Naples Trip - Reuniting the Team

March 20 – 23

Bates, Richards, and Flionis lean back and look at each other with a grin, then a head nod, and the words “lets do this again next year!”  The thought of adding in more downtime crossed our minds as we sat on the 9pm flight home from Ft. Lauderdale.  Yeah good idea, maybe, well see.  We were coming off six rounds of golf in 72 hours.  Each one of us couldn’t have been happier with the time together, golf courses, the competition, and the weather and our gracious hosts over the weekend.  

First host, Mr. Gargiulo; our Bentley Golf teammate, friend, and great golfer.  He has this Shivas Irons mystique, something about him; and he is good, real good.  Prior to the trip, my friend Swen said “enjoy Gargiulo making every 15 footer on u”.  My brother  when thinking about him said, “I didn't realize Gargiulo was the Florida guy you were meeting up with--I would have remembered him by name since I hung out with him in your room in Rhodes at least twice.  I remember you telling me he had a pro-level short game back in the Bentley days.”  Despite the surprise that Gargiulo ended up being the high man on three putts, he was the low man on stroke play over 108 holes.  I’d say the 3 putts is a result of his aggressiveness and confidence…he probably dropped the most 15-20 foot putts.  Gargiulo is now a resident of Naples.  He guided us around the Naples area and got us out on a serious gem and very prestigious Hole in the Wall Golf Club.  Thanks Gargiulo!!  We call this place August National meets Marlborough Country Club.  Its got all the characteristics I like to see in a golf club, including pure golf only, mint greens, walkable, beautiful sand, and requires all the shots from tee to green. 

Second host, my family in Boca, including my Aunt Iris, Uncle Jay, and 98-year old (almost 99) Gram.  We all had dinner together at Brio, enjoying many laughs about life, business, my hair, my dating life, golf, etc.  The time was too short together, but nonetheless worth every effort to find the time we did together.  Boca is a beautiful area.  Bates, Richards, and I kept saying why aren’t we down here when Boston finishes off a record winter of over 105” inches of snow, the majority coming in a 45 day stretch!  Brutal! (and still snowing during this trip)  Lets go with "balance" as why stay; 4 seasons bring a balance of options and opportunities.  Plus another reason to fly to Gargiulo and my family. 

Jumpin to the Non-Stop Trip (btw the four of us love golf, so this is a constant HIGH until we crash to our beds)…oh it was also March Madness time, so no shortage of entertainment and betting.

The Bets: Rotating 18 hole best ball matches, dots (birdies, greenies, sandies), snake (any 3 putt adds $1 to pool), daily low gross, weekend low gross, everyday side match with the relentless Bates (love it), longest hole out…I’m sure I am missing some, we had it all going

The Schedule:

Friday: Land in Ft Lauderdale at 930am; quick brunch; tee off at Boca Lago at 12:30pm; dinner with Flio family at 6pm; 100 mile drive to Naples

Saturday: 8am tee off at Fiddlers Creek; no lunch; 130pm tee off at Wyndemere; dinner at Senor Tequila’s

Sunday:  8am tee off at Vanderbilt; lunch at Vanderbilt clubhouse; 220pm tee off at Old Corkscrew; dinner at Blue Monkey

Monday: 8am tee off Hole in the Wall Golf Club; lunch at Black Eyed Pig BBQ; 100 mile drive to Ft. Lauderdale; Arrive in Boston 11:30pm

The Results:

Gargiulo wins low gross over the weekend with limited big mistakes.  Flio wins overall group bets pool (somehow wins the longest hole out at 44ft! and takes dots with a 10 dot effort at Old Corkscrew).  Bates gets low round of trip at 75 at Vanderbilt (impressive given next best at Vanderbilt was 81).  Richards wins snake pool for least three putts (2).   

The biggest dagger of the weekend was when I drained an 18 foot birdie putt from the apron on the 18^th hole at Old Corkscrew for the Bates/Flio 1up win over Gargiulo/Richards.  This came right after Kyle missed a birdie bomb by inches.  You should have seen the look on everyone’s faces.  Disbelief!  Shock!  Excitement!

Hole in the Wall GC - Look at this place!!

Gargiulo was sweet swinging tempo most of the weekend, ripping drivers down the middle and over trees.  Bates would make hot runs and putted well considering he just gave up the belly putter.  Kyle was a master putter from inside 10 feet and was playing a fade?  I was just trying to take Bates money all weekend, even taking my shoes and socks off at the Hole in the Wall Golf Club to play from the bank of a pond, you ain’t getting me without a fight!  I hit some great iron shots, putted poorly, and showed touch in the bunkers (many dots hea!!).  

What a great time!  We had amazing weather, 80s and sunny everyday.  The golf courses would take too long to write about, but Hole in the Wall was the favorite (perfect, I mean perfect greens) followed by Old Corkscrew (great layout and challenge) and Fiddlers Creek (immaculate condition).  Vanderbilt, Boca Lago, and Wyndemere were all solid.  Each course had nice greens. 

No shoes and socks on!

It was just like old times at Bentley.  We didn't miss a beat and the game, competition, friendship is appreciated even more.

Gargiulo, hope to see you up north later this year! And congrats on the engagement and house!

Ready for warm weather in Boston,

Flio

Golf Channel Am Tour - Kiawah Island

March 13-15:  GCAmTour Kiawah Championship at Ocean Course and Turtle Point
Turtle Point: Par 72 - 6,526 yards (Round 1)
Ocean Course: Par 72 - 6,566 yards (Round 2)

My scores: 84-82 (Overall T17 of 178; Championship Division 13 of 26)

Kiawah Ocean Course Starter

My friend Gavin and I flew into Charleston, SC thru DC on Thursday evening.  We arrived in Charleston after midnight and by chance had a Wendy's right next to our hotel.  The fast food chain never tasted so good (the rare times when bad food choice = great decision is fun).  On Friday morning, we made the one hour drive to the infamous Kiawah Island, stopping along the way at a gem breakfast place called Sunrise Bistro, which had amazing open faced omeletes.

This was my first trip to Kiawah, host of the 2012 PGA Championship and location of the currently ranked #3 course you can play in the U.S. (the Ocean Course).  Given my background in Massachusetts and golf travels, this place had a mix of Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard, combined with the extravagance of a Waldorf Astoria.  The Sanctuary Hotel was to be marveled at, with ridiculously expensive interiors (wish I stayed there) and a steakhouse we couldn't get in because we didn't have the formal attire and the homes along the island spoke Wall Street Wall Street Wall Street.

Kiawah Ocean Course Driving Range

Well, we were here for the golf.  And the golf was something special.  The Ocean Course's putting green and driving range flanked the ocean, literally with bags of sand standing nearby to prepare for a beach reclamation project.  The caddies wore white jump suits, the back nine was one of the prettiest nines of golf I've ever played (can't believe the shots the pros have to hit from back tees, especially the 240 yard+ par-3 17th over water, I mean all water), and the greens were firm, fast, and many turtle back with shaved grass all around.  Wide fairways, no out of bounds, tightly bound grass that looks withered from the ocean salt (aka not perfect green grass),

very tricky greens.  When the wind blows here, its a bear of a course.  We had strong winds in the practice rounds that changed club selection by 2 clubs easily and calm during the tournament.  My caddie Dean was exceptional, great guy that lives in Charleston area with his wife.  His nephew is a rock star.

The other course we played was Turtle Point, a Jack Nicklaus redesign.  This course is New England like with similar grass (less grain), tree lined holes, tight, and not overly long.  Accuracy prevails over distance on most holes.  I really enjoyed this course.  Greens were excellent.  I saw my first 10 foot long alligator here.

My game was rusty as expected and I putted poorly.  6 doubles, 35 putts, and 38 putts are bad numbers.  Hitting 12 greens at the Ocean Course was encouraging.  I'm excited to build on this experience coming home to Boston.

I could see myself coming back here next year and spending a day in Charleston.  Would love to bring more friends and family.  The Southern lifestyle is attractive!  We avoided expected rain all weekend and temperatures reached the 70s on Sunday, the other days were between 50-65.

Thanks Gavin putting together most of the bookings for this trip.

Back to New England snow (100 inches plus this winter!)
Kurt

p.s. snow delayed our flight home on Sunday night (March 15!); we arrived in Boston close to 1am and everyone else too, as the cab line was 45 minutes long!