Category: Our Experiences

Tales of my life as told by me.

Muirfield Village Golf Club

I had the opportunity to play Muirfield Village Golf Club last Thursday with my father-in-law, Dan, a friend of ours, Mark, and a friend of Mark’s, Bob, who is a member at Muirfield and was a gracious host. Dan flew us down at 7am, which took about two hours. We were shuttled to the course by a young employee of Muirfield named Andrew. Upon arrival, we were ushered in to the locker room and given guest lockers. The attendants checked our shoes to confirm that we had conforming spikes. I had my new True Linkswear University of Michigan themed shoes, so there was no spike changing.


(L to R: Ryan, Me, Dan, Mark, Bob, Preston)

In high school, the TC Central Golf Team flew down to Dublin, Ohio to play a match against Columbus Academy at Muirfield in October. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we were rained out. On this visit, I did recall the Proshop and the first hole, but not much more.

The weather was beautiful – sunny and low 80s. We arrived in time to hit a few balls on the range and roll a few putts. The greens were smooth, but not overly fast. The area had received quite a bit of rain recently, and the course was playing soft and long.

As I understand it, Muirfield is Jack Nicklaus’ “Augusta of the North.” It was very lush, green, and very well manicured.

We met Bob on the putting green minutes before our tee-time. Our caddies, Ryan and Preston, joined us at this time. Ryan carried Dan and my bags. Preston carried Bob’s bag and Mark used a cart. It was nice to walk the course and be relieved of having to carry the bag, but having a caddy took some getting used to for me. I found him useful for getting the general lines off the tees, but did not care to discuss how to strategize from thereon in. After about six holes, and some poor advice, I settled in.

I made three birdies – the first hole with a sandwedge to five feet; the tenth hole with a nine iron to five feet; and the 15 hole with a three-wood to 25 feet for a two-putt birdie.

Irving Meyer’s (OSU football coach) is on the left side of the seventh hole. Had I know this, I may have brought my U of M flag and taken a picture in front of it. Perhaps, this wouldn’t have been the most appropriate thing to do as a guest, but would have made for a fun picture!

At the turn, we stopped at the half-way house for some snacks and refreshments. Without thinking, I ordered an “Arnold Palmer.” Turns out that’s not what you call it when you’re on grounds designed by Mr. Nicklaus. I was informed that it’s a “half-and-half” or “Jack Nicklaus.” Woops!

There is a stream that comes into play an most, if not all, of the holes. There are also an abundance of ponds fronting or sidelining many of the greens. I kept my ball dry, but these could be more relevant had I played the course from the Memorial Tournament tees. As it was, from the blue tees, I didn’t hit more than a nine iron into any par four.

The finishing stretch is noticeably more challenging – a tight par five, a medium length par three, and two solid par four finishing holes. My driving was splitting the fairway, which helped tremendously. Less accurate tee shots would have made the holes much more difficult.


(Me hitting wedge to the 18th green.)

When we finished up, I had shot a 75 and was ready to try one of the famous milkshakes I had heard mentioned during the Memorial Tournament television broadcast. There were numerous flavors available, but, in the spirit of being in Columbus, Ohio, I ordered the buckeye flavor – basically chocolate and peanut butter. It was an excellent finish to an enjoyable day on the course.

Summer 2012

Summer is in full swing. It’s July 4th already, and the weather has been cooperating. I’m writing this post from our deck at 7:20 p.m. and it’s about 84 degrees. One of the expected benefits of the new house has been the beach access. Last year we only swam in the bay once or twice the entire summer. We’ve been in the water every day this week. Our beach is rocky for about 150 yards, so rock-socks are recommended. But then, just before the floating raft, the lake floor turns to sand.

We’ve bought a dog cable that can be screwed into the sand, so that Yogi can lounge in the shallow water while we swim out and jump from the raft. He enjoys the chance to cool off and doesn’t miss us too much!

One of my favorite things to do, once I’ve acclimated to the water temperature, is to swim low along the bottom of the deeper water – at the bottom of seven feet or so. The water is much cooler down there, and even more refreshing on these hot summer days.

Earlier today, we drove up to Leland to shop around. Mom and dad met us for lunch and to watch the parade pass. There were amphibious cars in the parade, and Lindsey commented that she’d love to see them go in the water. Well, as luck would have it, as we were walking back to the car past the Bluebird restaurant, four of the amphibious cars were driving into the river and motor-boat-caring around. It was very cool!

Happy 4th of July to all of our friends and family, and we hope that you’re having as wonderful of a summer as we are!

101st Michigan Amateur

It was a great opportunity to play in the 101st Michigan Amateur, which took place at Oakland Hills Country Club – North Course. Oakland Hills C.C. was a beautiful venue and a tough test of golf.

I arrived early on Sunday for a practice round, which was interrupted by rain on two occasions. The greens were slick and the rough along the edges of the fairways was dense and long. These were the course’s main defenses against the 168 top Michigan amateur golfers.

While hitting pitch shots on the short-game practice area, a gentleman came over from a nearby house and introduced himself and offered me a Rolling Rock. I went over and chatted with him about the tournament. He and his wife graciously extended an invitation to me to use their guest room for the remainder of the week in lieu of my staying at the Hampton Inn. I accepted the offer the following morning before teeing off in the first round. After my round, which I’ll get to, I caught up with them and was able to settle in and visit.

I teed off in the first round on Monday morning at 9:36 a.m. and fought my way through the day, ultimately finishing with a 74. I was pleased with this opening score because it didn’t shoot me out of the tournament and put me in decent position to make the cut the next day.

Lindsey, Peg, and Dan flew down to watch the second round. It was extremely hot, and Dan offered to caddie for me. I gladly accepted! It took us a few holes to figure out the player-caddie routine as far what to put where, but having him on the bag was a big help. He kept me positive and thinking birdies even when I was making bogies. It was nice to have some familiar faces in the tiny crowd following our group.

My ability with the “flatstick” let me down in round two, and ultimately caused me to miss the cut by a single shot. I drove the ball beautifully, only missing a single fairway all day. My approach shots were sub-standard, which tested by putting even more. But mostly it was an inability to adapt to the slower day-two green speeds. I routinely left lag putts six feet short.

It’s always difficult not to look back and only reflect on the shoulda, woulda, and coulda’s, but the experience was too good to do that.

2012 Michigan Amateur Qualifier

I qualified for the 2012 Michigan Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club’s North Course today by shooting a 75 at Boyne’s The Heather, a Robert Trent Jones design. I had to win a three-man playoff for the final spot, and did so by paring the long 18th hole par 4 over water, which I had double-bogeyed earlier in the day. I’m happy to have been able to set out to qualify, and get the job done and am excited to play in the Amateur. Having not playing in any events like this since 2001, when I last qualified for the Michigan Amateur (played that year at the Flint Golf Club), my goal is to make the cut and get into the matchplay portion of the event.