When They Were Young

I had a real treat yesterday (6/11) at a media day event at Idle Hour CC in Macon, GA for the upcoming Georgia Am. I was paired with last year’s runner up, Mark Strickland. Mark is from San Diego, played at Wake Forest, then turned pro and played mostly in Asia, Australia, and South America. (he got his amateur status back in ‘98 after giving up on playing professionally for the big bucks)

Mark is 3 months older than Phil Mickelson and they grew up playing tournaments together – including a few World Junior events at Torrey Pines. We talked about the course and what the guys this week would be facing, and his respect for Mickelson. (he’s also pulling for another home town buddy – Pat Perez)

Watching this guy hit great shot after great shot, knowing that he is now a business owner with little time to really work on his game – then hearing him say that he didn’t have near the game to compete with the best was just amazing. Listening to stories about growing up as a world class player playing with/against a guy who would be the second best player in the world was a lot of fun.

Makes me want to take up bowling. :-/

Oh – Allen Doyle drove over to help with the course setup ideas. The prediction is that the tournament winner will be no more than 1 or 2 under, and that will take a huge effort. Mr Doyle went out and dropped a quick 30 on the back 9. Amazing.