Golf course architect Brian Curley is a gregarious guy -- especially when he gets his guitar in hand. So imagine how much fun the Scottsdale resident is having these days after a whimsical ballad he wrote and sang -- “U.S.G.A’’ -- recently was featured in Sports Illustrated.

“I wrote the words while I was flying back from China,’’ said the globe-trotting Curley, who along with partner Lee Schmidt (Schmidt-Curley Golf Course Design of Scottsdale) have built 50 golf courses in 12 countries, including a record 10-course complex near Hong Kong.

“I first performed “U.S.G.A.’’ at the annual ASGCA (American Society of Golf Course Architects) meeting last month at Pebble Beach, and one of the guys who was there -- he’s a guy that’s all over the United States Golf Association about the ball and the equipment, and letting it get out of control -- well, he picked up on it, and the next thing I know it’s in SI.’’

“U.S.G.A’’, which is sung to the tune of “Y.M.C.A.,’’ is “totally tongue-and-cheek,’’ according to Curley. But chances are those snooty navy-blue jackets who run golf’s governing body won’t find the humor in it. (See accompanying lyrics.)

Coming up with a parody about how the USGA sets up overly demanding courses while golf club manufacturers run amuck was a natural for Curley, who is accompanied on the song by percussionist “Sugar’’ Shane Whitcombe, another architect from the Phoenix area. Last year at the annual ASGCA meeting, Curley took a shot at golf writers who think they’re golf course architects in a whimsical ballad entitled “The Confidential Guide to Becoming a Golf Course Architect.’’ No one was spared, not even highly regarded gurus like Tom Doak and Tom Fazio.

“In between the speakers we have for the ASGCA meeting, we have what we call a ‘blitz session,’ where you get two minutes to say anything you want,’’ Curley reported. “I choose to do my blitzing in song, and this year the USGA had been taking a lot of heat at the meeting, so I thought it was a good fit.’’

Yeah, the USGA is an easy target. Last year, the organization took it over the top at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, setting up a golf course that was too hard to play even for the game’s best. Or as Curley crooned: “It’s fun to be in the U-S-G-A/We’re going to set it up the USGA way/Put the pin on a hill/Make ’em squirm, make ’em squeal/I can do whatever I feel.’’

He also seemingly wrote this about the upcoming U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2: “It’s fun to be in the U-S-G-A/I love to set it up the USGA way/With rough so thick and so tall/You lose your bag and your ball/Watch the names on the leaderboard fall!’’

Even though everyone gets a laugh at such lampooning, there is a ring of truth to “U.S.G.A.’’ And being a guy who grew up on the Monterey Peninsula -- “My first job was cart boy and range picker at Spyglass Hill’’ -- Curley gets in his own dig about the U.S.G.A.’s East Coast bias when he sings: “Love old courses the most/(Except those on the West Coast)/So don’t think that you’re going to host.’’

What I like about “U.S.G.A’’ is that no two refrains are the same. And nothing is sacred, as Curley also gets in his opinion about high-tech clubs and balls (“Besides they’ve got more lawyers than us”) and traditions, like the 18-hole playoff on Monday should the leaders at the Open end up tied (“We must carry on even though the crowds are long gone’’).

“I haven’t heard anything from (the USGA),’’ Curley said of the reaction to the SI article, which came complete with four golfers forming the body shape of the letters U, S, G and an A, much like the Village People once did with “YMCA.’’

“There was one guy from the USGA that attended the meeting when (the song) made its debut,’’ Curley added. “And he just smiled . . . sort of.’’

Still, Curley knows that the Big Brother of Golf is watching his next move, even if the chances of a sequel are remote. Hey, the guy is too busy to play the guitar and sing full-time, as Schmidt-Curley currently has four projects under way in the U.S. and courses pending in China, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Israel, Mexico, Sweden, Thailand and Turkey. Whew!

“I’m not really a song writer. I just like to do parodies,’’ said the 45-year-old Curley, who along with Schmidt has created two courses in Arizona -- Southern Dunes near Maricopa and the Faldo Course at Wildfire in Phoenix -- and is about to break ground on a third in the northwest Valley -- Festival by Del Webb.

“I’ve written a handful of songs, but this was just another parody, something I cooked up for the golf course architects. I call it my annual rite of digging my own grave with some bad P.R.’’