So it's Thursday night, a week after the beginning of the Ryder Cup in Minnesota, and I'm still smiling! Life has gotten in the way of getting Part 3 out sooner, but here it is!
I left off at coming home Wednesday night from the practice round which was AWESOME! It was so fun to see the players, the course, the fans, AND the Merchandise Tent! The Friday adventure came about sort of last minute (similar to Sunday)...I knew my friend Deb wanted to go, but I wasn't sure if she would be able to go with family or not. When she asked if Friday could work for me, the answer was of course YES!! We had our ticket adventure, finding some in our price range, and now we would be picking them up on our way to the gate. While the practice round time was great, I have to admit being there for the actual competition was beyond my expectations...I wanted to experience the electricity, the passion, the people, and the sense of team. Ryder Cup Friday, here we come!!
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As I'm sitting at my desk getting ready to type this (for the 2nd time- UGH!), I can't believe it's been a week, A WEEK, since my first day Ryder Cup adventure to the Wednesday Practice Round at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minnesota.
A few side bars...about a week and a half before I had tweaked my back. It was about 7 days of feeling awful, not being able to sleep, sit, or stand without pain. If you know me, you'd know that it takes a lot for me to consider going to the Dr. but after about 5 days of pain I made a desperate call to a great friend who is a nurse and she miraculously got me in that day so I could get some pain relief. There was no way I wasn't going to the Ryder Cup, but I'll be honest, I wasn't looking forward to the card rides, walking and standing that were in my near future. This is also a crazy busy time at work for me so I almost didn't have time to even get prepared or excited for what was to come. It's a Tuesday evening, and I'm decompressing after what can best be described as an AMAZING experience at the 2016 Ryder Cup held in my home state of Minnesota at Hazeltine National Golf Course.
My heart beats a little faster, even now, as I'm thinking back on my adventure. A smile is coming across my face as I type and the experiences on the tips of my fingers are trying to find their way in this story. It might be a jumbled mess, but one thing's for sure...this is coming from my heart. I was so excited to get a message via the web site from Mike Gray, another golf dreamer I wrote about back in 2009! Mike was the creator of the website/blog, Life in the Rough (I don't have a link because it's currently not active), and his dream was to become a teaching professional. It was so interesting to read his responses to my email questions, how life changes and different experiences come into our lives. I'm so glad Mike was able to find me and willing to catch us up on where golf fits into his world now.
HJG: So, back in 2009 I wrote a blog post about golf dreamers and you were one of them! You had created a web site, www.lifeintherough.com to chronicle your journey. Could you share a little of your golf story that got you to the point of wanting to take golf more seriously? Mike: I took up the game when I was about 18 and working at a golf course in the summers during college. Having free access I got to play a lot. After I graduated and started my career as a software engineer the passion remained. Not only did I love the game with all its history and traditions, I loved the challenge. Somewhere along the line, I realized that at some point in my playing life, I had hit virtually every shot in the book. I could drive the ball far, putted well, and loved to read and learn about every aspect of the game. Not only that, but I loved to practice. It was the recipe for becoming seriously invested in the game. |
AuthorI love golf and I love to write, so I can't think of anything better than having a happy place like this to write about golf to my heart's content. Thanks for joining me! Archives
April 2021
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