Update from the Offseason
“Remember that new golf website that launched back in December by that really cool guy? That was the greatest thing I’ve read since To Kill a Mockingbird. Whatever happened to that?”
(Too far? Yeah, you’re right. Anyway…)
Greetings from Nashville where it is raining as I write this, raining when I send this, and—you guessed it—raining when you open it. But the good news is that Nashville is one of the most unique places in municipal golf because each muni was strategically designed to drain up to eight inches of water per hour, making every course extremely playable even during the worst of rainstorms… or maybe every course here is a giant mud pit. I can’t remember, but I know it’s one of the two.
On top of the dreadful weather, I’m in the process of buying a new house. You know how on House Hunters they’ll go look at three places, sit down afterwards to pick one, and—at their own pace—put an offer in way below asking price and easily get the one they want? Well in Nashville, the way you buy a home is by finding it before it’s on the market, paying at least $10,000 over the inflated asking price, and you have to offer to do the seller’s laundry for a year. After that, you’ll then get a call from your agent saying, “Sorry, someone else came in at the last second and offered $20,000 over asking, and they’ll do the seller’s laundry for two years plus dry-cleaning.”
However, I’m also selling my current house, so I was able to find multiple buyers who were willing to separate my laundry into whites and colors. But the winning buyer also offered to be an on-call caddie for me for the next 18 months, whenever and wherever I want to play. That really put them over the top. I promise you the deal we worked out was fair. It’s wasn’t $3,000, and it’s wasn’t 10%.
As a busy winter is nearing its end, here’s what is coming up next on Paired Up…
Three new posts are in the works
Don’t hold me to this order, but the next three posts will be…
Paired Up at the Muni: The Triangle of Life
On a sunny and 60 degree day in January, I spent an afternoon at my local muni with every person in Nashville who has ever even considered playing a round of golf. After fighting the crowds at the first tee, I was paired up with B.H and L.W.—a couple from Korea—and D.A., who promptly said, “Welcome to the initials group.”
In this round I’ll tell you about an absolute zinger that L.W. threw at B.H. that I’m still not sure she meant to be an actual joke, and then I’ll spend the rest of the time sharing D.A.’s story with you. He’s an amazing guy who used his career, golf, and surfing to get his life back together after battling severe addictions. I love meeting people like this at my local muni.
Paired Up with Rob Collins, Part Two: Why so Spiritual?
In part one back in December (which you can read here) we dove into how the creation of Sweetens Cove mirrors the man who designed it. In part two with Rob Collins, we’ll get into why this place he built in the middle of nowhere Tennessee sticks with people like a religious experience.
I found this answer as Rob and I sat on the steps of the shed and talked for another 90 minutes. Writing about Sweetens always makes me want to go play the course, so when you see an Instagram story from there then you’ll know part two is ready.
Paired Up at the People’s Country Club
Last fall on a trip to NYC I hopped on the Long Island Rail Road and played a round at Bethpage. After constantly refreshing their online tee sheet, I got out there on a Sunday morning and was randomly paired up with three locals—one grew up five minutes from the course, the other two were college buddies.
The four of us played the Black Course from the tips, and the day included a near fistfight on #6 green regarding slow play, as well as a train ride back to the city with one of my playing partners. I had a blast at the sight of the 2019 PGA Championship.
Contest Coming Soon
Coming up in the next month or so I’m going to have a contest where the winner gets a FREE all-day foursome pass to Sweetens Cove Golf Club! The way to enter the contest is to…
1) SUBSCRIBE to Paired Up – there’s a link to do this on the top right of the homepage, and I’m pretty sure the site prompts you to do this every time you visit.
2) Send me your favorite story from a random pairing. It can be funny, heartfelt, infuriating—whatever you want. Your entry can be a quick paragraph or however long you want, just tell me your favorite story or moment from a random pairing.
More details to come when the contest goes live, so keep an eye out for that on my social media pages (@pairedupgolf), but brainstorm your entry in the meantime. Every submission will get a FREE Paired Up towel! Speaking of Paired Up towels…
Towels
I ordered a bunch of towels, and they turned out really well! Some of you have been asking how to get one, so if you don’t want to enter the contest then you can buy one on the site. I don’t want to make any guarantees, but if you buy a towel then you’re automatically in the Paired Up circle of trust, and your next random pairing will be the best of your life. That’s the way the universe works. Or you can just enter the contest—the universe works that way, too.
