Clay Aiken's Golf Tournment (Parts 2-4), Part 2: It's the Cl

Palm Beach Post.com

Former US Open and British Open golfer Wayne Player, son of legend Gary Player, may not have had the career his dad did. But during this morning's golf clinic at Mirasol's "Golfing For Inclusion," he's proven to not only have a heck of a swing, but to be an energetic, theatrical teacher that might make him the Professor Harold Hill of golf ("He's the golfing man, and he gives golfing lessons to the swells in town!")

For about 30 minutes, Wayne gave some pointers on golf, some ruminations on growing up in the light of his father, and made Clay Aiken his second banana. He also demonstrated how to properly aim a swing by not knocking off the head of our good friend and Clay fan Pam Bassett, who he had stand nervously behind him as he swung.

"Do we have her check yet?" Clay joked, as Pam covered her eyes while Wayne swung and hit the ball, as promised, really far and nowhere near Pam's head. Everyone was impressed and Pam was happy to still have a head.

Clay told me a few weeks ago that he's not a good golfer, and Wayne himself joked this morning that he's probably a better singer than Clay is a golfer. But after twisting Clay around during his demonstration like a Stretch Armstrong doll, Wayne says he may have been wrong. I won't bore you with all the golf terms, because I don't know a dang thing about it, but basically Clay hasn't been good at golf because, he says, he's "duck-footed."

And he kinda is. But Wayne switched his feet around and explained that golf is about the right stance and about fighting the natural urge to swing back really wide. Actually, the swing Clay wound up with reminded me of Pilates, where you keep your core solid and strong, rather than swinging around flailing. (And that reminds me of the recent LPGA event I attended with the "Golfing For Pilates" clinic by the ladies from Canyon Ranch. I love me some synergy.)

Wayne also explained to the assembled golfers and spectators, including Clay fan Sharon Kays who's here all the way from the Quad Cities, Illinois area, that a golf swing is not "lethargic" but "an act of violence."

Jigga who?

No, seriously, he says he phrased it that way because the power has to be deliberate and focused. He wasn't advocating slapping people with your clubs when you stink up the golf course. Wayne, who's a charming, charming man, took some time from his golf lesson to explain how having three kids in good health, like son Nicholas, who was sitting nearby, made him consider how important charities like the Bubel-Aiken Foundation are - "They're included," he said of his kids, as opposed to the kids with disabilities who need programs to provide facilities for them.

All this has made me possibly want to take a golf lesson, because I do Pilates and can at least swing my body around right. I might still stink up the joint. But I'll look pretty doing it.

Posted by Leslie Streeter at January 7, 2008 11:59 AM

I've hung out with so-called Claymates before, but the "Golfing For Inclusion" tournament here at Mirasol marks the first time I've ever met actual friends and families of Mr. Clay Aiken.

Or should I say, Clayton. Because they do.

"When he comes home, he's Clayton," explained aunt Dianne Aiken, leaning against the golf cart I was sitting in at the something-or-other hole (you want exact golf terms, call Wayne Player). "He's family, and to other people, he's Clay, but calling him 'Clay' feels like being disrespectful."

Another member of the Clayton team is Aron Hall, director of services for the Bubel-Aiken Foundation and a former co-worker of Aiken's in his pre-"American Idol" days at the YMCA - "When I'm around other people, I try to call him Clay," said Aron, who was driving me around in the golf cart.

(An aside - Back before "Idol," Clay sang at Aron's wedding. How cool is that?)

The golf tournament's been going well, I guess - I've met several participants who are just big golfers and supporters of charity like realtor Susan Kohout, who organizes volunteers at big golf events, and some who are big Clay fans, like our friend Pam, and Chicago's own Michelle Manson, who's gotten involved in the Bubel-Aiken foundation and volunteered for their inclusive summer camp.

It's a beautiful course - a bunch of the houses are Falcon Crest big, for real. (I kept looking around for that freaky-looking falcon to spin his head around, or Lorenzo Lamas emerging from a swimming pool.)

For all the fanciness, Aunt Dianne says this is all a function of the foundation, and that the foundation is who Clay...er, Clayton really is.

"Sure, he can sing. He could always sing," she said. "Everybody has a job. But Clayton is the foundation. He loves this, and I love it. Hopefully, this will give these children an opportunity to go to camp and one day be able to touch our lives."

Up next, hopefully...a chat with Clay himself!

Posted by Leslie Streeter at January 7, 2008 1:52 PM

So sorry to make y'all wait for my last and final dispatch from Mirasol, the site of the first annual "Golfing For Inclusion" benefit for the Bubel-Aiken Foundation. But I had to have dinner with Clay Aiken.

Fine...so he was one table over. We were in the same room. And that meal from afar followed a nice, hilarious one-on-one conversation I had with Clay during the cocktail hour, where participants readied their final bids on goodies like autographed PGA merchandise, golf with Gary and Wayne Player and a shot of Botox. No, I didn't make that last one up.

During dinner, Clay offered a carriage ride with him in New York for the highest bidder, a prize which two different ladies won for $20,000.

"Did you just hear me sing?" Clay asked earlier, as the bidding stalled around $18,000. "This is good stuff!"

And yes, his versions of "At This Moment" and "I Can't Make You Love Me" (two of the most depressing songs ever written) were good, great stuff. He told me earlier that those were two of the songs he knew that he and piano player Ben could easily do with just the keys and no full band. Clay's songs also provided a space filler when the informational video about the foundation wouldn't play.

"Obviously, we're using some of the money raised to buy a new video projector," Clay deadpanned.

"How many people have Clay as a back-up when something goes wrong?" his Uncle Jerry said.

None, actually. But that's something maybe we could bid on to support the foundation! You have a presentation, or a graduation speech, or an "American Idol" audition you aren't sure about? Hire Clay to jump in and sing something while you're regrouping!

Because I got a lot of good stuff in my one-on-one with Clay, I'm gonna save it until tomorrow, to keep you wanting more. Because I'm a big ol' tease.

Posted by Leslie Streeter at January 7, 2008 8:06 PM