This weekend is The Dogwood Invitational - one of the biggest annual amateur events in the US.  It is held at the Druid Hills Country Club here in Atlanta - one of the most prestigious clubs and courses in Georgia.  Amateurs from around the world turn out, including the Australian National team, and dozens of top ranked collegiate players from around the country.

I had a real treat today playing in the Am-Am event.  The groups have one tournament player for each of us "normal" amateurs.  In our foursome, we had Rick LaRose, the golf coach from University of Arizona (he's coached one or two fair golfers in his time), and Tim Halling, an Aussie who was the runner up at the 2007 British Amateur.  This guy is 23 years old, 6'6" tall, and swings like Ernie Els.  He put up a 66 and hardly broke a sweat.  It was amazing to watch.  He's planning on turning pro at the end of the year and will be taking a shot at the Austral-Asian, European, and PGA Tour Q-schools.  This is a guy who could show up on the professional radar in the next few years.

Druid Hills really rolls out the red carpet for these players. (they have am, mid-am, and senior divisions)  Most of the kids who don't live around Atlanta already are living with families in the neighborhood, and the hosts I met today had nothing but good things to say about the players they have hosted over the years.

After reading two more stories about a football players getting arrested for drugs and alcohol just this week - it really makes you proud to hear great stories about kids playing golf and never hearing a word about any kind of legal trouble.