108 Holes of Golf, No Arrests: Success!

Well, I’ve been out of the loop for a while, playing golf in Pinehurst.

Or, more specifically the fabulous National Golf Club. Much thanks to General Manager and loyal First Team on Fox fan Ken Crow. Ken has been hosting our group of 24, then 16 this year, of very thirsty, very bad golfers for the last two years.

We’ve moved this tourney around to several venues down in Pinehurst, but I think The National might just be the best spot possible. The cottages we stayed in are flat-out stunning, and they sit no less than a punch-wedge from the clubhouse.

The course, I won’t lie – is hard. It’s Nicklaus. Whattya expect? But I think it’s a “fair” hard, if you play the right tees. The greens are very rock and roll. Extreme undulations, but they are as smooth as the skin on a baby’s butt.

Best of all, it’s got a world class range, chipping area, putting green, and clubhouse. You can’t go wrong.

People ask me all the time, “where should I go” down there. The only spot that rivals it, is Pine Needles/Mid-Pines. However, with the women’s US Open having been hosted twice at Pine Needles, they get a full price rate most of the time.

And for the record, I haven’t stayed at Pinehurst Resort “proper” but I know it is nice. It’s also about the most expensive place in town.

Am I sick of hitting recovery shots off of pine straw? Yes. Am I sick of sometimes skinny, sandy lies just off the fairway? Yes. Do I wish my game wasn’t so abysmally inconsistent this early in the season? Yes, yes, freaking YES!

But our guys had a blast. Nobody got arrested. No fights. No cart accidents. My team won. Hoo-ha!

If you want to bring a group down there, I highly recommend it for anytime of the year. I hear the fall is awesome, but with football season, we have to make this a spring jaunt. Do me a favor, call Ken Crow at the National or Jeffrey Jones the cottage manager and tell them you want the “Czabe hook-up.”

Not kidding. They will hook you! When Czabe endorses a place, people listen. And I was not paid for this plug. Although my breakfast sandwich was comped on Sunday.

Now, back to the sports world. Lots has gone on while I was away. Lots to discuss.

Nice work, Celts. Way to avoid total humiliation at the last minute. And good work by all the NBA “experts” who didn’t see any chance of Atlanta even winning a single game. Also, I saw the Derby disaster. Anybody really want to ban horse racing? No? Okay then, bow your head, say a prayer, and get over it. Horses break legs. Sometimes not even racing for big cash on TV. At least we’ve been spared another Barbaro fraudu-drama.

Oh, and what the hell about Marvin Harrison? Gun incident? Car wash? Marvin??? I know, he’s not a suspect officially, but maybe Marvin has been dupin’ us for years with the whole “nice guy” act. Maybe he’s a G’ed up gangsta in private life. Maybe he has a whole posse of shady dudes. You never know….

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AND NOW, YOUR PIC O' THE DAY!!