Sunday, July 31, 2011

Vancouver / Greenbrier Update

It's been a while. I told everyone that I would not be blogging from Canada but I did not realize that it would continue into last week. I was staying so far away from The Greenbrier (about 1.5 hrs away in Roanoke, VA) and with the family out with me, I just did not have the time or energy to blog last week. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be taking one more week off from blogging in Reno. I'll be staying at The Grand Sierra Resort which most likely will be charging for the Internet. So, to all my friends that are giving me a hard time about paying for the Internet, its not about the cost - its about principle. If McDonalds can offer free Internet, why can't a four star resort include it into the price of their overpriced rooms?

Vancouver was a great week. A good friend, Rick Newsome, from Victoria, BC and his fiance, Bev came over for the week. Rick caddied for me during my days playing on the Canadian Tour. I also ran into one of my roommates from my Canadian Tour days, Dave Jukes, and his wife Antonella. It was great to catch up with them and it brought back great memories. The golf course was extremely difficult. With tight fairways and high rough, it was referred to as a "US Open test." Any drive that finished in the rough could not be advanced to the green and it was like a half shot penalty for driving into it. Kevin played great and put us into contention going into the weekend. A few missed putts on Saturday and a loose driver on Sunday took us out of contention and we finished 59th for the week.

The week at The Greenbrier got off to a horrible start. I flew home Sunday night and Kevin stayed behind to do a charity outing for Andres Gonzales in Seattle, WA on Monday. Our plan was to meet up on Tuesday for an afternoon practice round at The Greenbrier. Kevin called about noon on Tuesday to let me know that his flight was cancelled out of Chicago and that he would not be getting in until later in the afternoon. Kevin then calls back around 3pm and tells me the next flight has also been cancelled. He was now working on getting a private flight to West Virginia and he would not be arriving until late. We ended up playing a 9 hole practice round before the Wednesday pro-am at 6am. The limited 9 hole practice round made it very difficult. Kevin had to play the front nine "blind" on Thursday. Combine that with a tired mind/body and we struggled all week.

Kevin's parents and Brittany came in for the week. He was staying at The Greenbrier for the weekend to get some much rest and relaxation with the family. I came home for the weekend and had a great little birthday party Saturday night with my family. I'll be leaving for Reno tomorrow morning. I just found out the US Air pilots are on strike and the Charlotte airport is a mess. I'm hoping my travel plans go smoothly tomorrow!!

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