As we got ready to tee off, we had to determine how many strokes each of us would get. Kevin, Richard and I will also have a match there in the Fall.Īs we warmed up on the practice range, the trash talking picked up where we had left off with our texting from earlier in the morning.
VALHALLA HILLS LETS PLAY PRO
His father is the Head Pro at Whispering Pines in Trinity, Texas, another of the Top 100 courses. Dylan had interned the previous summer at Southern Hills, one of the two courses that I will play when my tour gets to Oklahoma.
He is a student at Sam Houston University, in my birth place, Huntsville, Texas. Dylan is interning at Valhalla this summer. So, while James would participate in the two-person round robin team part of our competition, we spared him the melee of the individual competition.Īfter lunch, we headed to the range to warm up. Kevin, Richard and I have several years history of goating each other. I’m not sure though that James knew what he was getting himself into. Kevin grew up in Kentucky and much of his family still lives there. Kevin had invited James to join us to fill out the foursome. Kevin, Richard, and Kevin’s brother-in-law, James were having lunch when I arrived. While this was not Magnolia Lane at Augusta, it was just as majestic. I took in the beauty of the rich and thick Kentucky bluegrass as I made the drive up to the clubhouse. The drive up the road from the gate is lined on one side with trees and on the other with a white fence that gives you the sense of being at a well-maintained Kentucky horse farm rather than a golf club. Valhalla has hosted two PGA Championships, a Senior PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup. This was also a place steeped in the history of the game of golf. It was back to limited access, gated entries and the posh surrounds that one sees at the most exclusive golf clubs. It was very clear, that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. As I was preparing to get on the road for those final four hours of driving, the text messages from Kevin and Richard start to come fast and furiously. The trash talking started early Saturday morning. I prepared myself for some butt kicking in Kentucky! I had also spent hours on the practice ranges at both courses. In addition to playing rounds at Flint Hills and Prairie Dunes, I had taken a lesson from the Head Golf Pro at Flint Hills. I had taken the time to get ready for this match. Kevin and Richard were former colleagues at ExxonMobil. This round was to be a match between Kevin Hobbs, Richard Byrne, and me. This round was not going to be my usual round of golf on my Top 100 Tour. The round at Valhalla was scheduled for a 2:00 tee time. I later learned that Richard, one of my former co-workers that I would be playing with on Saturday had once lived in Fairview.
I stopped and spent the night in Fairview, Illinois. Louis, Missouri, which would leave me four hours of driving on Saturday morning to get to Louisville. I decided that I would drive just to the other side of St. I then, in the words of Willie Nelson, was “on the road again,” to make the 11-hour drive from Hutchinson, Kansas to the land of blue grass, thoroughbreds, and the Valhalla Country Club.Įleven hours would be much too long of a drive after leaving Hutchinson at 2 o’clock on Friday afternoon. This time it was with my host, Dave Curtis.
VALHALLA HILLS LETS PLAY FULL
The day before, I’d played a second full round of golf at Prairie Dunes Country Club. One that was hastened even more by the time change that occurred on the drive from St. It was another case of a long day and a short night.
0 kommentar(er)
