Urban golf and preparation for a Finland trip

Last week I took part in something that I thought my neighbor and I had invented on a slow Friday night back in 2010.

Little did I know there has been a league for it here in Portland for the past 12 years and it is actually something that officially happens around the world.  The origin is believed to date back to mid-1700s Scotland, but it’s hard to say who first might have played this fringe sport.

Urban golf was the game of the day and the way to play is with one club and a tennis ball.  There is a 13 hole course in the industrial section of downtown Portland and after meeting at a local brewery everyone set out to play a rainy Sunday round.  Here are some photos from the day:

It was a lot of fun and a refreshingly new way to approach the sport of golf.  This group only plays once a month or so, and it was the kind of fun and different outing that you want to do at least twice, so I will definitely be there next time.

Moving along…  Just a quick update on the back.  I went out and played 18 for the first time in about 3 weeks the other day.  It wasn’t too hard on the back during the round, but the next day I could tell that I would not be able to make a decent swing.  This realization essentially solidified my decision to take the winter off.  It’s not about getting through one round, rather I need to be in a place where I can play multiple days of competitive golf in a row.

I have a speaking trip scheduled for mid-November.  A handful of months ago the guys at the Kisakallio Sport Institute in Finland reached out about having me come and give a talk at their annual event.  I was honored and am very excited to head that way and share about my experiences to date.  Their website is:  http://www.kisakallio.fi/etusivu/english.html which has some info about the institute.  It is a non-profit sports based foundation located in Lohja, Finland, or about 30 minutes from Helsinki.

There will be two hours reserved one of the mornings for me to give an overview of my journey as well as answer any questions the audience may have.  After 5 years I have plenty to share so the time will be pretty easy to fill, will just need to make sure and have plenty of water on hand as I can’t remember the last time I talked for 2 hours…

Also, there will be a number of human performance experts, coaches, athletes and all different types there to compare notes with and absorb all of the knowledge at the event.  As I prepare my talk and throughout the event I will share any valuable information that I come across, and I am sure there will be plenty of that.

I will be over there from November 14th until the 22nd.  If anyone happens to live in the Helsinki or Lohja area please reach out.  It definitely won’t be golf season, but I am sure there are plenty of things to do in southern Finland.

I am very grateful to be a participant in this event and am excited to spend the next few days preparing a talk as well as getting to see some of Finland as I never thought I would have a chance to go over there.  I guess it’s hard to predict where life will take us.

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