Wow. I got home at 2am and slept until 4 this afternoon. 8 days in the sandhills whipped me pretty good!
As to the photo posted now three times (!) on this thread
; I love Sam I Am. The moment I first saw him outside the window at Jack's I sprinted out the door to give him a big ol' bear hug. It was surely one of the least disappointing internet friend meetings in the history of the white fire grid. At least on my end anyway.
Just as fun and real a guy as you'll ever hope to meet. So we have our little memento thanks to our good friend Cory and his telephoto lens. I'm a little groggy but I want to post about the event. Thanks too all of you for the kind words.
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A list to help get things rolling...
Things overheard on the back patio of Signature 4 last weekend:
1. "What if a lion jumped up out of the grass behind me and ate me right in front of you guys?"
2. "Listen, the stars we're seeing now are a picture of the stars from like 200 years ago. Seriously. No, seriously, they are."
3. "Where's Hogan? Asleep? Go wake his ass up!"
4. "Who wants another vodka tonic?"
4b. "Who needs another scotch?"
5. "I have become comfortably numb."
6. "It's midnight. (carlights) HAS to be Mike George and his crew. Let's drive down to their cabins and drink beer with them!"
7. John Lyon meet Donna Chang.
8. "Win this one and you're one step closer to Jack"
And this is all BEFORE the tournament started...
It was a seriously good time seeing all of you out at Dismal River. I had more fun than I deserve. And what a great crew of guys to share the week with. All were there to have fun and enjoy some competition which can lead to a very good event. We had a lot of help. Greg Dennis and his staff are consummate professionals and understood and executed the plan without a hitch. I am so proud of the job they did. THANK YOU.
Jagger Mandrell and the rest of the grounds crew have the golf course playing like a racetrack in challenging conditions - 90 days without rain - and a new golf course siphoning irrigation water from the existing one for its grow-in. Through all of the challenges they are facing out there, the tournament conditions were absolutely superb. THANK YOU.
Chef Eric - my friend with skills like you would not believe. THANK YOU. I know most of you had plenty of opportunities to interact with Chef (or Big E, as I like to call him) and discover that he is a people person too. Loves to chat it up with his 'subjects' and get feedback on what it is he and his staff do best - make kick ass food. I can't believe I stayed 8 nights and forgot to eat CJ's pork chop, but I did. Had everything else though.
Tom Doak - THANK YOU. That was the best 4 hours I have ever spent on a golf course. You don't know how much it means to me that you took the time to do this for our group. I can't wait until she opens.
Chris Johnston - THANK YOU. I know you don't like for me to give you any credit so just shut your eyes for twenty seconds, okay?
I just spent a week with Chris, shared breakfast and dinner with him most every day and rode shotgun in his Polaris for hours on end all over the place. Heck we went places I didn't even know existed on the property. Lots of them. I know many of you know this about him already, but I'm going to say it again - Chris has to be one of the most knowledgeable, passionate and generous guys out there in an ownership role in the business today. I am extremely fortunate to know him and even more so to call him a friend. I could not have put this thing together in the manner in which we did if it weren't for him.
Last but certainly not least, the 59 of you who joined me at my club in the middle of Nebraska for a golf tournament on the week of the Fourth of July: THANK YOU. This Bud's For You!!! What an incredibly fun bunch of GCAers and friends we had out. I had the opportunity to speak with each and every one of you and surprisingly enough for me I could pick each of you out of a police line up after spending a few days with you at Dismal. Pretty cool stuff. I hope to have the opportunity to play golf with all of you over the coming months and years. Let's do it again in 2013. One step closer to Jack!
p.s. Rode back to Denver with my partner and fellow Dismalite John Lyon and I think you'll have an opportunity to come back even sooner for his clambake. Stay tuned.