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Harry's PGA Show Travelogue

SuperStroke
snicker.doodles said:
excellent reporting longshanks. sounds very interesting.

what is bevo doing in the native grass?
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He was hungry and I though he might want to graze for a few minutes.

Actually, I wiped a seven iron and flew everything, including the water hazard. Was probably 30 yards longer than my normal 7 iron.
 
What a great read this thread has been! Thanks for sharing your journey Harry, and giving us some insight into Team THP and the hard work that JB and GG put into making THP the best golf site.
 
I can't believe that I just now found this thread! Great read and I can't wait to see some more.

You were an excellent choice for this assignment sir.
 
Having voyeuristic fun here!!! That breakfast looked huge. How does a little person like GG get that down, even without the bacon!
 
C-Tech said:
Having voyeuristic fun here!!! That breakfast looked huge. How does a little person like GG get that down, even without the bacon!
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Dont let the "little people" fool you. I have known small skinny people to eat large quantities of food and not gain a pound. I hate those people!!! :angry:
 
Harry Longshanks said:
After breakfast, we learned that JB and GG's club had closed for the day due to the rain. Oddly, the sun had been out for three hours and there was no more rain in the forecast (and none came). We had to scramble and make tee times at another course. We ended up meeting up with the Sligo guys and playing 18 at Sarasota National. Beautiful open resort course. I played much better than yesterday, but had trouble getting used to the Bermuda/Rye greens. WAY too many 3 putts. A few very poor swings thrown in too.

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That course needs to cut their greens a little closer. Were they afraid Gary McCord was going to critique them? hehehe
 
White Rhino said:
Dont let the "little people" fool you. I have known small skinny people to eat large quantities of food and not gain a pound. I hate those people!!! :angry:
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Don't hate me :sad:
 
White Rhino said:
I am sorry Chestnutt, you are right, hate is a strong word. I apologize, skinny people who can eat alot and never gain weight are people that piss me off!!! :at-wits-end:


Ah better!!! :D
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what about skinny rednecks?
 
White Rhino said:
I am sorry Chestnutt, you are right, hate is a strong word. I apologize, skinny people who can eat alot and never gain weight are people that piss me off!!! :at-wits-end:


Ah better!!! :D
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That's better... I am used to having people pissed off at me, 3 sisters, a wife and a daughter. Are there any seconds. :banana:
 
White Rhino said:
Never had an issue with rednecks..
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fantastic! I've always had pretty good run ins with rhinos now that i think about it. now i can send you one of those friend requests?
 
White Rhino said:
Combining these two, Chestnutt you are like the #1 Redneck Jeff Foxworthy, you are "swimmin' in the estrogen ocean" my friend!!!
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Swim or drown. So I should fit in while I'm in NC eh TC?
 
Chesnutt said:
Swim or drown. So I should fit in while I'm in NC eh TC?
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I think you'll be just fine bud, just try to lay off of the "eh's" (it's a dead give-away that you ain't local):D
 
Harry Longshanks said:
We awoke to heavy rain this morning, which put a delay on the day's activities. So instead, we headed out for some breakfast at a local joint called "Food is Love".

JB opted for "The Heart Ache (or should we say heart attack)":

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While GG decided on "The Usual"*

*I am now hatchng a plan to steal GG away from JB. Why? Because she gave me her bacon. How can you not want a girl who gives you her bacon. On the other hand, can you ever really trust a girl who voluntarily gives up her bacon?
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I decided on "Ted's Southwest Breakfast Burrito" (Scrambled eggs, chorizo, green chiles, Monterrey jack cheese wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. Served with love spuds and fruit. Salsa & sour cream on the side.)

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My choice baffled JB and GG. I suppose it was because the item directly below the Breakfast Burrito was "The Mufflover" (A toasted English Muffin topped with an egg over medium, cheese & your choice of sausage, bacon or ham. Served with Love Spuds and fresh fruit.)

After breakfast, we learned that JB and GG's club had closed for the day due to the rain. Oddly, the sun had been out for three hours and there was no more rain in the forecast (and none came). We had to scramble and make tee times at another course. We ended up meeting up with the Sligo guys and playing 18 at Sarasota National. Beautiful open resort course. I played much better than yesterday, but had trouble getting used to the Bermuda/Rye greens. WAY too many 3 putts. A few very poor swings thrown in too.

photo-38.jpg


But overall, not a bad day considering high winds playing havoc with the ball. Also, the Sligo guys are players. Play.Ahhhs. Every single one of them blasted the ball off the tee and drove it long and deep. But even more than there golf skills, they just kept JB and I in stitches the whole time.

I am having a blast. JB and GG are fantastic hosts. But there is also a lot of work getting done. Lots of strategic meetings, show planning, and preparation. We have all been exhausted at the end of every day. The Show starts Wednesday with a Demo Day and demonstration, and tomorrow is a travel day followed by final planning and finalization of the THP PR materials. All of that means no more golf for this trip. In fact, my clubs are getting shipped back home tomorrow.

Let me just say that you guys have no idea how much work JB and GG put into the site and the magazine. I "work" here (writer, editor, etc.) and I didn't even know exactly how much goes on behind the scenes. The reason you don't see other sites organizing things like the Driver Shoot Out are a logistical nightmare. From convincing the equipment companies to trust you with their latest top of the line club which has a strict embargo date (no photos or information until a certain date), to organizing impartial and unaffiliated testers, to assembling and distilling the data, to entertaining company reps, . . . And that's only one article. And THP puts up a new article or review every weekday. (I dare you to find another golf site that does that.) The days are long. Usually fun, but long. I've been here since Saturday and, in that time, I haven't watched a single round of golf on TV, and I've seen maybe 30 minutes of playoff football and that was only because it was on TV in the background while we had a strategy meeting in the living room.

I have been doing schedule planning for the PGA Show with JB and GG. We will be working our butts off. This most definitely will not be three friends leisurely walking around and drooling over new products while occasionally taking a few videos and photos. Virtually every minute of the day (and night) is booked. Make no mistake folks, this is not a hobby. It's a business. And a non-profit one at that. Don't get me wrong - as a member of the staff, I've know from the beginning exactly how much work this would be based on my discussions with JB and GG about last year's show. So I've treated this as a business trip all along. But until I got here, I just didn't know exactly how time intensive it is to keep THP up and running. And that doesn't even include the expansion plans such as the magazine.

More updates to come, but I have to get some sleep now. Gotta get up early and pack and have a pre-travel meeting.
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Thanks to THP for all the work you guys do, that is awesome.

Speaking of bacon, I love this bit by Jim Gaffigan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nT9P8MMpsE
 
Thank you Harry for writing this thread. It is a blast to watch you enjoy this opportunity so much. I am excited to hear your experience at the show.
 
Excellent write up Harry, definitely the right person for the job. Thanks for the insight into what JB and GG do to keep this forum up and running for all of us to enjoy.
 
I echo what everyone else has said on this post- great work Harry, keep it up, we know you'll do great the rest of the trip! I too work here (well kinda I guess) and had NO idea how much work really goes into what JB and GG have going here. I just know that even with all that going on they are still extremely pleasant to work with and tolerate my being late to deadlines and usually doing a good deal of editing just to make my material something the great readers here at THP would be interested in. While my main job during the winter is hang out in the forum with you fine folks reading exactly what all goes into this site has definitely made me want to do my part and kick in a little more. While I currently couldn't be further away from a round of golf with still a good foot and a half of snow on the ground I'm sure they would welcome any help they can get!

Keep up the great work Mr. Longshanks, you're doing us all proud!
 
After traveling from the THP Media, Inc. compound to Florida in a completely overstuffed car (and by "car", of course I mean "me" because I ate too much again - I should have brought some "fat pants") this morning, we arrived in Orlando. Of course, the hotel screwed up the check-in.

We had specifically requested an early check-in (and confirmed it that morning) and when we arrived, the front desk clerk claimed that he didn't know anything about it and he couldn't help us even though check-out was two hours prior. Apparently, the hotel was completely booked (duh, PGA Show) and no rooms had been cleaned yet, so we couldn't check-in until 4 p.m. Riiiiiiiiggggghhhtt. Two hours since check-out for the previous night's guests, and NO rooms had been cleaned. Uh-huh. And the clerk somehow knew this without actually checking with housekeeping.

We needed the rooms ASAP so we could change and begin preparing for this afternoon's meeting with Adams Golf. After some, errr . . . vocal persuading . . . we managed to get a room (surprising how that happens, isn't it?) We worked a little on preparation for the show and freshened up for our meeting with the Marketing and PR Manager for Adams Golf, Lisa.

We met over drinks at the Capital Grill. Lisa was hilarious. Adams Golf is headquartered in Dallas, so Lisa and I completely disoriented JB and GG with our talk of courses and suburbs and the Dallas PGA Tour Superstore. Also, Lisa is a HUGE women's golf fan and loves the LPGA. YAY!!!!!! So we also talked about that. Fun fun fun. Not only that, Lisa was a straight shooter. No hype, no spin, just the facts and her honest opinions. The other company PR reps are going to have to work hard to impress me more than Lisa with regards to personality. Oh, and she had Michelle Wie height. She plays men's clubs at +1/2" length. I'm 6'3" and that's what I play!!!!

Since the Adams Speedline 9023LS had made my finalist list for the Driver Shoot Out Contest, I was particularly interested in hearing about Adams new equipment plans. Good stuff folks. Adams is making a play for the younger golfer's market and, if the Speedline 9023LS is any indication of what is to come, they are most definitely worth checking out the next time you are looking for clubs.

And ladies, go to the Adams website and take a look at the women's equipment offerings and compare them to other companies. I dare you to find another major manufacturer with more equipment options for women. Something I learned that I didn't know is that Adams' women's line is adjusted every couple of months to offer new colors. So if you don't like the colors on the current Adams women's irons, but still like the performance, wait a couple of months and a new color scheme will be released. Not only that, but with Adams partnership with Keri golf, ladies can get a full set with a unique, fashion forward Keri Golf bag.

After grabbing some dinner, we went back to the hotel and I put the finishing touches on the THP press kit, which we will hand out to the companies to let them know how working with THP can benefit them. Extra-special-super-duper-thanks to GG for looking at the press kit with a critical eye and helping me work through some points that were still a little rough around the edges, and for catching the 2 or 3 typos that always seem to sneak through when you've stared at a document for the 200th time.

We then loaded up the press kits on special custom flash drives and boxed them up so we can take them to the show.

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It's a little past midnight here, and we are leaving the hotel at 7:30 a.m. for the Demo Day, so it's been another long, but ultimately fulfilling day. Very interested to see what tomorrow brings. However, at this precise moment, I'm even more interested in my pillow. But before I go, one more picture from Orlando.

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Glad to see you are still in good spirits Harry. I would of loved to be there to assist in vocally persuading the hotel to help. I kinda have a knack for that sort of thing. Lve the THP drives you are giving guys are giving out. I think we will al look back at this show in a few years and point to it as one of the key moments in THP's history and we will al have you, JB, GG and the rest who put in the effort to thank for it.

I love the last pic, you gotta explain what that place is.
 
A very nice report Harry. I noticed that Adams has been stepping up its marketing more so than ever and it's glad to hear that they want to make a play for the younger market. I'm sure you guys had some time over at the Capital Grille and I can't tell you how many people take a picture of that Wonderworks building at IDrive. It is a pretty unique sight. (Another unique sight is that there are no cars on IDrive while taking the shot, which means this was taken early in the AM)

Keep that info coming, Harry. I hope you guys are enjoying the area (although IDrive traffic might get a little tough).
 
The flash drives are awesome. Its a great way to promote.
 
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