Life on the Road   by Dan Boever, Pinnacle Long Drive Team Elite Member

Life on the Road

There are more than a few perks when your occupation is being a golf entertainer. One of those is traveling to some amazing resort destinations. 

I recently had the chance to spend six days in Monterey for the AT&T Pro-Am. I was hired to perform at functions for both Microsoft and Yahoo! Inc. They each use the AT&T to entertain some of their top customers.  I have worked for both of these groups before and it is a treat dealing with some of the worlds finest organizers. If things were not good enough the weather was 65 degree’s and sunny every day I was there. If you have been to Monterey in February you know how lucky I was.

One of the things that made this trip so special was the fact I got to drag along my buddy Mike for the entire event. He has been a good pal since our minor league days with the Reds when we were teammates and now he lives in Springfield, Mo as I do.

He has never been to Pebble and he is a golf nut to say the least. When I mentioned there was a chance he could tag along he nearly wet himself and later told me he had not slept for 9 days from sheer excitement. There wasn’t gonna be a thing he was going to have to pay for because I was picking up the tab. He liked that part most. 

This could have been the perfect trip for my wife and me but instead it would be with my 260 pound would-be caddy. Carmel for breakfast, time on the beach, a beautiful room at The Lodge. Every time I turned around and wished my wife was there to enjoy the moment I got to look at the human snoring machine. It was not real fun to see him up each day at 4 am with his golf shoes strapped on ready to play somewhere.  

Day One had an opening and he got to play at Spanish Bay. Day Two there was another opening and he got to play the beautiful Pasadera Country Club. That evening he was invited to a wonderful dinner with music from Jakob Dylan and the Wallflowers at the Beach Club. It was first class every step of the way I can assure you. In fact at one point he turned around and ran into Kevin Costner. I am quite sure he wet himself again and informed me Kevin was in fact, a very handsome man.  Thanks for that bit of info. At another point he came running up to me and told me, I HAD to go get a picture with him and Uncle Jr. from the Sopranos. Uncle Jr. was there as a guest of Yahoo! I asked where he was and he pointed at the bathroom...that did not happen and when he exited the men’s room Mike yelled at him and he just kept walking. Lucky for him!

Day Three put him smack dab in the middle of the Pro-Am first getting drinks and food at Microsoft’s Villa and later overlooking the 18th hole in Yahoo’s Villa. There is a reason he is slightly overweight and I am sure both companies had a higher than normal food bill this year. That night we went to Spanish Bay and took part in an elegant 16 course meal with 136 wine glasses on each table. The night was highlighted by the appearance of celebrity chef Cat Cora. She was awesome but at the end of 5 hours we both went back and ordered a pizza.    

Day Four was back to the course and the final round. More drinks, food and a playoff to top it all off.  That night it was dinner in the world famous Tap Room and news we would be joining two dear friends for golf the next day at Pebble Beach. At this point I was convinced Santa Claus had flown over Mike’s head and turned over the sled because every time we turned around something great was happening. 

So there we were the Monday after the actual tournament with pins in the same locations and a day you could only dream of. My friend was wearing Depends by this time and didn’t even care. He was playing Pebble, for FREE mind you. 

As you can imagine this was a week that does not happen very often, in fact, never! But for this little slice of time me and my boy Mikey got to experience all that Santa has to offer.  

Reality hit us both smack dab in the face upon our return home to Missouri when we stepped off the plane to a brisk 9 degree day with ice and snow in every direction. 

A week later he was hitting me up about Augusta. What have you done for me lately huh?  Maybe we can run into Uncle Jr. again…        

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