Forgive me what might seem self-indulgent, but the GCA crew was such a massive part of planning and then sharing my recent cross-country jaunt through the USA and many asked for me to share something of the trip not related to greensites, bunkers and routings.
Firstly, I just can't offer enough thanks to those who offered suggestions for sites we should see (Sedona - amazing and thanks Kris Shreiner and Michael Robin for recommending Nepenthe - that place defies description) or avoid (New Haven was at least a handy place to pick up and drop off our car...). It amazed me 18 months ago when we started planning the trip that so many of you sent PMs offering to accommodate and feed Kerry and me if we made it to your neighbourhood - this far down the track I understand a lot better the GCA brotherhood as well as just how remarkably friendly Americans are. Back home in Sydney now, it is my goal to turn this city into a hotbed of GCA goodwill!!
I was fortunate that on the trip I was able to catch up with John Mayhugh and David Tepper, who I'd played with during my time in the UK and met for the first time David Kelly, Mark Arata, Donnie Beck, Michael Robin, Bob Huntley, Tom Huckaby, Mike Benham, Kyle Henderson and Patrick Kiser as well as Bill McBride's good friend John Kinnear, who some of you met at the Alwoodley Buda Cup (I hope to God I haven't forgotten anyone. I have checked the list about 10 times!). Fine men one and all who all made my trip (and Kerry's) all the more enjoyable in so many ways. I will spend a long time paying some of those gestures forward because there isn't a way to pay them back.
I'm filthy that I forgot to get a group shot at Fishers Island and that the two we took at Riviera didn't turn out (my camera began a slow death around Vegas).
It hit me straight away that Americans are all about two things: family and patriotism. I lost count of the number of TV shows and adverts that played strongly on those two themes. Another thing was just how regularly (multiple times a day) someone would work into a conversation, apropos of nothing, where they were "born and raised"- always that exact phrase - it was uncanny.
One thing: you guys are crazy with the overmedicating. Some of the ads for pills and elixers on TV (for people and pets) astounded me as much as the woman I overheard at breakfast telling her friends: "I couldn't get to sleep, so I got up at 10pm and took a Xanax and two Aspirin." Seriously?!
Americans are more different to Aussies and Brits than I was prepared for, but almost always in good ways, though I do think they are a bit quick on the horn when you're slow getting going after the light turns green.
It was amazing to see so many things I had dreamt of seeing for decades, as well as countless sights I didn't know existed until I laid eyes on them. Here are a few things from the trip that caught my eye.
Thanks again one and all, and whenever anyone's in Sydney, the first beer is always on me.
Straight off the plane in NYC, a sight to warm any Entourage fan's heart! I was equally excited when I saw La Cienega Boulevard (from one of my favourite Ryan Adams songs) and 1001 other landmarks in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Maybe the most beautiful city skyline I have ever seen. Empire State on the left, Chrysler Building on the right.
About a minute after we stepped out of the hotel on the first night, a GCA.com sighting!
A bout of jetlag from the London > NYC flight allowed me to be up to capture this sunrise over the East River.
Maybe my favourite photo from the trip. Perhaps rivalled by the snapshot I took of the starting sheet at Fishers that showed Mayhugh, Arata, Kelly and Warren as the only fourball of the day!
New London, during a night of revelry with Mayhugh, I spotted another good GCA name. Didn't get to sample the supplies as the town was shutting down at 10pm on a Thursday.
The best thing about Hartford (we needed petrol) or New haven was this great sky as we headed south from Boston.
Our hotel in DC featured perhaps the two most unlikely women to be hung side-by-side (unless somewhere a portrait of Mother Theresa is beside one of Jenna Jamieson).
It was fantastic to see the Lincoln Memorial...
... just outside which was this sign, which might have come in handy at Ford's Theatre all those years ago.
Ike's golf clubs at the Museum of national History, one of the 4-5 fantastic and free museums DC has to offer. One of the massive surprises of the trip was that DC isn't a shithole like so many people claimed. We loved it, especially how well set-out it is for tourists.
Saguaros on the drive north from Phoenix (unfortunately I didn't get to play at their namesake course).
The red rocks of Sedona took my breath away. Just awesome.
As well as the strangely named "Ye Olde UFO Shoppe", Sedona offered this strange sales pitch on the side of a toy store.
The Grand Canyon. Just amazing.
Something you don't see in Australia: an Elk grazing outside our lodge at the Grand Canyon.
The queue for the buffet at our hotel in Vegas. Unfortunately I didn't capture the crew lining up still wearing their pyjamas. Classy.
Vegas'over the top-ness was a constant amazement. The canals complete with gondolas in the venetian were a case in point.
One of only two highlights on the drive from Vegas to Los Angeles (Peggy Sue's 50s Diner was the other!).
Maybe the best golf hole I have seen. What's cool is that you see it from the clubhouse and practice green, then you pass it on the way from two to three, then you play it and finally you get another sight of it as you climb the hill behind the 18th green. It is never far away.
The first of three GCA.com sightings in about 20mins - just as I had found out I would be meeting the man in question later that week.
A street named after Jim Colton's GCA event (also visible just right of the red ribbon on the church is one of only a few Frank Lloyd Wright homes in southern California), and finally...
... that hockey game everyone is still talking about 30 years later. Is Dave Silk visible?
The Hollywood Hills bathed in afternoon sun was a joy to savour each afternoon (panorama - scroll right if it doesn't fit).
One day I want to live in Santa Barbara. It doesn't get any prettier than that.
This car's licence plate made me piss myself laughing! I realise he was shooting for "No Dice", but for me the number plate confirms what the car had me suspecting.
Nepenthe (get the Ambrosia burger!) is an absolute must see when driving through Big Sur. Here's the view to the west from the deck...
... and this is looking south. One of those places where you just feel completely stress free and alive.
We hit Monterey after dark and couldn't believe the se lions barking. We were picturing 20 or so really vocal ones, then saw this the next morning.
Mike, Bob and Tom didn't give me the memo about the agreed shirt/jumper colour...
With David Tepper during a great morning touring The Olympic Club.
A tank just cruising down the street in San Fran!
California Street, San Francisco at sunset on our final day in the country. Our final day also happened to be the fifth World Series Game. A midnight flight meant we could stay in the city to watch it. One of the highlights of the trip was being in a packed bar surrounded by fans when "we" won (I got on that bandwagon like nobody's business!).
Bottom of the 9th. First out. The crowd starts to fire up...
Second out... getting crazy...
This guy couldn't take the excitement and started getting his gear off at the bar...
Final out, World Series is won, I finished my beer and we jumped in a cab to the airport as the city erupted into celebration. What a great way to finish the trip of a lifetime.