'Useless' trivia thread

[stratman]

Originally Posted by GeraldTheMouse

I didn't know you were a golf fan. Remind me to tell you about my business partnership with Phil Mickelson, Sr.

Really? Tell me more.

I rooted for Phil every tournament a few years back when he was trying to win his first major, and remember all the press hoopla surrounding that, but I know little about his dad.

[GeraldTheMouse]

Well at the time I was a freshman in college and had never heard of Phil Mickelson, Jr. I was working at a sign shop, running the laser-engraving machine, and in comes this client with a device called a Sportscope, which is basically a hand-held periscope for seeing over crowds at golf tournaments. He needed some logos engraved on the sides of the scopes, but to get them into the machine they had to be disassembled, which was a pain in the ass. After laboring in a cramped, windowless room for a few hours with him, the guy asked me if I'd like to finish the scopes in his backyard that weekend, where we could get some fresh air and drink some beers.

When I got back to my parents' house, they wore looks of bewilderment. 'Why is there a message on the answering machine from Phil Mickelson?' my dad asked. 'Who's that?' I said.

Turns out Phil Mickelson, Sr. makes the Sportscope, and I ended up in his (gorgeous!) back yard in San Diego for an afternoon doing a bit of manual labor, chatting with him, and drinking beer. I don't remember anything about the inside of his house (I only walked through it briefly), but I remember the license plate on his luxury sedan parked out front said something to the effect of 'FOR DAD'.

[stratman]

Very interesting.

I just googled "Phil Sr." and read about the very backyard where you two were slamming down beers. Seems he built a practice green complete with sand bunker, burmuda grass and a 44 yard "fairway" for Phil Jr. to hone his skills. It paid off well!