It’s never good when you go to the doctor and within 2 minutes of being in the room, they ask “are you available the rest of the day?”.
That was my Wednesday.
A few hours and a quick (painful) procedure later, I got the greenlight to still get on a plane to WI the next morning. Golf was TBD, but that was for later; I knew I wouldn’t miss the hang at the Ope for anything.
When I came out last year for my first Ope, I knew no one and just wanted to see Lawsonia and meet some of my internet friends.
When I boarded the plane Thursday morning, I was totally fine if golf wasn’t in the cards, because I just wanted to see people.
Fortunately, I’m now a guru on dressing wounds on your own and the test run at Brown Deer worked enough to allow confidence the next few days.
It’d be a fools errand to attempt to tag and call out the abundance of wonderful folks I got to hang/play/laugh with.
Of course, I’m a fool and must persist with a few.
@midwestgolfbum- you rule. Plain and simple. Your efforts and willingness to make all this happen are inspiring.
@Battisstatus- a few years ago at this point, I was losing steam for the refuge. I won a duck race, you sent me a box of goodies and a nice note, and it gave me the juice that pushed me back into both local stuff here and finding my way to the Ope last year.
@OffTheDole- I missed a million turns on my way to Sand Valley yesterday in honor of our Madison to Green Lake drive last year. Thats how much I respect you. In all seriousness, you are a kind and welcoming person and for that I thank you.
@Worst12onEarth- you owe me (and Nanski) an ice cream sandwich for missing the fairway on 2 at Sedge. Challenge was accepted, 90 yards of fairway be damned.
@drewp- I keep coming back to the word pleasant. Our stroll around Brown Deer, your demeanor, and learning a little of the origin story from seminary to coffee- you’re just the most pleasant dude, in the best friggin way.
@DombrowBryan- your violence towards the golf ball is only rivaled by your cool factor when ripping darts and trouncing vodka lemonades. I can’t wait til our next tee time, and the next club you sell me.
@Jpop942- we may have solved humanity with our roll back TV and the internet takes. Hope you can find your way to OK this fall.
@bignanski- I just think you’re maybe the coolest motherfucker on the refuge. That’s all.
@tigergolftraveler- I can’t wait to move next spring and be a few hours away from a tee time with you on any given day. Sorry I didn’t AssCap hard enough / realize we lost until well after it was decided.
@Aham13- my STMBRTHR. I had 3+ (ok, 4) people this weekend say they thought we were long lost brothers and/or assume we’d known each other previously. Much like the Masters and The Ope, you deliver on and exceed the hype.
The Ope is everything right about this strange corner of the internet we’ve all wandered into.
Next year can’t come soon enough.
