" I am not young enough to know everything."- Oscar Wilde

"A bad attitude is worse than a bad swing."- Payne Stewart

"you can almost play it from cradle to grave and all by yourself-- a cure, I find, for anything that ails you."- John Derr

"When a defining moment comes along you define the moment or it defines you."- Tin Cup

"Just beat my record for most consecutive days without dying."- Bill Murray

"The man who can putt is a match for anyone."-Willie Park, Jr

"Remember Danny: Two wrongs don't make a right but three rights make a left."- Ty Webb, Caddy Shack

My Top 50 Courses played in the World

I am often asked what are the top courses I have played in the world?? With the help of Top100golfcourse.com, Golf , Golf Digest, and Planet Golf, I have come up with the following list. To qualify, the courses must have been ranked in the most recent World Top 100 in ONE of these publications and have received a Black++ ratings from me. Unfortunately, Golfweek doesn't have a worldwide ranking as courses are only placed in regions. You may notice that I do have "favorite" courses that may be ranked higher than the consensus opinion and a few that I think are way overrated. As I travel the golf world watch for future changes and expansion of my list.
TOP 25                                                          
Royal County Down                                   
Trump Turnberry-Alisa                               
Royal Dornoch
St Andrews-Old
Royal Portrush
Kingston Heath
Pacific Dunes
Pebble Beach
Ballybunion
Crystal Downs
Pinehurst #2
Prairie Dunes
Tara Iti
Lahinch
Barnbougle Dunes
Cape Kidnappers
Trump International Links
Kingsbarns
West Links at North Berwick
Camargo
Oakland Hills-South
Ballyneal
Kiawah Island-Ocean
Castle Stewart
26-50
Carnoustie
Whistling Straits
Casa de Campo-Teeth of the Dog
Sawgrass
Cruden Bay
Portmarnock
Barnbougle-Lost Farms
Old Macdonald
Olympic Club
Royal Aberdeen
Bandon Dunes
Prestwick
Royal Troon
The Golf Club
European Club
Waterville
Kauri Cliffs
Peachtree
Pasatiempo
Wade Hampton
Victoria National
Spyglass
Honors Course
Bandon Trails
Paraparaumu Beach
Gozzer Ranch

SLOW PLAY RUINS YOUR DAY!!

   It is true that they are not, as a rule, the least to blame for the delay; so much we grudgingly admit, but it does not make their little ways are less irritating. They waggle for hours; they stroll rather than walk; they dive into their monstrous bags in search of the right club and then it is the wrong number, but they are not sorry that we have been troubled; their putting is a kind of funeral ping-pong. We could forgive them all these tricks, from which we ourselves are conspicuously free, if it were not for the absurd punctilio with which they observe the rules. They will insist on waiting for the people in front of them when it must be palpable even to their intellects that their best shot they ever hit in their lives would be fifty yards short-- The People in Front, "Playing the Like," 1934

Closing in on 50 States Played

The first of my three main personal golf pursuits is coming close to fruition- playing in all 50 states. I am just putting the finishing touches on a trip out west, in mid-September, that will take me to my 48th (SD) and 49th (Nebraska) states. I have some really impressive courses lined up but was unable to get on at Sand Hills due to the lack of caddies. Unaccompanied guests can't play without one there, so I am out of luck. The highlight will be meeting back up at Ballyneal with an old friend who I met at Royal Portrush in 2011. Any guesses what might be the last state left on my list? Hoping to finish off this quest on my next birthday.

West Bend CC- West Bend
Prairie Greens GC- Sioux Falls
The Prairie Club, Dunes and Horse Course (10)- Valentine
Dismal River, Red and White Courses- Mullen
Ballyneal and Mulligan Course (12)- Holyoke
Field of Dreams movie site- Dyersville

"..wealth is not possession but enjoyment."-Henry David Thoreau

Fairway: An unfamiliar tract of closely mown grass running directly from tee to green. Your ball can usually be found immediately to the left or right of it.

"You can miss a drive and have a chance to make up for it, but you can't miss a short iron to the green without the miss costing you a stroke."-Tommy Armour

"Mulligan: Invented by an Irishman who wanted to hit one more twenty yard grounder."-Jim Bishop

My Top 15 Courses played in Scotland

Of the 45 courses I have played in Scotland these are my top 15, I have yet to play Muirfield.

Trump Turnberry, Alisa Course, Turnberry 
Royal Dornoch GC, Dornoch
The Old Course, St Andrews Links, St Andrews
Trump International Golf Links, Balmedie
Kingsbarns Links, St Andrews
West Links at North Berwick GC, North Berwick
Castle Stuart Golf Links, Inverness
Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie
Cruden Bay GC, Cruden Bay
Royal Aberdeen GC, Aberdeen
Prestwick GC,Prestwick
Royal Troon, Old Course, Troon
Gleneagles GC, Kings Course, Auchterarder
Western Gailes, Gailes
Nairn GC, Nairn

"Golf is a compromise between what your ego wants you to do, what experience tell you to do, and what your nerves let you do."-Bruce Crampton

" When I want a long ball, I spin my hips faster."-Jack Nicklaus

"No-one will ever have golf under his thumb. No round ever will be so good it could not have been better. Perhaps this is why golf is the greatest of games. You are not playing a human adversary; you are playing a game. You are playing old man par."-Bobby Jones

"I play with friends, but we don't play friendly games."-Ben Hogan

Scotland 2019 Golf Trip

In a week I will be returning to Scotland for another golf adventure. This trip will start out in Troon for 5 nights, St Andrews for another 3, onto to beautiful Cruden Bay for 4 , and finally Gleneagles for a night before returning on the 5th of June. I will play 12 rounds total and surpass the 800 mark in courses played and 70,000 photo's taken of golf courses. After this journey, I will have played pretty much every top Links course in Scotland plus a few others. Below is my itinerary:

Glasgow Gailes
Dundonald
Prestwick
Western Gailes
Trump Turnberry Alisa
Royal Troon Old
Lundin
Newburgh-on-Ythan
Cruden Bay
Fraserburgh
Peterhead
Abernethy-lunch
Gleneagles Kings

I will try and post a few photo's daily on my IG and Twitter accounts @inpursuitof1000

"Golf is not a fair game, so why build a course fair."-Pete Dye

"One reason golf is such an exasperating game is that a thing learned is so easily forgotten, and we find ourselves struggling year after year with faults we had discovered and corrected time and again."-Bobby Jones

Masters 2019- The Comeback of Tiger Woods

I must admit, I was a doubter who thought it was impossible for Tiger to ever win another Major and challenge Jack's record. It happened and I congratulate him on his comeback after a drought of 11 years without any major wins. Can it be 15 years since his last Masters win? I don't think Jack will loose any sleep worrying about Woods beating his 18 majors until he shows he can win another. Below is the update of the top players in Majors (Amateur and Pro) victories.

Nicklaus-20

Woods-18

Jones-13

Hagen-11

Hogan-9

Player-9

Ball-9

Palmer-8

How many of you know all the holes at ANGC by name? Memorize the list below and impress all your golf buddies. 

      F9                                                                             B9

Tea Olive                                                                 Camellia

Pink Dogwood                                                         White Dogwood

Flowering Peach                                                      Golden Bell

Flowering Crabapple                                               Azalea

Magnolia                                                                 Chinese Fir

Juniper                                                                     Firethorn

Pampas                                                                    Redbud

Yellow Jasmine                                                        Nandina

Carolina Cherry                                                       Holly

"For this game you need, above all things, to be in a tranquil state of mind."- Harry Vardon

"There's no such thing as bad weather for golf, only inappropriate clothing."

"He is richest who is content with least, for content is the wealth of nature."-Socrates

"Don't play too much Golf, two rounds a day is plenty." -Harry Vardon

"Hit until you are happy, or run out of golfballs."- my comment to all golfers on the 1st tee

Dupuytren's Disease a NON surgical option- XIAFLEX

Originally posted 3/7/12
Some of you may have noticed my playing of new courses have slowed over the past few months. In 1978, I severely lacerated my left hand causing some contraction of the ring and middle finger. For 30 years every time a new doctor saw my hand they would tell me I had Dupuytren's Disease and I would respond that it has been that way for years and never changed since the time of my accident. Four years ago, my hands and right foot did start to change and indeed I now had developed Dupuytren's.

What is Dupuytren's? A contracture of the fascia in the palm of the hand which eventually prevents you from straightening out your fingers. It affects mostly men over the age of 50 and women over 60. Doctors don't exactly know what causes it, but it tends to run in families. It is more common in individuals whose ancestors are from Northern Europe. I fit the profile perfectly when it hit me, 58 years old and from the northern British Isles. There is no cure for Dupuytren's Disease and even after treatment it may reoccur. Until recently the only option was some type of surgery that may include splinting for 3-6 months along with rehabilitative hand therapy for a couple of months. A couple of things that may accelerate the contraction is Diabetes and the use of Glucosomine/Chondroitin.

In July of 2009, the contraction had gotten to the point that it was starting to affect some of my daily functions but I could still hold a golf club and play to my 2 handicap. I decided it was time to see a hand specialist before it started to screw up my golf game. The doctor I saw luckily was involved in a clinical trial for a new drug, Xiaflex, and told me I was a good candidate for its use. The new procedure involved injecting this drug into the palm (cord) and then a day later under anesthesia manipulating the hand. Unfortunately, the FDA had not approved it yet and there was no indication when they would.

Inpatient waiting for the FDA, I got a second opinion five months later from a doctor at the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic. The hand specialist there after examining my hand for all of 15 seconds, in between taking four non-medical related cell phone calls, told me that I needed surgery and possible skin grafts that would cost about $18,000 and at least 3 months of rehab. He said my case was too advanced for injection therapy and charged me $780 for the 10 minutes, I sat listening to him talking on his cell. The old saying, "If a man only has a hammer everything looks like a nail" certainly applied to this guy. The contraction of my ring finger was about 30 degrees at that time.

Fortunately, the approval from the FDA of Xiaflex came in early 2010 but my state BC/BS health insurance kept on saying it was an experimental procedure and wouldn't cover it. After 46 other states and Medicare made it part of their coverage, Michigan finally approved it in January of 2012. Over the past 6 months the contraction had accelerated to about 90 degrees where it had become difficult to even put on my Bionic golf glove, but I could still play golf but my handicap was now up to a 5. Because I didn't want to spend time in snowy Michigan I got a referral to a specialist, closer to my winter home, at the University of Florida Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute to perform the procedure.

On Feb. 16th the major contracted cord in the palm of my hand was injected and the next day manipulated (snapped). I have had about a 75 degree improvement in the range of motion and on the 14th day was swinging a golf club. Today on Day 19, I was comfortably hitting full shots. Embedded below is a pictorial timeline of my progress. For a more extensive explanation of the procedure just Google XIAFLEX.
https://picasaweb.google.com/InPursuitof1000/Hand?authuser=0&feat=directlink

The drug cost for one injection was $4,000 and the Doctors fee less than $1,000. I had the major cord injected and two minor ones are also involved which I may need treated in the future if I want more range of motion. Currently the FDA only allows injecting one cord at a time. I am back to where my fingers were 4 years ago and satisfied with the current result. I have been wearing a splint at night and will continue it's use for about 6 months or if I notice any relapse. Only time will tell how this new procedure works and if there is any relapse.

This is not an uncommon problem among older men and hopefully I have made you aware of an alternative treatment that is less expensive and gets you back on the golf course much quicker than the traditional surgical procedure. I hope to start experiencing new golf courses very soon.

UPDATE 1/18/19

Seven years later my left hand is still stable and functional but three years ago my right ring finger started to contract, just like my left hand had done. In December 2018, I returned to UF Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Institute in Gainesville for a consultation with Dr Dell. Since my last correction, the FDA now allows XIAFLEX to be injected in two cords and I was told that Medicare will cover the procedure. Dr Dell told me my hand had contracted enough to have the procedure done so I set it up for the 8th and 9th of January. Dr Dell carefully injected the ring finger four times and I was told to return in 24 hr to have my hand anesthetized and manipulated. The morning of my return, as I was stretching my finger, surprisingly it snapped and I did not need anymore done when I arrived at the clinic.

I am happy to report that nine days later I was again playing golf and feeling no discomfort. What an alternative to the 3-6 months of healing that the traditional surgical treatment would have kept me off the links.Thank you Dr Dell and Staff at UF Shands!