"Your next shot is a new experience, it might be the best shot you have hit in your life."-Harvey Penick

"It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling."-Mark Twain

Many years ago I was playing in an individual stroke event at my club and this actually happened to me. The 6th hole of the old course is a drivable tight par four with a deep gully right in front of the women's tee. To the left are some taller overhanging trees which I caught that day and my ball crashed down into the 20' deep gully. It's a 50/50 chance of finding it and making it out without penalty strokes, so I didn' reload but headed to the area of my ball. I get there and Old Mickey, the local ball hound, was wandering around at the bottom with his pockets full. I asked him if he had seen a ProV1x with two blue dots on it. He puts his hand in his pocket and the first ball he pulls out is mine. He quickly headed to where he had snatched it and placed back down. Decent lie but not a good shot out. A few years later he was foraging around in the brush in front of the women's tee on the 17th and a lady whacked him right in the head. He recovered, but the club finally banned him from hunting balls. He would boast of finding 4,000 golf balls a season.

"I don't believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be."-Ken Venturi

"What other people find in poetry, I find in the flight of a good drive."-Arnold Palmer

2017 U.S.Open Erin Hills

With the upcoming 117th U.S.Open upon us I thought you would enjoy the slideshow (159 photos) of this years site, Erin Hills in Wisconsin.. When I played it in Sept of 2012, it was a gorgeous Fall day and the course was in excellent condition. Please take time to study the yardage guide and take note of the many contours throughout this spectacular piece of property.

Some of my favorite holes at Erin Hills:
#1 Very nice opening hole. Par 5
#4 Beautiful day and very peaceful walking up to the elevated green on this Par 4.
#9 Treacherous little Par 3!
#12 I love blind shots, if you don't drive it to the correct spot that is what you get on this Par 4.
#15 Good short Par 4's are always on my favorites list.

Click here to view slideshow:   https://goo.gl/photos/qfWjrSCCy3bCFfi7A

"This game is of misses. The guy who misses the best is going to win." -Ben Hogan

"I'm about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That's the distance my left ear is from my right." -Ben Crenshaw

"You swing your best when you have the fewest things to think about." -Bobby Jones

"A golf hole, humanly speaking, is like life, in as much as one cannot judge justly any person's character the first time one meets him. Sometimes it takes years to discover and appreciate hidden qualities which only time discloses, and he usually discloses them on the links."-C.B. MacDonald

I always take an extra pair of pants when I go golfing....just in case I get a Hole in One!

"Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with the big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts."-Albert Einstein

"There are only two types of players, those who keep their nerves in control to win championships and those who do not."- Harry Vardon

Read it, Roll it, Hole it.- Eddie Lowery

" Golf and sex are the only two things you can enjoy without being good at them."-Jimmy DeMaret

"stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball"- Ty Webb

Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks it was called witchcraft. Today, it's called golf.

2016 Year in Review = 79 New courses

The year began with the sale of my home in Florida. This allowed me to finally justify taking off for the rest of the winter to the Land Down Under. 21 new courses in New Zealand, Tasmania, and Melbourne region of Australia resulted from that 6 week excursion. A spectacular part of the world with wonderful people which I hope to return again soon.

Summer and into Fall netted me another 19 new courses. I finally finished off playing every hole that is active in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Interesting that one course starts in Wisconsin but has 4 holes in the U.P. That was the last hurdle holding me back for the past couple of seasons. If you have the opportunity during July and August, the U.P. is a beautiful place to visit with temperate weather. Make sure to visit Greywalls GC in Marquette.

November found me renting at The Villages for 6 weeks until before the Holidays. All 48 courses could have been conquered in that time, but I decided to come back for another month in January. So 39 new courses were added to my list including all 12 of the Championship courses. Look for forthcoming articles ranking the Championship and Executive courses.

79 New Courses is a new yearly record for me and has gotten me down to only 291 courses until my milestone #1000 course. The other carrot that keeps me going is shooting my age on a regulation length course. As we all do after a round and play the "what if game", I had a couple of shots at it this year but could only get within 4 strokes. Soon I will be another year older and who knows when I might find lighting in a bottle for a round.

Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, New Year in 2017!!

Aging and Golf

"Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it."

For me, that day will start the first time I shoot my age. Last year I played in a one man scramble format tournament and hit it at 65. Otherwise, the closest I have gotten on a regulation length course is 4 years over.

"I'll shoot my age if I have to live to be a 105."-Bob Hope

This is what I call a "P.B.F.U."

G.O.L.F. = Getting Old and Living Fine

The One with the Fastest Cart will never have a Bad Lie

There are over 50,000 carts at The Villages. Many are street legal, so watch out if playing golf with a Villager on one of their 48 courses and 630 holes.

"Get the ball to the hole no matter what." Arnold Palmer

"Fearless in the moment is the expression of true confidence"

Ryder Cup 2016 Hazeltine National Photo Tour Link

Last summer I had the privilege to visit Hazeltine National in Chaska, MN. It was a beautiful day to play golf and capture its pristine beauty with photo's. I had the course all to myself so the pictures turned out great. Please use them along with the course guide to better enjoy the upcoming 2016 Ryder Cup experience.

Just click on the SLIDESHOWS header above and scroll down to Hazeltine for the Link.

Future Ryder Cup Venues: 2018 Le Golf National, Paris   2020 Whistling Straits, Wisconsin
2022 Marco Simone, Rome  2024 Bethpage Black, New York  2026 Royal Portrush or RCD??

Golfer Wins Lottery

Before leaving for his daily round of golf, the husband asked his wife: "What would you do if I won the lottery?"

She replied: "I'd take half of it and leave you."

"Great" he said. "Here's $6. I won $12 yesterday-stay in touch."