Wegoblogger #31

Pumped-Up Kicks: New Limited Edition HHH Shoes from TRUE linkswear

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:30:00 +0000

For 17 years, the patent-leather Air Jordan XI's held the title of my all-time favorite shoe. Sorry MJ, you've just been trumped.

Today, the TRUE linkswear HHH special edition shoes are available for sale. You can find them here: http://www.truelinkswear.com/index.php/shop/hundred-hole-hike.html. These three electric blue-soled beauties might just bring a tear to my eye. Half of the proceeds from the sale of the shoes will go to charity. 75% of those funds will go to One Divot our two-pronged purpose to help those in the golf "family" who are in dire need of financial or medical support and to develop and fund grow-the-game initiatives, particularly among youths in traditionally underserved areas. The remaining 25% will go to support the Evans Scholars Foundation, TRUE president Rob Rigg's chosen cause in the hike.

I can't say enough about the energy and commitment and way above-and-beyondedness that Rob and the TRUE gang have shown for One Divot and the Hundred Hole Hike. They shared my vision for what this event could be and the lives we could impact through something as simple and silly as chasing a small white ball into a hole. Honestly, is there any other golf shoe company that shows this much passion for the game? Throw in the fact that they are probably the most comfortable shoes you'll ever own and I'm not sure why you'd consider anything else.

A couple weeks ago, I went out for a late afternoon round and got paired up with a 15 year old kid and his father. The Dad was sporting the black/red TRUE phx's. I always get a kick out of seeing TRUEs out of the course, knowing the blood, sweat and tears that Rob and CEO Sean put into their development over the past 2-3 years. I will likely hug a random stranger if I see him wearing the HHH's. The resulting punch in the face will still be worth it.

I hope you'll join me in purchasing a one or more pairs of the HHH special edition phx ($99) or stealth ($199) shoes. Your feet will thank you. And I thank you for your support of the Hundred Hole Hike. Free random hugs with every purchase.

Hundred Hole Hike Partners with TRUE linkswear to Launch Limited-Edition Shoes

Proceeds to Benefit One Divot and the Evans Scholars Foundation

(Chicago, Illinois) – Hundred Hole Hike (HHH) – the global giving platform supporting charitable fundraising by “golf marathoners” who will play and walk at least 100 holes in one day – announces the launch of three limited-edition HHH shoes created by leading minimalist golf footwear manufacturer TRUE linkswear.

Crafted for the devoted walking golfer, the TRUE HHH Limited-Edition stealth (black/electric blue and white/electric blue; $199/pair) and phx (black/electric blue; $99/pair), are available starting today exclusively atwww.truelinkswear.com/shop.html. Half of each sale will be donated to charity, with 75 percent of those monies going to support One Divot and 25 percent to the Evans Scholars Foundation.

“Right of the gate, response to HHH has been off the charts as we’ve added some amazing venues and received tremendous support from all corners of the golf community,” says Jim Colton, 2011 Walking Golfer of the Year and founder of One Divot. “When taking on the challenge of playing 100 or more holes, having proper footwear is a must and TRUE makes the best shoes I’ve ever worn.”

A member of Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke, CO, Colton established One Divot following the Ben Cox 155. That 2011 event saw him walk 155 holes in one day and raise more than $110,000 for Cox, a caddie paralyzed in a skiing accident. The organization aims to bring together passionate golfers seeking to use their love of the game to positively impact people's lives.

“We were so impressed by Jim's initiative and commitment to helping society that we wanted to be involved in a big way for 2012,” says Rob Rigg, president of TRUE linkswear. “What he’s doing – and what the Evans Scholars Foundation has been doing for decades – exemplifies the commitment that golfers have for our great game and bettering the lives of others.”

Funds raised by One Divot through direct donations and corporate sponsorship goes to support individuals in the golf "family" in dire need of medical or financial assistance, and to develop and fund "grow the game" initiatives, particularly amongst youths in traditionally underserved areas.

The goal of Hundred Hole Hike is to take the same energy that fueled the Ben Cox 155 to a grander scale. Instead of one golfer at one club for one cause, HHH includes men and women at clubs worldwide, all walking to raise money for a variety of worthwhile causes. Since its launch in April, over 50 golfers have signed up for the challenge.

More than just a robust and centralized venue for pledge collection, www.hundredholehike.com is designed to be a daily web destination for avid walking golfers. It includes personalized blogs where HHH participants share updates on training, engage in friendly competition with other hikers and post items pertinent to those who embrace the game’s traditions and philanthropic heritage.

For additional information visit www.hundredholehike.com/how-it-works, or follow @100HoleHike on Twitter.

About TRUE linkswear

TRUE linkswear is a Scottsdale-based footwear and apparel company. Its founders are dedicated golfers who share a passion for the game - walking the fairways with friends, and knocking down pins, while truly feeling the course. Their initial product, the TRUE tour shoe, is worn by Ryan Moore, an investor and co-founder in the company, on the PGA Tour. TRUE footwear is designed to offer a "barefoot" experience by providing the lightest shoe with the thinnest sole in golf. For more information, visit www.truelinkswear.com.

About Hundred Hole Hike

Hundred Hole Hike (HHH) is a global network of golf marathons where participants plan to walk and play 100 or more holes in one day to raise money for various worthwhile charitable causes. It includes events at many courses ranked among the Top 100 by leading golf publications.

Managed by One Divot – a charity that aims to help change the world for the better one divot at a time – HHH is inspired by the success of the Ben Cox 155. Launched in 2011 at Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke, CO, that event saw club member Jim Colton walk 155 holes in one day and raise more than $110,000 for Cox, a Ballyneal caddie paralyzed in a skiing accident.

The goal of the Hundred Hole Hike is to take the same passion and energy that fueled the Ben Cox 155 to a grander scale. Instead of one golfer at one club for one cause, the HHH includes golfers at clubs worldwide, all walking to raise money for a variety of worthwhile causes.

###

Hundred Hole Hike Twitter Contest: Spread the Word and Win Golf Gear

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:52:00 +0000

Over on hundredholehike.com, we launched a contest to motivate others to help promote the event. By helping spread the word on Twitter, you can win some sweet golf gear. We're not talking one of 2-pack sleeve of promotional golf balls. The grand prize is a $725 custom-made, hand-stitched leather golf bag from the MacKenzie Golf Bag, i.e., the best golf bags on the planet? Second prize is two pairs of TRUE linkswear shoes, which equates to up to $400 value. And third place get $200 credit toward LINKSOUL apparel.

All one has to do is solicit RT's (retweets) about the Hundred Hole Hike from others on Twitter. You can ask your friends to RT. You can ask Justin Bieber to RT. Don't be bashful. Any success RT gets a point for each twitter follower that the particular RT'er has (amazingly, 21.7 million for landing the Biebs). Once a user has made an retweet, he/she/it is "off the board". The points will only go to the first person to land it. I've pasted the ground rules from the HHH website below.

The contest started yesterday and goes through May 31st. Twitter legend and Hundred Hole Hike @hriefs is currently in the lead with roughly 1.5 million points, but could easily be supplanted by a well-time RT from a celebrity or athlete. Most of golf's most prolific tweeters: Ian Poulter, Stewart Cink, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, etc are still on the board. So what are you waiting for?

Ground Rules:
1. The contest runs from Monday May 14th until 10 PM ET on Thursday May 31st.
2. You will earn 1 point for each follower the RT'er has (for example, get Lady Gaga to RT, and you'll get 24 million points).
3. Points are cumulative, so you get points for each unique tweeter you get to RT.
4. Points are awarded to the first person to get a RT from a given tweeter (for example, once Lady Gaga RT's she's "off the board")
5. The RT must have the #HHH tag, @100holehike and a link to the Hundred Hole website: http://hundredholehike.com ideally with a short description of the event.
6. To be eligible to win, you must be a follower of @100holehike, @TRUElinkswear, @MacKenzieGolf and @linksouldier, as well as a friend to the Hundred Hole Hike Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HundredHoleHike
7. Yes Tim, hikers are eligible to win
8. Any contestants attempting to game the system through bot-generated RT's will be disqualified. All decisions made by HHH on assignment of prizes are final.
9. If you're serious about being one of the winners, get in the practice of keeping tabs of your RT's and logging them in a spreadsheet. Feel free to e-mail me as often as daily at jim@onedivot.org with any significant updates.

Announcing the Hundred Hole Hike

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:34:00 +0000

Today, I'm thrilled to announce the official launch of the Hundred Hole Hike, a charitable golf event that hopes to build on the success of last year's Ben Cox 155. Instead of one golfer walking a bunch of holes in one day for one cause, the HHH is a global network of passionated golfers all walking 100+ holes in a day for a variety of worthwhile causes. Our website, http://www.hundredholehike.com/ is now live and serves as a centralized platform for "hikers" to share their progress and their story through blogging or other social media tools. Our goal is that http://www.hundredholehike.com/ evolves into a real community of avid golfers who share a passion for the game and for helping others.

Please click here to see my opening blog post and check out the press release below for more information.

I couldn't be more excited about the launch of this event and some of the exciting things we have in the hopper for this year and beyond. I hope you'll join me by pledging your support or perhaps joining us as a hiker this summer.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 30, 2012

MEDIA CONTACT:
Tom Williams
Buffalo Communications
703.891.3391
twilliams@buffalocommunications.com
www.buffalocommunications.com
www.twitter.com/buffalocomm

Hundred Hole Hike Launches Global Charitable Network of Passionate Walking Golfers

Initiative Provides Centralized Website for Fundraising by Players and Host Clubs

(Chicago, Illinois) – One Divot – a charity founded by 2011 Walking Golfer of the Year Jim Colton – announces the launch of Hundred Hole Hike (HHH), a giving platform hosted at www.hundredholehike.comthat supports fundraising efforts of “golf marathoners” who will play and walk at least 100 holes in one day to benefit philanthropic causes.

A society of dedicated men and women seeking to use their passion for the game as a vehicle to better the lives of others, HHH allows for each hiker to choose their own causes to support. Among the roster of industry leaders to register are Rob Rigg of TRUE linkswear and John Ashworth of LINKSOUL. Also participating are renowned venues such as Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club, The Kingsley Club and Hidden Creek Golf Club.

“This all began last year as something very personal to me – raising funds for the care of Ben Cox, a caddie and friend seriously injured in a skiing accident,” says Colton. “With the support of walking golfers worldwide, Hundred Hole Hike is now positioned to positively impact countless lives.”

A Ballyneal member, Colton’s original goal was to walk 108 holes and raise $5,000 to benefit Cox. On June 23, 2011, he walked 155 holes and raised more than $110,000. Soon after, he set about forming One Divot and creating a method for like-minded golfers to raise awareness and money for the charities about which they care most deeply.

More than just a robust and centralized venue for pledge collection, www.hundredholehike.com is designed to be a daily web destination for avid walking golfers. It will include personalized blogs where HHH participants share updates on training, engage in friendly competition with other hikers and post items pertinent to those who embrace the game’s traditions and philanthropic heritage.

“I’m super excited about making my own Hundred Hole Hike,” says Ashworth. “It’s a cool and innovative way to support the broader community through golf, and also to challenge your own body and mind while having some fun, too.”

For additional information visit www.hundredholehike.com/how-it-works or follow @100HoleHike on Twitter.

About Hundred Hole Hike

Hundred Hole Hike (HHH) is a global network of golf marathons where participants plan to walk and play 100 or more holes in one day to raise money for various worthwhile charitable causes. It includes events at many courses ranked among the Top 100 by leading golf publications.

Managed by One Divot – a charity that aims to help change the world for the better one divot at a time – HHH is inspired by the success of the Ben Cox 155. Launched in 2011 at Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke, CO, that event saw club member Jim Colton walk 155 holes in one day and raise more than $110,000 for Cox, a Ballyneal caddie paralyzed in a skiing accident.

The goal of the Hundred Hole Hike is to take the same passion and energy that fueled the Ben Cox 155 to a grander scale. Instead of one golfer at one club for one cause, the HHH includes golfers at clubs worldwide, all walking to raise money for a variety of worthwhile causes.

###

Dream Golf Weekend: A Bandon Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:53:00 +0000

Introduction:

A little over a month ago, I sat shirtless on a doctor’s examining room table wondering if the rest of my 2011 golf season was over, with perhaps 2012 on the brink as well. My body was crumbling faster than Tiger’s knees and personal life combined. Early in September, during a casual round with my buddy Wego at Prairie Landing, I felt something pop in my right shoulder as I pulled the club back on the par 3 12th. I took it easy for a few weeks, figured I’d be fine and eventually agreed to go to Ballyneal for a long weekend with my friend Matt and 10 others at the end of September. I thought even if I couldn’t rotate my shoulder anywhere close to parallel, I’d still be able to slap it around at Ballyneal on those firm and fast conditions. How bad could it be?

The answer: really bad. I struggled to break 100 in seven rounds over four days. Matt had organized a bunch of entertaining individual and team events each round, and my presence in a foursome was the kiss of death. I finished dead last in the running points game, and second to last in the money. I even set a dubious course record by hitting a grand total of 0-of-14 fairways (on fairways averaging 70 yards wide).

Right before that trip, two great things happened to me. First, I found out that the Walking Golfing Society had named me their 2011 Walking (Wounded) Golfer of the Year. Also, I got invited to a two-day, fourball event at Old Macdonald, the newest course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. After I found out that Rob Rigg, the founder of the Walking Golfer Society (and president of True Linkswear shoes) had also been invited to the event at Bandon (and was to be my partner), we made plans to do our award ceremony/trophy hand-off at Bandon as well. It promised to be a dream golf weekend. Except for my mangled shoulder and what I thought could be a torn rotator cuff.

So the day after I got back from Ballyneal, for once I listened to wife’s advice, sucked it up and went to the orthopedian to get my shoulder checked out (I bet I’ve been to the doctor no more than three times in the last 15 years). He pushed, pulled, yanked and dragged my arms in various positions, some of which felt perfectly fine, others of which made my eyes water. His diagnosis was some inflammation of the rotator cuff ligament, with the potential of a slight tear. I stressed that I was a serious golfer and had one last big trip planned for the year. He gave me a cortisone shot and hoped that would be all I needed.

Days after the shot, I felt like a new man. I could do full arm circles without pain, practiced that deeply-flawed but too-late-to-teach-a-middle-aged-dog-new-tricks golf swing in the mirror and dreamed of winning the Bandon team event in a blaze of glory. Then I took my kids to the driving range one late Sunday afternoon and woke up the next morning painfully back at Square One. I spent most of the month of October in golf limbo, dragging along a bum shoulder that didn’t exactly hurt but just felt off, like it was attached to somebody else’s body. Still, even if it meant swinging the club with one arm followed by an extended trip on the disabled list, there was no way I was missing out on a trip to Bandon Dunes.

The first and only time I had been to Bandon was back in 2006. A lot had changed for me in those five years. I went from two kids to three. Seemingly overnight, I leaped from young buck to prematurely gray. At work, I had clawed my way from senior grunt to junior middle management. I went from public golfer to a private one (and maybe back to public again). And I migrated from a two-handicap with a 50/50 love-hate relationship with the game to near double-digits but loving nearly every minute of it (other than the 0-for-14 fairway bit...that did kinda suck.)

It would be hard to top 2006's motley crew of Jimbo, my father-in-law Ken and my buddy “80-grand motha*****” Charles, but this trip had promise with Rob, my good friend and bunkmate Ben (Air Force Captain by day/turfgrass student and golf course design wannabe by night), and Matt Payne and Dave Hensley (GM and Superintendent of Ballyneal, respectively) among the friendly faces in the event. Ben picked me up at the North Bend airport, and after an 11-hour door-to-door journey, we were on our way to the greatest golf resort on the planet.

PART ONE: SHEEP RANCH

Since my flight arrived around 2 PM on Saturday, we didn’t really have time to get in a full round that day. But thankfully Ben had better plans. Being a bonafide F.O.D. (Friend of Doak), Ben had obtained intelligence that Tommy Deez was likely going to be out at Sheep Ranch, the somewhat secret romper room of 13 greens and freeform turf that allows the holes to be played in every which way imaginable.

View Larger Map

Sheep Ranch was a fitting place to spend the afternoon with Ben. It was just three years ago that Ben had his “a-ha” moment in golf, sending him down a path to study architecture with a Red Bull-ish vigor and eventually leading to spending a week’s leave from the Air Force to rake dirt and spread hydroseed as part of the crew for Doak’s Dismal River project in Nebraska. Ben zoomed down some backroads bordering Old Macdonald, leading to a gravel off-ramp blocked by a black gate marked “No Trespassing”. Pulling up, we still weren’t 100% sure that Doak would be here.

The gate looked like it was locked but Ben got out of the car to try it. Bingo! The gate was open. As we continued down the gravel road, I had visions of cutting through a backyard on the way home from middle school and having the cops called on us. It felt wrong enough to give yourself a little guilt trip about it, but not enough to stop yourself from still going. All I could think about was this magical playground of fescue, sand and gorse. Following the gravel up and around a sharp bend, you begin to see the course on the left, along with a couple of old fire trucks that they use for irrigation. Past the fire trucks, we saw a white Hyundai rental car. We weren’t alone. But was it Doak and Co.?

We climbed out of the car and got the clubs out of the trunk. It was spitting rain and a fog was rolling in, but we could see the silhouettes of golfers approaching a green in the distance. We headed out towards them as they were hitting to their next hole. As we got closer, one of the guys started heading towards us. From a distance, it looked an awful lot like Tom Doak, arguably the greatest living golf course architect.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to have some dialogue with Tommy Deez, mostly over e-mail but a couple times face-to-face. I don’t know if it’s nerves or what, but I’ve developed an uncanny ability of saying stupid things that lead to awkward silences every time I’m within 50 feet of him. For example, the first time I played golf with Tom, one of the first things I ever said to him was, “Tom, what’s your vertical leap? Because you have the biggest calves I’ve ever seen!” See what I mean?

Unfortunately, this time was no exception. As Doak approached and got within earshot, I cracked, “Can anybody tell us how to get Old Macdonald?”

Stone silence. 0-for-2.

Despite my idiotic comments, Tom agreed to let us join his group. They were playing some sort of 3-team alternate shot match, which then had to be altered due to our arrival. We split up into three 3-person teams and the format changed from hole-to-hole. After each hole, Tom would kind of point out the multiple options for the next hole and we’d pick one and go on from there. Using Tom’s local knowledge and short game prowess, his team (which I wasn’t on) won or halved the majority of the 6-7 holes we played. His team even claimed a halve on a hole that I later realized we had won outright!

As we neared the end of our "round", a official-looking green pickup truck came driving down the road and then turned onto the course heading right towards us. A man got out of the truck, ready to bust yet another set of trespassers to the fullest extent of the laws of Keiserland. I was paralyzed by the indecision of following my street instincts to make a run for it and wanting to try out that Old Macdonald crack on an independent third party. "Excuse me, this is private prop...," the man started to say, until he recognized the man walking towards him. "...oh, hello Mr. Doak, how are you?" His demeanor changed in an heartbeat. For Doak, it was the ultimate Jedi-Mind Trick. I knew he was a genius, but had no idea he was one with the Force as well. I guess we should've known.

Obi-Wan Doakobi

The beauty of the Sheep Ranch is its freedom and flexibility, not to mention the fact it sits on a cliff high above the Pacific. The greens are designed to be played from multiple directions, so a golfer is really only limited by his or her creativity. One green sits on a point the juts out over the ocean. We played it as a short par 4, then the picture below shows my tee shot on the next hole, which starts on the very tip and requires a nervy, blind shot over the beach…

Into the abyss...

…walking down to the fairway, Doak made a point of showing us the tee boxes that play in the opposite direction to the green we just came from. You can see how this could be the most picturesque par 3 on the entire property if it ever got built into a regulation course. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Until then, don’t pass up a chance to experience Sheep Ranch at least once if your lifetime.

Potential par-3 at Sheep Ranch

PART TWO: TWGOY

As I mentioned, Rob and I had planned to do The Walking Golfer of the Year presentation at Bandon. The original plan was to do it on some picturesque spot at Sheep Ranch overlooking the Pacific Ocean. But the crummy weather put the kibosh on that option. So we wandered around the lodge aimlessly trying to find some suitable place to do the photo op. Surprisingly, there weren’t many viable options. The best we could come up with was a well-lit conference room that had a map of the state of Oregon on the wall. It would have to do.

"For a Passionate Commitment to Golf as a Walking Game"

Unbeknownest to me, in addition to the cool leather plaque that Rob presented to me, the award came with a slick leather Mackenzie Walker golf bag from Todd Rohrer, president of the company located in Portland. Oh my, is this thing sweet! The leather is so supple, I could’ve curled up in bed with it (maybe I did, you’ll never know). Embroidered along the side, it says: “Jim Colton, 2011 Walking Golfer of the Year”

While I jokingly prepared two speeches, I didn’t actually have to give one. But the sentiment in my first version is still there. This honor is easily the greatest achievement of my golfing life. And hopefully we can use this award as a springboard to do bigger and better things down the road. (Note: you can see the press release here)

PART THREE: KIDDO CLUTCH

Sunday morning was the official start of the matches at Old Macdonald. The format was a 64-man, 32-team fourball bracket. Survive and advance. Lose and go home (well, go play another round at Old Mac or one of the other courses at the resort). Each match was nine holes. The winners played the winners in the group ahead/behind them starting on the 10th tee. The losers paired up with the other losers and played a match or just played in for fun. If you won your first two matches, then you had to stick around for a third nine.

Given the sorry state of my shoulder, I figured Rob and I were a sure one-and-done. I just hoped not to get 5&4'd right out of the gate.

The first hole at Old Macdonald is a great opener, one that Doak calls the best opener they've ever built. It's sufficiently wide but you need to pick a line carefully depending on the pin position to the double plateau green. Let me get on my soap box again and plead for more double plateau greens. I've enjoyed each and every one that I've played, and it certainly seems like you could build them just about anywhere. On Monday, they pinned it to the back shelf, which normally isn't used in the Bandon rotation (they need to add it, it's a blast).

I hit a (surprise) hard hook to start the match, but it ended up just off the right fairway with a clear shot to the middle pin. Rob pulled his drive hard but hit a good approach shot in to the green. We both made pars and suddenly were 1-up. Five minutes later, we were 2-up after Rob jarred a 25-footer on Eden. I was still thinking 5&4, but now it was the other way around.

A funny thing happened that Monday morning. I started hitting the ball again. I'm not sure how or why, but I didn't stop to analyze it. I just kept swinging. I hadn't felt this way since the day of the 155-hole marathon in June, when I was striping it for most of the 16-hour adventure. I was on top of the flag at the 2nd, won the hole for our team on the 4th hole (Hogsback), then stuffed it tight on the 5th (Short), but missed a tricky, downhill birdie putt. We were still only 2-up, although it felt like it should've been more.

Anybody who plays match play knows the momentum can turn on a dime. Often it just takes one great shot or one mistake by the other team, especially in a 9-hole match like this one. We were in the driver seat, right up until the moment I decided to run my 30-foot birdie putt 10 feet past the hole on the 6th (Long, with an awesome Hell bunker). A bad bogey there and we were back to 1-up. Then Rob and I both made a mess of the 7th (aptly named Ocean), and suddenly the match was all-square.

The interesting twist to the 9-hole matches was that since there needed to be a winner before the 10th tee, in an all-square match the team that last won a hole is the one who advances. In this case, our opponents Jonathan and Harry were now in the driver's seat. We had to win one of the last two holes to advance.

Both Jon and Harry hit the green on #8 (Biarritz, and a wild version of one at that). I hit a poor tee shot to the front of the green with the pin on the other side of the large swale. I made a nifty lag putt to get within 3 feet, but it was rendered moot when Harry made his par. We had to win the last hole or we were done.

The 9th hole is Cape, which is known for the angular, "bite-off-as-much-you-dare" tee shot with all sorts of hazards and gorse waiting for those who get too aggressive and/or can't execute. Both Jon and Harry wisely played safe out to the fairway left, putting the pressure squarely on us. Rob stepped up to the tee first with a 2-iron, then proceeded to top one into a bunker about 30 yards in front of the tee box. This wasn't good.

There I was, faced with the unenviable position of having to pull off a solid drive in the clutch. My track record in these situations is well below the Mendoza line. It was more like Adam Dunn's performance with the 2011 White Sox. But with very few swing thoughts other than "don't duck hook it, you idiot", I pulled the club back, swung through and hit my best drive of the day - climbing over the hazards with a nice 5-yard draw. Where was this guy in September?

Rob took a couple more whacks, but was B.I.P. by the time he reached my drive. Harry hit his approach shot just short of the green. Jonathan went into the front right bunker. It was a small window of opportunity but you had to expect at least one could get up and down. I had to make a birdie here. I had to hit it close.

I had 125 yards in, into a slight breeze. It had just started to rain, and after teeing off I put on my shiny new Sunice pullover ordered specifically for this trip. I thought to myself, this is probably not a great moment to be swinging with this jacket on for the first time ever. In general, I hate the feeling of a restricted golf swing, even though I should probably embrace it.

So with the match on the line, I stepped up to the ball with my pitching wedge and tried to will the ball close to the hole. The shot was well struck and on line, starting just left of the flag and drawing in. It landed on the front third of the green and started bouncing towards the hole, eventually settling just below the cup. It was literally the best golf shot I ever hit under pressure. It was my Shaun Micheel moment, minus the low testosterone.

Harry proceeded to chip up to about 12 feet. Jonathan hit a great bunker shot to six feet above the hole. I would've been perfectly fine with both of them missing their par putts, followed by the sight of me lagging a 30-inch putt to tap-in range, but Harry jarred his par putt. I had to make my 2 1/2-footer for birdie to win the match. And trust me, I've missed shorter.

As I stood over the ball and started to take the putter back, I literally said to myself, "Man, how bad would it suck if you missed this putt and lost the match?" Not exactly the breakfast of champions, is it? But thankfully the hole got in the way of the ball, and it dropped center cut. Birdie and a 1-up victory.

Jonathan and Harry acted like Ron Burgundy when Baxter ate the wheel of cheese -- too impressed to really be upset about losing. Their only exposure to me had been this two-hour window, so to them I looked like Mr. Clutch. And trust me, I milked it for all it was worth. Who cares if I reverted to the mean in the second round and we lost 1-down. I freakin' willed a birdie with the match on the line! It might honestly be the first time I've ever done that.

Later that night at the event dinner, I was reliving my feat to anybody who would listen. Eventually, Matt was the only guy who could stand to be around me, so we leaned against the bar and talked shop. Jonathan got up to leave, coming up to us to shake hands and say good night. After exchanging pleasantries with Matt, he leaned towards me, wapped me a couple times on the side of the ribs and said, "Play well tomorrow, kiddo!"

I could feel the look from Matt even before Jonathan left. Once he was gone, Matt nodded and said, "kiddo?" with a tinge of mock envy. "And he even gave you ribbage!" I was mocked for it incessantly for the rest of the weekend (and probably for the next 25 years), but it was totally worth it. For one shining moment, this kiddo was clutch.

PART FOUR: TRUMP COLORADO

Sunday afternoon at Bandon may go down as one of my most memorable moments on a golf course. Not because I was playing Pacific Dunes, one of the best and most scenic courses on the planet. Heck, the visibility was no more than 150 yards for most of the round, so any ocean vistas were rendered moot. It wasn't because my I had a career round or found some sort of Golf in the Kingdom-like enlightenment.

No, my round at Pacific Dunes that afternoon will go down in history because that's where I was when I found out that my home course Ballyneal was going into foreclosure. An email with the unfortunate news came across my phone as I was standing on 8th tee, drenched from head to toe from cold, spitting rain that seemed to penetrate every orifice of my rain gear.

I'd be lying if I didn't immediately wonder what the heck was going to happen to my beloved club. Would I get to play there next year? Could I still plan my golf marathon? Might somebody buy it and change it? Everything ranging from raising dues or opening it to the public all the way to the unbearable thought of putting in cart paths raced through my head in those first few seconds.

Of course, I should've been thinking about my playing partners, Matt and Dave, who as GM and Super, were worried about things like whether they were still going to have a job and whether somebody was going to fund payroll in a couple weeks. They had lived and worked under this dark cloud of financial uncertainty for more than a year, and as you can imagine, it made their day-to-day jobs of running the club, helping members and their guests and keeping the course in great shape extremely difficult. It's amazing that they were still able to the great job that they did.

Eventually, we hit our drives on 8 into the foggy abyss. And then spent the next two holes slapping the ball around in between complaining, questioning, bickering, wondering, bitching, moaning and generally wallowing in self-pity, and that was before I let anybody else get a word in edgewise. I can't even tell you how I did on those two holes; the golf was so secondary to everything else at that moment.

Finally on the 10th tee, Dave chimed in. "This is ridiculous. C'mon, we have to play for something." So after much debate about elaborate formats and stakes, we settled on simple dollar skins (double for birdies).

Dave was right. We needed something to shift our focus away from the foreclosure. Fittingly, golf was the escape. On the back nine, it wasn't three guys closely tied to what is sure to be one of the highest profile failures in an industry full of them. It was just three guys needling each other and trying to whip each other's white asses in to earn a couple extra bucks (Matt won, but I dont think anybody even collected). For Matt and Dave, it was a golf trip that they wished would never end.

Anytime the foreclosure came up after that, it was usually part of some wise crack. Along the way, we decided that for the time being, Ballyneal would now be referred to under a new name: Trump Colorado. I can only imagine the size of the new clubhouse.

PART FIVE: TRICK OR TREAT

It is a good thing I won the Walking Golfer of the Year award, because my Father of the Year nomination isn't coming any time soon. While you were probably spending quality time with your kids on Halloween bouncing from house to house, I was hopping from course to course at a nearly empty Bandon Dunes resort.

When I first got the invite to this event, I figured there was no way I could pull it off, as much as I wanted to. Of course, I did what I KNOW many of you do when you get a golf trip invite: you casually float the idea to your spouse. You're not seeking permission as much as just gauging the initial reaction to see if it's worth exploring further. Ten times out of ten, these conversations start with something non-threatening like this: "You'll never guess who I just got an e-mail from..." Here is the exact transcript of the conversation in the Colton house on September 15, 2011 at 10:30 PM.

Jim: "You'll never guess who I just got an e-mail from today."

Sue: "Okay, which golf course is it?"

Jim: "Old Mac. [Host] is having his annual event there. The only problem is it is over Halloween." [Braces for impact...]

Sue: "Hmm...That's okay. We're going over to my parents that night anyways. It shouldn't be a big deal."

Jim: "Cool. I'll tell him I'm in."

Sue: "When am I going to get my kitchen?"

I barely heard that last part, because I was too busy scrambling to send in my RSVP, followed by texts to 8-10 of my closest golf buds informing them of my plans/rubbing it in. Father of the Year may be out of the picture, but Susie C cemented Understanding Wife of the Year for the fourth year running.

Honestly, I still felt bad about missing out on the trick or treating. I felt like an even bigger ass at Sunday night's dinner, when the host Tom said, "We invited a lot of folks to join us, but we knew many wouldn't be able to make it because they had to spend time with their kids." I felt a little better about my absence the next day when I called home from the 5th fairway at Bandon Trails, right as my kids were getting home from school. My usual yapperhead children had cut their conversation down to no more than 12 words each, as I was the only thing standing between them and an unlimited smorgasbord of sweets that they never end up eating. My brutally honest daughter dealt the final blow: "Dad, can I say goodbye? I really don't want to talk to you right now."

Monday morning was the second day of the team event, but since Rob and I had already been eliminated, it was more like open golf. Our host went around the room at the end of the aforementioned dinner and set up pairings amongst those that were in the same boat. Knowing my level of golf insanity, he thoughtfully put us out as the first group off at 8:00 AM.

I don't have to tell you, but there are few joys in golf more treasured than the first tee time. So you can imagine our dismay when we rolled up and there were already two groups on the tee. One was a threesome of locals who just showed up and got themselves inserted at 7:50. The other was a twosome from the event that ignored the host's plans and just decided to their own thing.

However, that was just a minor inconvenience on what was otherwise a glorious day of golf, as good as any I've ever had on the links. As crummy as the weather was on Sunday, Mother Nature more than made up for it on Monday. Clear blue skies and the rising sun had me taking more pictures than my buddy Matt's Japanese friends, Yuji and Toshi.

Old Macdonald #1 - Double Plateau to a back pin

The second round at Old Macdonald was a key. Not only because of the improved weather that actually allowed us to see the holes for the first time, but because Old Mac, arguably more than any course on the resort, is geared for multiple plays. Similar to NGLA and many other Macdonald/Raymor designs, it's all about the strategic options. With the unprecedented width of the fairways and size of the greens, there's no way you'll fully get Old Macdonald in just one play. I still don't feel worthy to evaluate it after two rounds.

Old Macdonald #3 tee - Sahara

Still, favorite holes started to emerge. I really enjoyed the 3rd hole (Sahara), with its soon to be iconic lone tree forcing a decision on the tee, a expansive view as you cross the ridge and a wild, roller coaster fairway leading down to the green. The par fives are really strong, particularly the 6th (Long) and 15th (Westward Ho!), which have perfectly placed hazards to mess with your head as much as your second shot. The 16th (Alps) is sure to be a favorite for its memorability as well as its strategic value. I may even like this take on the template more than the one at National, as blasphemous as that might be to say (give me 10-12 more rounds at each and I'll be able to tell you for sure!)

Old Macdonald #7 (Ocean) - birdied it!

Our playing partners/opponents on Monday were Mark and Steve, aka Buzz and Saw. I knew we were in trouble when Matt, who was playing in the group behind us and had lost to these guys in the first round, nudged me and gave me a "check out this swing" nod right before Steve was about to launch his first tee ball. Steve's swing reminded me of Steve Stricker, completely unrushed and on plane the whole time, with absolutely no margin for error. In other words, the complete opposite of mine. I need the universe to be perfectly aligned in order for clubface to meet ball squarely. In Steve's universe, there was no possible the ball wasn't going to go straight. True to form, he made a 40-footer for birdie on the first hole (to the tough back plateau which is usually never pinned) and then stuck his approach to number two to gimme range. Just like that, Rob and I were two down through two.

My favorite template name: Westward Ho! - Old Macdonald 15th

It was more of the same for the vast majority of the round. Rob and I were up and down with our play. When we were up, the best we could do was halve. When we were down, we sunk even further. But we had a great time, played quickly (we skipped from 9 green to 13 tee in order to pass the two groups that snaked our ceremonial spot) and thoroughly enjoyed the cool sunny morning at Old Macdonald. I later told our opponents that I never have I had as much fun getting 4&3'd in my life.

After a quick break, I headed back to a wide open first tee. I played 1 & 2, and with the 3rd tee practically part of the 17th fairway, I could see Matt, Dave, Ben and my friend "Moves Like" Jaeger coming from that tee box. So I joined up with them and played in. I first tried to reach the 17th green again from my original spot (still failed), then missed a 5-footer for bird on the closing hole. Still, it was 18 1/2 holes down, many more to come.

The five of us split off into three different groups. Ben and I had a 1:20 tee time at Bandon Trails, but we knew we could get out before that. We dropped Jaeger off at Pac Dunes, who was hoping to get one last round in before heading back to snow-covered New York. Matt and Dave had a 1:15 tee time at Bandon Dunes, which they later professed was "by far the best course at the resort." (The 10th tee at Pac Dunes was the closest either Ben or I would get to the original course all weekend.)

Bandon Trails seems to be the red-headed step-child of the Bandon family. I'd venture a guess that it gets at least 30% less play then the other three courses at the resort. However, I was beginning to sense a groundswell of support for the course from a number of my closest golf friends, many of whom believe that Trails is as good as or better than anything else there. My friend John called Trails "the most underrated course in America." My buddy Wags kept telling me, "Trails is so good, dude. It is so good." Like many others, I originally had Bandon Trails high on my list but still 4th out of the four courses there. But I was anxious to play it again since it had been five years since my initial visit.

Bandon Trails - 5th Hole

You know what? Trails IS so good, dude. So good. I came away really impressed with the course and wondered why I had rated it so low to begin with. What it lacks for oceanside frontage, it makes up for in natural beauty and solid golf holes. Coore & Crenshaw really know their stuff. The course looks like it's been there for over 100 years.

Bandon Trails - 15th Hole

Perhaps it lacks the jaw-dropping, postcard holes at Bandon or Pacific Dunes. But Bandon Trails just seems to be one solid golf hole after another. I kept waiting for a let-up, something that would trigger my memory on why I didn't like it as much the first time. However, each hole, with the possible exception of the 16th, was better than I remembered. I'd even go as far as to say it's my second favorite at the resort behind Pacific Dunes and one of my favorite modern designs, just a tip of the Principal's Nose ahead of Old Macdonald.

Bandon Trails - 17th Hole

Ben and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and were able to tee around 1:00 PM. Nobody had teed off on the course for over two hours. The light bulb went off in our collective heads...potential third round, the holy grail of free Bandon golf! We had an enjoyable walk at Trails (even through the closing stretch, which are a set of ball busters into the summer wind), both hit the ball extremely well (much to my chagrin, Ben outdrove me on a bunch of holes) and burned around the course in less than 3 hours.

From there, we jetted over to the Pacific Dunes pro shop to get our freebie round in. It was about 4:05 and we had less than 2 1/2 hours of daylight left to get in as many holes as possible. The guy behind the counter was less than optimistic: "You should be able to get in the 7-hole loop." We both looked at him like he had two heads. "Uh...we're going for the full 18," Ben replied. The pro shop guy then claimed that it got dark before 6:00, which was a boldface lie since I just played until 6:30 easily the previous night under overcast skies.

Up for the challenge, we raced off to the first tee. We blitzed through the first three holes, pausing only momentarily to gaze at the beautiful, afternoon-sunlit course. Pacific Dunes is another course that I probably underestimated in my mind from my previous visit, even considering the fact that it was the #1 ranked course on my list at one point. It's just hard to beat the combination of rugged beauty, challenge and fun that Pac Dunes provides.

On the third hole, Ben (who is generally doing three things at once at any given time) called his friend Don who was somewhere out on the course at the same time. Ben must've grown tired of hanging out with me, because he skipped over to the 13th hole in order to catch up with those guys on #14. I didn't really mind, because it pretty much assured me that I would have no problem getting in the full 18 holes. After putting out on the 3rd, he went right and I went left, and Ben said, "call me when you're done and I'll pick you up."

There's something almost spiritual about being out on the golf course right on the ocean by yourself in the late afternoon. I had one of those "man it's a good time to be alive" type moments when I was on the 4th fairway. Since I had no longer had to rush the get done, I could soak it in and enjoy it as much as possible. I even putted from the 155 yards out on the 4th fairway, not because I was goofing around, but it just seemed like the right play at the time (I came up just short of the green.)

Not surprisingly, those all-around good vibes usually lead to a higher level of play. Aside from making a complete mess of the 8th hole (a certain quadruple bogey or worse had I actually finished it), I was continuing to hit the ball really well and surprisingly straight. I rode the par train from the 9th to 13th holes (first time I ever parred that sucker); suddenly I felt like a golfer again. I hit a poor shot on the short par 3 14th and made bogey (why is this hole so hard?), but was in great shape on the 15th, bombing my drive on the downwind hole to just short of the cross bunkers, so I was only hitting 8-iron into the green. I blew a good chance for birdie there, then made a killer par save on the tricky 16th. Add a bogey on the 17th and a 20-foot curling putt for birdie on the 18th (in front of Ben, who was waiting on the plexiglassed-in porch, huddled in front of the fireplace with the other guys he joined up with). 1-over 36 on the back...that just doesn't happen enough anymore.

Pacific Dunes - 10th Hole (Upper Tee)

Joining the guys up on the porch, I relished in the warmth of the crackling fireplace and basked in the glow of an increasingly rare stretch of inspired play. Three rounds on the last day of October, at Bandon Dunes under blue skies. How do you top that? I can honestly say it was the best 54 1/2-hole day of my life.

More pics:

Pacific Dunes - 7th Hole

Pacific Dunes - 11th Hole

Pacific Dunes - 16th Hole

PART SIX: NO LOOKING BACK

Tuesday morning was the last round of the trip. And more importantly, the last round of 2011. It's always good to go into the long Chicago offseason with some positive feelings, some sort of nugget that can sustain you for the winter and keep you optimistic that next year is going to be "your year." Finish the year on a down note and you're left thinking about that for the next 5-6 months. Combine that with the uncertainty about my shoulder, no NBA games to speak and a complete question mark hanging over my home club, and yeah, there was a lot riding on this one round.

One guy who was not optimistic about my prospects was my playing partner, Ben. At various points over the course of the weekend, I regaled him with magnificent golf feats from my golf past, like how I made five birdies at Pacific Dunes the first time I played it back in 2006. When I told him about a similar birdie barrage at Bandon Trails while we played there on Monday afternoon, he asked, "How come you never have any of these good rounds whenever I'm playing with you?" Truthfully, Ben had been on three previous trips with me over the last 2 1/2 years, seeing me play some of my absolute worst golf this side of Shinnecock Hills. I could hardly blame him for his red-lining BS meter. I didn't have a good answer for his question. Much like the my beloved Illini's Final Four appearance in 2005, each subsequent disappointing year since has made the Dee Brown/Deron Williams-era seem like eons ago. Yet we still hang on to it because that's pretty much all we have.

Pac Dunes was the obvious choice for the last round of the trip, and the 8:00 AM tee time was one of the first things we secured when booking the trip. Once again, a group got put out right in front of us. This time, it was a group that included some of Doak's design interns. They were good guys, and likely the future of golf course design (assuming there is one), so I didn't put up too much of a fuss. I only hit into them once.

The Ballyneal boys, Matt and Dave, rounded out the foursome and we're our opponents in the friendly fourball match. It was a crisp but sunny morning, the temperature dipping down into the 30's but fortunately not low enough to warrant a frost delay (I had a 1:56 PM flight back to Chicago, so we didn't really have too much extra time to play with). The first hole at Pacific is an awkward driving hole, but I started things off by splitting the fairway with a laced 3-wood. Good vibes. I should've known something was up after the second hole, when I hit my drive way right and was completely blocked out from the green by trees, yet hit one of those big towering draws around trouble that Tiger always seemed to pull off when he was in his prime. I wasn't even sure where the putting surface was when I hit, but I got up to the green and was thrilled to see my ball on the back edge. Matt and Dave both got plugged lies in a front bunker that had the consistency of cold oatmeal. Just like that, Ben and I were two-up through two.

Pacific Dunes - 3rd Hole

Some view the par 5's as a weakness at Pacific Dunes, but it's hard to say anything bad about the 3rd. Just look at the picture above. If that doesn't do anything for you then you should take up a different sport. As you can tell from the pic, you have to pick a side on the tee -- challenging the left side of the hole will shorten it and leave a better angle to the green, but it's very much an all or nothing shot. Conservatively playing right opens up lots of room for the second shot but is virtually impossible to get close to the hole. Not feeling particularly confident with my driver after the previous hole, I aimed down the middle and hit a slight draw that bounded down the right side of the hole. Not exactly Position A; more like Position B-.

The interns were on the green, but I was about 265 out and had no thoughts of reaching the green in two, so I went ahead and hit. I pulled out my 3-wood and hit a low running shot up the left side. It wasn't very well struck, but it turned out to be a great shot for the firm and fast conditions, as the ball just kept on rolling and rolling closer to the green. It eventually rested just left and short of the green, and about 3 feet from one of the golf bags of the guys in front of us. Oops! They were putting out about 40 yards away when I hit, so there wasn't really any threat of injury, but it did garner a look back as they walked off the green and headed to the 4th tee.

For my next shot, I did what should always do at Bandon when you're anywhere close to the green -- I putted. I wapped the ball with my flatstick and sent it hurtling across the greens. Within the first two seconds, I knew it was good. About 30 feet out, I knew it really good. About 15 feet out, I knew it was going in. The ball just never left the center of the hole the entire way. Right on cue, it hit the flagstick and dropped straight down for E-E-EAGLE!!!

Now this wasn't just any old eagle. This one was particularly special. In order to understand, we need some history. Cue the flashback music…

Last September, I made two hole-out eagles within a 10-day period of each other. Both were with my good friend Tom Dunne, who for some reason is like a hole-out and/or hole-in-one magnet when you are playing with him (good guy to know). The first was at Friar's Head on the 11th hole, when I jarred on with a sand wedge from about 115 yards out. The second one was at the 7th hole at Ballyneal (probably my favorite hole in the world), when I rolled one in with a three-quarters lob wedge from about 85 yards out. They were my first eagles since June 2008. I barely even sniffed an eagle for most of the 2+ years in between, and usually choked like a dog whenever I had a decent chance.

As you may know, my buddy Jefe and I are extremely competitive. One of things we've kept track of is lifetime eagles. Although I probably get three times as many chances, he's always had the upper hand on number of eagles. It's something that has slowly eaten away at me for years. Jefe had eight eagles before I got my first, and I've been slowly (excruciatingly so) been reeling him in ever since. As I've gotten closer, the obligatory "EEEEEEAAAAAAGGGGGGLLLLLEEEE" calls to the other party have gotten longer, louder and exponentially more annoying with each passing one.

You might be surprised to hear this, but because my game had gone to pot and the eagle opportunities had all but dried up, I had pretty much forgotten where I stood in relationship to Jefe prior to these two hole-outs. I went back and tallied up my eagle count and discovered it was at 21. Here is the text exchange I had with Jefe:

Jim: I think my eagle count is 21. I'm prob still behind you.

Jefe: I'm at 21.

Jim: It's on like Donkey Kong!!!

Jefe: I need a full list of your eagles for audit purposes.

Within 60 minutes, I was able to produce an e-mail with all of my lifetime eagles dating back to 1994, with course, hole number, shot type and playing partners. Not that you care, but it's my blog and I can post what I want to:

1. 1994 - Burr Hill, 10th Hole. Par 5. Putt. Playing solo
2. 1997 - Oak Club of Genoa, 3rd Hole, Par 5. Putt. Playing solo
3. 1997 - Links at Carillon, 5th Hole, Par 5. Chip-in. Playing w/ Sue
4. 1997 - Cog Hill #1, 15th Hole, Par 5. Tap-in putt. Playing solo
5. 1998 - Prestbury, 17th Hole. Par 4. 9-Iron Hole out. Playing w/ Jefe
6. 1999 - TPC at Sawgrass (Valley), 17th Hole. Par 5. Chip in. Playing w/ Sue on our honeymoon
7. 2000 - TPC at Deere Run, 17th Hole. Par 5. Putt from fringe. Playing w/ Charles
8. 2001 - Purdue University (Kampen), 14th Hole. Par 4. PW Hole out. Playing w/ Charles
9. 2003 - Arrowhead, 8th Hole (South Nine). Par 5. Putt. Playing w/ Marc F.
10. 2004 - Grand National (Lake), 14th Hole. Par 5. Long Pitch. Playing w/ Jefe and Jimbo
11. 2004 - Prairie Landing, 18th Hole. Par 5. Putt. Playing solo
12. 2005 - Prairie Landing, 18th Hole. Par 5. Putt. Putt w/ Wego, Cloon and some weird dude from North Carolina
13. 2005 - Prairie Landing, 17th Hole. Par 3. ACE! 4-iron. Playing w/ Jefe
14. 2006 - Prairie Landing, 4th Hole. Par 5. Putt. Playing solo.
15. 2006 - Prairie Landing, 18th Hole. Par 5. Putt. Playing solo
16. 2006 - Prairie Landing, 10th Hole. Par 5. Tap-in Putt. Playing Solo (document in One Divot at a Time)
17. 2007 - Prairie Landing, 13th Hole. Par 5. PW Hole-Out. Playing solo.
18. 2007 - Ozaukee Country Club, 15th Hole. Par 5. Putt. Playing w/ Dan M. and Eric T.
19. 2008 - Cantigny (Woodside), 2nd Hole. Par 5. Putt. Playing w/ my Dad
20. 2010 - Friar's Head, 11th Hole. SW Hole Out. Playing w/ Tom Dunne and Mike P.
21. 2010 - Ballyneal, 7th Hole. LW Hole Out. Playing w/ Tom Dunne and Matt Schulte

After Jefe replied with his equally detailed list, the race for Eagle #22 was on! The next time we played together was in mid-October, as part of a Golf Club Atlas event at the Highlands of Elgin (#8 and "Top Value" on my Definitive Guide to Chicago's Best Public Golf Courses). The GCA'ers were in love with the Highlands' firm and fast conditions, although in fairness they were due partly by maintenance intent and partly by sparse conditions on a relatively new course. On the 5th hole, I hit one of my best drives of the day, only to find my ball was sitting on a spot of rock hard, bare dirt. I badly shanked my approach shot into the tall, fescue grass left of the green.

On the par 5 14th hole, I hit another good drive and found myself in a similar situation -- on bare dirt. With the 5th hole debacle still fresh in my mind, I decided to move my ball about 2 inches onto something resembling green turf. Then I proceeded to hit what was the probably the best 3-wood of my life (no exaggeration, since I had just bought the 3-wood after not carrying one or being able to hit one for the 10 years prior). The shot barely cleared some fronting bunkers and had to be somewhere close on the uphill green.

When we got up to the surface, we could see that the ball was just 10 feet short of the hole. Jefe, Jimbo and our playing partner Matt were hooping and hollering about the potential tie-breaking putt. I quietly had the internal struggle between good vs. evil, desperately trying to find some rationalization for counting the eagle if I were to make the putt. Part of me just wanted to miss it in order to not have to face the ethical dilemma. But I pulled the putter back and rolled it in true. Jefe approached me, stuck out his arm for a man-hug and said, "Congrats man". But in that moment, the Rebel Alliance won out (somewhat surprisingly). "I can't count it. I moved the ball back in the fairway," I admitted. Jefe had a new lease of life.

[End flashback music]

After the eagle putt at Pac Dunes had dropped, I hopped around and screamed like an idiot for a good 15-20 seconds. It was a bit excessive, I admit. But this was an eagle that was 17+ years in the making. "Uh oh…here comes the phone call," Matt was quick to point out. I stood out on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific, got Jefe's voice mail then let out an eagle call that was more louder, more longer and exponentially more annoying than ever. The guys ahead of us on the 4th hole said they heard it. I'm sure the golfers at the 4th green on Bandon Dunes further up the coast probably heard it as well, if not the 7th green at Pebble Beach some 500 miles away. When I finally got the chance to talk to Jefe later that day, he said, "I was in the meeting when you called. When I saw the voice mail pop-up, I knew right away. It was about time you finally passed me."

Oh yeah, and I was -2 under through 3 holes and 3-up in the match…

My 2011 Walking Golfer of the Year Victory Speech Dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:46:00 +0000

Check out this e-mail that just came across my shiny new iPhone 4S from Rob Rigg, founder of The Walking Golfer Society and co-founder of TRUE Linkswear (I tried to get Siri to read it to me, but apparently she doesn't do that yet):

SATURDAY 15 , OCTOBER 2011

2011 Walking Golfer of the Year and TWGS Event at Pasatiempo

Hello Society Members,

I am excited to announce Jim Colton as our 2011 Walking Golfer of the Year.

When I requested nominations for the award there was a resounding response that only one person was the logical choice and that was Jim. There was literally nobody else nominated and for good reason.

This summer Jim walked 155 holes in one day at Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Colorado, and raised over $100k for Ben Cox and his family. Jim's incredible feat is an inspiration for us all and the money raised for injured caddie Ben and his family has been incredibly helpful in their time of need. Jim has been a passionate walking golfer for many years and his love for the game is infectious. Since writing "One Divot at a Time: Diary of a Full Fledged Golf Addict" , Jim has started to focus a little less on a score and a bit more on enjoying being on the course with friends and family. He wanted to turn his passion for walking Ballyneal into a way to help others and it has been an brilliant success. Jim will be taking the Ben Cox 155 to another level in 2012, stay tuned for details.

Congratulations Jim! It will be an honor to present you with The 2011 Walking Golfer of the Year award at Bandon Dunes at the end of October.

Keep enjoying the walk,

Rob

Founder - The Walking Golfers Society

Hey, I know that dude! What an honor it is to win the Walking Golfer of the Year award. What a perfect way to cap the golf season.

As the e-mail mentioned, Rob is planning to present the award to me at Bandon Dunes at the end of this month. I'm not sure what the format of the presentation will be like. As my lifetime record in Ballynizzle Cups probably indicates, victory speeches are not something that I have a whole lot of experience with.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned this year is this: anything that one could possibly want to learn about can be learned from YouTube. Back in March, I bought an electric guitar and just seven months later, I can butcher a Top 40 song or 90's rock tune with the best of them. So after giving one victory speech a shot, I then turned to YouTube to help come up with a second version. And I figured what better place to start than to watch victory and acceptance speeches from some of the best athletes of my generation. I've had such a stellar track record of following athletes who are not only superstars but great people (Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, Tiger Woods), I knew this plan would be full-proof. I spent hours pouring over videos from them and others such as Rickey Henderson, Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire.

The problem is I'm now stuck with two versions. Which should I use in Bandon in two weeks? Check them out below and let me know what you think.

Version 1:

Thank you very much to Rob and the Walking Golfer Society for this tremendous honor. I feel truly humbled to be included with the likes of Mr. Keiser and Chick Evans – in many respects I feel unworthy of being listed with these great fellow Chicagoans. I’m just a guy who really loves the game of golf – and through an amazing twist of fate and the generosity of others, stumbled upon a way to use that passion to impact one family’s life for the better. That, in and of itself, has been prize enough. I’ve been truly blessed to have met Ben and the Cox family, and to have witnessed firsthand this outpouring of support from thousands of golfers from around the globe. To win the 2011 Walking Golfer of the Year is just the icing on the cake of the most memorable year of my golfing life.

There are so many people to thank; I don’t even know where to begin. First of all, thank you to Rob and the team at TRUE Linkswear. I know it would be bad form for Rob to give himself this award, but is there honestly anybody who’s done more for the cause (and the feet) of the walking golfer than Rob? The TRUEs have revolutionized the game for those who enjoy the walk and have made it possible for others to free themselves from the shackles of the cart path. I’ve mentioned this before and it’s the truth -- not only would I have never walked 155 holes in one day, I would’ve never even tried this crazy plan without my TRUEs.

Of course, thank you very much to the members and staff at Ballyneal. Ballyneal is my second home and the folks there are my second family. Thank you to Rupert O’Neal for having the vision to build such a special place. Thank you to Tom Doak and the Renaissance team for building a world-class golf course that one would want to play 8-9 times in one day, and for keeping those green-to-tee distances so manageable! Thank you to head pro Matt Payne and assistant Brian Carruthers, for all of the support leading up to the event but also for caddying for the first six rounds. What an awesome experience to share with both of you. Thank you to Casey St. John and John Kirk for caddying the last 2 1/2 rounds and for being there when I tapped it for par on the 155th hole at 8:55 P.M. And thank you to my good friend “Dr.” Matt Schulte, who kept me hopped up with a myriad of energy drinks and nutritional supplements. Without him, I surely would’ve crashed and burned before noon.

Look behind any full-fledged golf addict and you’re likely to find a saintly, beyond understanding and extremely supportive wife, and I’m truly no exception! Thank you to my beautiful wife Sue for being supportive of this event and accepting of all my golf adventures. The marathon was so much more special having you there to share it with. I love you forever and always.

Last but not least, I have to thank Ben Cox. Trust me, it’s not lost on me that the only reason I am Walking Golfer of the Year is because of a 23-year old who would do anything to walk a golf course again. My promise is to never lose sight of this fact (plus as TWGS members, we can never let our passion for promoting the benefits of the walking game trump making the game accessible and fun to anybody who wants to tee it up). It’s difficult to understand why this life-changing accident had to happen to Ben, but countless people have been moved by Ben’s story and by his and his family’s tremendous strength and faith during this tough time. The Cox family is doing what they can to turn a negative into a positive. Ben has been an inspiration to me personally and I feel blessed to call him a friend.

Through getting to know Ben, I’ve developed a sort-of personal mantra: “Bold in life. Bold in faith.” Ben Cox lives this way every day of his life. My hope and prayer is to do the same. After seeing how this event took off and witnessing the impact that one bold idea can have when fueled by passion, I’m ready to announce bigger plans for 2012. With the help of Rob and others, we’re launching a non-profit, charitable golf society called One Divot. The goal is to use our passion for the game to help change people’s lives for the better. The centerpiece of our fundraising efforts will be a marathon event called the 100 Hole Hike. It will be similar to my golf marathon this year at Ballyneal, but instead of one man walking a bunch of holes at one course for one cause, the goal is a network of golfers all walking 100+ holes at great golf courses around the world to raise money for a variety of worthwhile causes. Look for more details in the coming months.

As you may know, One Divot comes from the tagline on my website: “changing the world one divot at a time…” Before this year, it was nothing more than an intentionally-hokey play on words, originating from something I said to my younger brother as he was taking huge chunks of earth out on every swing while on a golf trip over 15 years ago. Admittedly, my existence as a golfer was a shallow and selfish one – trying to shoot low scores, bomb 300-yard drives, make a few birdies and play as many of the world’s great golf courses as possible before I died. The only way a person may have been “changed” by me was if I hit them while they were standing in an adjacent fairway.

Today, I still want to shoot low scores. I still want to bomb 300-yard drives and see and play great courses. It’d be difficult to call yourself a passionate golfer if you didn’t. But to use this passion while also helping others has been a revelation. As a result, my passion for the game and motivation to help others is at an all-time high. I have Ben Cox to thank for that. The best part of winning the Walking Golfer of the Year is not the personal notoriety that may come from this award, but the validation of this positive shift in my life and, more importantly, the platform to use this award to reach more people with Ben’s story and the other worthwhile causes coming in the near future. Thank you again to Rob and the Walking Golfer Society for this honor.

Version 2:

Good morning. And thank you for joining me. I want to say this to Rob and the Walking Golfer Society simply and directly: Thank you for this honor.

Jimmy C looks at the list of winners of this prestigious award and couldn’t help but think of one thing: Chicago 3, the Rest of the World 0!!! Is the Windy City now officially the walking golf capital of the universe? Perhaps. People like to use the word “dynasty” so freely. Normally, I’d caution against it, but if the TRUEs fit…

Speaking of TRUEs, congratulations to Rob and the TRUE Linkswear team for having the intelligence to bring me on as a (pseudo) staff member. Next year’s True Colton special editions will be the hottest thing in golf – I fully suspect golfers will get killed over them like Air Jordan 11’s. Don’t say you weren’t warned. And Jim Colton thinks Jim Colton is ready to replace Ryan Moore in your online and print ads. Just give me a second to find my hoodie.

Thank you to Ballyneal for telling everybody to get out of my way on that fateful day. I knew Garrett and his 6’4”, 250-pound frame was good for something, but up until June 22nd I wasn’t 100% sure what it was. Congrats to Matt, Brian, John and Casey for carrying my limited-edition, Ballynizzle bag (there are only two in existence, and I own both of them). I apologize for stiffing you on the caddie bill. I am truly sorry. But hopefully you learned a thing or two about the golf swing along the way. This should be payment enough.

To Nick Flaa and Gary Nelson, who held the pevious record of hole played at Ballyneal in one day: take a suck of that! Nick and Gary are great golfers who walked. But today...Jim Colton is the Walking Golfer of the Year. Huge difference.

Before we go any further, I need to clarify one thing. I did not (to my knowledge) take any performance enhancing drugs before, during or after the marathon event. Ever. This is completely and utterly false. Even so, 155 with an asterix next to it still starts with the numbers 1-5-5. Ballyneal may have a loosey-goosey, laid-back attitude, and the Guiness Book officials may have been instructed to look the other way, but my nutrition regiment consistent nothing more than Gatorade, flaxseed oil and female reproductive hormone pills that I take for medicinal purposes. So what if Dr. Schulte received his online doctorate in TV/VCR repair from some institution in Barbados? I trust him with my life. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that my body has broken down faster than a 1978 Gremlin since the marathon.

Besides, I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to talk about the plans we have for next year. We’re taking the golf marathon thing on a global scale. One cycle of blood spinning and a “cortisone” shot from Dr. Schulte and I'll be good to go. Stay tuned for the launch of One Divot, my charitable golf society, and the 100 Hole Hike, coming to a top 100 golf course near you in 2012. Taking our fundraising efforts to the next level will help us achieve three things. First, it will help us raise even more money for a variety of worthwhile causes. Also, it will improve my chances of someday playing Augusta National. Finally, it will ensure that I will continue to win the Walking Golfer of the Year award for the foreseeable future. We have an old-saying in Chicago: “minimum 8-peat!”

Oh…and thanks to Ben Cox. And to my wife Sue. And God. Thank you.

Follow Jim Colton on Twitter: @jcolton31

Ballyneal: Somewhere Only We Know

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 01:30:00 +0000

My buddy Matt put together this slideshow highlight some of the great times at Ballyneal over the past couple years. Nice work, Matty!

The Wegoblogger Man Cave

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:47:00 +0000

Here are some pics from the newly renovated Wegoblogger World Headquarters, a.k.a. Ballymancave. Enjoy!

I think I have another piece of hardware coming in October, so I need to find room for it. More on that when the time comes...

The Eighth at Ballyneal by Joshua C.F. Smith on the left; a wind-tattered old Ballyneal flag on the right

Flags left to right: Olympia Fields, PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, The Players Championship, Masters, Riviera Country Club, World Woods and Friars Head

Ballyneal photos on canvas by canvasondemand.com ($45 via group on)

Flags left to right: Bethpage Black U.S. Open, Black Sheep, Pebble Beach, National Golf Links, Ballyneal, Shinnecock Hills, Kingsley Club, Sand Hills, Harbour Town

Guide to Chicago Public Golf Courses - 2011 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:01:00 +0000

We've updated the Definitive Guide to Chicago's Best Public Courses by soliciting the input of an expert panel of fellow Windy City golf-crazed lunatics. Bowes Creek, The Highlands of Elgin and Ravisloe Country Club are new entrants to the list, which was last published in 2007 but continues to be the most requested web page on my site. Cog Hill #4 (pictured above) still holds the top spot. Click on the link below to view the updated rankings.

http://www.wegoblogger31.com/2007/05/chicago-golf-definitive-guide-to.html

Natty Twice!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:11:00 +0000

I never thought I'd see the day...I get to play National Golf Links of America twice in one summer.

Okay, the lyrics need work. But that doesn't change the fact that I got another chance to play the National this past week, a.k.a. the greatest golf course that I've ever played. After a second go 'round, I can't help but think of the words of the great KRS-One: "I'm still #1!" Those lyrics work just fine.

Looking back now...it's crazy to think that I'm almost passed on the opportunity to play CB Macdonald's masterpiece again. For most of the latter half of July and beginning of August, I sat in my home office wallowing in self-pity and was stuck in a existential (my favorite word in the English language, although I'm still not exactly sure what it means), post-marathon and post-Ballynizzle Cup defeat funk. I was done for the year, by far the earliest in the season that I had hung 'em up. When my good buddy Matt mentioned that there might be an opportunity to fill out the foursome at NGLA, I initially passed.

But in the words of John Popper (with creative license), "The Alps brings you baaaack!"

A few weeks back, my friend and golf writer Tom innocently asked me a question about the playing characteristics of the famed 3rd Hole at National for a piece that he was working on. I was slightly perplexed and deeply perturbed that I couldn't give him a good answer, largely because the first time I played the hole back in June, I hit my drive about 50 yards left of left, and had to play the hole up the hill from near the 4th green.

That darn 3rd hole stuck in my craw for days. As did many of the other wonderful template holes - Redan, Road, Bottle, Punchbowl, etc. I thought to myself, "How many times are you going to play this course in your lifetime? Strap on a sack and get back out there, you idiot!" I went crawling back to Matt and a couple e-mails later, I was confirmed in. Natty twice!

Check out the pictures below. What a perfect way to cap off what has been the best golfing year of my life. Unless, of course, there's a Natty Thrice sometime in September or October (anybody?)

Here's the bell behind the Alps green. Matt should've been the one to gong it, as he birdied the hole. Wow, what a hole to birdie. I did successfully hit it in the right side of the fairway, but hit a low skunky approach shot out to the left (a common theme on this day) and made bogey.

The greatest Redan hole in the world. What did I say my lifetime record is on redans last time? 0-for-102? Well, it's 0-for-103 now.

Short. The 6th hole.

Matt was in New York for a weeklong binge with two golf friends from Japan, Yuji and Toshi. Matt met them about 6-7 years ago at Portmarnock while on a solo trip to Ireland. Imagine this because I've know you've been there - cruising through the course playing as a single, when you reach a par 3 occupied by some Japanese golfers who are waving you up to join them. Do you join them? Do you try to play through? Do you hang back and play 2-3 balls for the rest of the round? Matt ended up agreeing to join and got a couple lifelong golf buds out of it. It turned out they had very similar itineraries for the rest of the Ireland trip and agreed to meet up at various points down the road. And they've been going on yearly golf trips to great courses around the world nearly every year since.

I had heard all about Yuji and Toshi and their adventures from Matt and was anxious to meet them (from Yuji, I found out that the name Jim means "from zero", which sounds about right). I knew they were extremely passionate golfers, and the shared love for the game would be enough to overcome any cultural or language barriers. What he failed to mention was the fact that they were legitimate sticks -- Yuji a steady 3 and Toshi a +1 index. Their straight and solid games were in stark contrast to the hack and slash style of their American counterparts. Our U.S. vs. Japan fourball match was a lot like the Womens World Cup finale, if that soccer match had ended at halftime by slaughter rule. Toshi made four birdies on the front nine of shot 2-under 34 on the front. The picture below shows the "Road" on the 7th hole...if you look closely you'll see Toshi and my golf balls right next to each other. Toshi calmly blasted out to 10 feet and made the birdie putt. I skulled my shot over the green and made the last of five straight dumb bogeys.

8th Hole - Bottle. Hard to choose a favorite hole here, but this would be one of the contenders.

Master Yoda has seen a lot of golf courses in his 800+ years, but nothing as good, as National is.

Yuji hitting out of the Strath bunker on the 13th hole. I birdie this one from just past the pin. After a par on the 14th, I was a respectable +6 with just 4 holes to go. Let's just leave it at that.

Matt hitting out of the swale on Punchbowl. My drive is up on top of the hill. Yes, I made bogey.

The home hole. Just a wild, big and brawny par 5 finish. I haven't quite figured this hole out. Maybe next time?

If you look closely or zoom in on the pic, you'll see a black Ferrari as the rightmost car in the parking lot. Normally straight-ball hitting Toshi pushed one way left and missed that car by mere inches, one hopping it off the parking lot.

Bonus Pics: Shinnecock!

As an added bonus, here are some pictures from an afternoon at next-door neighbor Shinnecock Hills. No, I didn't get to play it, but with the afternoon free I was able to tag along while the others played. I even caddied for Matt for most of the round, broadening my work experience just in case I get laid-off in the upcoming recession. The clouds gave way in the late afternoon, and it was a beautiful day for golf. As you can see from the pictures, the course was very green from recent torrential rains (8-10" in one day), which made for great contrast to the oranges and purples of the deep fescue.

3rd hole

7th Hole - Redan. Let's just assume I would've missed it. 0-for-104.

9th Hole. I hope I get a chance to meet this Ben Nevis character. I'd like to shake his hand. Starting from the 9th hole on, is there a better golf course on the planet than Shinnecock Hills?

10th Hole. The picture doesn't do the fall and rise justice.

11th Hole. This is the hole that was stuck in Matt's head for the last two months. Great short par 3.

12th Hole.

13th Hole.

14th Hole.

15th Hole.

16th Hole. Matt made a mess of this hole after being in a good position off the tee again. I'm sure he'll blame his caddie, who talked him out of laying up. However, I sort of made up for it by ramming in a 25-footer with Matt's right-handed putter as he raked the bunker (at the time this made sense, trust me.) I guess I did get to play Shinnecock Hills. How many people can say they aced the par 5 16th?

17th Hole.

5th wheel or starting center?

Shinnecock surpasses Ben's Porch as best place to sit and have drinks as the sun is going down.

Desktop background material...

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From Bad to Far Worse

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:50:00 +0000

Let me just start off by saying this: losing the Ballynizzle Cup sucks. I probably wanted to win it back a little too much, to the detriment of my golf game and my team's chances. That said, there is absolutely no way I'd want to trade places with Jefe right now. In fact, I'm not sure anybody would.

The day after the Nizzle started innocently enough. The plan was to play two rounds of golf in the Denver area before taking a late-night flight home. Everything was going along swimmingly until the second round ended four holes early due to thunderstorms. A minor setback in an otherwise great golf trip.

Suddenly, we were faced with almost six hours to kill before our scheduled 9:44 PM flight. Luckily, we spotted our ol' friend Chili's (a golf-trip staple) on the way back to the Interstate and figured a bowl or three of bottomless chips and salsa would be a good way to kill time. Even if none of us were all that hungry. That morning, we met the "Milkshake Lady" at Castle Pines and had to try one of her world-famous milkshakes . It was one of those rare cases in today's world where something actually lives up to the hype. In fact, I ended up having two milkshakes (one chocolate after the round and one strawberry for the road). I felt like a lead balloon during the second round and really paid the price later that night (two milkshakes and Chili's...not a winning combination), but I will go on record that the second milkshake was worth it. It was that good.

We pulled up to the airport around 6:30 PM, over three hours ahead of time. At least that's what we thought. As we reached the kiosk to check our clubs, I received the first of seven text messages telling us that the departure time had been pushed back. From 9:44 to 10:15. then 10:30. 10:47. 11:15. 11:30. 11:50. Then ultimately 12:10 AM. Our flight didn't leave until 12:30 in the morning. We didn't land at O'Hare until 3:45 AM, sort of an unplanned red-eye flight.

I consider myself to be an extremely patient air traveler. Years of flying in and out of LaGuardia for work have conditioned me to hope for the best and expect the worst. But six hours at Denver International late at night has to be something similar to the survival training that our buddy Ben told us about from his days at the Air Force Academy. In the war for airport supremacy, the man with the most power outlets and gummy worms wins. I managed the battery-life remaining percentage on my iPhone like it was a ticking timebomb. If it had gone down to zero, I would've certainly gone insane. Poor Jimbo was losing that battle - he spent his time trying to be the first person to discover how to comfortably sit in those blue vinyl and metal airport chairs. He gave that up and switched to the rock-hard floor. I knew his brain was turning to mush when he said, "If I ever build my own airport, the floors will be made entirely out of mattresses." It was getting ugly.

The long wait was bad, but it gets worse. After running out of better ideas, Jefe and I decided to scavenge for food. We slumped our dead tired bodies against the sides of the long people movers at DIA and headed towards the center of the B concourse. Along the way, I did what most golfers do in that situation, I simulated an air golf swing -- the same one that led to so many duck hooks and conceded holes over the weekend. Jefe stared at it with a certain glint of satisfaction. You could practically see the thought bubble above his head saying, "Ha! With that swing, I'm going to own the Cup until the day I die!" Suddenly, however, his focus shifted to two kids who were sprinting down the people movers and quickly coming our way. I was blocking the entire walkway with my swing. Jefe warned me to move to the side.

Jefe and I watched as the two kids sprinted past us. Instead, what he should've been watching was the end of the moving walkway. In what now seems like a move out of a bad romantic (or bromantic) comedy, Jefe flailed off the end of the people mover, flung his arms in order to catch his balance and with a mean right-hook PUNCHED ME SQUARE IN THE MOUTH. The worst part is he didn't even know he had done it. He kept on walking as if nothing had happened. I had to stop him with a "Dude, you punch me in the lip," holding my hand up to my mouth to find out that my lip was cut and I was now bleeding profusely from the swinging hand of my former best friend.

Thankfully, the mens bathroom was one of the only things that was open at that hour, and I was able to rinse out my mouth and stop the bleeding with a handful of paper towels. Jefe waited outside, probably wondering if I was going to hit him back. Once out of the bathroom, I jokingly asked everybody within earshot the following rhetorical question: "I just lost the Ballynizzle Cup, my golf game stinks, we've been waiting in this airport for five hours and now my best friend just punched me in the face. Could this night get any worse?"

The answer was yes. Yes, it could.

The flight, once it finally left, went relatively smoothly. Jefe and I got upgraded to first class while Jimbo, a.k.a. the Unstoppable One (only when it comes to matters involving match-play matches), got stuck in chattle class where he rightfully belongs. It was the second time in a row we had been upgraded -- I honestly think United is trying to make up for the customer-service fiasco that occurred during the golf marathon (I'm still not taking down the rant until they donate $280 to the Ben Cox fundraiser). On the way out to Denver, all was fun and giggles. It was Jefe's first time in first class and we used the opportunity to take some pictures of him and the Cup, much to the chagrin to the staff and the rest of the cabin. On the way back to Chicago, however, we were both zombies. I used an impossibly small and thin United-issued blanket and tried to get some sleep. Jefe curled up like a baby with a blanket twice the size and thickness as mine. I just can't beat this guy in anything.

In fact, I don't think we said a single word to each other for the first 98% of the trip. I woke up just as the pilot said we'd be making our final descent. I looked over at Jefe and he was awake. But his face was pale and he looked troubled. If you've followed these golf adventures closely, then you know Jefe has a moderate fear of flying. I half-jokingly hold his hand on take offs and landings, which is always worth a chuckle but I'm beginning to sense that he actually needs it. So when I saw his ghost face I just figured he was frightened by the turbulence as we approach the runway. So I put my hand on his shoulder and tried to comfort him. That's when Jefe said literally his first words to me on the entire flight:

"My left nut is killing me," he said with a grunt and a grimace.

"Well, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you on that one," I replied.

Jefe continued to toss and turn and grimace as we landed and waited to de-plane. He limped around after we met up with Jimbo and started heading to the Terminal. Jimbo and I didn't really think it was all that serious, until we reached the baggage area and turned left to find our golf bags. Jefe was lagging behind, called to get our attention and said, "Here, you guys just bring my bags home. I'm going to get a cab to Geneva, then go to the Emergency Room."

At that point, Jefe looked like a dog that was going to go lay down in the forest and die. He didn't want us helping him. He snarled when we tried to get near him. But obviously we weren't going to just put him in a cab with a hardy handshake and a "best of luck, keep us posted". Our golf bags came out relatively quickly and we convinced him to head back with us, where his wife could meet us at the ER at the hospital five minutes from my house (twenty-five minutes from his). I can only imagine what his wife was thinking when the phone rang at 4:00 AM. We figured it might've been a hernia. Certainly after watching Jefe's violent full swing approximately 400 times over six days, it seemed like a plausible explanation.

During the 30-minute cab ride, Jefe made the leap from a '5' to a full-fledged unhappy face on the pain scale. Suddenly thrust into a position we had never been in before, Jimbo and I tried to offer words of encouragement and advice, but otherwise sat their helpless. About 10 minutes into the drive, I asked Jefe if he just wanted to find the nearest hospital and he said yes. I struggled to find one close by on Google Maps and thankfully the pain subsided just enough for us to make it out to the one by my house. Even if it did take me convincing the cab driver to make about six different moving violations to get there quicker.

Jimbo stayed with his brother at the ER as I took the bags and clubs back to my house. I paid the cabbie $100 to cover any eventual court costs and instantly jumped in my car and headed back to the hospital. I pulled up to the ER desk and said, "My brother Jeff Tang was just dropped off here about 10 minutes ago," figuring there was enough truth in that statement that they'd let me see him. A nurse took me back through a maze of construction back to room C-10, where my best friend and golf buddy laid on a hospital bed helpless, with Natalie there by his side. I'll admit, I was a little freaked out.

I stuck around and made small talk just long enough for the ER doctor to arrive. He started to do his, umm, examination and that my cue to get the heck out of dodge. I ran into Jimbo, who had been looking for me, on the way out and I gave him a lift back to my house so he could take Jefe's car home. It wasn't until a couple hours later that I found out the diagnosis from Natalie: "Kidney stone. 3mm." I cringed when I heard the news, just like you are cringing right now. The hospital sent Jefe home with a hardy handshake and a "best of luck, keep us posted", plus some painkillers and some FloMax to help him pass the stone. Thankfully, Jefe was in good enough spirits to make the obvious FloMax joke: "Natalie and I had the windows down on the way home, high-fiving and singing some songs." Almost 36 hours later, we're still waiting for the inevitable...

Suddenly, losing the Ballynizzle Cup doesn't seem so bad.

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Everything you need to know about Ballynizzle 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 05:11:00 +0000

The next two years will be one, long continuous Climb.

Congrats to Team Jefenator and especially captain Jefe, who was so focused on keeping it under 1,000 total strokes on this golf trip, he left the Ballynizzle Cup at the club.

"Colorado Man" in Golf World

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:17:00 +0000

Check out the latest edition of Golf World. My ugly mug in print! More on this later, but I do enjoy how they are foreshadowing my eventual move to Colorado. And thanks again to Brian Carruthers for the unintentional sand-bag. 7-capper.

Golf World is personally significant for me as it reminds me of my late grandparents, who are the reason that I play this great game. They had gotten a free subscription to Golf World from a Florida car dealership back when they bought a Buick probably in 1988. They kept getting the magazine long after that car was long gone, past when my grandpa died in 1996 and right up until my Nana died 18 months ago. When I would visit my Nana after college, I would pour through old GolfWorld's about 8-10 at a time.

I spoke during my Nana's funeral service and talked about these visits, where I would come down with my friends and play nearby World Woods for 3-4 days straight. These trips were really the genesis for every far-flung golf buddy trip since. My Nana lovingly whipped up a meal that undoubtedly included a huge bowl of mashed potatoes and her awesome homemade apple sauce. We'd golf all day, eat at 8 and we konked out by 9:30. What great guests! The price for all of this hospitality was occasionally getting on the roof to clean out the gutters, where one false move might leave you impaled by a lightning rod.

I also spoke about how trying to make my grandparents proud of me was a motivating factor growing up. It kept me on the straight and narrow in school and kept my grades up in college. The mantra "Make Nana Proud" has kept me striving to be a generally decent guy ever since, even now after they are gone (maybe even more so). I can't help but think they'd be proud seeing this "Colorado man" in their free subscription of Golf World this week, once the "our grandson is crazy...but I guess we already knew that" eventually wore off.

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What's the Story, Rory? Glory! Ben Cox 108/155 hits 100k!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:07:00 +0000

One quick post to announce that the Ben Cox golf marathon has reached the $100,000 mark in pledges today. What can I say...simply unbelievable. When I hatched this crazy idea to walk 108 holes in a day, my hopes were to literally raise $2,500 for the Cox family by e-mailing a group of my golf buddies. Three months later, here we are at FORTY times that amount and still going (still time to get in the golf raffle if you hurry.)

Of course, none of this would've been possible if it weren't for the support of hundreds of friends and fellow golf addicts who read about Ben, were inspired by his story and wanted to help him and his family. It was truly a grassroots effort that climbed to $100,000 by $50 or $100 at a time. Many donated money. Others donated raffle items. Others helped spread the word by e-mailing their friends or by harassing PGA Tour pros on Twitter...

...my buddy Tim Bert deserves a special shout-out for cyberstalking Rory McIlroy on Twitter the last couple of weeks, trying desperately to get a "RT" of one of the many links and stories that has come out about this event. I believe Tim has made it his life's mission to get a nod from the reigning U.S. Open champ by any means necessary. I joked that by time Rory actually does respond, Tim won't be able to get within 500 feet to personally thank him.

So if you're on Twitter, hit the tweet button at the end up this post and send @McIlroyRory a note asking for a RT on the #bencox155 raffle. Feel free to use this post's URL or any of the links below. Tell him @FiveClubWind sent you. Whomever gets Rory to finally respond gets a Ballyneal golf shirt (Tim will get one also).

MARATHON RECAP: http://www.wegoblogger31.com/2011/06/ben-cox-108-give-or-take-47.html

A SPECIAL FATHER'S DAY: http://www.wegoblogger31.com/2011/06/fathers-love.html

THE RAFFLE: http://www.wegoblogger31.com/2011/06/still-time-to-get-in-on-ben-cox-raffle.html

DENVER POST ARTICLE: http://www.denverpost.com/golf/ci_18256994

JASON SOBEL GOLF CHANNEL COLUMN (see #10): http://www.golfchannel.com/news/jason-sobel/w18-patience-and-perspective/

GOLF WORLD MONDAY: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbj7h5gn_r8/TgiNLA_QKUI/AAAAAAAABe8/duMBTW2N2VE/s1600/golf_world_monday.png

[p.s. special thanks for Brian Carruthers for telling Golf World that I'm a 7 handicap. Now that the story has made the most recent print version of the magazine, tens of thousands of people think that I'm a 7 capper. At first I was upset about this, but now I've come to realize that this unintentional sand-bagging should improve my chances of winning the Ballynizzle Cup back from Jefe this weekend. Either way, Brian is not going to hear the end of it.]

Follow Wegoblogger31 on twitter at: http://twitter.com/jcolton31

Marathon Man - Golf World Monday & Golf Channel's W18

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:02:00 +0000

If you're a Golf World subscriber, check out the most recent version of Golf World Monday, the publication's weekly digital version. #10 features a familiar face. If I had known my composite scorecard was going to be shared with the world, I might have tried a little harder on those four-footers. I also hit this drive on #12 way right into the native.

Special thanks to Brian Carruthers at Ballyneal for telling them that I'm a 7-handicapper. Cmon man!

Jason Sobel from the Golf Channel also took notice of the marathon and the raffle in his W18 column (see #10 under "Three Wishes"):

"10. I wish every golf fan would get behind this great cause.

It began innocently enough, the entire goal being one guy wanting to play as much golf as possible.

Jim Colton is a member at Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke, Colo. – and one who thinks nothing of playing 54 holes in a single day. Last year, a few caddies from the private club decided to play 100 “just to get under my skin,” he recalls with a laugh.

Not wanting to be outdone, Colton set out to break the course record once again, aiming to play 108 holes – six full rounds – in one day.

There was no other cause nor motive behind the round other than personal enjoyment – until Colton heard about Ben Cox’s story.

A former five-star caddie at Ballyneal who started working there when the club opened in 2006, the 22-year-old Texas Tech student was skiing with his father earlier this year when he attempted a steep jump and fell, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

The story hit the tightly knit Ballyneal community hard – and all of a sudden, Colton’s marathon day of golf had a charitable cause behind it. And so one man’s desire to play a lot of golf turned into “The Ben Cox 108,” used to raise money for Fox and his family.

“I thought I’d email some golf buddies,” Colton says. “I figured if we raised $2,500, that would be great for his family.”

He surpassed that goal by just a little bit.

After the original Monday date was postponed due to a hailstorm, Colton teed it up this past Wednesday, raising more than $75,000 to date for his new friend mostly through word of mouth within golf circles.

“I hadn’t actually met Ben prior to the accident, didn’t have any relationship with him,” Colton explains. “But we’ve struck up a friendship through this whole process. I’m a changed person having gotten to know him and his family.”

That includes a touching moment on Father’s Day, when – with the help of a specialized cart – Cox was able to play two holes at Ballyneal in front of friends both old and new.

“Just seeing those two guys together,” Colton reports, “... there really wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”

When he teed it up for “The 108,” Colton not only surpassed his monetary goals, but his golf goals, as well. Starting at 4:47 a.m. and using both a caddie and forecaddie, he completed his first 18 holes in one hour, 27 minutes and had played 108 by 3:30 p.m. Rather than stopping, he just kept going, playing a total of 155 holes that included a 75 and “a bunch of scores in the low-to-mid-80s,” he says.

Colton hopes the money raised will someday help Fox walk again. And he remains humbled by how one man playing a lot of golf can potentially better another man’s life.

“This has been literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me as far as my not-so-illustrious time as an amateur golfer,” he says. “To use my love for the game to make someone’s life better? That’s the ultimate achievement in my life.”

The money is still pouring in, too. Through his connections in the golf world, Colton has arranged for rounds at such places as Pebble Beach, Merion, Olympic Club, Harbour Town, Whistling Straits, Riviera and nearly five dozen other top courses to be raffled off at Ballyneal on July 9.

Those interested in purchasing tickets for the raffle or pledging donations can do so at Colton’s personal website: www.wegoblogger31.com"

Follow Wegoblogger31 on twitter at: http://twitter.com/jcolton31

Ben Cox Slideshow - The Fan 104.3 Radio Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:52:00 +0000

The Ben Cox 108 (Give or Take 47)

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:53:00 +0000

Here are some pics from Wednesday's golf marathon. It was a fun and memorable day. I didn't really know what to expect, but I knew we'd get to at least 108 and keep playing until we could no longer see the ball. The ultimate goal was to raise as much money for the Cox family as possible.

The pic above shows the first tee shot, at 4:47 A.M. Somebody asked me if there was going to be a Volume 2 of One Divot at a Time. I'm not sure, but this photo above would make the cover! It's like an updated version of my ubiquitous 2005 shot at Bandon Dunes.

Never before had the thought "Gee, I hope I break 100" had so much meaning. There was just enough light to tell where the ball was headed. Head pro Matt Payne, assistant Brian Carruthers and official Ballyneal mascot Garrett Gordon were "on the bag" at the beginning, with one guy carrying the bag and two others operating as forecaddies for the first nine holes.

If you were wondering why the event was moved to Wednesday, there was a huge hail storm that ripped through the course late Sunday night. Take a look at our rental car below and imagine what golf-ball sized hail could do to a golf course. Ballyneal superintendent Dave Hensley and his staff did a remarkable job getting the course in playable condition in a very short time period.

[Speaking of changing dates, I had an absolutely horrific experience with United Airlines on this trip. I don't want to detract from the flow of the event, but you can read about it at the end. Had to vent to someone.]

Wednesday was officially the first time I had seen Matt in shorts. He has surprisingly huge calf muscles rivaled only by a famous golf course architect that I know. I think below is one of the few 4-5 foot putts that I made all day. When trying to play fast, putting was the first thing to go. If it wasn't a birdie putt, I spent about 3 nanoseconds lining it up. I probably averaged 2.5 putts per hole. Those 82-84's were all rounds in the 70's under normal playing conditions, at least that's the story I'm going with.

I had originally planned on keeping meticulous stats on fairways, GIR's, putts, lost balls and number of times each club was used, but I had to scrap that plan after 11 holes after it was apparent we were playing way too fast to stop and write numbers on a scorecard. Speaking of clubs, I stuck with 10: driver, 3W, 4-6-8-irons and PW-GW-LW. This helped a lot because it was usually obvious which club to use in any situation. In fact, I might just stick to 10 clubs going forward.

Someone who also underestimated our pace was my buddy Adam, who lives about an hour away in Ogallala, NE. He sent me a text message at 6:05 AM saying he was going to come out around 6:45, when we would "just through Round 1" in his estimation. When he sent the message, we were already approaching the 17th green. When I updated him on our location, he replied, "Wow!" and revised his rendezvous point to the 27th hole instead.

Sure enough, right after I hit my tee shot on the 9th hole, I could see Adam lumbering down the fairway on his two new hips. He was there to greet me as I hit my approach shot, and asked for my 8-iron so he could help out for at least one hole. After five seconds, it was obvious that our pace was much too fast for Adam (or most humans) -- he motioned for me to take the club back from him and shooed me off along my merry way.

You couldn't have asked for a better day for golf. Wednesday morning was about 70 degrees, clear skies and virtually no wind. The wind picked up in the afternoon but was never more than 15 miles per hour. Coincidentally, June 22nd was Ballyneal's five-year anniversary. This is my favorite pic of the day:

Here's a pic of me duck hooking driver on the 12th hole of the first round. Given my poor play leading up to the event, I was really worried about my erratic driver and had planned to just stick with 3-Wood if the big stick ever misbehaved. Fortunately, I hit my driver relatively well and it never had to go into timeout. I probably used 3W less than any of the other clubs, probably a dozen times total (1st tee, 14th tee on and off, a couple failed attempts on 12 before I switched to driver, one failed attempt on #8 before I switched to 4-iron). One place the 3W did come in handy was the beginning of the 5th round, when Brian and I got up to the first green and realized that my putter and wedge were back at the pro shop with Matt. I putted with the 3W on the 1st green and almost made a 35-footer, before reuniting with Matt and my 2.6 putts/green Odyssey on the 2nd hole.

The pic below is from the 2nd hole of the 2nd round. We had a pretty good system going with Matt carrying the putter, lob wedge and whatever club was needed for the next tee shot, and Brian going out ahead with the bag and handling forecaddie duties and approach shot yardage and club selection. We played the first round in one hour, twenty-seven minutes. 1:27!

I had the pleasure of meeting and talking shop briefly with Bruce Hepner (aka Hep-B) the day before and he came out to say Hi when I was out on the 7th hole of Round 2. As a golf course architecture nerd, it took every ounce of energy for me not to be too reach out and hug the guy who was the lead associate for Doak at Ballyneal and is slated to build Ballyneal's second course (I've walked the proposed routing, and it's great) Bruce is a really cool guy.

Matt snapped and tweeted the pic below with the caption "opposites attract." This is one instance where the tortoise gets whooped by the hare. Take a suck of that, turtle!

My second shot on the 14th hole of round 3, about 4 1/2 hours after we started. This was the only time I birdied a par 4 all day and the closest I came to making an eagle. I was desperately hoping to make eagle on Wednesday. My plan was to direct message my 230+ Twitter followers and give them Jefe's cell phone number with specific instructions to say "EAGGGGGGLLLLLLEEEE!" as loud and long as humanly possible in one breath.

After two straight 84's, Round 3 was by far the best ball-striking and putting round of the day. In addition to the tap-in below, I birdied the 4th and 16th en route to a 4-over 75. Unfortunately, it was the only round in the 70's on the day.

We were playing so quickly, that we played through three different groups twice during their same round. The first was one a twosome on their 1st and 17th hole. Another was a foursome on their 1st and 9th hole. And the last was a foursome on their 3rd and 12th hole.

Hitting into the 63rd green of the day below at 10:29 AM. You'll notice the pinkish concotion in the water bottle. Unfortunately, the move from Monday and Wednesday meant that my good friend and fellow member Matt Schulte couldn't stick around and be there with me, but he did leave behind two coolers full of power bars, home brews, goo, gels, creams and clears. As I tweeted during the round: "Best golf bud and personal nuritionist Matt Schulte has me pumped with more chemicals than Ivan Drago." and announced later: "Matt 'Balco' Schulte's records have been subpoenaed and my orange hat no longer fits my head. Coincidence?" Like many before me, I just took it and didn't ask questions. I actually gained three pounds over the course of the trip, but lost a belt notch. No truth to the rumors that Schulte left Tuesday in order to flee the country.

After round 5, I took a 15-minute break to shower, eat and change clothes. Here I am teeing off on the 91st tee at 1:43 PM, with about seven hours of daylight left.

By this time, breaking the 100-hole record and getting to 108 was a foregone conclusion. The only question left was "by how many?" Of course, we all said that about Tiger Woods pre-Thanksgiving weekend. Here's an awfully confident bunch while only on the 91st tee.

Round six was by far the longest, taking us a whopping one hour and fifty-four minutes (embarrassingly slow). Some of the blame goes to my loose game (87), but like any good loop I'm going to place the blame squarely on my whipped caddies, who were running on fumes. During the first two rounds, we were all jovial, talkative and happy-go-lucky. By round six, we adopted the Shivas Irons (or Katie Holmes birth) practice of playing holes without a spoken word. Not because we wanted some oneness with the course, but simply because we didn't have enough energy to speak. Here I am in the bunker on hole #99.

This event has exploded since its humble beginnings. The entire 108-hole idea come out of a desire to reclaim the most holes in a day record at Ballyneal. As I mentioned many times before, caddie Nick Flaa and assistant Gary Nelson played 100 holes in a day last summer, just to get under my skin. Gary came out of the shop after I made the turn in round 6 just to enjoy his last few minutes as the record holder. Here I am on the 11th green, right after completing my 101st hole and reclaiming the throne. Sorry Gary.

Check out those black/red TRUE Tours. These aren't the most comfortable golf shoes I've ever worn. They are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. Period. I could sleep in my black/red's. They were my clean-up hitter for rounds 6 and beyond. I was going to try to break the 100-hole record last year, but there's no way I could've done it in the Ecco Freddy Couples that I owned last summer. The TRUEs are a revolution. I walked over 45 miles comfortably without any blister problems. What more proof does one need? You gotta get these shoes.

Here we are at our destination, the 108th green. Because of the guess-the-number-over-par pool, there was a lot of interest in my scores down the closing stretch. I finished double-bogey-double over the last three holes to come in at +70 for the first six rounds. Not great, but I thought I played pretty well all things considered. I cost somebody a foursome at Ballyneal due to a missed 2-footer on 16 and a lost ball penalty on 18.

This photo was taken at 3:35 PM. With over five hours of daylight left, did you think I was going to stop and play bocce ball?

Over the weeks leading up to the event, Matt told me he wanted to caddie for the whole 108. I told him he was crazy and tried to talk him out of it, but he was determined to make it (sounds familiar). Not bad for a guy in his 40's! A member even pledged an extra $250 if Matt could make it the full 108. Here is the chit sheet I filled out for his caddying efforts.

In between the 6th and 7th rounds, I had my second brush with golf-architecture celebrity. Golf Digest's architecture guru Ron Whitten was in the hizzie! I would've loved to have picked his brain for a couple hours, but there was more golf to be played.

[Besides, Ron was there to take a tour of Hep B's new routing. Based on his tweets this afternoon, does this sound any good? If only I knew a member...

"Spent much of Wednesday walking thru sandhills as Bruce Hepner showed & explained each hole of his routing of new 18 at Ballyneal in CO ..."

"Hepner calls the land "elegant." Much softer than existing Ballyneal 18, except for a few rugged holes. Great contrasts, wonderful routing.."

"Hepner's be the most natural course since Sand Hills in NE. Every green site is already there, only 4 holes may need a little massaging."]

Brian lasted one more round, but was really hurting in Round 7. I believe extreme chafing was an issue, but I operated on a don't ask, don't tell policy like the military. Brian resorted to a slow-motion jig/jog in order to make it through the round. I should've captured his gait on video.

After Round 7, we had one last wardrobe change and one last line-up switch. Pro shop assistant Casey kept his role as bagman from the previous round and fellow member John took the walk-along job. Here we are on the 145th tee at 7:58 PM, with less than an hour of daylight left. The plan was to try to get 9 more holes in.

John read the greens, although he couldn't quite adapt his scratch reads to my mid-single-digit-capper game. We had numerous lip-outs in the last couple of rounds, mostly attributable to user error. John made a conscious effort to be Chatty Patty during the homestretch, and we had an enjoyable time talking about NBA hoops and golf. It was extra special because John was the man responsible for introducing me to Ballyneal back in 2008.

2nd fairway, 146th hole with Casey on the Bag

I call the last hour out at Ballyneal "The Golden Hour" because the place just glows as the sun is going down. Check out the 3rd green.

Here's John watching me mis-execute another one of his reads, but I still made par.

We were on the 4th hole when sunset officially hit around 8:19 PM. We would have to scurry around quickly just to complete the front nine. I ran up to my approach shot on #7, although it probably wasn't much faster than my brisk walk from 15 hours earlier.

Thankfully, the night was clear and I was hitting only 4-irons (my new best friend...215 and straight) off the 8th and 9th tees anyways, which made the ball that much easier to locate. We had no issues seeing the ball on the 152nd and 153rd holes, so...

...we decided to keep going. I just used a 4-iron again on the tee on #10, playing it as a three-shotter. Tap-in bogey there, pitching wedge up into the dark, but clear sky to just right of the elevated 11th green. Made a nice 2 1/2 footer there for par and that was that. I turned around and looked at John and Casey and with my best Forest Gump voice (which used to be fantastic, by the way): "I'm pretty tired...I think I'll go home now." Actually, I didn't say that, but sitting at my computer two days later, I painfully regret not thinking of it earlier. "Okay, that's enough," is all I could muster after putting out on the 155th hole. 155! Take a suck of that, Gary and Nick!

Because of the per hole pledges and a number of bonus kickers that folks had pledged for holes beyond 108 (namely my buddy Rich Choi, who is firmly in the doghouse with his wife right now), those extra 47 holes added over $10,000 to the cause. Following a bit on Twitter and later on Golfclubatlas, it was entertaining to read just how many holes folks thought I could get in after it was quickly apparent that 108 was not going to be an issue. Some extrapolated my first three-round pace and came up with 162-167. Others wondered if I'd stop after 7 or 8 rounds.

One guy who really doubted me was a GCA guy named Joe Perches. I hate to call him out here, because I've hosted him at Ballyneal and he's a decent guy. But I can't ignore the fact that he played a huge role in motivating me throughout. In fact, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he knew he was being motivational when he did it. So thanks, Joe!

This whole ball got rolling when I sent out a blast e-mail announcing my plans to do this golf marathon for Ben. I sent it out to my closest golfing friends and guys I had hosted out at Ballyneal, with the thinly-veiled threat that if they didn't pitch in 100 bucks, they'd never see the Chop Hills again (just kidding...maybe). Honestly, my initial thoughts were that if 25 of those guys pitched in $100, that $2,500 would help out the Cox family. Now we are quickly approaching THIRTY TIMES THAT initial estimate. Eventually, this event became just like the bank that I work for: Too Big to Fail. Falling short of 108 holes was never an option. Only a heart attack, lightning strike or rattlesnake bite could've stopped me (or at least slowed me down).

But early on, Doubting Joe was not quite as confident. He and I had the following exchange:

Joe: Good on you. Buck a hole. I don't think you'll get to 108, even using those fancy True shoes.

Jim: You obviously don't know me well enough. I will get to 108. Actually, I think 120 might be doable.

Joe: Again, good on you. You've got 15:30 to 16 hours of daylight or so to get in 6 rounds. BN is a 5+ mile loop right? Are you a runner? Done many marathons? Cyclist? Done many 150+ mile days?

I'm a cyclist, but 150 miles is pretty tiring and that's only 10ish hours.

Jim: Not a marathon runner, just a golfer.

Joe also had by far the highest guess in the over-par pool, with a guess of +178 over par, or an average score of 100.7 per round. Six days before the event, he changed his tune a little, saying the most I could possibly play was "~125", slowed down because I'm supposedly "working on a bit of a paunch..." Again...beautiful motivation, Joe.

Of course, the sweet taste of vindication pales in comparison to the motivation to want to help out Ben Cox. Getting to know Ben over these last few months and seeing him on the golf course on Sunday has been a deeply moving experience for me. Like I said in the Father's Day piece, everything that I've done to help this family has come back tenfold. And I know others have been touched in a similar way. Ben has taught me to be bold. Bold in life. Bold in faith. To step out of my cozy, safe suburban comfort zone (what my wife calls the "Christian bubble") and try to use something I'm extremely passionate about to help out a brother in need. To turn something so ridiculously irrational and extravagant as a private golf club membership 850 miles from my home into something positive. To never take things for granted. How do you quantify changing a man from the inside out? That's what Ben and his family has helped do for me. For that, I am eternally grateful.

One interesting dichotomy that I thought about leading up to this event and really hit home on Sunday was the fact that I was walking 45+ miles to raise money for a kid who may never walk again. How could I possibly complain about the pain in my knees or my legs? How could I complain about a duck-hooked drive into the yucca? I got to do the one thing I love to do more than anything for 16 hours straight on a Wednesday! My prayer is that Ben is someday able to feel the pain that I'm feeling right now. Maybe this event and this raffle will help make that prayer a reality. I selfishly pray that I'm right there next to him when it does.

Modified composite scorecard

How to give:

Send a check payable to: Prairie Home Baptist Church (memo: Ballyneal fundraiser)

Prairie Home Baptist Church

P.O. Box 271

Haxtun, CO 80731

Please give me a heads up e-mail at so I can keep tabs for the raffle. You will receive a raffle ticket for every $50 donated. Donations need to be received by Friday July 8th in order to be eligible for the raffle. The raffle will take place and winners notified on Saturday July 9th. See updated list of prizes along right sidebar.

By the numbers:

155 - Holes played

$80,000 - Money raised so far for the Ben Cox and the Cox family

16 hours, 8 minutes - total time spent on the golf course

45 - approximate number of miles walked (5.25 miles/round)

1:27 - quickest round (Rd 1) - 3.62 miles per hour pace

1:54 - slowest round (Rd 6) - 2.76 miles per hour pace

725 - Number of total strokes

+113 - Number of total strokes over par

41.44 - Scoring Average, front nine (+5.44 over par)

42.18 - Scoring Average, back nine (+7.18 over par)

83.62 - Scoring Average, overall (+12.62 over par)

4.75 - Lowest Scoring Average vs. Par, 16th Hole

5.38 - Highest Scoring Average vs. Par, 17th Hole

68 - Best ball score

108 - Worst ball score

12 - Number of Birdies

49 - Number of Pars

67 - Number of Bogeys

23 - Number of Double Bogeys

3 - Number of Triple Bogeys
1 - Number of Quintuple Bogeys
175 - Number of Three-Putts (approximate)

My Experience with United:

Here is my experience with United when I had to change flights due to the hail storm. I went through the process of changing flights for my wife and I from Tuesday evening to Thursday afternoon. I went through all of the steps of the online process, had everything set-up as desired, entered my credit card information for the change fee (total outlay $280), clicked submit and...got an error message saying I had to call United to complete the transaction. So I called and spoke to an outsourced customer service rep, went through all the necessary steps, gave all the same information, then he put me on hold...for 30 minutes. Then I got dropped from the call completely!

I called back, got a different outsourced customer service rep, calmly explained what happened and she promised she would not put me on hold and would get everything right. We went through all of the steps again (their computers were slow and the systems were quoting prices in rupees instead of dollars, but after 90 minutes or so between the two calls, I finally got it sorted out.

Or so I thought...I was walking up the 8th fairway on Tuesday enjoying a round in 35 mile per hour winds with my wife Sue and Mr. Balco. Then I got a text message from United saying that the 11:37 AM that day was scheduled to depart on time. They put us on the Tuesday flight instead of Thursday! So I had to postpone my hotly-contested match with Lance Armstrong, walk-off the course at the turn and call United back. Things looked up when I got a domestic rep and explained the comedy of errors on their part. He came back after 10-minutes of being on hold, saying they would waive the change fee for switching the flight to Thursday (like he was doing me a favor for fixing something that they screwed up), but that they would have to charge me $100/person because the fare for that flight had increased from the previous day. Can you believe that? They screw up and expect me to pay for it. After I tried to explain to them the flaw in that logic, I got the fool-proof, well-rehearsed retort: "I understand your frustration, but there's nothing more that I can do". The guy tried to claim that it must've been the Tuesday flight that was quoted at $280, even though I had two other failed attempts to book Thursday at that price. I ended up taking a later flight which was only $17/person more in fare, but turned out to be far less convenient as it landed smack dab in the middle of Chicago rush hour. Plus I lost my match with Schulte 2&1 and had to make The Climb, although I'm putting this match under protest.

So what does one do in this situation? I'd stop using United altogether if I wasn't already a Premier member. If American proactively offered me Elite status right now, I'd jump ship and never look back. Maybe somebody from United will read this and donate that $200 in incremental revenue that they tried to squeeze out of me to the Ben Cox cause. If they do, I'll take down this rant. Between the 5-hour computer freeze out, the 90-minute delay on our flight going out to Denver because our plane had way too much fuel (not a big deal, but five minutes after everybody boarded, they made everybody get off the plane), and this customer service debacle, it was not exactly the best week in United history.]

Follow Wegoblogger31 on twitter at: http://twitter.com/jcolton31

Still Time to Get in on Ben Cox Raffle

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:29:00 +0000

Even now that the Ben Cox 108+ hole marathon is over, you can still donate now and get into the July 9th raffle. You just need to get your money in by the July 8th deadline in order to be eligible to win one of the 82 incredible golf prizes.

If you've been following the raffle closely, you know that it jumpstarted with a series of big-name courses such as Merion, The Olympic Club and Riviera. In the past week, even more of most well-known and desirable courses have been added to the pool, such as Pebble Beach, Whistling Straits and Harbour Town, and the list has exploded from there. Check out the by-the-number breakdowns below. If you're a serious golfer, you simply have to a) throw in $50 or $100 for a chance to win and b) e-mail all of your golfing friends to tell them about it.

The raffle will take place at Ballyneal the evening of July 9th. It will work similar to the NBA draft lottery, with the order of the picks being drawn. I will notify the winners on July 9th of which pick they received, then will work with the winners over the following week or so to determine which of the remaining items they'd like to select when it's their turn to pick.

- 9 Future Major Sites, including 6 of the 8 future U.S. Open sites

- 2 Future Walker Cup Sites

- 2 Future Ryder Cup Sites

- 3 Future U.S. Amateur Sites

- 28 of Golf Digest's List of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses

- 26 of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses in the World (2009)

- 28 on Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses in the U.S. (2009)

- 24 on Golfweek's Best Modern Courses (2011)

- 25 on Golfweek's Best Classic Courses (2011)

The list has gotten too big to list out all the prizes. Here's just a sample.

- Twosome of golf at Pebble Beach (site of the 2019 U.S. Open), Spyglass Hill and two nights at the Inn at Spanish Bay

- Foursome of golf at Ballyneal

- Twosome of golf at Winged Foot, choice of West or East course
- Foursome of golf at any one of the 4 courses at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort
- Twosome of golf at Whistling Straits (site of the 2015 PGA Championship and 2020 Ryder Cup) and one night at the American Club
- Ireland golf package including twosomes of golf at Ballybunion (Old) and Tralee

- Threesome of golf at Pinehurst No. 2, site of the 2014 U.S. Open

- Foursome of golf at Chambers Bay, site of the 2015 U.S. Open

- Twosome of golf at Erin Hills, site of the 2017 U.S. Open

- Foursome of golf at Royal Dornoch

- Two-day stay and play package for four golfers at The Prairie Club

- Foursome of golf at Forest Dunes in Roscommon, MI

- Golf and accommodations for three nights for four golfers at Hacienda Pinilla in Gunacaste, Costa Rica

- A Hilton Head golf package including threesomes of golf with a member-host at Harbour Town, Seccession and two nights stay at the Harbour Town Yacht Club

- Twosome of golf at Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs in New Zealand

- Two nights accommodation at the Fairmont St Andrews and one twosome of golf at The Torrance or The Kittocks. Includes potential round on The Old Course with George Peper, editor in chief of Links Magazine and author of "True Links" and "Two Years in St. Andrews"

- French Lick Resort golf package including two nights accommodation at the West Baden Springs Hotel and golf for two at the Pete Dye Course

- One twosome of golf at Cabot Links in Inverness, Nova Scotia

- Two pairs of TRUE Linkswear golf shoes

- One custom, hand-crafted MacKenzie Walker golf bag

For a full, detailed list, feel free to e-mail me at jcolton31@gmail.com

A Father's Love

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:32:00 +0000

I don't even know where to start. It's 5:09 AM on Monday June 20th and I'm supposed to be somewhere around the 7th or 8th hole of my 108+ hole journey right now. Instead I'm laying in bed wide awake trying to process everything that's happened over the last 24 hours. A short recap:

- I teed it up with my beautiful wife Sue for our first time together at Ballyneal
- 10 days after playing one of my worst rounds ever, I did a complete 180 and played well enough to go toe-to-toe straight up against the reigning club champion.
- I spent the afternoon with Ben Cox and his wonderful family. I got to play with Ben for his first two holes after his skiing accident, then the rest of the front nine with his father, Ken.
- I got to spent quality time with friends and other guests huddled up in the basement of the Ballyneal restaurant praying that a tornado didn't rip the roof off.
- I got to deal with the disappointment of hearing the words "there's no way you can do your marathon tomorrow" due to the huge hail storm that tore through the course.

Any of one of these topics could probably be a chapter in Volume 2 of One Divot at a Time (hypothetically speaking), but the one that plays out over and over in my mind is obviously the two holes with Ben and his Dad. In an ironic twist of fate, what on the surface would be a nightmare scenario for me and most golfers - getting paired up with a father and son on a Sunday afternoon on a 45 minute per hole pace, turned out to be the highlight of my golfing life.

After getting to know Ben over the last couple months, I knew he would do great. Ben is nothing if not determined, and with his engineering brain always working, I knew he'd figure out how to make the golf swing on the adaptive cart work. I knew with his patience and positive attitude, he wouldn't get frustrated over the misses and the do-overs. And I knew he would continue to be an inspiration to everyone he met the same way he's been an inspiration to me.

What really stuck out with me and what I want to focus on is Ken and the special father-son relationship between Ken and Ben. As a father of three, it was an extremely humbling experience. On Father's Day especially.

I hadn't had the chance to meet Ken prior to yesterday. We had spoken on the phone and traded a few text messages, but had yet to meet in person. Of course, the reason I hadn't met him was because he's been working full time at his day job then spending most of the night trying to renovate their house to prepare for Ben's return. That was Exhibit A.

Exhibit B was the Denver Post article from last week. Talking to numerous friends and colleagues about Benjamin Hochman's piece, many pointed out one of two things: a) the family's tremendous faith in God that He is working this accident into something bigger and better and b) the pain that the father must be going through being on the slopes with Ben as he made that life-altering jump.

That was really all I knew about Ken prior to yesterday at 1:30 PM. By 4:30 PM, he was enshrined into my personal Dad Hall of Fame.

Seeing Ben and his dad together on the golf course was a deeply moving experience. It was quickly apparent that they were truly best friends and best golf buddies. They showed up at Ballyneal with matching light-blue collared shirts and plaid, baggy Phat Farm shorts (Ken probably setting a world record for oldest man to wear the hip-hop label). On the first tee, they ribbed each other just like it was any one of hundred of rounds shared together out at F&H Golf Course in Haxtun.

When Ben's first drive found the edge of the native, Ken was reluctant to give his competitor relief (I stepped in and foot-wedged it.) When Ben's third shot on the 2nd caught the hole's patented turbo slot and ended up a yard past Ken's drive, they approached the balls not knowing whose was whose. After Ben found out he had "outdriven" his Dad, he muttered "I got ya" just like countless other golfers had said in that exact same situation before. It was just like any other round of golf between friends - rooting for the other guy but also secretly wanting to beat his brains in. Ben was Ken's Jefe. The only difference was the set-up time between shots.

It was the 3-4 minutes between shots where Ken really shined. It was truly the perfect example of a Father's love for his son. I kept thinking about the famous bible verse from 1 Corinthians (13:4): "Love is patient, Love is kind...". You usually hear that at weddings but it was even more appropriate here. When Ben couldn't quite negotiate both the steering and the accelerator lever, Ken stepped in and controlled the gas while walking alongside. For every shot, Ken helped Ben negotiate his solo rider cart into the proper position, perpendicular to target, then lifted Ben's legs as they flipped the seat around so Ben was hanging off the back of the cart. Next, Ken would place the club in Ben's makeshift golf glove, then tie down a series of Velcro and elastic straps so the club would stay in Ben's right hand. Finally, Ken would tee up the ball for his son in the spot most likely to intersect with the swing path.

On one hand, you'd think that this kind of a Father's love would be expected. I'm blessed to have an all-world Dad (thanks Big Dog!), and I know he'd do the same for me in this situation. I'd like to think I'd do the same for one of my kids if needed. But then you realize that this isn't always the case. One of the onlookers commented, "I need to text my Dad right now and tell him this is just like him and me, only the exact opposite."

Ben's initial batting average on making contact was probably below the Mendoza line, but Ken patiently worked with his son to try to get it right. They tried different Velcro combinations, different clubs, different leg positions, different left-hand positions (with virtually no balance, Ben has to use his left hand for stability). It was very much like a father teaching his 8-year old son the game for the very first time - trying not to overcomplicate things while still trying to find some simple combination of positioning and swing thoughts that could produce somewhat consistent results.

Many, many Dads could learn a lot by watching Ken reteach his son the game. I couldn't help but think about the last time I took my 9-year old son out for nine holes one night after dinner. On one occasion, I got frustrated with him after he 10-putted a green, constantly criss-crossing the hole and failing to heed my suggestions. At that moment, I was the anti-Ken.

Sitting in my bed at what is now 7:05 AM, I hope that I'm a changed man. A changed Dad. I pray at least a fraction of Ken's love and patience rubbed off on me by osmosis. All along, folks have been praising me for my role in setting up this Father's Day moment for Ben and his Dad. But what I'm finding to be consistently true of the Cox family in general, they continue to find ways to turn the gift around tenfold.

UPDATE: Brenda Brandt from the Holyoke Enterprise was kind enough to send the following pics from the special Father's Day event. See the Holyoke Enterprise article here.

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Jim Colton chats about his walk for Ben Cox at Ballyneal

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:26:00 +0000

Check out my radio interview from this morning on The Golf Show on The Fan 104.3 in Denver

Jim Colton chats about his walk for Ben Cox at Ballyneal

Going to the Driving Range with a 3-Year Old

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:34:00 +0000

Here's some video from a driving range session with Luke, my 3-year old son. He's really taken heed to the simple swing thoughts I've tried to instill in him.

After a great afternoon with him and my eldest son Jordan, I've decided that the Sunday late-afternoon driving-range session is going to be a constant on the family calendar this summer.

From Sunday's Denver Post: Ballyneal golf club brings two together after accident

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 14:06:00 +0000

To say The Ben Cox 108 has exceeded everybody's expectation would be a huge understatement. Literally when I came up with the idea, I figured that I'd email 30-40 of my closest buddies and probably 25 of them would donate $100 each. Now we're over $37,000 and counting and the event has made it to the Denver Post. What an amazing thing. Please check out the story to find out more about Ben and his family. It will be readily apparent why I'm motivated to make this event everything that it can be.

Ballyneal golf club brings two together after accident

PDF version: http://www.hundredholehike.com/bencox108_post.pdf

Epic Fail: My Shinnecock Hills Debacle

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 22:19:00 +0000

Phil Mickelson versus Jim Colton. Feel free to play along as we compare and contrast two of golf's most beloved lefties.

- They both hit from the right side of the ball. SAME.

- One is naturally left-handed; the other is just really, really good at faking it. DIFFERENT.

- Both have highly unoriginal nicknames (Coltrain and Lefty). SAME.

- Both are dedicated family men with beautiful wives and floppy-haired kids who run across the 18th green to give daddy hugs after a big tournament win. SAME, except for the floppy-hair part. And the last time I won anything golf-related was in 1997, two years before I got married and five years before my eldest son was born. But hypothetically they'd do it, so...SAME.

- Both are listed between 6'2"-6'3" and 185-190 pounds. SAME. One guy's measurements are current; the other guy's were last taken when he won the 1991 Tucson Open as an amateur. DIFFERENT.

- One guy displays utter shock and dismay when a putt burns the edge; the other is genuinely shocked whenever one goes in. Shock: SAME. Situation: DIFFERENT.

- One guy has Premier status on United; the other has Owner status on a G5. DIFFERENT.

And one more after this week:

- Both guys choked away a prime opportunity at Shinnecock Hills in June. SAME. One guy did it in the 2004 U.S. Open in front of 40,000 fans and millions of viewers. The other did it in front of three playing partners, two caddies and 145 Facebook friends. DIFFERENT, but equally crushing.

Day three of my epic Long Island golf trip was what the cool kids call an epic fail. After playing the sporty National Golf Links of America the previous day, Shinnecock Hills was going to be the test. A test that I failed miserably. I picked the absolutely wrong time to play what was my worst round of golf in five years, although sadly there's been a lot more competition for that dishonor recently.

Riding back on the plane from LaGuardia as I type this, the in-flight entertainment is showing the series Friday Night Lights. I can't help but think of the original FNL movie, starring that Dawson VanDerCreek guy with the Jimbo-sized head. All I remember about that movie is something about a whipped-cream bikini (my high-school experience as captain of the golf team versus Dawson's experience as QB1 in West Texas: DIFFERENT) and the infamous teaser-trailer tag line: "I DON'T WANT YOUR LIFE!!!" But that doesn't quite fit here. I mean, playing bad golf at Shinnecock Hills is still playing Shinnecock Hills, right? I doubt anybody is really feeling sorry for me. And I'm certainly not feeling sorry for myself. Shinnecock Hills was awesome.

Instead, I think a more fitting late 90's bad-movie quote would be from the movie "Cop Land" starring Sylvester Stallone as a partly-deaf police officer of a town that was (SPOILER ALERT!) inhabited by a bunch of corrupt New York City cops. I don't remember much about the movie, other than it had an equally memorable tagline from Robert DeNiro. Or maybe I only remember it because my younger brother Jason and I got a good 5+ years of mileage out of it with some really amateurish New Jersey accents.

"I OFFERED YOU A CHANCE, AND YOU BLEW IT!!!"

That basically sums it up for me. Shinnecock Hills was a once in a lifetime experience, and I spent most of the day in the heather contracting Lyme Disease three times over. I was so jacked to play this course and terrifyingly nervous of those famous dual-shaded slivers of fairway that my heart was pounding out of my chest ON THE DRIVING RANGE. I can't think of a worse time or place to lose one's golf swing.

Here I am 10 days away from trying to play 6+ rounds in one day (in order to play fast, I absolutely have to play well) and less than a month from trying to win back the Ballynizzle Cup from Jefe (who has beaten me by an average of 11 strokes in our two rounds together this year). What do I do now? Do I get lessons or will things get worse? Do I continue to beat balls and hope I find something? Or do I just chill out and hope it comes back to me by osmosis? I'm completely lost here.

The most unfortunate thing about my Shinnecock Hills disaster is that I wasn't able to fully appreciate the course and the architecture. But from what I could tell while red fescue grass was riding up my shorts, Shinny is a tremendous golf course. The routing is genius, with a series of triangles that force the golfer to constantly play in different wind directions. Its back nine is probably the best that I've ever played. And it has three of the most devilish par 3 greens you'll find anywhere. I'd love everything about the place and my day there other than the number of X's on my scorecard.

Check out the photos and comments below:

First of all, in the list of the world's great clubhouses, there is Shinnecock Hills and then there's everything else. The amazing thing is a fairly busy road bisects both Shinnecock and National. Any ol' Joe can drive right through two of the best golf courses in the world. Try that at Augusta! During our stay at the nearby Atlantic ~~Motel~~ Hotel, any time we had to hop in the car to grab a bite to eat, run an errand, etc., we found ourselves repeatedly going out of the way to take the scenic route.

No. 2 - Plateau

No. 7 - Redan

After playing Shinnecock, I am 0-for-12 on Redan's lifetime. I blew it into the deep right-hand bunker and made bogey. At least the follow-through looks good though! Shinny's Redan is tough. After putting on that green, it's not hard to see how the USGA lost control of it in the Open. I kept looking for the maintenance guys to syringe the greens in between groups.

No. 9 - Ben Nevis

My friend Dave, a.k.a. the guy who I will forever be indebted to for making this happen, was about two seconds from hitting his approach shot from the 9th fairway to the 18th green before my caddie Artie (who has been looping there since 1959) intervened. This was one of the few pars I made on the day.

No. 10 - Eastward Ho

Eastward Ho is the one of my favorite holes on the course and also the hole most likely to be the name of Snoop Dogg's next album (subtitled Drive fo' sho, Putt fo' dough). It's somewhat fitting that I birdied this one...

No. 10 looking back

...you can see just how far the fairway drops down into the valley before going back up to the green. I hit my tee shot into the left rough and was up on the high side, then stuck an 8-iron to about 6 feet for a rare GIR and birdie opportunity.

No. 11 - Hill Head

Another excellent par 3 with a very severe green. I won this hole in my match with buddy Matt. I went from staring a Stephen Ames in the face to suddenly being only four down with momentum and a fighting chance to make it a match.

No. 12 - Tuckahoe

Then I blew my drive into the left hay and the comeback was over before it started. Schulte 6&5. He's tough to beat when he's playing with his own clubs.

No. 13 Road Side

No. 15 - Sebonac (can we have a summit to unilaterally decide whether Sebonac should have a 'k' on the end or not?)

No. 16 - Shinnecock

One of the great short par 5's in the world. The 16th has a really well protected green and the clubhouse provides a beautiful backdrop (to most of the course, as well)

No. 17 - Eden

Site of the Phil's 3-jack double bogey and the final nail in the coffin in the U.S. Open. Site of a pushed tee shot left and one last B.I.P. for me.

No. 18 -Home

Shinnecock has its own version of The Climb up from the 18th green. I'm glad that we had caddies, otherwise Matt may have made carry our clubs all the way in from the 13th green.

Despite failing the U.S. Open test, it was nothing but smiles after the round. Phil may have his permanent 'I just stole something and nobody knows about it!' grin. I'll stick with my ear-to-ear 'I just played Shinnecock!' jubilation. DIFFERENT. And I'm okay with that.

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The National

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:08:00 +0000

[Cue Autotune:] Never thought I'd see the day...I'd be teeing it up at NGLA!

But that's exactly what I did this week. I just got back from what was easily the best three-day golf trip of my life, and arguably the best three-day golf trip you could possibly muster. The highlight was a day at CB MacDonald's National Golf Links of America, a.k.a. The National (now that I've played it, I can officially call it that); a.k.a. the number one golf course on my rapidly shrinking bucket list (should I be upping my life insurance?)

The National may be under the radar for many golfers, especially compared to its next door neighbor Shinnecock Hills. Heck, I admit to not knowing that much about it as recently as two years ago. In my 2009 write-up of Sand Hills, I wrote: "I want to play four golf courses before I die: Pine Valley. Cypress Point. Augusta National. Sand Hills. That's the bucket list. Sure, you could throw Shinnecock Hills, Merion, NGLA, Oakmont and Royal County Down on there, but that's just being greedy. The four are the big four. The rest are a half-notch below." But I think it's safe to say my tastes have evolved. Partly it's due to being blessed to see these world-class courses. Partly it's due to getting more and more rounds out at Ballyneal under my belt. And part of it is due to building out my golf-course architecture library and studying the art in more detail. Last summer, I bought George Bahto's book, "The Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald", which is probably my favorite book in my library (coincidentally, it's now out-of-print and going for $725 on Amazon. I will be auctioning off my copy on eBay and donating the proceeds to the Ben Cox marathon...see right sidebar for more details.)

Bahto's book goes into the life and work of C.B. Mac in great detail (did you know he was the first U.S. Amateur and was instrumental in the creation of the USGA? Did you know that part of the reason the USGA was formed was because C.B. successfully downplayed the validity of two previous national championships, primarily because he didn't win them?) Most of the book focuses on the history and hole-by-hole walkthrough of the National. MacDonald studied the great golf holes of the world and wanted to create an ideal golf courses that comprised these great holes as templates. He search for a suitable site for this dream course and found it in Southampton, just west of Shinnecock. The rest is history.

The ironic thing about the National is that for a course that it made up primarily by copycats of other famous golf holes, it's unlike any other golf course in the world (well, until Old MacDonald opened last summer). It reminded me of The Old Course in that it gives you the freedom and challenge of deciding among one of many different options to get to the hole. The simpleton in me describes NGLA as "The Old Course with topography". Like the Old Course, MacDonald gives you Point A and Point B and leaves it up to you to determine how to go about getting there in as few strokes as possible. I find this freedom, variety and strategic interest to be the most compelling aspects of golf-course design.

Check out the photo tour and comments below, although the photos and my words barely do the place justice. The National is truly a special, special place. CB Mac truly did build the ideal golf course.

No. 3 - Alps

It's hard to adequately describe just how high the hill is on the Alps hole. As a low-ball hitter, this hole absolutely terrified me...

No. 4 - Redan

...but not nearly as much as the Redan. As a duck-hooking lefty, I am hopelessly lost on trying to play Redans in general (but money on Reverse Redans like the 11th at LA North). In my match play match with good friend Matt, I asked "should I just concede now and get it over with?" Five strokes later, I was right.

No. 6 - Short

The 6th green is WILD! I chickened out left and had a terrifying lag putt over a ridge with about 10 feet of break.

No. 7 - Road (Road Hole Bunker w/ me whinnying a short par putt)

I really liked the Road Hole, although the Road Hole bunker is not nearly as menacing to a front pin location. The "Road" aspect of the hole is really well done, with a deep, wide bunker greeting those who miss the green right.

No. 8 - Bottle (or as I like to call it, Bahto)

No. 8 - Bahto's Principals Nose

No. 11- Double Plateau

I have to admit, I am a sucker for a Double Plateau green. So cool and so effective. Plus you could build this type of green pretty much anywhere. Makes you wonder why there aren't more of them.

No. 14 - Cape

Although the original hole was named Cape for a different reason, a Cape Hole is now synonymous with a diagonal bite-off-as-much-as-you-can-chew type tee shot. The drive on National's Cape wasn't as nearly biting or chewy as I expected, but the green setting out on the bay is very cool.

The Cape Green

No. 15 - Narrows

On a course with a ton of width, it's funny how Narrows is one of the few fairways I actually hit (I actually did play pretty well overall. Or at least good enough to beat Matt 2&1! Let's ignore the fact the Matty was playing with borrowed clubs since Jet Blue had lost his sticks three days prior.)

[By the way, have I mentioned how comfortable the TRUE Tours are?]

No. 15 - Narrows Approach

No. 17 - Peconic (Look at me!)

No. 18 - Home

This picture gives you the sense of the huge scale out at NGLA. Matt is across the fairway and looks like a spec next to wide turf, the water and sky and the renowned National flag (which was at half-mast honoring a 28-year old caddie who died recently in a tragic accident.) Matt birdied this hole.

Euphoria don't lie (No. 16 - Punchbowl)

National Clubhouse

The answer is Yes, we did the lobster/sportcoat lunch thing. My wife and mother won't believe me, but yes, I did have lobster for lunch. But after a four-hour shopping mall experience that led me to the verge of tears, I couldn't pull the trigger on buying a blue sportcoat. I love wearing suits, but I am just not a sportcoat guy. (Being the closest thing to a Metrosexual that I know, I called Matt looking for fashion advice. He was absolutely no help whatsoever: "What are you doing at the mall? I haven't been to a brick-and-mortar retail establishment in years!") So I faked it and just wore a blue suit jacket. But I still felt and looked like an idiot wearing a jacket over a golf shirt (even more than usual, at least.)

The windmill

Aww yeah!

Golf nerd alert!

So is that one freakishly bony finger signaling the fact that numero uno has been crossed off el bucket list or the possibly of a new number one on my course list? (scroll down to find out)

BOTH!

1. National Golf Links of America
2. Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club
3. Cypress Point
4. The Old Course at St. Andrews
5. Pacific Dunes

Click here for Part Two (Shinnecock Hills)

Follow Wegoblogger31 on twitter at: http://twitter.com/jcolton31

Updated: Chance to play Merion East, Riviera, Olympic Club, Erin Hills, East Lake Golf Club and More!

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:10:00 +0000

Go here for updated list of raffle items (or see right sidebar):

http://www.wegoblogger31.com/2011/06/still-time-to-get-in-on-ben-cox-raffle.html

Ballyneal Member (ME) Invites Others (YOU) to Join 108-Hole Fundraiser

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Colton) — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:02:00 +0000

Below is a copy of a press release that our friends at Ballyneal sent out about The Ben Cox 108:

HOLYOKE, CO -- On June 20th, Ballyneal Golf Club member Jim Colton will set out on a mission to walk 108 holes of golf in one day to raise money for the healthcare of Ben Cox, a Ballyneal caddie who was paralyzed from the chest down following a downhill skiing accident in March.

In addition to collecting lump-sum and per-hole pledges, Colton is offering the opportunity for others to take an active role in the event. Colton has pledged to pay the Ballyneal guest fees for up to 16 non-members who raise at least $500 for the cause and commit to the "half-marathon" of 54 holes or more on the 20th.

Cox, a 2006 graduate of Haxtun High School, grew up about 25 miles from Ballyneal in northeast Colorado. He attended Wayland Baptist University in Texas before transferring to Texas Tech, where he was studying civil engineering at the time of the accident. Cox hopes to return to school in January 2012 to complete the last two semesters needed for his degree. He is expected to be discharged from Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., on June 14th and hopes to be at Ballyneal six days later to greet Colton and the other golfers as they finish their rounds.

Ben's mother, Melinda Cox, doesn't know the total amount of the medical bills resulting from Ben's care, but related that just one surgical bill was $330,000. Cox is expected to have additional medical needs moving forward.

"I get real emotional talking about the support shown by Jim Colton, Haxtun residents, Wayland Baptist, Ballyneal and others," said Melinda Cox, a teacher's aide in Haxtun who has remained with her son in Denver since the accident. "I thank God each day. It's amazing how people have rallied around us."

"I've definitely had more good days than bad," Ben said. "You've got to keep a good attitude about it. It is what it is. You can either look at it that you can't do this or that, or you can figure out what you can still do."

Colton resides in Wheaton, Ill., and is known for being a golf fanatic through his blog http://www.wegoblogger31.com/, and his 2009 book entitled, "One Divot at a Time: Diary of a Full-Fledged Golf Addict." He has received pledges of more than $20,000 and hopes the chance to play Ballyneal will raise even more money. "The Coxes are a great family with a positive attitude and tremendous faith in the face of this life-changing injury," said Colton. "As soon as I heard about the accident, I knew I had to do whatever I could to help."

Thanks to June 20 being one of the longest days of the year, Colton plans to tee off for his first round at 4:45 a.m. and golf until dusk at 8:45 p.m.

"Although the event is called 'The Ben Cox 108,' I view 108 holes as the starting point instead of the finish line," Colton said, relating that numerous contributors have creatively structured their pledges with bonuses for playing more than 108 holes. "Knowing that each extra hole will be worth hundreds of additional dollars to the cause will motivate me to keep going."

As an additional incentive to donate to the cause, Colton is collecting prizes that will be awarded by raffle. Contributors will get a raffle ticket for every $50 donated, with the raffle set to take place on Saturday July 9th. The list of raffle items includes rounds of golf at some of the best and most historic golf courses in the world. [To see an updated list of raffle prizes, go here: http://www.wegoblogger31.com/2011/06/still-time-to-get-in-on-ben-cox-raffle.html]

To learn more, call Ballyneal at 970/854-5900 or e-mail head pro Matt Payne at mattp@ballyneal.com.

Ballyneal is a private golf club located in the sand hills of northeastern Colorado, 2.5 hours from Denver. The Ballyneal land is referred to by locals as the "chop hills," due to the unique characteristics of its dunes. Ballyneal was Travel + Leisure Golf's Best New Course of 2006 and currently is ranked No. 6 Best Modern by Golfweek, No. 48 in the U.S. by Golf Magazine, and one of Golf Digest's America's 100 Greatest Courses. Ballyneal includes the golf shop, a fine-dining restaurant and three lodges with private suites. For more information, visit http://www.ballyneal.com/ or call 970/854-5900.