim Langenkamp made a 90 foot birdie putt from the rough and AT&T’s Joe Cosgrove pulled out all the stops on a 60 footer.
“It hit the back of the cup, went straight up and fell right in,” Cosgrove, an associate general counsel, said of his birdie putt.
AT&T, a presenting sponsor of the tournament, had two teams competing. When asked which foursome was better, Cosgrove’s teammate Dave Nichols, president of AT&T Texas, said it’s pretty close.
“The other group has a stud,” he said.
Nichols was referring to Dave Garcia. Others at AT&T say his job is to play golf. On Hole No. 6, where long drive champ Nyle Pruitt was launching 400-plus yard drives, there was a device that measured the ball speed on players’ drives. Pruitt says the average ball speed on the PGA Tour is 168 mph—Garcia’s was 165 mph.
“I do play a lot,” Garcia said, smiling after lining a drive down the center of the fairway.
There were plenty of not so good shots to go around, too. John Easton, a member of the Chevron Phillips foursome that dubbed themselves the “fun team,” used golf balls with SpongeBob SquarePants on them.
“We left a few in the water to return him home,” he joked.
Two questions were overheard when Scott McLaughlin and Matt Cavenaugh of Jackson Walker and Tim Hill and Scott Garber of Chevron Phillips were on a par-3 towards the end of the afternoon: “Anyone have any mulligans left?” and “Do we have any that are playable?” Good thing they were employing the aptly named “rock shot.”
“It’s where your ball bounces off a rock back into play,” McLaughlin explains.
The afternoon also provided an opportunity to catch up with friends. Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright was paired with his longtime friend Scott Rozzell, executive vice president and general counsel of CenterPoint Energy, also a presenting sponsor. They were joined by Dr. Kendal Stewart, a neurosurgeon in Austin.
“Some of my best friends are lawyers,” said Wainwright, who is now an appellate partner at Bracewell & Giuliani. “I’ve known Scott for 20-plus years.”
For some, golf kindles their competitive spirit. Energy Transfer Partners Associate General Counsel Paul Keeler, Duke Energy Corporation Deputy General Counsel Ted Matula and Andrews Kurth partners David Runnels and Craig Stahl kept individual scores as well as their team’s score. There was at least one $1 bet.
Best (or worst, depending on your allegiance) dressed goes to Troy Glander of Allan, Nava & Glander. He sported a University of Texas burnt orange hat, sunglasses, shirt and golf cleats. He even had a burnt orange driver with a Longhorns sticker he added.
All considered, it was a fun day at the TPC San Antonio, which plays host to the PGA Tour’s Valero Open. David Reiter, Luminex Corporation’s senior vice president, general counsel and secretary and co-chair of the 15th Annual Conference of General Counsel, said it was his first time to play in the golf tournament the day before the Forum’s programs.
“You can’t beat this set up,” he said.
On behalf of amateur golfers everywhere, Leaf River Energy Center LLC’s Kathy Ellis shares her one request to make next year’s tournament even better.
“Note to vendors: next year, we need sleeves of balls.”
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