They only way I could describe winter park 9 was absolutely delightful. Hitting a great shot to about 3 feet from the pot bunker on the 9th and subsequently missing the birdie putt was a great metaphor for my golf game during the weekend.
Thankfully, the quality of my golf game had nothing to do with the level of enjoyment I had. Shout out to two random locals that really did a great job giving us some insights into the course.
What a great event!
Starting Thursday at White Oak with a great group of guys with to explore a new course. HUGE thanks to @JCO (congrats to the CHAMP) @OffTheDole and @Hwhite for making it happen.
Met so many people this weekendāhard to mention everyone. @soly @randy @Djpie @merchczar and @tron for creating something very special and powerful with NLU.
As always @Privatecollection could teach a master class in event planning and attention to detail.
Had a nice chat with Laz over a couple of slices of pizza and a beer Saturday.
Played with Merchczar when he eagled #17----perfect drive and a perfect putt. Same grouping Joezwickl when he scored 22 points in one nine with a birdie-birdie-birdie stretch.
Watching @RobertHunter light up the Cross Country event was fun!
Enjoyed the rounds with everyone!
Oh man. Where do I begin?
Thank you jimithng23. Pards, I appreciate all the work you put into the rental car and a great hang all weekend.
Zoom Crew. Vibing as always. Much love to yāall.
Speaking of vibing, Fluff pleasure playing with ya in the 3rd round. Shoutout to all of my playing partners. Iād @ you all, but I need to save them haha. I will specifically shoutout @jwfickett, though. In the midst of shooting 16 strokes worse Friday afternoon than the morning, going from T1 with Casey for best point total in the morning to a free fall down the leaderboard, he did everything he could to keep the energy up. I think the nip helped in the long term that round.
Speaking of the free fall down the board, I think itās an absolute disgrace that I didnāt win the Icarito award, @MerchCzar. Did anyone else shoot 18 points worse between rounds? I doubt it.
Though, I canāt give Neil a hard time. He did potentially save my weekend. If yāall didnāt hear the story this weekend, we were paired together at the Pre-NIT at White Oak. I hit some skanky, diving, sliced drives that werenāt going anywhere. Now, driver is the worst club in my bag to hit, but that day was especially bad. After hitting 3 wood for most of the rest of the round, I tried to hit one more driver on 18. Same horrible miss. Neil had seen enough. He looks at the shaft, the head, the settingā¦ The setting. I donāt know if Iāve had it backwards for months or if my body that felt like it was 2:30 when I woke up at 5:30 put the head back on backwards, but it was set at a -1, fade. Neil breaks into his bag for the wrench, cranks it to the correct setting, and potentially saved my weekend from maybe hitting 3 wood on every hole. I mean, I still hit some terrible drives, but at least there were some good ones, too! Thank you so much, Neil.
Speaking of the White Oak event, thank you @JCO, Harrison, and Damon for hosting. Clint, it was a pleasure playing with you at White Oak, too. You were so close to shooting low that day. I even mentioned it to you; when you squared the face up, it was pure. I had faith youād get rid of the blocks during the weekend. When I saw you were in the finals with Harrison on the bag, it was a no-brainer bet in my mind. Congratulations on winning!! Hopefully, I see ya at the PNW event next year. @Mwilhelm10, too. I also hope, Jesse and I didnāt ruin your hat with the beer.
Speaking of beer.
Link to the story:
Shoutout New Belgium for sponsoring free beer all weekend.
Some of ya heard through the grapevine that Iām allergic to beer and was trying to auction it off. Let me clear some things up. I have a slight gluten allergy. I tend to drink wine or spirits as a result. I was chatting with @Privatecollection, @Randy, and @Tron about auctioning it off where half the proceeds would go to Jax Beach and the other half would go to the Avon event. Erin processed it and after determining that a clause about āit canāt be sold; it has to be wonā might be sticky and wanting to keep a rock solid relationship going forward to maybe have them sponsor the event again, she advised against. I knew the auction was a shot in the dark, so Iām still getting the beerā¦ and will be drinking it.
Nearing the end now. Shoutout @bignanski for hanging with me all Saturday afternoon. We melded so well that on more than one occasion, people thought we were brothers 
Sorry for getting you hammered early that day!
Lastly, thank you so so so much to @Privatecollection, specifically, but a big cheers to @Randy, @Tron, @MerchCzar, @djpie, and @Soly for a near flawless event. If itās not a problem with the grounds crew, starting 30 minutes earlier each day next time might be the way to go. That, or do it the Friday-Saturday before Daylight Savings Time. I honestly couldnāt complain about anything elseā¦ except maybe a couple of TCās scummy hole locations. For the first go, yāall should be so, so proud of the event. I mean, I think all 87, or at least a vast majority walked away extremely happy with how the weekend went. The internet friends becoming real friendsā¦ I just doubleā¦ tripleā¦ quadrupled that past the crew I already knew. I hope everyone else can say the same.
Many cheers. I will do everything I can to not miss the next one!
Viiiiiibinnnnnng
I agree! @Soly sparked some competitiveness in me on the Cross Country course and I think I might have found something. I would like to make a formal apology for my shitty excuses this weekend.
Jamesā¦ how did you get footage of me in Houston airport, 8am EST, gate E5ā¦?
It was a pleasure playing with you guys on Saturday afternoon @bignanski & @MrVinegar206. Canāt wait to get up to Minnesota and play some golf with you fellas again!
Considering how much fun I had, maybe this morningās negative nasal swab was the real prize.
Mega self dox
Ope, nevermind
Tim, how many times do I need to tell ya that Iām from Seattle 
Sickest hat Iāve ever seen, online or in-person. Send me a pic of it so I can get @Battisstatus blood pumping
Which one? The PNW hat?
Yeah man
Some other shoutouts I forgot to mention in my long post:
Shoutout @anon24718094 for the top notch wine share.
Shoutout @ChickPhilA for representing the NLU Ladies aka Tasteful Layups. Sarah is super proud, Iām sure.
Shoutout @MrChickPhilA for the gift he gave @justine.
Shoutout @Privatecollection for finding my wedge.
Shoutout @LPondgolf for showing up and supporting the event.
Shoutout @Ben for the 'stache and shorts. Mega power plays.
Lastly, shoutout @Soly for making me crack under the pressure on the first hole of the cross-country event. Wellā¦ not lastly. Cause @TheThirdSnell deserves a shoutout for beating Soly in the event and playing with bignanski and I Saturday afternoon and @RDUgolfer deserves a shoutout for cleaning up in the cross-country event, too!
Guis,
I love each an every one of you (except @JamesHCard). In a year where so much has been up in the air and people are staying home more than ever before, I canāt express how grateful I am to have a community like this one that has allowed me to have the most fun golfing year of my life.
I canāt wait until next time, these meetups are turning into great times with old friends
Keep viiiibiiinnnng
