Dave Breaks 80 For The First Time Ever!

I shot the best round of my life this morning with a 79 at Radisson Greens! Yee-Haw!!

I get the first-hole jitters all the time, but I've never had the eighteenth-hole jitters like this before. Parring the home hole at Radisson for a 79? Unfreaking believable. With the Post-Standard qualifier on Tuesday I feel like I'm playing with the house's money--even if I shoot a hundred it's still a career week.

Post-Standard Amateur

Next week I'm trying my luck in a bona fide golf tournament, the Post-Standard Amateur!

I played in some Golf Channel Amateur Tour events last year and it went pretty well. Those events are handicapped though; they divide you into flights based on your ability. The Post-Standard Amateur is legit stroke play with no funny business. Last year's winner was a college golfer named Zach Vinal, and the year before that it was won by Jim Roy, who used to play on the freaking PGA Tour. Needless to say, the smart money is not on me.

I don't really have a goal in mind other than to go out and experience playing in this type of tournament. There is a qualifying stage to get into the tournament proper, so that's where I'll start. I'm playing on the first day of qualifying and the listing in the paper says that I'll be competing among 66 players for 24 spots in the field.

Wish me luck!

By...your...command...

Here's a tribute to the O.B., the Original Battlestar, which aired from 1978-1980. 1978 was thirty years ago, but the theme song is still deeply embedded in my subconscious.





Did you know that a bunch of characters were the same in the original series? You can see all the originals here.

Ormond Beach

Hurray for us on the beach with our sea shell!

Rae and I paid a visit to my in-laws down in Ormond Beach Florida over the weekend. Thank you Ray and Irene for hosting everyone! We ate, slept, went to the beach, and played golf. Highlights included Ray holing out for birdie at the Halifax Plantation course and our visit to LPGA International where we played the Champions course.

Tom, Molly, and Jodi were visiting as well, and we overlapped for a day and a half. From left to right: Molly, Jodi, Dave, Rae, Irene, and Ray.

Granddad, Rae & Dave

Cat Hammock

I've decided that our house needs some cat hammocks. Don't you agree?

p.s. Sorry for the long blog hiatus!

Great Cartoon Located

Rae's Internship Journey

She's traveling the country to interview at potential internship sites for next year...wish her luck!

Help Me Win A Round At The US Open

Golf Digest is running a contest to give a way a round of golf at the 2008 US Open (Torry Pines, June 12-15). They are going to group the winner with three celebrities and have them play under the same course conditions as the tour players. To enter, you need to tell them what you think you would shoot, and why you should be in the foursome with the celebs, in a hundred words or less. Here's what I'm going to say:

"After weighing my strengths, my weaknesses, and the inhumanity of a US Open venue, I have determined that I would shoot 105, plus or minus twenty strokes. The length of Torry Pines will cost me a dozen strokes, and the green speeds a dozen more. But with all those cameras, at least one person will have seen where the hell my ball landed, saving me a walk back to the tee. In your face, Jack Wagner."

The Jack Wagner comment is in reference to Golf Digest's 2007 ranking of celebrity golfers, in which he finished first. Apparently he played Frisco Jones on General Hospital and Dr. Peter Burns on Melrose Place.

What do you think? Have any ideas to improve my entry?

Dinner in Seattle

Mmmmm, sea urchin.