gottaGolf presents: Stadium Links at Turner Field

When Clint Jarvis over at gottaGolf invited me to join the crew for a round of golf at Turner Field, I thought he had his sports mixed up.  Clint was indeed being serious as a company called Stadium Links is transforming ball parks and football fields around the country into golf courses.  Clint had also assembled an all star crew of social media "Influencers" for our 8pm Saturday evening tee time. 

• Karin Hart - Karin is an accomplished Instagrammer and amateur golfer.  
• Ryan Rustand -  Better known on the internet as Coach Rusty, Ryan is a Golf Channel Academy Instructor and trick shot artist extraordinaire.
• Fiamma Felitch -  Fiamma is an aspiring LPGA star and former Big Break standout.
• Joshua Kelley -  Remember that video of the guy popping a champagne bottle with a chip shot?  That's Josh, he's good, real good.
• Chelsea Pezzola -  Chelsea is riding the road to the LPGA Tour and doing some modeling along the way.

Karin and the gang would warm things up at Atlanta's Top Golf, doing whatever this is.

After rocking some trick shots at Top Golf, the crew would head over to Turner Field, to play some baseball with golf clubs.

gottaGolf founder, Clint, starts things off on the 1st hole at Turner Field.

Mr. Holein1Trickshots, Joshua Kelley would not find his hole in one, but he would find the green.

Chelsea Pezzola mixes up baseball and golf, in the classic basegolf pose.

After a successful outing at Turner Field, we headed out to Big Canoe Golf Club for an encore round of golf on an actual golf course.  Coach Rusty and the team hammered out some trick shots and we rolled in some birdies.

Big Canoe features a ton of drastic elevation drops. Here we see, Justin Estes bomb one 300+ and almost take out Karin Hart and Coach Rusty on the fly.

When @gotta_golf has @holein1trickshots, @karinhart, and @coach_rusty do trickshots at @topgolfatlanta. 🔥⛳️ BOOM!! #topgolf #gottagolf GO DOWNLOAD THE GOTTA GOLF APP!!!

A video posted by Ryan Rustand (@coach_rusty) on Oct 16, 2016 at 2:28pm PDT

The rules for Stadium Links golf are simple.  Each hole has a specified green that you are hitting to out on the field.  If you hit it on the green, that's a par, miss the green, that's a bogey.  If you hit it within the circle around the pin, that's a birdie.  Stadium Links also gives any golfer that makes a hole in one a cool $100.

Chelsea Pezzola and Fiamma Felitch do some Turner Field golf modeling.

That sand in the outfield is real sand.  A nice touch.

Karin Hart hits a ground rule double with her 9 iron.

The gottaGolf boys are excited about the tee shot on the 9th hole.  Hats off to Karin Hart for capturing the magic.  A bigger hats off to Clint and the gottaGolf team for hosting a fantastic outing.

That's Karin Hart with the hand off from the golf cart, Coach Rusty proceeds to do his thing and Clint finishes things off with some tracer technology.  Be sure to visit gottaGolf and get in on the action today and make your very own tracer videos.

Playing Golf with the President

When I headed out to Olympia Fields for a much anticipated day of 36, I had no idea that I would be teeing it up along side the President of the United States.  As I prepared to tee up my tee shot on the 1st hole, I noticed a significant group of people teeing off on the 10th hole.  "You see that circus over there?" the Starter said to me.  "That's the President."  I looked over towards the 10th hole and watched Barack Obama hit his drive down the fairway.  I decided to head out onto the course with him and hit my drive down the first fairway.

After making what would be my only birdie of the day on the 3rd hole, the secret service approached me.  "Did the President make birdie there? Because I just did!"  I asked excitedly.  Not amused, they frisked me, scanned my golf bag, and made me prove that my camera was indeed a camera and not some sort of dangerous device.

The 3rd hole on the North Course at Olympia Fields

The President lines up a par putt on the hole adjacent to me.

When the President plays golf he doesn't just grab a couple of buddies and head to the local muni.  Every tee time an hour before and after the President's was blocked off to give the President a buffer.  I imagine it would be some sort of federal offense to hit into the President anyways.  Barack was traveling with about 30 secret service agents and any group within 3 holes was searched and scanned.  I was lucky enough that our holes would intersect a couple of times.  

Obama has called himself "An honest 13" and from what I could tell, this handicap appears to be accurate.  The President also plays left handed and very briskly.  On the 15th hole, I got my best look at the Presidential golf swing.  He doesn't spend much time over the ball and makes a pretty good move at it.  He pulled one into the woods on the right, it ricocheted off the trees and back into the fairway.  As his caddie gave him the all clear, we joked that one of his agents probably just threw it back into the fairway.

Obama's tee shot on the 15th hole.

The Secret Service is always watching.

A larger group of members and guests had formed as The President finished up on the 18th hole.  Not being one to disappoint, he headed over for a rousing round of hellos and handshakes.

Obama did make a bogey on 18 but was all smiles.  He clearly has the temperament for a good golf game, just not the time.

I am still working on securing a spot in Obama's foursome, but being on the same course at the same time was a very cool experience.

Central Oregon

Central Oregon is one of my favorite places to play golf, so when Ted Taylor over at Visit Central Oregon gave me a call to tell me about the PacAm golf tournament in Bend OR, I knew that a trip would be in order.  Below you will find a brief rundown of the PacAm and the courses to play in Central Oregon.

The PacAm is one of the larger amateur tournaments in Oregon and in 2016 it celebrated it's 20th year in existence.  I was there to capture the action and most importantly the golf courses of Central Oregon.  The PacAm hosts approximately 450 participants each year and the tournament is played over seven courses with the Championship round being played at Crosswater Club in Bend.

Courses of the PacAm:

• Crosswater Club
• Widgi Creek
• Aspen Lakes
• Sunriver - Woodlands
• Sunriver - Meadows
• Black Butte Ranch
• Juniper Golf Course
• Lost Tracks

The 16th at Lost Tracks Golf Club

The PacAm starts off with the Festival of Golf, where around $8k was raised for the local Boys & Girls Club of Bend.  Golfers have a chance to win a car with a hole in one, achieve glory with a long drive, or most importantly devour cake.  

Before the golfers got after this cake, it was a perfectly sculpted sight of deliciousness. 

The Festival of Golf gets underway at the Sunriver Resort.

After the festival of golf had kicked off the tournament, the golfers would head out for 3 rounds over the next 3 days at the 7 area courses.  The tournament is broken down into gross and net divisions and flighted by handicap.  Pretty much anyone has the potential to win if they play well.  

The top 4 contestants in each flight would win M2 Drivers, Nikon range finders, and Taylor Made golf bags and balls.  This was easily the most swag I had seen at a tournament of this nature.  

In the end, Rick Gehrke of Meridian, ID would take home the overall champion honors.  Congratulations, Rick.

The 15th hole at Nicklaus' Pronghorn course

Next up on the agenda was Tetherow, The David McLay Kidd design offers plenty of challenge and excitement.  Heading up the excitement category are the Golfboards that are available for rent.  Tetherow was actually the pilot course for Golfboard and the company is headquartered in Bend.

If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.  But don't just take my word for it.  Check out this Golfboard review by Chicago's very own, Ferris Bueller.

We quickly doubled up our raffle tickets with some cornhole.

Bag piping scene is strong at the PacAm

The always interesting 12th hole at Pronghorn

While the tournament was underway, I took the time to visit some of the area's marquee courses.  Among the top of that list is Pronghorn Resort.  With 2 championship courses, one designed by Tom Fazio and the other by Jack Nicklaus, this is a must play for any Bend visit.

I played a pretty solid round and had a chance to break par with a birdie on 18.  The pressure was tense as I faced a tough approach from the right rough.  In the shot of the day, I hit a towering 6 iron that fell out of the sky and right onto the flag stick.  I converted the 3 foot putt for 71 and walked off of 18 with a nice big smile.  

After a tough day on the links at Tetherow, I would cap off my day gloriously with a fine eagle putt.  

With an eagle this spectacular, an equally spectacular celebration is required.  I deliver the putt, then deliver the kicks.

The signature 17th hole at Tetherow from behind the green.

When considering your next golf trip, Central Oregon should definitely be on the list for discussion.  With so many public options available, the avid golfer could play for a week without running out of exciting new holes to play.  

Even If you can't make it to the PacAm tournament, the area is definitely worth visiting.  In addition to the world class golf, there is hiking, fishing, skiing, rafting, and rock climbing.  Central Oregon also gets more than 300 days of sunshine a year. 

A big thanks to Ted Taylor and Visit Central Oregon for inviting me out for a fantastic couple of days.

I didn't make it out to Brasada Ranch this trip, but it is another Central Oregon gem.

The 8th hole at Crosswater is a short par 4, that does indeed, cross over the water.

Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail

The trail trip was officially kicked off at Fazio's Old Overton.

The Robert Trent Jones (RTJ) Golf Trail in Alabama has been on my "To Do" list for many years.  2016 would be the year that we would finally pull the trigger on the trail.

Widely known as the greatest value in golf, the RTJ Golf Trail consists of 11 locations across the state of Alabama.  All together there are 26 golf courses and 468 golf holes.  Although the desire to play all 468 holes was there, we would only play 144 of them.

Before we tackled the trail, we decided to get in a warm up round at Tom Fazio's Old Overton.  It was no problem warming up as the temperature was around 90 degrees.  

The 6th hole at Ross Bridge is the 2nd in a great set of 4 par 3's.

After the initial golf/sweat fest at Old Overton, our numbers increased to 5 as we took on our first RTJ Trail course at Ross Bridge.  Because of the heat, we were one of the only groups on the course and we decided to play as a five some.

After the initial 18 at Ross Bridge, the trip really began to pick up some steam as we headed down the road to play Oxmoor Valley's Ridge course.  We also picked up 2 additional golfers and became a force to be reckoned with on The Trail.

We would play the front nine on the Ridge Course twice to bring the day's hole count to 45.  I would also set several personal records for most birdies in a single day with 8 and most gallons sweated in a 12 hour period with 5.

One of my favorite par 5's on the trip was the 3rd hole at Oxmoor Valley's Ridge Course.

Trip Organizer, Nik Divakaruni, finds the green on the island 6th hole on The Judge at Capitol Hill.

Those who drink from the birdie well on 16 are rumored to finish strong.  Naturally, I bathed in it.

With the golf crew in full force we headed out for another day of 45 holes of golf at Capitol Hill.  It would be a day of government officials as we took on The Judge, The Senator, and finally, The Legislator.

Not everyone would make the full 45 holes.  We would lose 2 golfers after 36 stating that things were getting "Too political"  Others would argue that the highlight of the day was the banana pudding between 18's.  Everyone would agree that the opening hole on The Judge was awesome.

Be sure to click on the course links to view more photos.

The final putt on the 45th hole of the day would fall as the sun would set on The Legislator.

The trigger that inspired the visit to the south was actually the beginning of the 2015 NCAA College Football season.  In addition to golfing like fiends, we would be attending the Auburn Clemson game in Auburn.  

After a day of 18 holes at Grand National's Lake course, we set out to tailgate hard and then get our College Football kickoff on.  This would be my first SEC football experience and I would not be disappointed.  The tailgators ate and drank like linebackers, the fans cheered as if their hair was on fire, and we joined right in.

The War Eagle at Auburn circles the stadium before kickoff and lands at midfield.  Here he stops by to say hi to the out-of-towners.

Golf animal, Nik, holes out from 150 yards and shows me the ball. What a boss!

Expert green reader, Kris Buerkle, sizes up a 20 footer and then jars it.

The Links Course at Grand National comes in at #6 on Golf Digest's Best in State rankings.

The 8th hole on the Short Course is just one of 18 outstanding par 3's.

Capitol Hill's Senator Course plays host to the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.

Brad Thompson, a former backup QB at Clemson, routinely bombs the driver 310+ and inspires his playing partners to come up wtih creative new excuses for not hitting a wedge into every green.

A stong tailgate scene unfolds at Auburn. University

Clemson would emerge victorious but they would not cover the spread, which was bad news for the majority of our gang.  To ease the pain, we retired back to our local Days Inn accomodations and played frisbee in the parking lot.

The next morning the golf would continue with another day of 36 holes at Grand National.  The Links course was rumoured to be one of the toughest tests of golf on the trail and we wanted a piece of the action.

In the "Shot of the Trip" Nik Divakaruni would hole out from 150 yards for birdie on the 12th hole.  Nik would attempt to purchase the entire beverage cart in celebration.  I would join in the golf party by playing one of my better rounds of the year and carding a 72 after a rousing birdie on 18.

Birdies on 18! Riding the RTJ golf trail hard. pic.twitter.com/VmL7CCA5Ju

— Patrick Koenig (@PatrickjKoenig) September 4, 2016

After finishing up on the Links course, we had enough time left on the trip to hit up the par 3 course at Grand National.  The Short Course consists of 18 outstanding par 3's ranging from 100 yards to over 200.  Each one of these holes would be a welcome addition to most championship layouts.

If you have never hit a bunker shot in your bare feet, you are missing out.

We took off our shoes to feel the bermuda on our toes and work on our sock tan lines.  Captain Joe Garvey even went shirtless for 6 holes.  Just as darkness overtook the course, we finished up on 18.  Unfortunately, we would leave Alabama before the sun would rise on the RTJ Golf Trail again.  With 324 holes remaining to be played, a return trip is in order.

Water Balloons!

My good friend, Joey The Cat turned 30 and decided to throw a tremendous beach rager out in Manzanita, Oregon.  Part of this epic celebration would be the Joey The Cat Invitational.  According to the billing, this would be the world's 178th most important golf tournament.  In order to propertly kick off a tournament of this proportion, you need to have water balloons, a lot of friends, and you need to have those friends throw the water balloons at you while you tee off.

When teeing it up this summer it is important to take steps to prevent heat stroke and heat related illness. Here I demonstrate an uncommon remedy. #beattheheat #waterballoons #jtc30 📷: @muchable

A video posted by Patrick Koenig (@pjkoenig) on Aug 10, 2016 at 2:19pm PDT

Direct link to video here

Behind the scenes photos taken by Andrew Herrold

Joey The Cat works on his tan, while turning 30, and playing some beach golf.

The ball just lies there, waiting, beckoning to be struck.  It rests gently in the sand, tempting you.  Come and play!!

As you can see, Joey The Cat's 30th was a rousing success and the tournament was only a portion of the festivities.  

It takes a serious character and a great friend to pull off a celebration on this scale, and Joey certainly fits the bill.

Pile up at the JTC30 Golf Tournament

Dot Dash Pay Co-Founder Sean Arietta tees of in lederhosen.

Joey The Cat viciously assaults a golf ball shaped pinata with his high powered karate kicks.