Winter Wonderland

Today was filled with much anticipation; we had 8 inches of snow blow through middle Tennessee from Sunday night through Monday. Last year, we had a similar weather event move in that allowed my son and me the chance to go sledding at the golf course I’m a Superintendent at. Its filled with beautiful rolling terrain and slopes that are conducive to speed and short walks—a snow sledder’s dream :) Now I know this blog is supposed to be centered on golf experiences, style and some BBQ, but let us not forget there are many ways to enjoy ourselves at a golf course. Going sledding with your kids is easily top two—aside from shooting your personal best score, it’s probably number one—no lost balls, no three putts…all birdies baby!

Technically we made our first trek out to the course yesterday since we pretty much spent all of Sunday constantly checking the weather report, first it predicted 1”—now it said 3'“, then back to 1”—we didn’t know what to expect. Then the magic happened! It started snowing, and snowing and snowing all through the night, my little guy’s enthusiasm was contagious; we were both giddy about tackling the slopes and craving the “need for speed.” There was no stopping us from the snow filled adventure that was awaiting! The roads weren’t great but I’ve got a 4x4 truck so we were fine, in somewhat unlucky fashion the snow continued to fall like crazy and there was no speed to be had. We called it day rather quickly and hunkered down at the house as the snow continued to fall into the early evening.

Today was a different day altogether; the sun was shining and the breeze had laid down, it was a chilly 17 degrees but we were ready! I threw on my FreeFly base layer hoodie (shameless plug but this brand is amazing and I will be mentioning them frequently) and an additional waterproof/windproof layer on top to stay warm and we were out the door to tackle the slopes on our California boogie boards. Improvisation with sledding is key and the boogie boards are no joke, they definitely float on the snow, pretty sweet really. When we pulled into my maintenance shop you could hear the echo of laughter ringing through the course. There were probably 15 cars parked up at the clubhouse with kids of all ages tackling the giant hill on the driving range. It was awesome to see everyone enjoying an outdoor adventure and gave me flashbacks of my youth, having the fortune of growing up on a golf course in Northern Illinois with a sledding hill in my backyard. Fulfilling is an understatement that my son now has a similar opportunity to create his own snow filled memories. Given that the driving range was pretty busy, we hopped in a utility vehicle and found our own private hill on the 5th fairway. Its a short par 4 with a very elevated diabolical green complex and no bunkers; its sassy but gettable. The elevated green provides the perfect platform to sled from and after a few trails we were cruising a good 100 yds down the snow covered fairway. We were out there a good hour and a half and hit up a couple other spots on our way in to wrap up a great day on “the slopes.”

Today the grass was greener under an 8” blanket of snow; sharing laughs and memories that will last for a lifetime. Afterall, golf is great way to share laughs and memories with our loved ones, regardless if you slice a drive or miss a putt. With golf, you’re always going to have a 3 putt here and there but does that mean you won’t laugh at your buddie’s joke? Of course not. So weather you play great or have the worst round of your life, be glad you had the chance to be there with the one’s you care about. Today at the course wasn’t spent chasing errant drives or hitting flop shots, I was chasing fun, just like we need to remind ourselves to do everytime we’re on the course.

The Puttshack, Baby

The Wilshire