The Dry Heat Expedition (Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Disneyland)--UPDATE 6/12 (KSC and DTD)

They're headed my way! (Please bring the sun with you!)

There's no sun in Colorado? Do we need to cancel?

How about if we bring a sunshine-y disposition?

I must be in a study-induced fog; going to find this now. Jeez....

I left a link in my last reply. But really, I can understand if you had much better things to do than read about other people's vacation plans.:p

Or Chrysler. Whichever.

I drive a Hyundai P.O.S., so really, what do I know?:confused3
 
I left a link in my last reply. But really, I can understand if you had much better things to do than read about other people's vacation plans.:p

I used the wrong verb there. I didn't mean "find" it, but rather hop to it. I actually did immediately, and even remember reading it the first time now. Don't go on about it not being interesting; this blunder's on me. :P I swear, sometimes I think there is simply just NO MORE ROOM in the Inn of my head.

It's going to be a GREAT vacation.... I'm kinda jealous; I've never been to Yellowstone. I'd love to, and we probably will someday. And you'll LOVE Dinosaur. We've done that one years ago, and Vernal is kinda neat too, in a kitchy sort of way.
 


I used the wrong verb there. I didn't mean "find" it, but rather hop to it. I actually did immediately, and even remember reading it the first time now. Don't go on about it not being interesting; this blunder's on me. :P I swear, sometimes I think there is simply just NO MORE ROOM in the Inn of my head.

I know that feeling! And it's totally understandable, especially with the final push for the semester upon you. The information rattling around in our brains gets necessarily prioritized.

It's going to be a GREAT vacation.... I'm kinda jealous; I've never been to Yellowstone. I'd love to, and we probably will someday. And you'll LOVE Dinosaur. We've done that one years ago, and Vernal is kinda neat too, in a kitchy sort of way.

I hope you get there; the Jackson Hole area (Grand Teton and Yellowstone) is one of my favorite places on earth. I'm excited for the rest of the family to see it. I went to Dinosaur once as a kid and don't remember much other than a big wall of bones in the rock. So that should be cool.
 
Loved your TR, Captain! And, I'm looking forward to the next one. Hope y'all have a great time!
 
Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park just opened for the season today. You guys might want to bring coats. :)



Jill in CO
 


Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park just opened for the season today. You guys might want to bring coats. :)

No! Nononononononononononooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
where I served as Security Guard/Mooch

Serving as a Mooch is a tremendous honor - not to be taken lightly.

I had not checked in, but I wasn’t worried about it because my father was handling all of the arrangements for the trip. He had booked the flights, rented a car, made hotel reservations, etc. It was actually a nice relief not to be the one in charge of all of the travel details for once.

Oooh this sounds nice!

It should therefore arrive as no surprise, then, that as of 6:00 that morning, my father had not checked us in for our flight.

Oh.

No. It doesn't sound nice anymore.

When we finally boarded the plane, Scotty and I miraculously found aisle seats available across from each other. So we grabbed them and sat down. Scotty was next to two old ladies who seemed to struggle to grasp the concept of buckling the seat belt, or even to have any clue what the flight attendant was saying to them. I was next to a…well-proportioned gentleman for whom the middle seat was somewhat inadequate. So, Scotty spent his two hours next to two old women taking a nap, and I spent them being pushed out into the center aisle.

Wow that's a total score for not checking in! I mean, you could have been seated next to a kid picking their nose the whole time. Or an older Mexican lady throwing back alcoholic beverages:confused3

For four people.

:headache:


I’m pretty sure they were called the fried egg, the griddle, and the waffle iron.


IMG_8639.jpg


This is too cool. And the names are right on.:thumbsup2

Lately, there seems to have been a trend of Masters champions wearing their jackets in unexpected places. Phil Mickelson was once caught wearing his jacket as he took his kids through a drive-thru lane at a Krispy Kreme donut shop, while Bubba Watson once wore his to a meal at the Waffle House.

Interesting spots to wear them. :scratchin


Very nice!

just want to say, I’d been up since 5:30 a.m. I’d been wedged awkwardly into an airline seat next to a portly fellow for 2 hours, and then spent another 2 hours in a hot Florida rental car with a dark interior. It was getting late in the day, and the wind was picking up, and it was directly against me. I hadn’t warmed up at all, so my swing was very stiff.

Mmhmm....

No, really! There it is, on the left side:


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For reals?! Awesome! So what do you win if you get a Hole in One?

…and cold-topped it. Look closely at the photo, and you can see the ball hopping straight up in the air, right in front of his head. It bounced a few feet and didn’t even make it to the pond.

:cool2: Trying to stifle my laugh...

In Scripture, the 5th Commandment is to honor thy father and mother. I am a loving son, proud of my parents and grateful for the generosity and guidance they have showed me through my formative years and continue to show me today. I chose to protect my father’s dignity in this case, and chose to react to that abject failure with quiet stoicism.


For about a tenth of a second, anyway. Then I bust a gut laughing. Come on, seriously? A pond that big, and you can’t even hit that?

Okay if you laughed, then I will too :laughing::rotfl::rotfl2:

Remember, I had left all of the travel arrangements up to my father. As we drove into town, he told us to look for a Best Western. I knew from previous stays that there was more than one, and he said he couldn’t remember which one he’d made the reservation for.

:scared:

Whereupon we discovered that none of those 3 Best Westerns was the correct hotel. He’d made a reservation at a hotel in the town of St. Augustine Beach, several miles away along the coast. Oops.

Yep, I would have taken back over at this point.

I do love my parents, but there’s a reason we don’t travel together much anymore.

I'm getting to see that now as DM gets older. Woah.

Scotty really wanted a cheese pizza, so I ended up splitting that with him. That boy can crush a pizza. He easily ate four slices. I have no idea what I will do when he’s a teenager.

I was totally thinking the same thing. You're going to be spending A LOT on food soon.
 
Looks like Scotty is having a blast on his trip. I know what you mean about travelling with the 'rents. You sort of forget all the um.... special moments that you now try to avoid. :laughing:

I know it is early but I hope you have a fantastic trip. With my track record lately who knows when I will be back. :eek:
 
Loved your TR, Captain! And, I'm looking forward to the next one. Hope y'all have a great time!

Thanks! Look for it in the DIS Dads sub-forum under the Families threads.:thumbsup2

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park just opened for the season today. You guys might want to bring coats. :)


Awesome! I was hoping that there would still be snowdrifts present when we drive through the park. Glad to hear the road is now open.

No! Nononononononononononooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess that looks more like a Canadian summer, huh? We'll make sure we have our bathing suits for that day.
 
Serving as a Mooch is a tremendous honor - not to be taken lightly.

It's one of my few talents.

Oooh this sounds nice!

Oh.

No. It doesn't sound nice anymore.

Yeah, I think it ended up actually being more stressful than doing the planning myself.

Wow that's a total score for not checking in! I mean, you could have been seated next to a kid picking their nose the whole time. Or an older Mexican lady throwing back alcoholic beverages:confused3

A fate worse than death! We really dodged a bullet there.:rotfl2::rotfl:

This is too cool. And the names are right on.:thumbsup2

I wonder how they'd actually play.

Interesting spots to wear them. :scratchin

Gotta have some fun with it.

Very nice!

:goodvibes

For reals?! Awesome! So what do you win if you get a Hole in One?

Um...the satisfaction of getting a Hole in One?:confused3

Trying to stifle my laugh...

Okay if you laughed, then I will too

:rotfl::rotfl: You really have to, don't you?

Yep, I would have taken back over at this point.

:sad2:

I'm getting to see that now as DM gets older. Woah.

I think the worst part is that they insist they're right, even if the facts say otherwise.

I was totally thinking the same thing. You're going to be spending A LOT on food soon.

Yay?

Looks like Scotty is having a blast on his trip. I know what you mean about travelling with the 'rents. You sort of forget all the um.... special moments that you now try to avoid. :laughing:

Hi Pat!:wave2:

It probably just comes down to the fact that I like it done my way. And they don't do things my way.

I know it is early but I hope you have a fantastic trip. With my track record lately who knows when I will be back. :eek:

Thanks! And don't worry, I know how life gets sometimes.
 
Friday, May 8


The Players Championship tournament is one of the largest, most prestigious events on the PGA Tour each year. The inaugural event took place near Atlanta in 1974 and was won by the great Jack Nicklaus. It changed venues from year to year until finding its permanent home in 1982 at TPC Sawgrass, a golf course designed and built specifically for this tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, by golf course architect Pete Dye.


At first glance, the course was universally loathed by the players. It was built to be the ultimate test of their games, and no one was better at doing that than Dye. He took a couple of square miles of what had been nothing but Florida swampland and transformed it into a course that could make any golfer question their skill. The course is full of ponds, bunkers, sandy waste areas, hills, trees, small greens and awkward angles. It was also built with spectators in mind, as large mounds were constructed around the fairways and greens to provide a sort of “stadium” effect and allow for large crowds to watch the golf unimpeded. The course does not favor any one style of golfer, and that has been proven by the list of champions—it features players with power who can overpower a course, players who hit it shorter but with great control, and players with excellent short games. It features holes of varying lengths, doglegs in both directions, and no two holes run in the exact same direction. The course was meant to identify the player who was most in control of his golf ball that particular week, and it seems to have done just that.


The golf course is also an engineering achievement. As I mentioned, it was created out of swampland just a couple of miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The water table was only 18 inches below the ground surface. Of the millions of dollars it took to construct the course, most of that money went into draining it. Even so, there are dozens of lakes and ponds on the course property, including many that are not even in play or seen on TV—just providing storage for the water.


Since the course is difficult, and the line between a great shot and disaster is razor-thin, it’s no wonder the golfers were not big fans at the start. Even Nicklaus groused about TPC Sawgrass, saying of its small, firm greens, “I’ve never been very good at stopping a 5-iron shot on the hood of a car.”


Over the years, the features were softened to make it a little more “fair”. But it’s still extremely difficult. Architect Pete Dye is a character. His wife, Alice, was once a pro golfer herself and collaborates on all of his designs. He has a faithful dog, Sixty, who commonly accompanies him to job sites. Why is he named Sixty? Because Dye paid $60 for him.

"Golf is not a fair game, so why build a course fair?"—Pete Dye


Given the above quote, Dye seems to enjoy making the players suffer. He’s been known to require certain types of shots on his courses simply because “the pros hate this shot”. Dye has very rarely ever drawn a plan for a golf course, preferring to be out on the construction site operating equipment and building the course himself. His original design for TPC Sawgrass was sketched on a napkin at a dinner with the PGA Tour commissioner. The most famous hole, the island-green 17th, was not a part of the original design. But the site of the green happened to have some of the best sandy soil for building golf courses, so they kept excavating the ground there for use elsewhere on the course. They ended up digging out far more soil than they originally intended. So, it was Alice to the rescue:


"Originally, the water was just supposed to come into play on the right side. But we just kept digging. And then one day Alice came out and said, 'Why don't you just go ahead and make it an island?' So we did."


Thus was born one of the most famous holes in golf. It’s only 132 yards and is actually a very easy shot for the pros. Most of them only need a wedge to get the ball there. But when the wind starts to blow, and the tournament pressure is on, the green starts to appear smaller and smaller. With no room for error, the mind can do funny things.


I already talked about the infamous history of this hole in a previous post, so I won’t bother reviewing that here. You can probably guess, however, where we wanted to spend our time.


We had our continental breakfast and were on the road by about 7:30 a.m. St. Augustine is about 30 minutes’ drive from the golf course, and we had wanted to arrive somewhere around 8:00 a.m., just about when some of the more well-known golfers would be teeing off.


In the past, when we’d attended this tournament, most of the traffic came from Jacksonville to the north. Driving up from the south had enabled us to avoid most of the delays.


Well, apparently the secret is out. We reached the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway and came to a dead stop. Traffic crawled for 3 or 4 miles the rest of the way to the golf course. At the entrance to the parking lot, there were orange cones everywhere, with no real indication of which lane we needed to be in. We found what looked like a left-turn lane to enter the lot only to be stopped by a very intense, obviously over-caffeinated state trooper who was directing traffic. He gave us the eyes-on-me gesture, then had us stop in our tracks, then motioned us forward, then stopped us after 6 inches with a glare as though we were doing something wrong. Someone was taking himself way too seriously. Finally, he gave us the go-ahead to make the turn, and we left before he changed his mind. From there, we were sent through a maze of cones with no organization whatsoever, staffed by hundreds of bored teens waving flags in different directions with no clear purpose. We finally made our way to a spot where several other cars were parked in a line and figured it was good enough for us. It was 8:45 a.m.


The tournament changed its policy recently and now allows spectators to bring cell phones onto the course, provided the ringer is on silent, calls are made only from designated areas, and no one takes photos of the golfers in action. Given what you know of general human behavior, especially with cell phones, how well do you think those rules are followed?


Nevertheless, I brought my crappy phone so I could take a few photos of the course and Scotty. I will not bother describing most of the golf action we saw that day because I know most of you really could not care less. Which is totally understandable.


Here’s Scotty by the tee of the 17th hole, with the famous island green in the background.


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This is the 16th hole, a classic risk-reward par 5. Golfers attempt their second shot from the distance, back behind the end of the pond. If they can hit the green with their second shots, they have a chance at eagle (2-under par) or a relatively easy birdie (1-under par). But if they miss and hit it in the water, they could wreck their scorecard fairly quickly. That tree in front of the green makes the shot somewhat awkward as well. It narrows the opening to the green. Rickie Fowler won the tournament this year in part by pulling off an amazing 2nd shot on this hole in the final round. It barely cleared the water by about a foot, and then nestled up to within 3 feet of the hole for an easy eagle putt.


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Looking across the 16th fairway to the 17th again:


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We sat here behind the 17th green for a while and watched several groups of golfers play the hole. When I had come here with David, he had sat right in this spot and one golfer had given him a ball as he left the green.


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I had Scotty sit in the same spot…only he ignored my advice and moved farther away from the green. A little girl came up and sat in the spot closest to the green and was rewarded with a golf ball.


This would become the theme for the day…no matter where Scotty stood or what he did, it seemed that kids all around him were receiving golf balls and other tokens from the golfers. But Scotty just couldn’t score. In any case, I was proud of him for not being obnoxious. I’d seen some really bratty behavior in years past from kids trying to get the golfers to give them freebies, but this time most of the kids seemed very well-behaved and polite. It was refreshing.


The adults, on the other hand…


Once a golfer finishes his round, there’s a building near the clubhouse where they go to sign and turn in their scorecards. Right next to this building is an autograph area. Spectators can hang out in this area, and some golfers will walk over and sign autographs. It’s up to the golfer whether he signs or heads into the clubhouse.


This year, they introduced a fenced-off area that was marked as being just for kids. It took up most of the autograph area, but there was a small part to the side where adults could wait. The idea was that kids collect autographs for themselves as a memento, while adults typically are looking to sell autographed memorabilia on eBay. Scotty was determined to get as many autographs as he could (he had even made a list ahead of time). Some were well-known for signing autographs, such as his favorite golfer, Phil Mickelson. Others were known for being more stingy, such as Tiger Woods.


So, Scotty and I spent much of the day behind the 18th green. Scotty waited in the kids area up against the fence while I hung out so he’d have a familiar face nearby. My parents were more interested in watching the golf, so I told them to go out on the course.


Anyway, Scotty did really well collecting autographs. Several of the big-name players did not bother to come out, which was somewhat disappointing. But he did get his favorite, as Mickelson came out to sign even after missing the cut.


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Somewhere in that mass is Scotty. He did really well holding his ground, even when other kids or adults tried to horn in on his spot. And yes, I said adults. You can see a couple of them on the side of the photo. Even though this area was restricted as kids-only, many of them paid no mind. It was almost embarrassing. I saw grown men leaning into kids, shoving their way to the front, even leaning over the kids to try and get their stuff signed first. It took almost an hour of this before a club official finally starting enforcing the policy.


Scotty was a trooper, though, and got several signatures. He used the same autograph book he had taken on his last trip to Disney World, so Mickelson is right next to Buzz Lightyear on the pages.


We toured the entire course, just enjoying the day, the golf, and the fact that were in Florida and not at work or school. We got a kick out of Pete Dye’s sense of humor here on the 6th hole, when we spotted this tree in a bunker:


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Because hitting into a bunker isn’t bad enough, you really need to punish them with a tree there too.


Between the third hole and driving range, there’s a line of flags representing the nations of the golfers entered in the tournament. It leads to the massive clubhouse beyond.


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Here’s Scotty and my father by the 18th hole, again with the clubhouse in the background. This is one of the toughest finishing holes in golf.


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At some point, a rain shower passed through, but it wasn’t hard enough to stop play. We went back to the clubhouse as the afternoon groups were finishing so we could get some more autographs. While we were there, I was able to meet up with DisneyFed, a fellow DIS Dad. He was working security for the tournament and had some great stories, including the time he tackled a drunk fan who ran out onto one of the holes during play. I will now break my “no selfies” TR policy by posting a selfie with Fed, because that’s all I have. Like all selfies, I think this one shows off my nose hairs and double chin very well. But hey, at least I can prove we met.


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For meals, this turned into a day for barbecue. Fed had recommended a local joint while we were in the area called 4 Rivers Smokehouse. The closest one was in Jacksonville and we didn’t think we were going to make it there, but it turned out they had a booth at the golf tournament. So I indulged in a nice pulled pork sandwich there. For dinner, we went to Sonny’s in St. Augustine, which is a southern bbq chain. This time, I got the beef brisket. And I’m going to give the win to 4 Rivers. Fed didn’t steer me wrong there.


We watched golf until the very last group finished. I think it’s safe to say Scotty had a very good day.


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On the way out, we posed for one last shot at the island green.


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Really, what’s so hard about that shot? I had already pulled it off the day before, of course, so I could now say I was better than several of the guys I’d watched dunk one in the water. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.


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Coming Up Next: Space. The final frontier.
 
Even Nicklaus groused about TPC Sawgrass, saying of its small, firm greens, “I’ve never been very good at stopping a 5-iron shot on the hood of a car.”

:laughing: Love that comment.

Well, apparently the secret is out. We reached the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway and came to a dead stop.

And now that you've posted this, it's only going to get worse!
So basically it's your fault.

Someone was taking himself way too seriously.

:sad2: Unfortunately, a uniform tends to do that to some people.

From there, we were sent through a maze of cones with no organization whatsoever, staffed by hundreds of bored teens waving flags in different directions with no clear purpose.

"Okay, kids. Here are your flags. Make sure to wave them."
"But what are they for?"
"Doesn't matter. Just wave 'em."

Given what you know of general human behavior, especially with cell phones, how well do you think those rules are followed?

Extremely well?


No?

Here’s Scotty by the tee of the 17th hole, with the famous island green in the background.

Nice shot.

I had Scotty sit in the same spot…only he ignored my advice and moved farther away from the green. A little girl came up and sat in the spot closest to the green and was rewarded with a golf ball.

See what happens when you don't listen to your parents, kids?

The idea was that kids collect autographs for themselves as a memento, while adults typically are looking to sell autographed memorabilia on eBay.

They do? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but.
Well, I am a little.
This from someone who never collects autographs.

But he did get his favorite, as Mickelson came out to sign even after missing the cut.

:goodvibes:

Even though this area was restricted as kids-only, many of them paid no mind. It was almost embarrassing.

:sad2: That does not surprise me, unfortunately.

I saw grown men leaning into kids, shoving their way to the front, even leaning over the kids to try and get their stuff signed first. It took almost an hour of this before a club official finally starting enforcing the policy.

At least they finally did something about it. Hopefully they kept an eye on that afterwards.

People. :sad2:

there’s a line of flags representing the nations of the golfers entered in the tournament.

Cool.

Like all selfies, I think this one shows off my nose hairs and double chin very well. But hey, at least I can prove we met.

:lmao:

Then again, we only have your word for it.
For all we know, that's some stranger you took a pic with.

I think it’s safe to say Scotty had a very good day.

And that's what it's all about, right?

Really, what’s so hard about that shot? I had already pulled it off the day before, of course, so I could now say I was better than several of the guys I’d watched dunk one in the water. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

I'll buy that.
It's a wonder you weren't competing.
 
I was all excited that I was going to be caught up several hours, ago, and then I clicked on the last page to see that you had posted another update. I'm too overwhelmed by how far behind I am on TRs to comment much, but I'm glad you had a nice day. BBQ sounds good. I'm starving right now.

I did like that Mickelson's signature is opposite Buzz Lightyears! :thumbsup2

Keeping up, but barely.
 
Love that comment.

I would have included quotes from other golfers, but I think that one said it best. Also, it had fewer expletives.

And now that you've posted this, it's only going to get worse!
So basically it's your fault.

I'm sure my legions of readers will add a great deal to the traffic!

Unfortunately, a uniform tends to do that to some people.

Yeah, and it's never pretty. Not good if law-abiding citizens aren't shown any respect.

"Okay, kids. Here are your flags. Make sure to wave them."
"But what are they for?"
"Doesn't matter. Just wave 'em."

That seemed to be about the size of it.

Extremely well?


No?

You've never seen someone use a cell phone before, have you?

Nice shot.

Thanks!:goodvibes

See what happens when you don't listen to your parents, kids?

::yes:: He'll only need to hear that a few thousand more times, I'm sure.

They do? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but.
Well, I am a little.
This from someone who never collects autographs.

Yeah, it's pretty pathetic. I've seen people spending thousands of dollars at the merchandise tent just buying up what they can so they can sell it for a markup online.

That does not surprise me, unfortunately.

At least they finally did something about it. Hopefully they kept an eye on that afterwards.

People.

There would be a lot to like about the world if not for the other people.:sad2:

Then again, we only have your word for it.
For all we know, that's some stranger you took a pic with.

You mean "pictures or it didn't happen" isn't good enough? There are more rules now? I mean, I even posted a selfie for pete's sake. And I hate selfies.

And that's what it's all about, right?

Pretty much, yeah.:goodvibes

I'll buy that.
It's a wonder you weren't competing.

Well, I wanted everyone else to feel like they had a chance. You know how it is.
 
I was all excited that I was going to be caught up several hours, ago, and then I clicked on the last page to see that you had posted another update. I'm too overwhelmed by how far behind I am on TRs to comment much, but I'm glad you had a nice day. BBQ sounds good. I'm starving right now.

I know how that goes. Sometimes it goes in cycles, and it feels like everyone is posting 3 new updates a week! It happens.

BBQ always sounds good to me!

I did like that Mickelson's signature is opposite Buzz Lightyears!

It cracks me up every time I think about it. But hey, it's perfect for a kid.:thumbsup2

Keeping up, but barely.

Don't worry about it! We'll be around when you have more time.
 
"Golf is not a fair game, so why build a course fair?"—Pete Dye
I've played Pete Dye courses before. I have no business on a Pete Dye course. Ever.

We found what looked like a left-turn lane to enter the lot only to be stopped by a very intense, obviously over-caffeinated state trooper who was directing traffic. He gave us the eyes-on-me gesture, then had us stop in our tracks, then motioned us forward, then stopped us after 6 inches with a glare as though we were doing something wrong. Someone was taking himself way too seriously.
Calm down, Fed. :rolleyes1

The tournament changed its policy recently and now allows spectators to bring cell phones onto the course, provided the ringer is on silent, calls are made only from designated areas, and no one takes photos of the golfers in action. Given what you know of general human behavior, especially with cell phones, how well do you think those rules are followed?
Well, I just hope that there at least weren't any selfie sticks.

I will not bother describing most of the golf action we saw that day because I know most of you really could not care less. Which is totally understandable.
Oh, why not? I'd be interested in any memorable great shots or crash and burns that you witnessed. :thumbsup2

In any case, I was proud of him for not being obnoxious. I’d seen some really bratty behavior in years past from kids trying to get the golfers to give them freebies, but this time most of the kids seemed very well-behaved and polite. It was refreshing.


The adults, on the other hand…
You know, I'm noticing this is becoming a startling trend in our society. :headache:

This year, they introduced a fenced-off area that was marked as being just for kids. It took up most of the autograph area, but there was a small part to the side where adults could wait.
Great idea! You don't really think of golf as being a kid friendly sport, necessarily. I'm glad that they're taking steps to make this tournament more appealing to the kids!

Anyway, Scotty did really well collecting autographs. Several of the big-name players did not bother to come out, which was somewhat disappointing. But he did get his favorite, as Mickelson came out to sign even after missing the cut.
Awesome! Phil always seems to be good about taking some time for the fans. I'm sure that really meant a lot to Scotty.

And yes, I said adults. You can see a couple of them on the side of the photo. Even though this area was restricted as kids-only, many of them paid no mind. It was almost embarrassing. I saw grown men leaning into kids, shoving their way to the front, even leaning over the kids to try and get their stuff signed first. It took almost an hour of this before a club official finally starting enforcing the policy.
:sad2: :sad2: :sad2:

He used the same autograph book he had taken on his last trip to Disney World, so Mickelson is right next to Buzz Lightyear on the pages.
:rotfl2: That's awesome!

While we were there, I was able to meet up with DisneyFed, a fellow DIS Dad. He was working security for the tournament and had some great stories, including the time he tackled a drunk fan who ran out onto one of the holes during play
Woohoo! Dismeet with Fed. I can only imagine some of the stories he had. But how much fun would it be to tackle a drunk guy out on the fairway during the Players Championship?

We watched golf until the very last group finished. I think it’s safe to say Scotty had a very good day.
And I'm sure you did too.

On the way out, we posed for one last shot at the island green.
So... what was your favorite hole again?

Really, what’s so hard about that shot? I had already pulled it off the day before, of course, so I could now say I was better than several of the guys I’d watched dunk one in the water. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Hey, it's a proven fact. :thumbsup2
 
most of the kids seemed very well-behaved and polite. It was refreshing.

The adults, on the other hand…

Shocking. So hard to believe. :rolleyes:

He used the same autograph book he had taken on his last trip to Disney World, so Mickelson is right next to Buzz Lightyear on the pages.

I would've done that too, but I sold my Buzz Lightyear autograph on eBay. :blush:

Here’s Scotty and my father by the 18th hole, again with the clubhouse in the background. This is one of the toughest finishing holes in golf.


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I remember playing this, and the famous 17th of course, on a golf computer game I used to have. It was always a question of how much of that pond do you think you can (or dare attempt) to clear, or do you lay up further right and probably cost yourself an extra stroke.

On the way out, we posed for one last shot at the island green.


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My favorite picture of the bunch. Scotty looks so happy, despite the whole golf thing. ;) :laughing:
 

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