COACH & FRIENDS

*Coach’s first selfie!

GOLF TOURNAMENT - TAMPA, FLORIDA 2018

What happens when Coach Lloyd phones and starts the conversation with “Hi, it’s Coach, I was thinking…...”??? Next thing you know, a few months pass and all sorts of Canadians and Americans show up somewhere to enjoy a few rounds of golf while they make new and connect with old friends.

This year, the wonderful hospitality of our Floridian hosts and perfect golf weather greeted Coach and Friends in Tampa! Golf enthusiasts from Canada as far west as Victoria (can’t get any further west than that!) to PEI on the east coast (can’t get farther east than that!) and the USA from Tampa to California.

Day 1 - Bardmoor Golf Course for a friendly warm up game….even our feathered Floridian friends on the golf course welcomed the noisy feathered Canadians! 

 

 A few practice swings and re-connecting with friends were the order of the day.

 

Day 2 – Practice round at Seminole Lakes was followed by dinner at the new Cici’s which was delicious and allowed more time for reconnecting and much laughter.

Day 3 - Mario Garza kindly organized a game for the group at Bay Palms Golf Course on MacDill Airforce Base. The group was honoured to be joined by several prominent members of the Canadian Military.

Gracious hosts Mike and Mona Berryman welcomed all to their home for cocktail “hour” (or two or three). A good time was had by all! 

 

 

Connie is always happy to share techniques for a great golf swing, although today it looked like she digressed to mud wrestling techniques.

Day 4 - Tournament Day at Seminole Lake Country Club. Bob and his fantastic bagpipe band kicked off the tournament.

On your mark, get set, FORE!

Thanks everyone for kindly posing for a team photo…..

And of course, the 19^th Hole is where it all happens after the tournament!

These gals kept finances organized which ensured we were well looked after by these gals

A tournament requires a pre-dinner drink and rehashing the agony and glory of the game!

Wrap up dinner and awards followed with Hal lending his skills as MC, he always laughs hardest at his own jokes!

 

The attentive audience was entertained with a flute composition and fascinating didgeridoo.

Team Awards to celebrate everything from best score to brightest shirts! 

  

  

 

Coach always expresses gratitude to all who join him on this annual celebration of sport and friendship, gives thanks to those who helped organize it and takes a moment to remember those who have passed to the heavens above.

A new rule, every tournament dinner must end with a great golf joke!

 

Thanks to Coach for bringing us all together in friendship and making these tournaments happen. A special thanks to all our friends and hosts from Tampa who went out of their way to welcome everyone to their city and to their homes.

15TH ANNUAL GOLF AND DINNER UPDATE

The Coach has passed along the following update to the 15th Annual Golf and Dinner.  It looks like a fantastic time for Coach and Friends.

August 9th:  Early arrival and dinner in the evening.

August 10th: Happy hour get together at Union Pacific Restaurant.

August 11th: Golf and Dinner at Olympic View Country Club.

August 12th: Whale watching and windup at Penthouse in Double Tree Hilton.

GREETINGS AND INVITE FROM THE COACH

The Coach wants to extend a warm invite and welcome to all his friends to attend the 15th Annual Coach and Friends Dinner and Golf August 9-11 in Victoria, BC.  The Dinner will be at the Olympic View Golf and Country on August 11/17.  There are a lot of activities planned for the three days and details will be posted as Lloyd updates the blog over the next few days.  

Coach, Dinner And Grace

I was delighted to be invited by Lloyd to his dinner with friends last Fall at Vista 18 in Victoria. Even though Vista 18 originally said there wasn’t a private space available, Lloyd worked his charm and his luck, and one opened up. So we had a beautiful space with stunning views and great company to enjoy it in. A highlight was the cards made by Lloyd, with a personal message for each person present. Lloyd always shows his appreciation for each person he meets and sees them as a gift. I took this photo of Lloyd at the event and wanted to share it with Coach and Friends. Its always great to get your phone calls Lloyd, as one of your non golfing friends!  

Thanks Lloyd....Grace Gerry

14^th (and a Half) Annual Coach and Friends Golf Tournament

The Crawfish Classic

April 23^rd, 2016

The Wetlands

Lafayette, LA

As all of you regulars know, last year’s regularly scheduled tournament in Victoria, which would have been the 14^th annual, unfortunately had to be canceled, which normally would be the end of the story. Instead of accepting the setback, Lloyd, in typical Coach fashion, saw an opportunity for something else. I don’t know if it was the misalignment of the poles, the smoke signals, the gods taking pity on their favorite son, or just plain luck, but he made a few phone calls, sent out the vibe, and lo and behold, people showed up and a tournament took place in Calgary last fall.

Even though it got off to a shaky start (wait, there’s a tournament here today?), the Coach was unfazed, and, flush with his success, decided to try and outdo himself.

As many of you already know, Lloyd has been traveling to Louisiana every spring for quite a few years. The reasons for this are many; get rid of the Canadian winter blues, golf where there is no snow, let the warm spring sun heat up old bones, attend a festival, eat some good food, and of course, spread the word according to Lloyd, recruit some new friends, and accost and pester everyone he meets along the way.

Sometime last year, an idea started to form in Lloyd’s mind and he announced, at the quasi-regular tournament in Calgary, an interim tournament to be held at The Wetlands Golf Course in Lafayette to coincide with his regular trip south. He also announced that I would be hosting, or at least arranging some of his ideas into some sort of organized form, which, as we all know, is Lloyd’s Achilles heel, so thankfully the bar is not too high.

As of now, it looks like we have 7 teams; 2 Calgary, 1 Florida, 3 Louisiana, and 1 B.C.

If you are interested in getting any information on Coach’s latest caper, email me at ian.mcgill@mgmmedia.co and I’ll send it to you. If you can’t make the trip but still want to see what’s going on, email me and I’ll keep you in the loop.

Ian McGill

MARIO AND THE COACH

This is to describe is how much Coach Lloyd helped improve my golf game;  We met in October 2015 in Gulfport, Florida, and we’ve remained in contact since.  We play one round together, along with his friends, before he returned to Canada.  

He offered advice on putting and chipping.  I followed his putting practice routine--making three putts from 3', 6', 9', 12', 15', and son; furthermore, I followed his chipping advice and have seen recent success—most significant was winning our flight in a 3-day two-man best ball tournament at Avila Country Club in Tampa.  My chipping and putting were much improved after Coach Lloyd’s guidance.  My partner and I overcame a six-stroke lead going into the last day and won our flight.  I attribute my success to Coach Lloyd’s advice about being confident in my ball striking ability, working on putting and chipping, and finally, trusting his positive reinforcement about my game.  

Thanks, Coach Lloyd; you inspired me to new heights in my golf game, albeit at the local level.