Happy New Year from the Coach

Happy New Years everyone - Coach Lloyd here - back in Victoria. I wanted to tell you about my trip to Phoenix.
I left Victoria on Dec 27th and arrived in Phoenix - unfortunately my golf bag did not arrive with me. That golf bag had my favorite 7 wood and a 48 degree club that goes exactly 80 yards every time I swing it. I stayed with my good friend Gary Lamontagne and his wife Sharon.
Day One - I used Sharon's clubs to play my first round of golf in Phoenix. The second shot on the first hole was on a side-slope hitting to the green with a 5 wood - I slipped and lost my balance. There and then I realized street shoes won't cut it. At the next tee, I took off my shoes and played in my Footjoy socks. After that I pared the next 5 holes. After 9 holes, Gary felt sorry for me and had his daughter Terry-Lynn bring a share pair of golf shoes from home and deliver them to the course. However, the shoes were a little tight and Gary took pity on me again and graciously switched shoes with me. These shoes were a little bit larger and my feet were now happy.
Day 2 - 2nd game - my clubs are still AWOL
Day 3 - I awoke at 4 am. At this point I surrendered my favorite clubs to the fates. At 6:20 am the phone rang to say my clubs had been found!!! Lesson Learned - You never know how precious something is until you don't have it.

Things got better from that point on. I visited the PING factory in Phoenix. I wanted to get a new shaft for my driver that had cracked a while ago. While I was there a staff members saw that the head was also cracked and they replace the whole driver at no cost. I was so impressed with the helpfulness of the staff that assisted me and I have nothing but praise for PING.

The best shot of the holiday was with my 7 wood (of course) which came to within inches of getting an eagle on the 3rd hole (570 yds par 5) at the Trilogy Golf Course in Gilbert (southeast of Phoenix). The course was in fabulous shape and the greens were fast. I enjoyed playing with Gary and his neighbours Brian & Scotty, who may well be joining us in October for our annual Coach & Friends dinner.

For the first couple of days, Phoenix was experiencing some of the coldest temperatures in their history. There were frost delays & rain most days. (but better than 3 feet of snow in Alberta and Saskatchewan.) By the time I left the temperature was returning to normal in the mid 60's.

Every day after a cold round of golf I enjoyed happy hour and a relaxing soak in the hot tub at Gary's place. This holiday was a much appreciated break from 2 months of survey work in Alberta & BC.

A big thank you to Gary & Sharon for their great hospitality and also to Terry-Lynn, Thomas and their 2 wonderful boys Cohen & Cole, who made the Christmas holiday feel like home.