Touring the West!

I have return from my venture out west, and let me tell you, it was such a blast!

This blog is going to tell you just about the golf, so the integrity of this site will remain on my professional career. I built another site that will tell you about the trip itself. I will include the link at the bottom of this blog.

Monterey, California is a golfer's paradise! The courses are in immaculate condition and the people are extremely nice. I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to play at such highly recognized places.

The first round I played was at Peter Hay's Par 3. Aunt Jackie and I headed to Pebble Beach to get to the course. Peter Hay is located about 50 yards from the Pebble Beach course in some of the most prestigious ground in the area. We started on that course because I had to ship my golf balls and cleats out to California to cut some weight off of my luggage.

I got on the tee and got going, playing in flat sole shoes and some Top-Flite XL 2000 golf balls Aunt Jackie had given me. I quickly found out how different the greens rolled and how to read them. These courses do not have grain in them, meaning your ball rolls on the top of the grass, rather than the blade. We have grainy greens in Florida, so our balls roll on the blade making a reasonably flat putt break more than you initially thought.

After playing a few holes, I was starting to figure the grass out. We came up on the eighth hole, only to be greeted by three deer standing right next to the tee box. I started snapping pictures right away. After the "distraction" walked away, I got on the box and prepared for my shot. I teed off and hit a great shot. I knew it was close! We walked uphill to the green and couldn't see the ball. Immediately, my heart quit beating. I glanced over the edge of the cup to see my ball laying there...my first Hole in One! You couldn't tell me anything! After a few pictures and phone calls, we started playing again. I got to the ninth tee box and got ready for my shot. I hit another good one, but this time I heard it hit the flag. I knew it was close, too. We walked up to the green, only to once again be unable to see the ball. I jokingly walk up to the cup, only to be surprised to see my ball sitting in the cup...again! I couldn't believe it! I have never made a Hole in One, but I had just made two in one round! I was so excited and Aunt Jackie got to see my first ever Hole in Ones!

After we left Peter Hay, we went to Pebble Beach so I could hit a few putts. After putting for a while, we went home.

The next day my equipment came in, so I was ready to play. We went to Monterey Pines Golf Course. It was a shorter course, but equally challenging. I played well and thoroughly enjoyed the round.

Sunday, Uncle Dave and I went to Laguna Seca to hit a few on their driving range. It was the most beautiful driving range I have ever seen. It was located on top of a mountain, with huge cliffs on both sides of the hitting area. We had a good time and took some good pictures of the range.

My next round was played at Poppy Hills Golf Course. It was extremely nice and with some help from Uncle Dave and his friend, Mr. Kregg Bush, I was able to play a complementary round. The course was a little foggy but still so picture perfect. There were deer all over the course and all around the greens. I played very well and shot a two under, seventy. The course has some of the highest and hardest scoring holes on the PGA Tour, so I was excited when I played well. Thanks again Uncle Dave and Mr. Kregg!

My next round was played in the afternoon at Spanish Bay with Spencer Kennedy, who also works at the course. Spanish Bay is a links-style course and plays pretty hard. I started off using poor course management, which made the first couple of holes very hard, but finally found a good grove and finished strong. Spencer was also able to work me in for a complementary round. Thanks so much to him, too!

My next golf venture was my lesson which took place at Spyglass Hill, with one of the 50 greatest golf teachers of all time, Laird Small. I started off warming up on the range and then headed over to the Academy's Teaching Facility. Mr. Small was a very nice guy who immediately saw a slight flaw in my swing. I hit a few balls for him, and then we went into the facility to check things out. I was put on a computer and was visually able to see where my swing was off. It was something very simple to fix and Mr. Small said I had a good swing, which he later said was very similar to the famous Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. He felt that since the issue of my swing was so small, I only needed one lesson from him and lots of practice when I got back to Florida. I felt very good about my lesson and even better about my swing and game. It was well worth the money and time.

The next day I was invited to play a round with a friend of Uncle Dave and Aunt Jackie. His name is Mr. Russ Weiss. We met at the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi River, Del Monte. I met up with Mr. Russ at the putting green and was warmly welcomed by him. It was nice because we were able to play by ourselves. We teed off and started the round playing good. We had an even better time talking and finding out about each other. Mr. Russ is an extremely nice guy who made the round very enjoyable. We sat down after the round for a hamburger at the Del Monte grill, and then Mr. Russ was kind enough to take me home. I'd like to say thanks to Mr. Russ for a great round of golf, a great meal, and hope to have the opportunity to play again with him, soon!

The last round I played was at Laguna Seca with Aunt Jackie, Spencer, and his mother, Jackie Kennedy. Spencer and I had our eyes opened when Aunt Jackie hit her first drive over three hundred yards and out drove both of us. You see, we drove down the fairway, but Aunt Jackie took the cart path and got some big time roll, where she ended up pin high! Laguna was very hilly and just a beautiful course. On the sixteenth hole, I hit a drive behind a tree and had to hit a wedge over it. It left perfectly and hit the green. When Spencer and I walked up to the green, we could not find the ball. I ended up looking in the hole and sure enough, there it was. I holed out for an eagle! We all ended up having a great time and played some good golf. It was such a pleasure meeting Spencer and Ms. Jackie and being able to play a great, final round of golf with them.

The trip to California was great, especially for my career. I was able to play on some of the most prestigious courses around, meet great people and just thoroughly enjoy the game of golf.

If you are interested, the blog about my trip is located at this address:

http://glenscaliforniatrip.blogspot.com/

Thanks, again to everyone who help make this trip a possibility. I could not have done all of this without each and everyone of you!

Glen

"Don't ever be too proud to take a lesson. I'm not." - Jack Nicklaus