TGC -  The big question, has your golf improved?

M -  It has been a positive offshoot of the project that the golf has improved! And you'd hope so playing this much! In particular for me the short game becomes much more honed playing day in and day out and you become more comfortable with all kinds of shots from 80m and closer.  I guess as a barometer I only broke 80 once or twice in the first month way back in NZ and now over the last month have only not broken 80 about 3 or 4 times.  

J -  Yes, on balance.  But it's by no means consistent!  For me golf's like anything: if you do it every day, you have your good days and your bad days.  So I can go out and shoot even par one day and 85 the next!  I became quite philosophical about it all very early on in the piece - even if I get frustrated for a moment about a few bad shots, I just step back and look at what we're doing, and remember what golf's about.  Namely, enjoying a bit of exercise and the company of others.



TGC - Do you still enjoy playing golf? Is this a golfers dream, or nightmare?

M - I love it more and more. Playing this much golf I've learnt a huge amount about the game and started to understand it a lot more - from the people, the architecture, the culture and even random things like the grasses which make up the course.  The challenge of having a new course every day to take on really keeps it fresh, not to mention a new haggle each day against two playing partners to meet and banter with.   Let me put it this way, there is a strong chance I'll be picking up the sticks again within the first week of January.

J -  Absolutely - almost more and more every day.  Sure there are some days when you might be less exuberant than others, but we're so privileged to be doing what we're doing - to be guests in people's homes and at their golf clubs - and we are well aware of that.  Mostly I just enjoy meeting new people every day on the course, and learning a bit about how life is for them, or what golf means to them.  Then there's the fact that we've been lucky to play a lot of the world's best courses - so it's not easy to get yourself up and appreciate what's in front of you.  

TGC - We've got to ask, what is the golf course you rate above all others to date?

M -  Cypress Point.  It's majestic and a truly brilliant design by Mackenzie.  The bunkering blows your mind and the atmosphere at the club hasn't been replicated.  When you're talking about pure golf, this is it.  The first 14 holes are underrated but par fours such as the 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th are just sensational.  And then when you get around to the famous stretch from 15 to 17 you just have to pinch yourself and soak it in.   I'd like to show you all our photographs of the place and explain them all to prove my point.  But you'll have to take my word for it - the best.

J - Pine Valley.  It's easier to sort courses into brackets than it is to rank them one by one, but PV for me sits out above its peers as my favourite.  When you're there it's like being in a bubble.  Each hole is unique and a challenge (particularly from the back tees, which we masochists played).  And the bunkering is so clever - almost mind boggling.

TGC - Tell us about your best day so far.

M - Jamie has described the best day of golf so far - the National Golf Links and Shinnecock 36 holer.  Shinnecock is an absolute gem of a golf course and our day there was something special. Other highlights would be playing NSW golf club with family and friends in Australia or the day at Cypress Point where afterwards we headed down to Pebble Beach for a nosy around (and even hit a tee shot or two on the famous par three 7th).  All that said, the best day of golf could be in two days time when we play the Old Course at St Andrews and then later that afternoon head out to Kingarrock to play the game as it used to be - with hickory clubs and in traditional attire (and with a nip of whiskey to get us started).

J -  Impossible.  There have been so many special ones, and probably a good handful of so-good-you're-constantly-pinching-yourself ones.  I suppose the day we played National Golf Links of America in the morning and Shinnecock Hills (which is right next door) in the afternoon is hard to beat.  We also had The Lunch at NGLA that day, which is an integral part of the experience (lobster, veal, cocktails and the like...).  But then there have been equally special days where it's been less about a Name golf course and more about the holistic experience - like the day we played at Somerset Hills in New Jersey, which was wonderfully relaxing, then went out in Manhattan for a night...which was less than relaxing.

TGC - Your worst day so far?

M - See below. Or a day at The National (Ocean) course on the Mornington Peninsula where a thunder storm hit and we were faced with similar angst for many hours. But to top it off the day prior I have twinged a muscle in my shoulder and being freezing cold my shoulder had seized up and I could hardly swing the club.  We got back out at about 5pm and raced around the final 12 holes before darkness set in all the whilst I was thinking that the year was over because of my injury. Thankfully the weather improved, my swing slowed down for a couple of days and a week later the shoulder was as good as new.

J - June 6, Michael's birthday.  We teed off around lunchtime in Sea Island, Georgia, but a storm rolled in when we reached the 1st green.  The siren went and we were back in the hut in a flash, feeling a bit nervous.  It quickly became clear the storm was going to rumble all day, so we shot up the I-95 to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where we were due to play the next day.  But Dodgy (our 1988 Dodge Ram Family Wagon) died half an hour short on the side of the highway.  A/C compressor shot.  Eventually we were towed and reached our hotel about 6pm, with no golf organised and no car to get anywhere.  So the clubs were strapped on the back, and we marched down the road in torrential rain in search of a course.  We found one after about 45 minutes, but there was a security guard at the gate.  He wasn't too effective, because we just walked past and mentioned "we're here to play golf...!"  Mike spotted a hole (the 6th, as it turned out); we grabbed 3 clubs each and chucked our bags in the bushes; then set off to play our round in a monsoon.  1 hour 20 minutes it took us.  Half way through the debacle our camera was getting soaked, with nowhere dry to keep it.  So Mike handed it to a young guy ("Griffin") cycling past, who was on his way home.  "Please take our camera; keep it for an hour; our website's puregolf2010.com; give us a ring in an hour and we'll come and get it (with a few dozen balls to say thank you)".  We finished our round wet and dejected; and Griffin never rang.  That was a long and tired walk home to the hotel.

(We got the camera back the next day, when Griffin's mum - who was somehow tracked down through word of mouth - dropped it into the course we were playing, along with a batch of fresh baked cookies and a note: "Michael - if you have been away from home for 6 months...you need a homemade cookie.  Good luck, Susie"!!!)

TGC - Tell us about you best round of golf so far -

M - There have been very few of late on the links courses which always seem to get the better of me!  My best round was at Pine Needles - a Donald Ross gem near Pinehurst where the US Womens Open has been held a couple of times.  I finished with a one under par 70 and playing from the tips the course rating was about 74.  A couple of 74's at the US Open courses of Shinnecock and Merion (also off the tips) probably come in a close second (5 straight 3's at Merion really got the adrenaline flowing).

J - I've had 4 in the past 10 days that've been either par, +1 or +2 - but the elusive under par round has escaped me on each occasion...  One of these days the birdies putts won't lip out and I'm going to do it.  The game at Glasgow Gailes (when I finished +1 from memory) was probably my best ball striking day of the year.  I hardly missed a shot, but got into the heather once or twice and ended up with a couple of doubles.  At North Berwick a few days later (again I finished +1) I had 5 birdies in a row (6 in 7 holes) in the middle of the round, but they dried up and I somehow managed to pick up a couple of bogeys coming in to spoil the party.

TGC - You have travelled together almost continuously for months, are you still getting on, and how do you cope with that?

M - You get to know each other pretty well that's for sure!  It's difficult at times particularly living in tight confines, with a hectic schedule and having a number of constraints (such as money, energy and time) but it is all part of the fun!  We're managing to spend part of each day alone - particularly whilst catching up on blogging duties which is good.

J -  We're pretty good on the whole.  But obviously there are times when we'd rather have a day apart - it's a lot of time to spend with one person!  When we're chilling out at someone's house or wherever it may be, I'd say we park up in separate rooms to get some personal space.  And on the course we chat much more often to our playing partners than to each other, which I guess is natural anyway.  That said, we've been good mates for 10 years, so we know how to deal with each other, when to back off, when to have a laugh, etc.  I'm not sure that two girls could do this - boys just get on with it...!

TGC - What are you looking forward to most when you finish your mission?

M - Seeing friends and family, having an all day BBQ where golf doesn't come into the equation and playing a couple of golf courses again such as Paraparaumu Beach & NSW.  Also, having people that we've met down under and playing golf with them and showing off NZ to them.

J -  I'm not sure you could print it!  

TGC - What are your plans for the future?

M - Great question.  They're still being conjured up and there is 130 days to think about that yet.  I'd like an MBA to feature in there somewhere but in the short term I should probably get some writing lessons so this book we're going to write will be readable.

J - Good question, and one that comes up with increasing frequency these days.  To be honest, still not sure - but there a few ideas floating around.  In the short term the consensus is that we'll write a book on our exploits.  With all the experiences we've had it'd be a shame not to, and it'd be a nice way to round off the project (not to mention another good way of raising a few bucks for The First Tee).  It's also something that I'd like to be able to give as a gift to the many people that've helped us out this year.  Beyond that, who knows.  Banking?  Advertising?  Business?  One thing I can probably rule out is being a corporate lawyer again - although I was glad to have done it, and met a bunch of great people in the process, the work wasn't much fun the first time around for me so I can't see why it would be the second.

03:43 pm

A great read. Looking forward to the book.

- Posted by Colin T Goodman

01:10 am

Enjoyed hosting these two great guys at St. Andrews Old Course and at Gleneagles in Scotland. They can play and are great ambassadors for New Zealand and the First Tee Charity. Looking forward to a life time of friendship on and of the links. GP

- Posted by Graeme Pook