By Surprise

I’m usually a very prepared person, but this week my own travel plans took me by surprise.  I had written in my calendar that I fly to Atlanta December 22 and so had plans to practice, play a full round and go to dinner with my coach and a few friends Wednesday night.  But, late Tuesday I received an email from US Airways saying I could check into my flight that was taking off in 12 hours…  In all honesty, I had not even started thinking about what to bring to Georgia for my 3-month stay there so had to cram in a speed packing session and somehow I managed to fit everything in a golf bag that surprisingly did not push the weight limit at the airport.

What also surprised me was that an entire new set of clubs beat me here.  Nike custom made a set of blades, new driver and 3/5 woods to go with the wedges and putter I brought.  I now have 14 clubs, half of which I have never hit in my life.  For example, I’ve never swung a 3 or 5 wood, and haven’t used the 3/4/5/7/9 irons.  I’m so so excited!  I’d love to be able to quote BB King and say that the thrill was gone before these arrived, but the thrill never left and now it’s just been amped up to levels one never thought possible.

This is about how I felt:

(Thanks Nick for the link to that video)

Here’s the amazingly beautiful set:

 

I can’t believe I have 14 clubs!  It’s been 20 months and 7 days since I started The Dan Plan and in some ways this is the beginning of an entirely new chapter.  It’s game time!  Bring on the courses!

Speaking of courses, I’ve got my work cut out for me over the next week or so figuring out a new practice routine.  In Portland I knew where to play and practice and had a variety of locations that I could go to on any given day.  Here, I’ve never been to a golf course in Atlanta despite living here for the first 22 years of my life (outside of one year in Boston).  Nobody in my family golfs, so there are no leads there.  I do have a course that has agreed to let me play up in Cartersville, Georgia and am meeting with them December 27, but if anyone hears of other places that would be willing to allow me practice time over the winter please let me know.

More about the clubs..  All of them have Lamkin full cord grips plus two wraps.  The irons are the VR Pro Blades with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts:

The woods are the VR Pro limited edition 10.5 degree driver, 15 degree 3-wood and 19 degree 5-wood with Project X 5.5 shafts.

I’m like a kid on Christmas, and it’s Christmas.  Perfect timing, Nike