Meet The Rock & Roll Stars Of Golf
Some kids grow up with visions of becoming the next great golfer, and others, the next hottest rock star.
Then, there are those like PGA Tour players Peter Jacobsen, Payne Stewart and Mark Lye who grew up wanting to be both.
Golfers by day, and rock stars by night, the trio formed the hippest golfing rock band since the Spice Girls met the European Tour's Spice Boys.
The trio started Jake Trout and the Flounders nine years ago, performing spoofs of popular songs at golf events.
Nevermind heartache bogeys and missed cuts on tour when you can croon like Frank Sinatra. As successful rock stars with a growing fan club, the group recorded their second album called I Love to Play. The title song, a spinoff of Randy Newman's"I Love L.A.," is released by EMI-Capitol Entertainment Properties and is in stores now.
Songwriter-singer-guitarist "Jake Trout" Jacobsen, "Nick Knickers" Stewart and "Lofton" Lye have turned songs like Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" into "No Caddie-Hell," Hootie & the Blowfish's "Let Her Cry" as "I Want to Cry" and Otis Redding's "Knock On Wood" as "Metal Wood."
Jake Trout and the Flounders' first title was released in 1989. With some of the proceeds going to charity, the album sold about 25,000 copies.
Jacobsen, who founded the band, has been playing guitar since age 13.
"When I went on the Tour, everybody else was into fishing. It was boring just sitting in hotel rooms or going to movies. So I started playing every night on the road," Jacobsen said. "I'd get off the plane with a guitar case in one hand and a golf bag in the other: Golf was for business. Music was for my own entertainment."
There were no humble beginnings in grungy Seattle garages for this band. They jammed in their hotel rooms and got their first gig playing at a PGA Championship dinner. They were a hit, especially when they spiced up the song "La Bamba" with names like Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Seve Ballesteros.
With their silly antics, the band proved to be a great stress reliever for the group.
"If you take this game too seriously, you'll implode," said Jacobsen. "I once asked my father, 'What's the most important thing in golf? Grip? Alignment? Tempo?' He answered, 'A sense of humor.'"
Big fans of music, the three like to spend their free time jamming with musicians Eric Clapton, Graham Nash and Hootie and the Blowfish.
"Musicians say, 'I'd give anything to be a golfer.' Athletes say, 'I'd trade it all to be a rock star.' But it's actually cool to be a golfer now," said Lye.
And as a rocking golf star, you're even cooler.