George Pace The Music Man
Everybody at Bryce Resort knows George. Granted, he’s hard to miss—technicolored button-up shirts, puffing thick cigars in-hand. And even if you somehow miss him on the green, you can still hear him booming disco music out of his golf cart.
“Around 14 years ago,” said George, “I was just sitting around in between holes at the Woods Golf Course in West Virginia, and I was bored. It’s so boring, waiting to hit. So I said, ‘Okay, I have my speaker with me—why not play some tunes?’ I started playing music, and I’ve been filling the void between holes ever since.”
George began playing music from his boombox at every course he visited. Some courses received his rhythmic approach with a bit less welcome than others.
“I got into trouble all the time, at first,” he said. “Most golfers would yell across the course to lower the volume. Over the years, I’ve played music all over the country. At Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass, I’d lower my volume when someone drove up to the tee box, but they would say, ‘No, no, make it louder!’ I guess people started to enjoy it.”
Now, George and his friends play music from their golf carts on all 18 holes. “The front nine, I play classic vinyl,” George said. “The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater, the Beatles—I play bands that everybody likes. That’s a genre most people can relate to.”
As for the last nine holes, George cares less about others’ taste in music and zeroes in on his roots: disco.
“I love disco,” he said. “I’m from New York. Most people hate disco, but I always play it for myself on those last holes that really matter. And if I really want to tick people off, I play techno. That really messes them up.”
For George, listening to music on the green helps him relax and find a consistent rhythm. He said he plays at least a four-stroke difference in his game when he has music playing on his side. George is convinced that the more of himself he’s able to bring onto the green, the more stable and consistent he will be.
“People think too much in golf,” he said. “They think about this swing and what they did wrong. If you listen to music before you swing, your mind’s off golf and your body relaxes. That’s the secret. You get into the rhythm.”
George has played golf for over 40 years. He grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and he has the accent to prove it. The first time he played golf was in 1971 at Dyker Park Golf Course, settled on the southwest corner of Brooklyn, right beside the Atlantic. Eighteen holes cost him $25, roughly one-fourth of his $100-a-week paycheck. He rented a set of clubs for an additional $15 and swung away.
“I think I enjoyed it,” said George. “But workwise, I wasn’t making a lot of money at the time, and I was still in school, so I couldn’t make golf a part of my life.”
He didn’t touch a golf club again for over a decade. Now, George said, he plays at least three to four rounds a week. George lives right off the eighth hole at Bryce Resort Golf Course. He can walk out to the course any day he chooses, a treasure he’s willing to keep despite a daily commute to Washington DC.
You can find George playing at Bryce Resort Golf Course most days of the week. So, next time you find yourself hearing a disco chorus wafting through the trees, don’t worry—it’s just George, on his way to get you groovin’ on the back nine.
