Friday Night Lights

The best weather so far in 2011 fell on a Friday. Perfect time to end the week at the golf club. We sat gazing out at the work-in-progress first tee project at Lexington, admiring how well the course was coming along. Brian and Ellen Kenney, Dick Driscoll, and myself turned to our left and to our right, realizing how empty the club was for a beautiful Friday night. Almost summer like, well not quite, but pretty close. Hey its still April right?

I heard the 1970s were rocking at Lexington GC, a social scene that buzzed beyond the fairways and greens. Maybe, well definitely, some drinking, lots of late night stories, the girls, the boys, the bar, and you know what can happen from there. A lot of 'go getters'. So can we bring back some of the 70s lifestyle to LGC? We were visualizing a crowded porch with live music and outdoor heaters, lots of chatter, some dancing, and happiness; taking advantage of the nice property we own. Aggressive, but not too far fetched.

I wouldn't mind bringing my friends or a date to the club on a weekend night for a social scene. We already have great members in place, so we just have to make something happen. No better time to start than now. I am looking forward to many good times ahead this season. I tend to be a non-drinker, but I can guarantee you I will be happy to be part of the show.

Cheers to the first Friday Night at LGC in 2011.

Kurt

p.s. I recommend a garden salad with grilled chicken and feta. Bubba makes a good one!

Day 3 - Arnold Palmer Invitational Pro-Am @ Bay Hill

Here we are, pulling into the players parking lot at 7am, being directed to our space and given our badges for freedom to almost all areas on the property; driving range, clubhouse, putting green, and most of all inside the ropes. Yeah the small group of fans there were looking at me and Mike! Noticed girls walking around giggling wheres Ricky Fowler, wheres Ricky Fowler. He was nowhere to be seen. The grounds were fully set up for the tournament - ropes, signs, Golf Channel staging area, corporate tents, leaderboards, etc.

I watched Mike warm-up at the range and then I spent a lot of time hanging around the putting green with many of the pros such as Brad Faxon, Chad Campbell, Erik Compton, Boo Weekley, Alex Cejka, Jarrod Lyle, Sam Saunders, and a few others.

Again, perfect weather. Mike played great. He put the fear in Dicky Pride early on that he might lose. Mike was carrying the team for a while. He finished around 77. It led Dicky and his caddy (a monstrous 6'6' former Georgia Tech bball player who played with Dennis Scott and Kenny Anderson) to jar jokingly with Mike to rouse him up. Dicky joked, told stories, gave tips, and laughed it up through the entire round. I really appreciated his effort to be involved with the amateurs. I hear many pros do not take the time. Mike's group included Jim (friend of EMC), Mike (VP @ Royal Caribbean), and Dave (CEO of a luxury hotel marketing firm).

Bay Hill was in spectacular shape. Fast greens and deep rough. Dicky said he plays the deep rough with an open stance, open face, and takes a steeper swing path. During the day, I also ran by Johnny Miller, Michael Breed, Paul Goydos, and Arnold Palmer. I really noticed how the pros can get in the zone for 60 seconds to hit their shot and then can relax. Their lower bodies are very quiet. They generate a lot of swing speed but it looks effortless. Also, very good short games and very high levels of confidence. They love the competitiveness. Even a no-name amateur can get them fired up to play better.

It was a true pleasure being part of this weekend. If I'm lucky, I will be there again in the future!

Final Feedback on My Game:

1) Keep left shoulder slightly tilted up to stay behind ball on impact position, will help with height of shot

2) Best shots usually when failure rate was high - those 'expected failure' shots of high difficulty, so my mind goes into 'go for it' mode and i just 'LET IT HAPPEN' such a shot over a bunker lip or fescue or near a tree, etc. Need to translate this into more normal situations

3) Be confident, relax motion, and have no doubts

Time to play in Boston.

Take care,

Kurt

Day 2 - Pro Am Practice and Pairings Party

Today was the day that Mike and his team would pick their professional for the Pro-Am. A lot of anticipation...who would we be playing with? what lottery pick would the team get? First things first, I got to join the practice round at the New Course @ Grand Cypress. It was me, Mike, Jim (friend of EMC), and Patrick (litigation lawyer in Miami who is married to the Southeast sales mgr of Jet Blue). Judy, a travel analyst from EMC followed the group around.

It was another gorgeous day. Sunny and 80s. Now, the New Course is meant to resemble the Old Course at St. Andrews; wide fairways, no trees, fescue, double greens with heavy undulations, false fronts, deep streams, and pot bunkers. The 1st and 18th holes are very close replicas of the holes at St. Andrews. You could land a plane on the fairway. This was my first true links experience. I found reading greens to be most difficult. Mike and I were all square through 52 holes on the weekend (we called this would happen at the start of the week, coming to Orlando we were continuing a tied match last fall). Mike made a mistake on 17 and I birdied 18 with a spectacular 115 yard wedge shot to 5 feet tucked to a left corner pin over the creek. I'll take the victory after another classic Flionis-Murphy battle.

My golf swing was very mediocre. Many shots were going right and divots left, the MOST frustrating feedback. My best shots were when I loosened up my arms and shoulders and set wrists early; on my worst shots it felt like my swing was taking too long to develop. Wedge game was good again. My driver was good, irons and fairway woods were bad, and short game was average.

PRO-AM PAIRINGS PARTY
We arrived in style with sport coats, nice shoes, and slick hair. When we walked in, the place was very cool with pretty girls, small groups mingling, light music, hors d'oeuvre, ice luge by bacardi, and carving stations to a name few. In the far back corner of the function room was a tanned older man by the name Arnold Palmer, one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game and the host of the tournament. There were people from Tokyo and a line of other people waiting to speak with him and take pictures. A long story short, Judy pushed me to talk to Arnold and I did. I failed to come up with a good line, accept 'the course is in great shape, I'm from Jet Blue, thanks for having us...blah blah blah'. Anyway he looked at me briefly and then we turned for a picture. It was AWESOME.

The lottery draft for the professional was great too. All the teams listened to Arnie make a speech and then a computer generator starts picking team numbers. Each team has 30 seconds to make their selection, starting with 24 pros. Mike's team picked around 17th and got Dicky Pride, a 41-year old journeyman and member at Bay Hill. The locals told us we made a great pick. I wouldn't believe it until the next day...