Colorado Rockies Outfielder Lee Tinsley Loves Arizona Golf

December 16, 1998
Colorado Rockies free agent Lee Tinsley loves the game of golf. As a hard hitting professional 29 year old baseball player, Tinsley epitomizes the power and the all-around athletic abilities of a class "A" athlete in everything he does. Living in Arizona has given him ample opportunities to hit long balls and solid drives all year long.

"For me a good game of golf represents four hours of relaxation and play," said the former Cincinnati Reds and Anaheim Angels outfielder who batted .265 last year for the Colorado Rockies. "We get to play, stay out, socialize, talk shop with our peers and best of all enjoy the great Arizona weather."

As professional baseball players, Tinsley and buddies Troy O'Leary, Wendell Kim, Damon Beuford from the Boston Red Sox, and Chris Jones from the San Francisco Giants, get to play some of Arizona's better golf courses, enjoying a regimen of about three or more golf games a week.

"We really enjoy playing Troon North in Scottsdale," Tinsley said. "This course has a challenging layout. It's concise. This is one of those courses where you really need to apply course management. It's not just drivers and short irons. The greens are probably the best in Arizona. Other courses we really enjoy playing are Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale, The Foothills Golf Club in Ahwatukee, The Raven and the Tournament Players Club in North Scottsdale. "

Tinsley said that many ball players like living in Arizona because the weather allows them to play sports all year round.

"It's a great place for us ball players," Tinsley said. "Any time of the year we can go out, play golf, throw a ball around, hit a few balls, go to a batting cage, do anything we want to. It's great."

According to Tinsley "70 out of 100" professional ballplayers enjoy the game of golf. A 9 to 10 handicap player himself, Tinsley applauded other ballplayers who have taken up the game.

"We have guys like Roger Clemens from the Toronto Blue Jays whose a scratch player and Gregg Maddux from the Atlanta Braves, another good player who could easily play in the mini or senior tours when they retire," Tinsley said.

Where some golfers take the game of golf too seriously, Tinsley sees it as fun and a great way to relax.

"Personally, I find it a lot tougher standing at the plate with a three and two count on me than facing a three or four foot put," Tinsley said. "But I couldn't imagine the pressure a professional golfer has when they have to sink a putt to win. It has to be immense. For a ball player with a three and two count if you miss you always have the next day to try again or someone coming up behind you to cover. In a golf tournament everything counts on that shot. It's total pressure on you alone."

Tinsley said that his approach to the golf game is similar to his approach to baseball.

"When I play I relate to baseball," Tinsley said. "In baseball we hit tons of balls during practice. It's the same for golf. Good golfers work on their game. To get good you have to work at it. A lot of people don't understand this. People don't realize just how much a professional practices. We practice and practice until muscle memory takes over. The pro golfers know how to draw a ball back to the pin or how to hit a fade. This comes from practice."

When comparing the difficulty between hitting a moving baseball to a stationary golf ball, Tinsley called it just about even.

"They are both challenging," Tinsley said. "In baseball the ball is moving and you don't know where the ball is going to be when you swing. You make a mistake and you don't hit it square you pop up or hit it on the ground. In golf, the ball is not moving but any little mistake in your swing, if you shifted too forward, you will slice or hook it or drive it on the ground. But in baseball you only have to hit it square and spray the ball around the field. In golf, not only do you have to hit it square but with direction at a hole in the ground not more than five inches in wide. I basically try to hit it straight off the tee. I have a left/right swing so that's how I play the ball."

Tinsley said that the farthest he ever hit a baseball was about 420 feet. His farthest drive was 315 yards, more than twice the distance.

Asked if he and his friends ever gambled, Tinsley admitted to a friendly bet here and there.

"Sometimes I play Wolf or Skins with Beuford and O'Leary," Tinsley admitted.

Asked if baseball players ever cheat in golf, Tinsley answered cryptically.

"I've not counted a dropped ball every once in a while," Tinsley said. "There are always those mysterious shots into the desert where the lost ball mysteriously drops from a pocket back onto the fairway. I remember this one game we were playing where Beuford sliced one far into the valley and one of his friends mysteriously finds the ball, which mysteriously changed brands, 20 feet from the green."

Regarding his philosophy on golf, Tinsley maintains an optimistic outlook.

"There's an old adage in golf," Tinsley said. "It only takes one good shot to bring you back.. It will bring you back to play again. It will make you feel 25 feet tall. When you have your bad days, you have to come back and do better. My first game I shot 123. After that start, I now keep my game at 82. If I could play everyday I would."

Tinsley said he has been playing golf now for two years and has lived in Arizona for the last year and a half and that he loves it.

He is married and he and his wife Susan have a 6 months old boy named Cobie.