First day back at work after such a great weekend has been a truly tough scene. This was the first real “golf trip” I have been on, and despite six months of buildup it still exceeded all expectations. Major shoutout to @Big_RanDeer for putting everything together, and can’t wait for Round 2!
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Just wanted to express some of the same sentiments here. @Big_RanDeer, you put on one helluva an event. @Jalspurg, fantastic playing partner who carried me through the weekend. Hope the extra days at the beach has healed your back. @sman, could not have asked for a better roommate. Thanks to Tom(I finally got it) and Garrett for a great day on the black 
. That eagle on 18 in the dark… Great times on the blue with Drew and Cody. Cody throwing up -2 
!!! And we survived the heat on the Red with Tucker and Cassidy! Met too many awesome folks to name. Thanks to all for making this a trip and one for the memory banks. For the bad news, leaving the resort my car started to make some ‘go f yourself’ noises. It’s currently in the shop for a nice bill of about 3k. Now, if I can just make it back to Knoxville, hoping to leave today but we’ll see.
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“I hear Epstein Island is beautiful this time of year”
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CJ and I are on the same page here…first day back at work has been tough (we also work for the same employer) but the trip was well worth it.
Couldn’t have asked for a better partner this weekend than @golfingossett. Energy was high all weekend and we turned that in to 3 good rounds as a team. We picked each other up when needed to keep the bogeys off the card. Would 100% go to battle with you again.
Really enjoyed getting to play with @MidwestHack, @fastball811, @turtle812, @tdaly, @4PuttLegend and @DombrowBryan. Tyson and Colby set the tone on Friday for it to be a great trip and it carried through all the way to Sunday. Going toe-to-toe with Jeff and Tim on Saturday was a blast and I’m glad Alex and I were able to give you a run. And I’d love to play with Sam and Bryan again when its not 90 degrees and 90% humidity and the starter isn’t giving us the false alarm for weather and slow play. The round and company was great regardless.
@tuck_mulligan was a great roommate. Neither of us spent too much time in the room but I’d happily do it again.
Rett and Smidler (it won’t let me tag anyone else)…an absolute pleasure sharing the short course with you two on Sunday evening. A perfect way to end the trip. Having that thing to ourselves was a blast!
To everyone else I met/ate with/drank with/rolled dice with…what a weekend! Super happy to put faces with names and hope we can get together again soon!
And finally, @Big_RanDeer…PERFECT event!!! Couldn’t have asked for anything better. The weather created a little havoc but it made for good stories with guys finishing in the dark on Saturday. You deserve all the good fortune coming to you for putting this together and dealing with the folks at Streamsong. I’ll remember this trip forever.
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And the post-event recap posts are one of my favorite things about the refuge so keep them coming.
And I’ll tag @RDUgolfer and @Smidler here since I couldn’t in the last post.
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Alright, after having a few days to recover and collect my thoughts, here’s my post-event recap:
First and most importantly, thank you @Big_RanDeer! I know there was a lot of effort, planning, and stress on your end to make all of this work. Even though your raffle rules suck, I still appreciate you!
Friday:
I had the privilege of being grouped with Anthony and my roommate, @jsteve15, for Black. Jeff absolutely kicked my ass in side match, winning the front, my press, and the overall 8&6, though we pushed the back. That’s what a 50 front 9 will get you I suppose. I will say - my mid round shower during the first lightning delay absolutely turned my game around for holes 13-17, we won’t talk about 18.
While I played like shit on Black, the real story of the weekend was just beginning to unfold. My partner @turtle812 golfed the absolute hell out of his ball en route to a 2 over 75.
I thought Black was a great introduction to the property and what to expect the rest of the weekend, the only complaint that I will maintain is that those sprinkler heads in the middle of the greens are stupid and unnecessary, I don’t care how big the greens are - we have the technology to be better.
Lastly, the BoneZone “small plate” nachos might be the best value deal on property. Finishing the evening with some beers and bourbon by the firepits was a perfect low-key way to cap off Day 1.
Saturday:
Blue - grouped with @westerj12 and @golfingossett was an absolute delight and the perfect introduction to a Doak course, I’d never played one before. We all know that the way we play can and likely will inform how we feel about a course and that’s certainly the case for me here.
After the aforementioned 50 on Black’s front 9, I was 3 over thru 7 - promptly tripled the par 4 #8 - then followed it up with one of the best birdies of my life on #9 to shoot 41. It felt really good to show my partner, and our caddie Sam, that I wasn’t a completely worthless golfer after Friday’s showing.
Saturday night was exactly what I’ve come to expect out of Refuge events that I’ve been able to attend over the past year - commiserating about our rounds, lots of laughs, dice and card games, and lots of @mintbucket’s concoctions being consumed. I honestly don’t understand how the Streamsong folks allowed us to just take over the front lobby, but I’m glad they did lol.
Sunday
Our lead was 4 but we knew Jonathan and Alex weren’t going to go down without a fight. With both the figurative and literal heat turned up - Jeff put on another clinic on Red, capping off what was probably the best 3 day stretch of golf he’s ever played. We had a great pairing with @jan42dk and @AnOlGoatTrack, and even had Mrs. AnOlGoatTrack walk the first 6 holes with us!
A few highlights from the day include Jeff’s 3 consecutive birdies on 7-9. The beautiful draw 3w from 225 I hit over the dune that blocks your approach into the par 5 13th. And after a moment of weakness on 14, where we had to settle for my triple net double - finishing the final 4 holes 4 under as a team to clinch the W.
@turtle812 took the trophy home with him, after what I saw this weekend he truly deserved it.
My course rankings after the first time through - Blue, Black, Red
Thank you all again for an incredible weekend! It’s been said many times and will be said many more - but this community is truly special and after every event I always find myself staring at the calendar counting down the days until the next. Any time an ABandoned Dude(tte) is in Charlotte I’d love to play with y’all or just grab a beer and shoot the shit.
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Those two 10’ BEHIND the pin had to be a troll job right?
or the two that were just to the right of the pin on #3!
@Tron is shooting 65-65 on the weekend and not winning better or worse than a “Mackenzie Hughes 66-66”?
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That shot on 18 was straight money in the dark!
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A good investment: Columbia PFG Hoodie. My caddie wore one the whole time. Last day I wore a really thin quarter zip. Felt way better not having direct sun on me all day.
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@wblove These sun sleeves were also a great investment at 9 bucks. Wore them for two days and were very comfortable. No burning. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SHYJ3Q5/?th=1
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That really should’ve been 65-63 on the weekend, partner.
I played 53 strong holes. That last one just got away.
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18 on Red was a tough scene for us for sure…and I promise I’m not thinking about us possibly making birdie and tying for the lead…nope, not thinking about that at all
BUT….we played damn good golf together.
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Even though I’ve had a couple days to decompress from the weekend and collect my thoughts, I still don’t know what to say and I hope that it’s enough.
I am completely overwhelmed by the kind words here, on whatsapp, and those shared with me in person. I am so thankful for each and every one of you that came out and made this event a successful one. When I finally joined the Refuge and signed up for the Nest I was at a very low point in my life mentally. This community has helped me in ways I could have never imagined, connecting with other like minded individuals through a shared love of golf is something I’ll be forever grateful for.
Thank you @dshaddy for handling the skins, thank you @dinonuggets for helping out with getting the raffle prizes and tee gifts passed out while we were at the resort. Thank you @jsteve15 for being an awesome partner while I played like trash. Thank you @bogeytax for literally everything, you’re a great friend.
Looking forward to setting up another all-timer somewhere next year for all of the dudes and dudette(s)
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100% this. Golf has changed so much about my life in the past few years. The Refuge took that to an entirely new level. I have yet to have a bad time at any NLU-adjacent event anywhere. You absolutely crushed this event.
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just a reminder that our Saturday 65 also got changed to a 66
Our Saturday 65 got changed to a 67 so I don’t want to hear it
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the difference between T10 and solo 15 is a lot, so I get your frustration
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