David Leighton Reid

I want to react with all the below:

... Might as well add my second huge regret although it wasn't golf but deserves all those emoji's for a second time. I narrated a live show for Hitachi at McCormick Place in Chicago and on the last day the CEO watched my presentation and was very impressed. He told me his personal Sushi Chef was flying in from Japan with his mornings fresh catch and would be making sushi in his suite and invited me to join him and the Executives. This was the mid 80's and I had never eaten sushi and asked "sushi is raw fish right?" and he smiled broadly saying "Oh yes!" I attempted to hide my facial expression and declined.

... About 10 years later at a birthday party taking place at a premier Sushi restaurant in Chicago I had some Signature Sushi and it didn't take more than a few pieces before the memory of a personal Sushi Chef flying in from Japan with his fresh catch flashed in my head and I looked around for a dunce hat I could wear for the rest of the amazing meal. 

... The problem with outings and trips is they want you to play in the ... gulp ... mornings! My last golf forum trip to Myrtle Beach in the early 2000's we had the first tee time for 4 mornings. We all put some cash in the pot and it was handed out after the round. On Friday night before our Saturday morning round there was a mutiny by my team mates. They brought it to the attention of the guys in charge that I was averaging 74 in my afternoon rounds but 87 in my morning rounds. They settled on taking an average of my 3 partners scores for the 4th so my score didn't count LOL. 

... First day playing Barefoot Landing and the DLIII course I took an 11 on the first hole. Topped my drive into rough, then smoked that shot 10 feet into the water, dropped and moved the ball another 10 feet, then topped the next shot into the fairway. I am 100yds off the tee and hitting my 6th shot. It was freezing cold, nasty dew on everything, a little windy and I didn't have the proper clothes for the first holes that started at sunrise. By the back 9 it was warm and I could play golf but those first several holes were always brutal. 

... So no. Not going to Pinehurst and the guys going should thank me! 

I have a couple.
Shoes
I played in a 16 man group every Saturday and Sunday for 8 years.  We had one hole in one during that time.  We called it the Shoe Game.  $1 for every birdie, $10 for every eagle and $100 for an ace. If you made the ace, you had to buy everyone a pair of shoes.  I had the first and only ace in that group.  Shot 77 for the round with two birdies as well.  Collected $1500 plus my birdie money that day and another $1400 from the hole in one club at my club.  I took everyone’s shoe size and used the $ to order everyone a pair of Footjoys.  One of the guys was 6’8” and weighed in close to 290 and played to a 4.  He hit it a mile and a half.  He wore size 16s.  His shoes took a while to come in so I held all the other shoes until his came in.  When all arrived, we met in the back parking lot after that days round to have a beer together.  I emptied my trunk and passed out the shoes.  I saved the best for last.  When I gave the big guy his box he opened it to find a pair of my wife’s pink size 6.  We all had a good laugh.
Big Bets
As a top caddie at my club in the late 66-71 I usually made $6-$10 per bag depending on the member. More for Member Guest Tournaments and Club Championships etc,  but generally I made $80-$100 a week including working pro- am tournaments. I had a great time as a caddie.
I was asked one Friday night after looping for 36 that day, to hang around for the assistant pro to play a late 9.  This guy was on and off tour in the 60s and played the Florida winter tour every year back then.  He seemed always to be in the top 5 for the local and state pro and pro-am tournaments and would have been +3 or +4 back in 1968 when this round happened.  He told me before we got on the course that night to not say a word to his playing partners. I knew something was up when I was told to move his clubs to a nondescript bag and leave his staff bag in the bag room. Two guys show up that I have never seen.  They ride a cart with no forecaddie.  They are guests of a member who is a known mafioso.  I say nothing to anyone but the pro.  We tee off and the pro is -1 after 3.
There was a doctor, his wife and their two kids finishing on the 6th green and the doctor comes over to us on the adjacent 4th tee and asks the pro what time his lesson is the next morning.  The two guys now realize they are playing against a pro.  One takes out $1000 and says he wants to call off the bet.  The pro says he can’t as he is being bankrolled by their sponsoring member.  He finished -3 for the nine while one of the others finish even and plus 1 respectively.  The pro won $3K and split it with the member.  It got more interesting the next day.

I caddied for a regular group we called the gangsome every Saturday and Sunday which was 20 guys who were the first groups out each weekend.  The day after that 9 with the pro, I arrived at my usual 6:15 am.  I was told by the caddie master that I would forecaddie for two carts at 10 am instead of going with the gangsome.  The foursome was the Mafia guy member who played to about an 18 his two guests and the best putter in our club who carried a 12 handicap.  The 12 couldn’t get a game at our club because he could shoot 75 anytime he wanted to.  He was his nephew’s instructor and that kid won a full ride to Florida State back in the 60s when FSU, Houston, Texas and Wake Forest were the top golf programs in the country.  
Again I was instructed not to talk to the 2 guests, just locate balls, rake bunkers and tend the flag.  Help the members read putts and club them when they needed it, but ignore the other 2.  One of the guests recognized me on the second tee from the night before and handed me $100 to flash him club numbers.  I handed it back.  The members won the front, pushed the back and won the 18 and with some side bets cleaned the guests out for $14K.  The 12 handicap missed easy 2 footers on 17 and 18 to push the back 9 and still shot 77.  Needless to say, I earned my biggest tip ever.  I didn’t ask anyone for a week who those two guys were, and was told by the club pro they were two mob guys from Chicago who played to 2 handicaps.  They lost $17K in cash over 27 holes. My tip was $200 for the 9 and $500 for the forecaddie round.  Made my summer!!!
 

What an awesome moment...thanks for sharing!  (I hope you mailed him a letter one day with one chip inside - well, the crumbs of one chip inside, anyway, and signed it "skip" 🙂 )

So, this really doesn't pertain to a round of golf on my own, it does explain why I became a Jack Nicklaus fan as a young child.  It so happens my father had tickets to a small tournament that Jack Nicklaus participated in western, PA with Arnold Palmer as the host.  And as luck would have it, my mom who was to attend, decided not to go.  So what is a good father to do other than take his six year old son instead.....me, who by the way, was not truly interested in golf at that age.  However, I was a pretty good trooper throughout the day, but really wanted the neat things they had to offer at the different vending stands, like one of those cool seats you carry and prop yourself up on to sit greenside, or one the those cool mirror viewers so you see over people to watch players.  But more importantly were the food vendors, a six year old can get pretty hunger while traversing an entire golf course.  Needless to say, I convinced my dad to get me a bag of potato chips relatively close to one of the greens on the course.  Well, at six years old, I was able to wiggle my way right up to the ropes at greenside greenside, just as Jack Nicklaus was standing behind the ball viewing his putting line.  As Jack settled his putter behind the ball, a certian six year old decided to open his bag of chips, needless to say I began to struggle with the darn plastic bag because I couldn't open it.  As it continued to make an awful racket, people all around me were telling me to keep quiet, but heck what did I care, I wanted a darn chip.  Now as you know, Jack can be extemely forward about noise around the green, but in this instance, instead of saying some thing negative to me, he simply looked and me and said, "Save one of those for me skip".  Well this led to laugher amongst the crowd, which led me to tears of embarrassment as I raced back to my dad for comfort.  However, it showed Jack does have a human side, as well as a fan for life.  

My father didn't start playing golf until he retired and we enjoyed several rounds of golf together before he died.  During one round, on a par 3, my father's tee ball went into some trees right of the green and completely out of sight from the green.  His second shot ricocheted off several tree limbs and came to rest just off the green.  Since he couldn't see me, I picked up his ball and placed it right next to the hole and congratulated him on a great shot.  He was so excited, I didn't have the heart to confess what I had done.  For several years, up until his death, he loved telling the story of the impossible shot.   

From 1980 to 1984 I was stationed at Schofield Barracks Hawaii.  I was a member of the Kalakua golf course on the post.  The golf course is no longer there.  My daughter who was stationed there in 2001, then deployed to Afghanistan, said it was now post housing.  On the back nine there was a long par five slight dog leg right that was bordered by pineapple fields on the right near the green.  The chain link fence separating the course from the fields was lined with Royal Palm trees that had been cut to about fifteen feet high.  I was about one hundred and ninety yards out laying two.  I hit my third shot to the green.  It was a terrible slice high and right.  It hit one of those sawed off trees, bounced to the green and in the hole.  My first ever eagle!  What luck!  You can see photos of the couse by Googling it.  It was beautiful.

Priceless! Awesome story!

I'd say billion-to-one. Awesome. 

They must have thought you broke par or something - "Wow, that lady just ripped her shirt off in celebration, and her buddy is REALLY patting her on the back! Mazel!!" 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

Its April 1971 and I'm in the last few weeks of Junior year in college. School is in an Albany NY suburb. Three buddies and I cut Business Law class to go play Schenectady Municipal.
We have just enough money for green fees and we are carrying. Not sure now what hole it was on the back 9 but I get a hole in one. 
We have about $5 between us and go back to a bar near school for a beer - back then a draft was 75 cents. At the bar is the BL professor - we didn't know it was his hang-out.
We went into the darkest area of the bar and made sure we weren't spotted. 40 years later I got a second H in 1.

Background: I learned to play golf at MCAS El Toro CA. I was an RF4 pilot.  I started golfing when I was 29. This happened in 1984. The 12th hole ran parallel to the runway. It was a par 5 which occasionally was reachable in 2. I am out there the day before the airshow, watching all the airplanes and the Blue Angels. Great place to watch the show and get in some golf. I was playing by myself. I hit a good drive and then a 1 iron and watched the ball roll in the hole. I'm walking to the green looking around to see if anyone saw the shot. When I got to the green there was a guy with a big ass video camera shooting the air show. I asked him if he happened to record my shots. He said he did! Cool, I asked him if I could buy the recording. He said no, he was filming stock footage of the airshow for one of the local TV stations and the film belonged to them. He gave me a contact number, but by the time I got connected to that person, the footage of my shots had been deleted and she stated they wouldn't have given it to me anyway. Fun times.
As an aside, it was more than 20 years later before I got a hole in one.

Guys golf trip to Scotland for 150th Open Championship. 2 of us arrived the Saturday before in Edinburgh and attended the Scottish Open, one was in Glasgow, one flew in the Edinburgh on Monday before the Open and joined us on Wednesday for the trip to St. Andrews. The person that didn't make it until Monday had his golf clubs lost, we were expecting to attend 3 days of the Open Championship and play golf at least 6 between Edinburgh and St. Andrews. No clubs available at all in St. Andrews for rental. On Tuesday before the Open 3 of us played a round of golf at Craigmillar Park Golf Club in Edinburgh. My friend that had his clubs lost was able to rent some clubs there and buy some golf shoes as his shoes were in his travel bag. We started talking to the head pro at Craigmillar Park after our round and he called his contacts in St. Andrews to see about a set of rental clubs for my friend and was told none were available. So as we were having a pint, he left and came back with a golf bag that had a 3wd, hybrid, wedge and putter in it and said we could loan enough clubs for our friend to be able to play in St. Andrews, we said no problem, we can make it work. He left again and came back with a set of irons, he had a set of Callaway X18 irons that my friend could use, 4-P and that gave him everything but a driver. He was fine with that.
On Wednesday before the Open we take a bus to St. Andrews, check into our sleeping accomodations and head out to check out St. Andrews. The next 2 days we would be playing golf at Fairmont St Andrews early in the morning, there are 2 courses there, the Torrance and the Kittocks and then watching the Open in the afternoon. Nothing remarkable happened at Torrance other than I sucked bad that day. The next day we get up early, arrived at the Kittocks course in a little rain and head out. On the 3rd hole a short par 3, my friend using the borrowed pitching wedge makes a hole in one, his first ever, It was an exciting day. At the end of the round we told them at the pro shop about the hole in one and the course gave him a flag from the course with his name and hole distance information on it, and a copy of the scorecard and some other swag, we headed to the bar for some drinking.
Two days later on the Friday during the Open we played a course call the Dukes, it was fine seemed more like an America course than a Scottish links course but it was fun. The friend that had made the hole in one hurt his back on the 5 or 6th hole hitting out of a bunker and never played another round the rest of the time there.
On our way back out of Scotland we stayed in Ediburgh, played golf and then met the golf pro that had loaned the clubs to my friend for dinner, then we went out drinking that night. Of course we bought his dinner and drinks as a thank you for loaning our friend the clubs. The Tuesday after the Open everyone was supposed to fly out of Edinburgh back to the states, well 2 of us had flights delayed so I finally got a flight to Heathrow and then a flight back home to the states.  The person with the lost clubs finally got them back almost a month after we got back from the Open. One of the other guys had his clothing bag lost on the flight home and somehow the 2 of us that got delayed going home arrived with our luggage and clubs. Other than the air travel issues it was a very memorable trip.
This si a picture taken at the Edinburgh airport around the time we were leaving maybe a day or two before.

This....this right here is true dedication to a cause. 🙂

Woof - the digging around I can do without, but .... worth it 🙂 I honestly would have had it done after our 2nd was born, but with the pandemic, and the "oh my god we can't leave the house" panic (especially with a newborn), we put it off until now.  Happy to do my part and make her life even just a LITTLE easier.  Even if my eyes get pulled out of my head 😉

I had the procedure done approximately 28 years ago after the birth of our 3rd child.  The doctor had to dig around a bit on one side, because the tube that needed snipping was underneath the testicle.  It felt like he was pulling my eyes out from the inside.  Lots of swelling and bruising.  The worst part was laying on display in the doctor's office in front of the doctor and a nurse.  Also, it was really cold in there!

My father didn't start playing golf until he retired and we enjoyed several rounds of golf together before he died.  During one round, on a par 3, my father's tee ball went into some trees right of the green and completely out of sight from the green.  His second shot ricocheted off several tree limbs and came to rest just off the green.  Since he couldn't see me, I picked up his ball and placed it right next to the hole and congratulated him on a great shot.  He was so excited, I didn't have the heart to confess what I had done.  For several years, up until his death, he loved telling the story of the impossible shot.   

My father didn't start playing golf until he retired and we enjoyed several rounds of golf together before he died.  During one round, on a par 3, my father's tee ball went into some trees right of the green and completely out of sight from the green.  His second shot ricocheted off several tree limbs and came to rest just off the green.  Since he couldn't see me, I picked up his ball and placed it right next to the hole and congratulated him on a great shot.  He was so excited, I didn't have the heart to confess what I had done.  For several years, up until his death, he loved telling the story of the impossible shot.   

A set of Karma jumbo grips to experiment with.  
 

MAX HOMA WINS IN FIRST WEEK WITH NEW PRO V1
Max Homa put the NEW Titleist Pro V1 golf ball in play for the first time this week at the Farmers Insurance Open, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green on his way to the sixth win of his PGA TOUR career.

Homa decided to make the switch to 2023 Pro V1 following a visit last weekend to the Titleist Performance Institute. On Sunday at TPI, Homa worked with his coach Mark Blackburn and J.J. Van Wezenbeeck, Titleist’s Director of Player Promotions, testing the performance of the new model through the bag.
 
Six days later, Homa birdied two of his final three holes Saturday at Torrey Pines’ South Course, tapping his New Pro V1 in for birdie on the 18th hole for a two-shot victory.
 
Homa gained more than 10 strokes (+10.620) on the field over the three rounds on the South (where stats were tracked), gaining 4.595 of them in his closing 6-under 66.
 
Homa also finished first in Strokes Gained: Approach, gaining more than eight shots (+8.387) on the field, highlighted by his tee shot Sunday on the 227-yard par-3 16th, the most difficult hole of the final round playing almost a half-stroke over par. Homa’s approach stopped 15 feet from the cup, the best shot of the day on 16. Homa rolled his 2023 Pro V1 in for what proved to be the winning birdie (and only the second one of the day on the 16th).
 
Said Van Wezenbeeck: “With ’23 Pro V1 we saw Max’s ball speed jump a little bit off the driver with lower spin. It was flying great. He was even more consistent with his irons and the short game performance was as good as ever. It was a no brainer.”
 
WITB | MAX HOMA
NEW Titleist Pro V1 golf ball 
NEW TSR3 10.0 driver | Tensei 1K Black 65 TX  
NEW TSR3 16.5 fairway | Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 80 X 
NEW TSR2 21.0 fairway | Graphite Design Tour AD XC 9 TX 
T100•S 4-iron | KBS TOUR $-Taper 130 X 
T100 5-iron | KBS TOUR $-Taper 130 X 
620 MB 6-9 irons | KBS TOUR $-Taper 130 X 
Vokey Design SM9 46.10F wedge | KBS TOUR $-Taper 130 X 
Vokey Design SM9 50.12F, 56.14F, 60.04L wedges | KBS Hi Rev 2.0 125 S 
Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5.5 tour prototype putter 
 

I'll agree - when the cameras were on him all I could say was WTH  is going on with those pants. I did feel bad for him his last couple of holes - he knew he lost it.  

Max Homa is your 2023 Farmer Insurance champ.

Max started the day T-4 and 5 shots off the lead. 2023 may be the year of come back victories.
 

My father didn't start playing golf until he retired and we enjoyed several rounds of golf together before he died.  During one round, on a par 3, my father's tee ball went into some trees right of the green and completely out of sight from the green.  His second shot ricocheted off several tree limbs and came to rest just off the green.  Since he couldn't see me, I picked up his ball and placed it right next to the hole and congratulated him on a great shot.  He was so excited, I didn't have the heart to confess what I had done.  For several years, up until his death, he loved telling the story of the impossible shot.   

2 in 1 Golf and Beach hat.