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On the Beat


L


ike a river running to the sea, golf has been a constant, inexorable force in Jack Grand-


colas’s life. It was how he bonded with his father Leon growing up in Muncie, Ind., and their many rounds together helped young Jack to become Delaware Country Club’s junior champion at age 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 16. (What happened when he was 12, he cannot say.) Golf was Grandcolas’s ticket to the University of Texas, where he was part of a powerhouse program that included Mark Brooks, Brandel Chamblee and Lance Ten Broeck. It was at Texas that Grandcolas met his future wife Lauren, and golf was part of his salvation after unspeakable tragedy took her from him. The game is at the heart of most of Grandcolas’s deepest friend- ships, and through his con- nections in golf he has begun a new business venture that may help many of his fellow travelers on the links. “I can’t really imagine


where I’d be without golf,” he says. Grandcolas, 52, was a


walk-on at Texas, and though he shot plenty of respectable scores he counts his greatest victory as convincing Lauren to go on a date with him. Sort of. He had two tickets to a U2 concert and she thought she was buying one from him and going on her own. Jack had


12 / NCGA.ORG / WINTER 2015


other ideas. They had a great time that night, both realiz- ing that “One Tree Hill” was among their favorite songs, and were together pretty much ever after. Lauren had little use for golf but she was a sporty, vivacious tomboy who went on to great success at PriceWaterhouse while still looking great on Jack’s arm as he climbed the ranks as an executive at USA Today. “It was my first job out of


college and they flat-out said we hired you because you can play golf with the top execs,” says Grandcolas. “I used golf to forge relationships with the top people in the company. A lot of people tried to get an audience with these guys but they were lucky to get 15 minutes in the confines of four walls. I got four hours with them, in a setting where they were outside their comfort zone, but I was in mine. People who play good instantly garner respect from those who don’t, so they looked at me as more than just a young kid, especially when I could help them with their game. It gave me a plat- form to advance my career.” Jack and Lauren married


in 1991 and settled in San Rafael, taking membership at Marin Country Club. They tried for years to start a fam- ily, and finally in 2001 Lauren got pregnant. She flew back east to share the happy news with her family and


was returning home to Jack on Sept. 11. Arriving unchar- acteristically early at Newark airport, she was able to catch an earlier flight: United 93. Jack still gets emotional


talking about that awful day. “It will always be with me,” he says.


The Healing Powers of Bono and Golf


After Lauren’s death


he slid into a deep depres- sion. For the first time in his life, Grandcolas couldn’t find joy on a golf course. “I couldn’t play, I


couldn’t concentrate,” he says. In December 2001


Grandcolas’s friend Nick Graham, the Joe Boxer founder, forced him out of the house to his lavish Christmas party. The actor Sean Penn was there and, hearing of Grandcolas’s story, spent the evening forcing conversation. A deep friendship was born. A couple years later, Jack was still struggling to adapt to life without Lauren. Penn invited him to a U2 concert at the Oakland Coliseum, and, unbeknownst to Grand- colas, sought out Bono and convinced him to dedicate the encore to Lauren. On the sly, Penn had asked Jack


about her favorite song and the answer was easy: “One Tree Hill.” But Bono balked, explaining that the song had been written for a friend who died tragically and U2 never played it in concert because it was too emotional for the band. Penn was unrelenting, but on the night of the concert he still didn’t know which song would be played. When it was time for the encore, Bono came out on stage alone, with only an acoustic guitar. He told the teeming crowd the story of Jack and Lauren and then launched into a haunting ver- sion of “One Tree Hill,” with its lovely refrain, You run like a river/Runs to the sea. Jack, of course, was a puddle of tears. At an after-party, he spent


a half hour huddled with Bono, who talked about the metaphor of the song: the river is your life, the sea the afterlife where we are destined to meet loved ones again. “Bono said, ‘Don’t worry,


you’ll see Lauren again,’” says Grandcolas. “I said, ‘I know you’re a man of faith, and I want to believe that, but I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life and worry that I’ve mort- gaged my opportunity.’” Bono says, ‘We all screw up. That’s why God gives forgiveness.’


At left, the ticket to the U2 concert that Bono signed. Below, Jack Grandcolas and his father Leon on the 14th hole at MPCC’s Dunes Course


PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACK GRANDCOLAS


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