Thanks Tom, and Ran, and hope to see you again Tom!!
Imagine if your shirt was tucked in that day...
You maybe should be thanking Barney also.
And please give us some more details about what was special for you (besides the very cool eagle) - relive it a bit for us...
Cheers
Haha yes my shirt was indeed tucked in!!
I think the most special thing for me was having Mr. Doak explain to me the holes while we were actually playing and telling me how to play. It was cool to actually hear about the hole so you can better understand it.
As an example, #6 is a huge dogleg left around a huge valley and is a long hole. There was a bunker in front of the green, about 30 or maybe even 20 yards in front of the green. I asked Tom if that was there for the running shot, since it was a longer hole. He told me it was not only for that, but for people that could not reach the hole in two, so they could have a challenging lay up. It was something that had slipped my mind, which yesterday was running wild!
Another cool thing was my birdie on 7, and then a big smile to follow up. I had been struggling a bit, and I came to this super long, almost uphill par three and rain was just starting to trickle (though it ended uo stopping on the next hole). After everybody had hit I went up, and I smacked a 3-iron onto the green and it took the slope perfectly, just as I had planned. It was cool because that hole one extra person joined us to make a 6(!)some and I hit a good shot in front of everybody (I was nervous too!!). Then I sunk the putt and I think I had the biggest smile ever. As I put the flag in everybody went to the next tee box and I lagged a few seconds behind. I grabbed my club and as I got to the tee box everybody was waiting for me, and they let me go first because I had 'honors'. That was really cool to me, and I was glad I actually played decent because I was really really nervous throughout the round.
Another cool thing about the day was actually being treated like people were glad I was there. I played with Mr. Doak, the head of golf at Suncadia, one of Doak's workers (Chad, a great guy!), and the manager of all Suncadia's golf and not once was I treated as though I was not welcomed. Mr. Doak was always willing to explain some of the holes with me, people we always super nice and respectful, and they all made me feel like I belonged there. I think that was probably the coolest thing of all.
One more thing, when my parents were coming to pick me up from the course after nine I looked toward the back nine (the clubhouse is above a HUGE hill where you can see the back) and was like wow, some day I will come back and see this place again. Everybody was happy and then a worker whom I did not go came to me. He said, you can play the back if you would like. Apparently the afternoon shotgun had been cancelled. I looked at the course, then I said I probably could not, as my parents would have to wait yet another couple hours. I said, perhaps if my dad could ride with me in the cart, because otherwise I do not think it would be okay. He looked at me and immediatley asked if my dad had his clubs. I told him yea and the worker, without hesitation said, well play with your dad then. This was obviously cool news, and I was shocked. I did not think anything like this would ever happen. Because Mr. Doak had to go after nine holes, it was just my dad and I. Apparently my mom and sister had a great time in the clubhouse, where they were given lunch and though they were not guests of the club or members, they still gave them the best treatment ever. Dad and I went out and had a great time, laughing the whole nine holes, through three putts, eagles, water balls and everything.
As of today, that was one of the coolest experiences of my life.
I am sorry to blabber for so long but I cannot express my thanks enough to everybody--especially Mr. Doak.
Thanks again Tom, you made my day, my month, my year, my everything really. It was great and I hope to be able to play with you again in the future. You were awesome!!