Megan Anne Makes Her Debut, Craziest Disc Golf Shot You're Ever Going To See & Is That Mac Jones?

Back to grindin', blogging, mowing, reality, work, patio beers, etc.

My dear Screencaps followers, you have no idea how it felt to turn off social media apps for the last five days and just disappear while playing 128 holes of golf in northern Michigan. My only connection with the outside world was the sports bar app at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, MI where I'd catch two minutes of golf here and there. Otherwise, I was completely checked out from society. I was in the woods whacking at golf balls, listening to Yacht Rock, laughing, being rained on, and enjoying every minute of it with 31 other guys.

Here's how the golf schedule worked out from Wednesday-Saturday:

18 holes -- Nightmare in West Branch, MI (my golf game wasn't ready for this putting experience)

38 -- 18 at the Otsego Club's Tribute course (unreal experience, the course is a treasure); 9 at Threetops where 20 years ago Lee Trevino famously sank a million-dollar ace on No. 7, a 150-yard hole with a 90-foot drop; 9-hole scramble on Tradition which my team won with an unheard of sizzling -7 score after a full day of drinking and two guys with 20 handicaps. Needless to say, that round will be talked about for years. Then we played two more holes before the rangers had enough of us.

36 -- 18 more on Tradition and 18 on Fazio's Premier.

36 -- 18 on Smith Signature and then we washed it all down with 18 on Robert Trent Jones' Masterpiece course.

It never got warmer than 72 or so and we barely saw the sun over four days, but we weren't washed out. The rain that leveled Detroit and mid-Michigan never made its way north, but there were moments when the heavens opened up on us and tested us. There was a moment on Tribute at the Otsego Club where we stood on the elevated tee at No. 16, which plays 512 yards from the whites, with about a solid 20 mph wind in our faces, making the hole play what felt like 700 yards.

"This monster par 5 is the hardest hole on the course and also the most visibly intimidating," the Otsego Club writes in its course guide.

I'm pretty sure I took a double there, but it felt like making an eagle.

Random observations:

• What a scene Wednesday night at the Iron Pig BBQ joint in downtown Gaylord where it just happened to be karaoke night. Trip organizer Andy Brown took the mic and belted out his famous version of Clarence Carter's classic "Strokin" to an unsuspecting crowd of locals. I'm kicking myself for not recording how AB worked the room, singing those sweet lines right in the faces of the ladies in the crowd.

• Captain Ron nearly took a local home after mumbling through Rick Springfield's pop gem "Jessie's Girl." He could've wrapped up trip MVP honors on night one, but the Jager bombs kicked in & left him unable to use his nonexistent skills to seal the deal. The odds of Captain Ron landing a lady via "Jessie's Girl" had to be sitting at +100000 going into this trip.

• The body feels fine after all that golf, but the Fireball probably played a role in that.

• Gaylord restaurants are killing it with the food. The mac waffle at Snowbelt Brewing Co. was incredible.

• There's just something about going over that Zilwaukee Bridge on I-75 N. & leaving work, the social media apps, politics, and all troubles behind while entering the Up North experience. The great part about the golf trip many of these guys have been doing for a decade is that it doesn't matter what your golf skill level is, you're going to have a blast as long as you don't take life too seriously and you can hang.

Four days later, you head back to real life with memories, a clear head, and an incredible desire to do it all over again next year.

And with that, the All-Star break is over and it's back to busting ass. Let's get after it.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com 

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