Fiddler’s is much like a box of chocolates

They call it the Golfer’s Candy Store, and it doesn’t take long to figure out why.

Within minutes of walking into Fiddler’s Green Golf Center, I had three wonderfully priced golf shirts draped over an arm and was surprisingly, uncharacteristically, picking through racks of shorts, matching colors and styles and ... Oh my gosh, I had become my wife.

I backed away slowly.

Moments later, I urged another in our group to take deep breaths. He’d gotten excited over a golf glove marked at a ridiculously low price, only to discover he overlooked a digit.

Yes, a Portland columnist had it right when he surveyed the assortment of merchandise and sweet deals and likened it to a candy store.

Located in Eugene but accessible the world over via the Internet, Fiddler’s Green, or Fid’s, as locals call it, has grown remarkably from the mom-and-pop par-3 golf course that Dan and Gerri Whalen took over in January 1976.

It now is among the largest on-course golf shops in America at 14,000 square feet. On display are more than 200 sets of irons, 1,000 metal woods and 1,000 putters, all available to take out for a test swing on the facility’s driving range.

For those who don’t make the drive, there’s a Web site — one that is used often by golfers in southern Oregon and northern California, says Al Whalen, general manager and one of four sons who now run the business. In fact, Fid’s advertises in the Yellow Pages here and to the south.

Fid’s is part of an aggressive marketing campaign to make out-of-area golfers aware of options in the Eugene area. Golf Lane County grew out of what was originally a joint effort with central Oregon resort and course operators. The idea was to lure tax dollars earmarked for the tourism and hospitality industry, says Al Whalen.

Those in the Lane County golf industry were encouraged a little more than a year ago by Liz Doyle of Diamond Woods to band together to get the word out. Joining Diamond Woods were Tokatee, Emerald Valley and River Ridge golf courses, along with three of Eugene’s finest hotels and Fid’s, which has a reputation that reaches much farther than those of the other partners.

But Whalen deflects the notion that his store is the hub.

"Lane County golf could exist without Fiddler’s Green," he says, "but if you take the courses out, there is no Fiddler’s Green."

It’s hard to believe there is a Fid’s now.

When Dan Whalen moved his family to Eugene from Minnesota to run the course, his were the plans of a minimalist. He had been a men’s apparel representative and decided early on that he wouldn’t stock loads of equipment.

"He dealt with retailers every day," says Al Whalen, "and he saw what put them out of business: the inability to control their inventory. He felt that if he didn’t go there, he wouldn’t have those problems."

Dan Whalen was content to work behind the counter of his 400-square-foot pro shop, take greens fees and sell a few tees and gloves. Business was slow in the beginning. For about 40 days, he didn’t see a customer but had regular visits from the sheriff’s deputies because of three break-ins.

When a customer did come in, says Al Whalen, his father "had to physically refrain from embracing that person. All he could do was to make sure the customer felt welcome, and that would make up for other deficiencies — and there were plenty of them back then."

Dan Whalen’s contentedness last for a while. Then he made an addition. Then another. Before you knew it, Fid’s had become, well, Fid’s.

"In the first 15 years," says Al Whalen, "we made one addition every year. Every time we did, we just thought the business couldn’t get any better. We thought this next addition would be the last one because, man, we were rolling. It just kept growing and growing."

The last major upgrade was five years ago, when an embroidery center was added to the mix.

Without giving being specific, Whalen says Fid’s annually ranks high among the nation’s golf-shop retailers in sales. But he’s especially proud of honors bestowed upon his store by equipment manufacturers for fitting expertise.

"That means we’re spending time with customers," he says.

Indeed, I spent nearly two hours hitting balls with a variety of irons. Some were discarded because I didn’t like the feel. Some because I didn’t like the look. Some because they had the misfortune of being in my hands during a particularly heinous swing.

Eventually, it all came together.

Some people might need half an hour. Others might need two days.

"We get people who want to sample clubs," says Whalen, "and what better place to sample them than a place with more things to sample."

They do it with candy. Why not with clubs?

LARRY GIUSTINA, whose family built Tokatee nearly 40 years ago and continues to operate it, tells a story about boarding a plane one day about noon at the Eugene Airport. Seated next to a woman, he heard the pilot announce there’d be a delay due to fog in Seattle, their destination.

Given the beautiful weather out his window, Giustina’s surprise was evident. But the woman assured him the pilot was correct. Curious, he asked how she would know.

It turns out, she had flown to Eugene that morning solely to spend the morning at Fiddler’s Green and was on her way home to Seattle.

Needless to say, Giustina welcomes a partnership with Fid’s.

WHEN COURSE designer John Fought played Centennial Golf Club last week, along with a number of local players getting their first crack at the region’s newest gem, he gushed about the quality of the greens.

"These greens," he said coming off of one of them, "are the best we’ve ever put in."

After another hole, he marveled, "Look at the density of the grass on these greens. It’s all-world."

That’s saying something, since next year, no fewer than six championships, ranging from the four main professional tours to U.S. Golf Association events, will be played on courses he designed or renovated. The biggest will be the PGA Accenture Match Play Championship at one of his Gallery courses in Tucson, Ariz.

Centennial’s greens are constructed of T-1 bent grass, which sort of weaves into itself as it grows, creating a sturdy, true surface. On this day, the greens were slow, running just below 9 on the Stimpmeter, Fought guessed. But it won’t take but a cutting or two for the undulating monsters to create nightmarish putts for the unsuspecting.

From his perspective, Fought couldn’t overstate the importance of quality greens.

"Greens are to a golf course what a face is to a person," he said, quoting another designer who’s book is one of hundreds in his library.

They are what players remember when they leave a course.

"If you can’t do greens," said Fought, "you shouldn’t be in this business. That’s where guys like me make our money."

FOUGHT SHARED AN amusing story from the Phoenix Open years ago, when he played alongside Bob Hope in the celebrity pro-am:

Hope topped his tee shot, and it rolled about 80 yards. He turned to his caddie and bellowed, for all to hear, "You have got to be the worst caddie on the planet!"

Without skipping a beat, the caddie replied, "Naw, that would be too much of a coincidence."