Monday

Hundred Hole Hike

So after some thought, I have decided to join Jim Colton and others in doing a golf marathon this summer. The intent is for me to seek donations based on my intention to WALK at least One Hundred Hole of golf in one day. These donations can be either a set amount or can be based on the number of holes that I play. All money donated to this will be given directly to the Ronald McDonald House Charity of Mobile, AL.

So, the plan is for this event to take place on July 9, 2012 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove in Mobile, AL. I plan to start at 7:00 am (as early as they will let me, I'd start at 6:00 am if I could) and play until either darkness keeps me from hitting another shot or I simply can't continue.

My goals are to play a minimum of 108 holes (100 is an odd number, 108 gets right to the end of 6 rounds) and raise at least $5,000 for the House. Hopefully I exceed both of those goals.

Thursday

2012 Course Prospects

Thus far in 2012, I have played 5 courses. I am hoping to fill my newest ball rack this year, so I need to play 18 new clubs since multiple course clubs only count for one new golf ball. Perhaps I can make something like this work:

May
Timbercreek, Daphne, AL
TPC Louisiana
Pontcartrain Park

June
RTJ Golf Trail at Capitol Hill (54 holes in one day)
Shell Landing

July
Gulf Hills
Holly Hills

August
Anchorage CC
Eagleglen
Marcus Pointe

September
Keesler AFB
Great Southern

October
Grand Bear
Bayou Vista

November
Soldier Creek
Quail Creek
Fallen Oak

December
Lakewood

Might not happen this way, but hopefully it does. I think this is a reasonable list.

Sunday

Random thoughts

Well, I haven't posted much lately...then again, I haven't posted much ever, but such is life. I actually made some good progress on the list I made for course plays. I played Spring Hill College, Mississippi National and Rock Creek. But I've been sidelined for the last 2 months with a nagging wrist injury that doesn't seem to be getting any better, but no worse either. That is not great for golf though. So hopefully after the first of the year I will be able to make it back onto the golf course.

Off the golf course, to go with a post I made around this time last year, we saw the end of Jimmie Johnson's run of 5 consecutive Sprint Cup Championships. For all the racing fans, like him or not, that was something special. Up there with all the great streaks in sports, as is Hendrick Motorsports up there with the great dynasties of sport with their 9 championships (10 if you count that Tony Stewart's car was a Hendrick machine) It was a good run and I suspect we will see more of them in the not too distant future.

Also of note is the American College Football national championship game. I have been saying for quite a while that a computer chosen game between two teams from the same conference, one of which is not even good enough to win their own division within that conference in this case, would wind up playing each other in the championship game one day. Hopefully this will expose the BCS for the failure it is and will continue to be if schools and conferences allow it.

In the same realm, I am rather pleased that the NC State Wolfpack made it to a bowl game this year. Hopefully we are able to win and finish off a decent season.

Back to the golf course pursuits...given my wrist I guess I have to put on hold for the foreseeable future my goal of playing in the US Open. At this point, I do not think my wrist will allow me to practice enough to get to that level, or anywhere close really. As such, I am going to make effort to shift my athletic goals to another sport/endeavor I have had some success doing: distance running. My goals are to run a sub-5 minute mile and to qualify for the Boston Marathon. At some point I would also like to qualify for the Ironman Triathlon World Championships, but I'll stick to the marathon first.

Academically I am starting a degree/certificate program through American Military University tomorrow to gain more knowledge in my chosen military career path. I have a few research projects I want to work on, picking only one at a time to be sure, but I will have to find some one with whom to work and set me on the right path, as it's been quite a while since I wrote a paper of substance.

Sorry for the boring read here, for those few who read it. I will get back to the course reviews and golf topics as soon as possible.