This past weekend, I won tickets to the Diamond Resorts International charity golf tournament. It is a celebrity/pro competition here in Orlando to benefit Florida Children's Hospital. It's an interesting event with competitors from the LPGA and PGA (senior tours) along with celebrities. Some of the the celebs were really good, while others (Larry The Cable Guy) were not. My son and I followed Larry for a while on Saturday and he made pars and bogeys. The wheels apparently came off on the back (front) nine. He certainly was entertaining though and a crowd favorite. Other celebrities included Alfonso Ribiero (Carlton from The Fresh Prince, Dancing With the Stars, and currently America's Funniest Videos), Blair o'Neil (TGC), Marcus Allen, Ray Allen (NBA), Jeremy Roenick (still looks mean as hell), and many others. You can see the full list of participants here. 

One of the things that made this tournament interesting was to see LPGA stars playing the same course and tees as PGA players and amateurs. I stood on the tee of #12 while some of the big hitters like Lexi Thompson and John Daly teed off. I've witnessed Dustin Johnson and other PGA pros unload on par 5s too, and I can definitely say there is a difference. It's also different to see how a pro plays a hole vs. the celebrity. I saw several of the better celebs hit into the 15th green with close shots, but they were past the hole leaving a downhill slider. Nobody made it. Compare that to the wile old pro Ian Woosnam who played one to short of the green and bumped it uphill to a foot past and tapped in. One of the pros landed the ball on right side of the hole where it kicked left and trickled right over to the hole and made the birdie. I think you can do this when you have better control over where your ball goes.

It was a fun event that I hope to return to next year. I am actually entered for an opportunity to play in this next year. I'm not holding my breath, but how cool would it be to share my experience between the ropes. Who knows. Maybe I can Git R Done with Larry.