Aug. 6, 2007
ATLANTA – Since we last spoke (this is a very one sided conversation) I played in another Tarheel Tour event, where I shot 5 under on a Mickey Mouse course which didn’t get me very far. Then I flew out to Omaha for to try to Monday qualify for the Nationwide Tour event out there. I was 4 under on 16 tee thinking that I needed to get one, maybe two more birdies to sneak in. I didn’t get them, and after an epic fight with my friends at Delta, I was back in Atlanta on Tuesday morning (yes Mr. Castro we can have you on that flight back tomorrow morning, your change fee is $735 … hahaha).
Third edition
Second edition
First edition
That gave me the whole week to practice and get ready for my next event, the Georgia Open. This year it was played in Augusta at a fairly new course called Champions Retreat. It was a great course, long, tough, and three holes sit right on the Savannah River, a really beautiful setting.
I don’t know if in the short period of two months and four mini-tour events I had already forgotten how nice golf tournaments can be, or if this one was really extra nice. There were tee gifts, a pro-am with dinner afterward, a couple more free meals, a nice set of beer glasses for making the cut, and some other smaller perks along the way. As I look back on it, every week was like this in college and amateur golf, and I did appreciate it, but I guess it means just a little more now that I’ve seen the flip side and had to pay $25 to play a practice round at a mini-tour event. My coach, Danny Elkins, who also played in the event, arranged for us to stay with friends of his. They were incredibly nice and hospitable people, and golf NUTS!! This guy can tell you what Arnold Palmer made on the fourth hole of the 1967 Greater Greensboro Classic.
I opened with 70 the first day, and followed it with a horrific 74. I hit the ball so poorly in the second round, and for no reason whatsoever. I had been swinging great all week, but sometimes I refuse to believe that I can hit good shots time after time. For being a very rational person, sometimes I have completely irrational thoughts on the golf course, but this game is a contest against yourself, so you just have to get back in the ring. I shot 72 the third round, but hit it a lot better. I started the last day eight shots back and in 18th place. I shoot 31 on the front and think that with three or four more birdies on that back I can win the thing. I hit it well on the back, but could not buy a putt, shot 67 and moved all the way up to fifth. It was a great week overall. Having Danny with me at the event was invaluable. It’s not often your coach gets to watch you hit shots under the gun in a tournament, and then after each round we would work on it for the next day. This allowed me to learn a ton about my tendencies, and the last day was very rewarding for all our hard work during the week.
I’m home this week but then have a really exciting trip to Canada for the Montreal Open. It’s going to be great experience playing in a totally different environment, I can’t wait.
Some more observations …
** I played in the pro-am with a retired Army Special Ops guy. It was really cool talking to him about the places he’d been and the things he had done (although I’m sure he can’t talk about the really good stuff). He had done it all, from HALO (high altititude low opening) jumping into the Nicaraguan rainforest, to anti-terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was very interesting to get his opinion on Iraq, or as he put it, what the “guys who actually hold the rifles” think. He seemed to be of the opinion that neither five years, nor 50 would quell the sectarian violence that has dominated that region for thousands of years. I don’t mean to start an Iraq debate, but I thought it was an interesting perspective.
** At Champions Retreat they didn’t have water jugs like at most courses. They had these coolers out on the course full of 12 oz. Dasani bottles. It definitely is a classy touch, but I think it’s ridiculous to waste resources like that. We’re talking about 200+ people in 100 degree heat drinking tiny 12 oz bottles all day. Think about all the trash that creates, for no reason whatsoever. At this point, even Dubya agrees that the environment is going to hell, yet we (the rich world) feel like it’s someone else’s job to fix it. Just because we can afford to trash 5,000 cute little 12 oz. bottles of Dasani a day, does NOT mean we should!
** Danny, my buddy Luke List and I went over a day early to play at Sage Valley, this super high dollar course outside of Augusta. The story is that some billionaire didn’t get into Augusta National so he built his own place. It was completely over the top. There was a manned guard house at the entrance, and then ANOTHER one about a mile down the road in front of the club house. Is that necessary? Are there legions of people trying to break into Sage Valley so they need two manned guard houses? The extravagance continued inside where a FULL staff dressed in 19th century servant attire catered to our every need. Mind you, this FULL staff was on hand for the grand total of FIVE people that played golf at Sage Valley that day. Not to mention that countless hours had gone into preparing a course for five people to play it. Sometimes I think that the U.S. is just as economically stratified as the “third world,” but the most enormous difference is that in the U.S. the non-uber wealthy live an AMAZINGLY good life. And that is an enormous difference. I know that’s a tangent, but when you go to a place like Sage Valley it gets you thinking about these things.
** South Bend here we come baby!! I’m taking this once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the Jackets play at one of the hallowed places in college football. Home opener at Notre Dame, Touchdown Jesus, Chicago, busses full of GT fans…this is going to be amazing! (P.S. My crew is still a couple of game tickets short, if anyone has a lead on tickets please please holler.)
** Are they serious with the FedEx Cup? The closer it gets, the more ridiculous it becomes.
** Can’t believe summer is almost over, school starts in two weeks. Oh, wait, I’m done with school.
That’s all I have for now. Go Tech!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
