Most HOG readers know I have a big place in my heart for the “Auld Grey Toon,” the home of golf, St. Andrews. St. Andrews is one of the coolest towns in the world, if not THE coolest. The whole place is about golf. I’ve made one trip there so far, back in 2011 with three great pals. We are pictured right in the Road Hole bunker. At the time we had planned on saving up our dough and going back in 2014. Having experienced the town and the golf in St. Andrews I vetoed the proposition of coming back three years later to do it again. That was way too long to wait. The guys agreed and we will be back there in July of 2013 again. We have our first tee time on the Old Course at 1:40 p.m., July 3rd.
St. Andrews Day
Today is St. Andrews Day. Happy St. Andrews day to HOG friends and patrons.
What is St. Andrews Day? From Wikipedia:
St. Andrew’s Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew. It is celebrated on the 30th of November in Scotland.
Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St. Andrew’s Day (Scots: Saunt Andra’s Day, Scottish Gaelic: Latha Naomh Anndra) is Scotland’s official national day. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated St Andrew’s Day as an officialbank holiday.
Although most commonly associated with Scotland, at least in the English-speaking world, Saint Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[1]
In Germany, the feast day is celebrated as Andreasnacht (“St Andrew’s Night”), in Austria with the custom of Andreasgebet (“St Andrew’s Prayer”), and in Poland as Andrzejki (“Little Andrews”–diminutive).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Andrew’s_Day
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it. I’m very privileged to have such great friends in the golf world. I’ve met a many great people in the years I’ve produced this golf blog, starting back in 2004. Those friends and relationships have been by far the best part of running this golf website.
Cheers to all of you. XOXOXO
TK
My flags are flying at half mast today. I just got a terrible phone call. My local pro just informed me of the passing of a long time golf buddy, Dave Shields. I’m sure I played more rounds of golf with Dave than anyone, easily over 1000 times at my home course. He was a fixture there as was I. We used to play every evening from mid-afternoon until what we called “dark thirty” for years.
Dave was the guy who could hit a flop shot so high and soft that he could catch it. I even caught him doing that on video (below), on the #10 tee at our home course.
Dave practiced harder than anyone. He practiced so much with his wedges that he had two sets, one for the range and one for the course. He literally wore the grooves off of the faces until they were gone. He never wore golf shoes either, opting to wear hiking boots.
Dave aces 8th hole – March 25, 2008
I had the pleasure of sipping a nice free frosty beverage when Dave carded an ace on the par-3 8th a couple of years ago (picture).
Dave and I had many great times on the golf course and did several road trips. We did Mesquite, southern Utah and Heber Utah many times. We played golf in hurricane force winds in a town called… “Hurricane.”
Dave had left the course a few months ago and I hadn’t heard from him in a while. I came to find out that he went back east and that is where he passed.
I’m very shocked and saddened right now. Sorry to see you go Dave. The next toast is for you.
It is time for some big news, counter to the early slogan of Hooked On Golf Blog, “golf, life. In that order.” In today’s case it is “life, golf. In that order.”
I’m happy to announce that last night my lovely lass gave birth to our son “Seve.”
“Drive for show. Putt for dough, son.”
Yes, the name is inspired by the golf great Seve Ballesteros. Unlike Mr. Ballesteros though, Seve is his full name and not an abbreviation of Severino.
Stats
Weight: 8 pounds, 6 ounces
Length: 22 inches
Date of birth: October 28, 2012
Time of birth: 6:24 p.m.
Club head speed: 126MPH
Ball speed: 212MPH
Launch angle: 8.7 degrees
Little Creek Resort – Click to zoom
I had the pleasure of taking a trip up to the northwest last month. I toured around the fine city of Seattle, Washington as well as going up into Vancouver, BC, Canada. I’d heard of a cool new course up there called Salish Cliffs and made arrangements to play the course. Very happy I did. You can read my review of Salish Cliffs here. While there I stayed at Little Creek Resort in Shelton, Washington. This is a resort/casino owned by the Squaxin Island Tribe, the native people of South Puget Sound. Today I’m reviewing the resort. Let’s go.
Location
Little Creek Resort is located about 1.5 hours southwest of Seattle in the town of Shelton, Washington, just off of highway 101. The resort is a short drive northwest of Olympia, Washington.
The area is mountainous, with very dense forest and beautiful pines. The air is fresh and the area is very quiet. No traffic, noises or pollution. This is a great place to get away from the concrete jungle.
Standard Deluxe Room – Click to zoom
Lodging
The resort is impressive. One of the nicest and largest indian reservation casino resorts I’ve seen. The rooms are new and clean, and very spacious.
There are four types of lodging options at Little Creek:
General Property
The resort’s construction, architecture and interior design is quite impressive, much more on the inside than the outside. The hotel lobby area is beautiful, with a large atrium going up five floors. (more…)
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