Your golfing highlight of 2014

[Rees Milikin]

I had a great year for golf and it is tough to narrow down just one highlight, but I would have to say playing Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club with Leo Barber.  Leo was extremely gracious enough to host me at Paraparaumu and took time to play the round with me.  It became very interesting when a hail storm caught us at the farthest point from the clubhouse that left us soaking wet, however after a couple of beers, Leo and I went back out and finished our round (Leo was a great caddy for the last 5 holes!)  To top it all off, Leo invited my wife and I to his house, where he and his family had us over for dinner and drinks. 

Cheers Leo!

[Kevin_D]

Without a doubt, mine was playing National for the first time this spring.  I had a stomach virus/24 hour bug that started coming on the night before and wasn't sure if I could play.  It was also absolutely pouring in the early morning, I was convinced that the round would be cancelled.  But the rain cleared up, I ended up managing to pull myself together...and had my best round of the year.  Everything about the place was as amazing as I imagined, and more.  I played with a few great guys and had a blast despite feeling horrible (not to mention worrying about losing my breakfast the whole time).  I was also hitting the ball even better than I scored - every drive was long and straight as an arrow (except for 17, where my caddie said I had the furthest left tee shot he had ever seen in 30 years there. We think it ended up on the practice area).  I even managed to keep down a few bites of the famed lobster lunch.  After the round I lied on my couch for the rest of the day in and out of various states of fever-induced delirium, but couldn't have been happier.

[Lou_Duran]

My golfing highlight for 2014 was getting beaten by my son, 43-42, in 9 hole stroke play.

I'll never forget the look on his face when we added it up after the round was over.  And I'll never forget the 25 foot eagle putt he sank on the 3rd hole.

9 holes with Josie a few weeks ago on our first Thursday golf date.  9 holes at the incomparable Auchterderan (the "sacred" nine of Scotland).  50 degrees, no wind, only 2 other players on the course, £8 per person for an all day ticket.  Golf heaven.....

and Mr. Sander's post are testaments to our game's many simple joys.  2014 has been my busiest year in golf with rounds at over 60 courses and my re-entry into club competition.  In thinking about this thread, I have no single highlight, didn't play but a handful of "must see" courses, but enjoyed a great variety with only a couple that I may have skipped.  So, my highlight of 2014 is being reminded through threads like Rich's, Mac's, Matthew's, Dick's, et. al. just how lucky we are to be part of this community.  May 2015 bring even more.

[Tim Gavrich]

The one that sticks out for me was playing golf with my dad in August after he came off the DL from prostate cancer-related surgery. A return to normalcy. He's cancer-free currently, thankfully.

Other highlights include, naturally, the times my paths crossed with other GCAers. At Yale with Steve Lapper and Tom Dunne. A wonderful tour of Hackensack GC from Bill Brightly on the eve of the first US Four-Ball qualifier there. A wonderful round at Paramount. And this coming Saturday's round(s) at Mountain Lake is (are) definitely going to be another.

A wonderful trip 'round Timuquana in January helped kick the year off nicely.

Biggest positive surprise was the entertaining Palmer Course at Oglebay Resort, where the wedding of a college friend was taking place. Just a great weekend overall.

I also changed jobs this year. I get to think about, write about and read about golf and golf travel for a living, which is a privilege and a joy.

And 2015's already shaping up pretty nicely in its own right.

[Daniel Jones]

I have to say Matthew Sanders post is top notch.  You just brought so many memories back.  I wish I had kept my Hogan jr set. 
 

+1 on the Hogan Jrs. My brother and I started bringing my nephew along with us on our late evening 9 hole rounds (another of my 2014 highlights). I really wish I still had mine to pass down to him.

[Brent Hutto]

I can't honestly say one particular moment or even one particular round of golf stands out among my personal 2014 highlight reel. There are a few particularly sweet shots that come to mind, a couple memorable putts finding their way to the hole, a few moments of bliss where the day and the course and the surroundings combined to put me in one of those almost ecstatic moods that seem to occur only on golf courses.

But when I think back on 2014 the fondest recollections are always people. In particular, nothing beats that first encounter with old friends upon arriving at ones destination after a long awaited journey. In particular, two moments. Arrival day in England on my annual golf vacation when I was greeted at the airport by Mark Rowlinson, then the two of us being joined by his son Ed for a round of golf at Delamere Forest. And a few weeks later walking into Alan Doyle's joint in Lagrange, GA to find a whole table full of guys I hadn't seen in anywhere from a couple years to nearly a decade.

It's one of the mysteries in my life why golf has happened to be the mechanism that introduced me to some of my favorite people in the world. For an activity that takes up, what, maybe 5% or so of my waking hours it seems that golf experiences and golf friends make up a hugely disproportionate source of my favorite memories. And heck, I'm not even any good at playing the silly game in the first place!

[Paul Jones]

My Highlight:

Playing Myopia Hunt Club with Tom Paul and two of their historians/club leaders.  Two of us played a game, while the other two gave us a day long history lesson.

It was an absolutely unforgettable day and perhaps the best day I've had yet on a golf course.

Mark

I am with you on Myopia Hunt Club.  I have that experience up there with NGLA, Cypress Point and Shinny.

[Paul Jones]

Highlight of my year was playing in England:

Swinley Forest (36)
Royal Cinque Ports (with Sheehy and Chaplin)
Princess
Rye
Royal St Georges (with proper lunch)
Royal Lytham & St Anne
Royal Liverpool
Royal Birkdale
Royal Porthcawl

[Garland Bayley]

I like your writing, your world view, your passion for golf, for life.  The grace, gratitude, and positive outlook with which you are handling your present health difficulties is inspirational and further proof of the strong character that has shown brightly throughout my years here.  You have contributed so much to my enjoyment of these discussions.  I hope the docs can give you some relief and keep you in the game.  You had an incredible year, such incredibly rich experience followed by a classically tragic blow.  Fight on, we need your voice to keep us geezers interested going forward. 

Dick, I wanted to comment on what has come to pass in regards to your health situation but cannot improve on what Dave has penned. Here's hoping beyond hope that  you get some respite and can meander across many a more golfing fields. Thinking of you.

Colin

+1

[Bill_McBride]

I can't honestly say one particular moment or even one particular round of golf stands out among my personal 2014 highlight reel. There are a few particularly sweet shots that come to mind, a couple memorable putts finding their way to the hole, a few moments of bliss where the day and the course and the surroundings combined to put me in one of those almost ecstatic moods that seem to occur only on golf courses.

But when I think back on 2014 the fondest recollections are always people. In particular, nothing beats that first encounter with old friends upon arriving at ones destination after a long awaited journey. In particular, two moments. Arrival day in England on my annual golf vacation when I was greeted at the airport by Mark Rowlinson, then the two of us being joined by his son Ed for a round of golf at Delamere Forest. And a few weeks later walking into Alan Doyle's joint in Lagrange, GA to find a whole table full of guys I hadn't seen in anywhere from a couple years to nearly a decade.

It's one of the mysteries in my life why golf has happened to be the mechanism that introduced me to some of my favorite people in the world. For an activity that takes up, what, maybe 5% or so of my waking hours it seems that golf experiences and golf friends make up a hugely disproportionate source of my favorite memories. And heck, I'm not even any good at playing the silly game in the first place!

Brent, I was proud of the way you were playing at the Dixie Cup, much better than Dornoch 2008. 

[Dan Kelly]

I am on the bubble of whether my symptoms can be tamed and that I may  re-acquire visual abilities and motor skills to take up golf again.  I'll do my best and follow MDs orders.  

But, if it has to end this year, I am thankful to my golf friends, and satisfied that with the trip to my personal holy grail of the Sand Belt and Australia in general, and my continued love affair with our own Sand Hills of Nebraska, and the experience at the 5th Major, well... it has been a fine golfing life in deed.  

Dick --

You know how much I hope that this is not the end of your golfing life. You haven't yet seen it all!

BUT! I've said this before, and I'll say it again -- for your benefit, and for everyone's:

If your condition does not improve, do not forget that the Mayo Clinic is just one state over.

I am prepared to tell this to all of you: I've never been exposed to a better-run organization, ever, anywhere, than the Mayo Clinic. They can't work miracles, but the medicine they practice is top of the line, A number 1. If there's any hope, they'll find it.

Yr. friend,
Dan

[Chris_Blakely]

Golf Trip to Maine and Nova Scotia with my brother.

We played 36: Cape Breton Highlands and Cabot Links in the same day - off the to of my head the best 36 I have played in one day.

Mingo Springs and Wilson Lake the earlier in the trip were quite good as well.

Chris

[Ash Towe]

Golfing highlight 1a. Playing at Paraparaumu with Leo Barber.  Then eating at Sopranos with him.  Anybody who visits NZ this course has to be on your list.  Meeting Leo and having him take you around the club will be a highlight.

[Brent Hutto]

I can't honestly say one particular moment or even one particular round of golf stands out among my personal 2014 highlight reel. There are a few particularly sweet shots that come to mind, a couple memorable putts finding their way to the hole, a few moments of bliss where the day and the course and the surroundings combined to put me in one of those almost ecstatic moods that seem to occur only on golf courses.

But when I think back on 2014 the fondest recollections are always people. In particular, nothing beats that first encounter with old friends upon arriving at ones destination after a long awaited journey. In particular, two moments. Arrival day in England on my annual golf vacation when I was greeted at the airport by Mark Rowlinson, then the two of us being joined by his son Ed for a round of golf at Delamere Forest. And a few weeks later walking into Alan Doyle's joint in Lagrange, GA to find a whole table full of guys I hadn't seen in anywhere from a couple years to nearly a decade.

It's one of the mysteries in my life why golf has happened to be the mechanism that introduced me to some of my favorite people in the world. For an activity that takes up, what, maybe 5% or so of my waking hours it seems that golf experiences and golf friends make up a hugely disproportionate source of my favorite memories. And heck, I'm not even any good at playing the silly game in the first place!

Brent, I was proud of the way you were playing at the Dixie Cup, much better than Dornoch 2008. 

Thanks for that, Bill.

Between those two occasions you've probably managed to see my game just about as bad as it gets and just about as good as it gets. Most of the time, it's somewhere more boring in between!

[Doug Wright]

My golfing highlight for 2014 was getting beaten by my son, 43-42, in 9 hole stroke play.

I'll never forget the look on his face when we added it up after the round was over.  And I'll never forget the 25 foot eagle putt he sank on the 3rd hole.

9 holes with Josie a few weeks ago on our first Thursday golf date.  9 holes at the incomparable Auchterderan (the "sacred" nine of Scotland).  50 degrees, no wind, only 2 other players on the course, £8 per person for an all day ticket.  Golf heaven.....

and Mr. Sander's post are testaments to our game's many simple joys.  2014 has been my busiest year in golf with rounds at over 60 courses and my re-entry into club competition.  In thinking about this thread, I have no single highlight, didn't play but a handful of "must see" courses, but enjoyed a great variety with only a couple that I may have skipped.  So, my highlight of 2014 is being reminded through threads like Rich's, Mac's, Matthew's, Dick's, et. al. just how lucky we are to be part of this community.  May 2015 bring even more.

How could I forget the 2014 highlight of playing golf with Lou Duran!   

[John Kavanaugh]

Did you say highlight or highpants?  Sweet Lou!!!

[Marty Bonnar]

By my usually pitiful standards, I've had an amazing golf year. The now annual trip to Dornoch to catch up with the Dodds. A wonderful week in Turkey, discovering new stuff and meeting Ben. Breaking my Doak Duck (TM) playing in the Renaissance Cup AT The Renaissance Club WITH Tom Doak and meeting a bunch of GCA chums old and new. The annual trip to NB with Tony and Niall (get well soon, bud). A lovely weekend in Perthshire with great pals having a great time playing a crap course (Aberfeldy). Four rounds in Florida including breaking my C&C Duck playing Streamsong Red with the Redanman and meeting Sarge and Rees M and finally catching up with Pete B.
All to be rounded off in a couple of weeks with New Year at Machrihanish hopefully playing the Old and the Dunes (weather permitting!)
Maybe my best golf year ever...
F.

[Ronald Montesano]

Did the ducks quack?

[Marty Bonnar]

Did the ducks quack?

R,
By the quality of my play, I fear someone might have stepped on them!
F.

[Ronald Montesano]

F,
Fantastic. Long live the ducks.
R.

[Rob Marshall]

Highlight for me this year would be a trip to play Aronimink and Philly CC. Also played Oak Hill East a few times and Streamsong Blue.

[Garland Bayley]

My golfing highlight for 2014 was getting beaten by my son, 43-42, in 9 hole stroke play.

I'll never forget the look on his face when we added it up after the round was over.  And I'll never forget the 25 foot eagle putt he sank on the 3rd hole.

9 holes with Josie a few weeks ago on our first Thursday golf date.  9 holes at the incomparable Auchterderan (the "sacred" nine of Scotland).  50 degrees, no wind, only 2 other players on the course, £8 per person for an all day ticket.  Golf heaven.....

and Mr. Sander's post are testaments to our game's many simple joys.  2014 has been my busiest year in golf with rounds at over 60 courses and my re-entry into club competition.  In thinking about this thread, I have no single highlight, didn't play but a handful of "must see" courses, but enjoyed a great variety with only a couple that I may have skipped.  So, my highlight of 2014 is being reminded through threads like Rich's, Mac's, Matthew's, Dick's, et. al. just how lucky we are to be part of this community.  May 2015 bring even more.

How could I forget the 2014 highlight of playing golf with Lou Duran!   

I thought his highlight was supposed to be playing with you. I know it wasn't playing with me.

[Stan Dodd]

My annual year end round at Dornoch involves my buddy and the two assistant pros, Sean Fay and Gary Dingwall.  We tossed balls and Gary got stuck with me. Our team had 10 birdies in 14 holes ( we walked in because of glacial play)  I made 1 birdie.  That is right Gary made 9 in 14 holes and lipped out 3 other times.  It was something to watch.  I went home feeling woefully inadequate.

[Jonathan Mallard]

My highlights were brought about by three GCAers who have each been mentioned previously.

A trip to San Francisco in April and a brief tour of thing golf and not for the first time visitor with David Tepper.

Playing Crystal Downs with Tom Doak and Kingsley with Howard Riefs during a trip to Traverse City.

[Steve Salmen]

Spending a week with my close friend, Bob Giuffra and his family, golfing every day.