[FL-John]

To all:

Thought I would share the most un-believeable time I had yesterday at Bay Hill in Orlando. To pre-empt the story, a few months back I met a gent who is a member at Bay Hill. I was invited to play with he and Arnold Palmer, but had to refuse to do being brain-dead and a scheduling conflict. This past Tuesday, I was called and invited to play in the "Mens Shootout" at Bay Hill again, hoping that Arnold Palmer would play in our group. This is the synopsis I wrote on Chuck's site as well:

Well...this will be a bit long, but a worthwhile read. My buddy called me up in the AM to confirm I'll be there. I head over to Bay Hill and arrive around 11:30 for a 12 Noon tee off. As the bag drop gent comes over he asks for my name and I say, "John Flayter" (whew, got that right). He says, "Oh, you are Mr. Kopplin's guest, he's waiting for you in the locker room." I proceed over to the door, and who walks out....Mr. Palmer!! He politely says hello and asks if I'm playing in the Shootout. I confirm and he says, "Are you Mr. Kopplin's guest?" I again confirm and he says, "Welcome to Bay Hill...great to have you hear today", and then he drives off in his cart.

I meet my buddy and we proceed over to grab a bag of range balls (all range balls are Callaway HX Tours). As we proceed to the range, we pass by the snack shop and Mr. Palmer is there having a hot dog with his new wife Kit. I am formally introduced and Arnold asks is he can buy me a hot dog...for fear of spilling ketchup or mustard on myself, I decline.

We head over to the range to loosen up and about 5 minutes later, Arnold is hitting balls next to me. I ask him how he's been playing and he says, "Just like everyone else...some good, some bad." I leave him along to warm up for the next 15 minutes. The Mens shootout is 4-man teams, counting three bestballs for the team (no handicaps). We have 21 players so Mr. Palmer decides that he will 'float' within the groups throughout the round. Luckily, he decides to join a different group for the first few holes. With Mr. Palmer watching us tee off from about 20 yards away, the first three guys of my group tee off (interestingly, everyone gets to hit two balls off the first tee!!). I kind of pull my first tee shot and doesn't quite make it over the trees on the dogleg left...don't think I had any TGM thoughts in my head besides "Make contact and get it airborne". The second ball I settle down, make a smooth 'Swing' and pipe one down the middle....WHEW!!!

Mr. Palmer finally joined us for a stretch of six holes on the back side...I am proud to say he witnessed two of my bogeys, two pars, and two birdies (both on the par fives). My second shot approach on the par-5 16th was a four-iron which ended up about 30 feet from the hole. After the shot, I feel a hand on my shoulder...to my astonishment, it was The King. He smiles and says, "You know, back in the day, I used to hit 4-iron to this hole as well....nice shot!"

Mr. Palmer hit it pretty good with us...every drive was eagle eye straight...irons were decent. I think he had four pars and two bogeys. I could go on here, but I'll refrain. On our third or so hole together, he asks where I'm from and where I learned the game. I told him about growing up in Milwaukee, taking a few lessons from some club pros but have been studying and working on some Golfing Machine concepts. I was able to ask if he has heard of Mr. Kelley's work and he says, "Haven't we all" (with a smile and a wink).

After the round (I ended up with 79 which I'll take), we head into the Mens Locker room, which for the most part is a small bar with about 10 tables where the members play cards (mostly Gin). I was treated like a good ole boy and met tons of great people. To name a few (sorry about name mis-spellings): 1) Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson (ex-baseball player and current Radio Announcer for the Chicago White Sox (2) Son of the former owners of the Minnesota Twins (3) One of the founders of the Tupperware company [but forget his name] (4) Former CEO of Sears Corp and Ex-Founder of Scott's Home Improvement Stores.....amongst other former Execs, Lawyers ,etc. Everyone was extremely friendly...even met a guy from Milwaukee...Ex- VP from US Bank.

I pick up about 4 business cards, give out about 8-10. We finished the round in 3 1/2 hours aroudn 3:30. I stayed until about 7:00 PM doin some chin waggin' (that ones for Randy), having beers. OH YEAH, Arnold came in about 30 minutes after we did. He came up to the bar and said, "So how did you hit em overall....I said pretty good and told him the course was great, etc, etc. He says, "Good to see you like the beer from ole Latrobe ( I was having a Rolling Rock). He tells Curtis the bartender to get me another...I asked him if I could buy him a drink, to which he replies, "John, thanks...however, I've owned the club for about 30 years...how about I just buy the drinks?" (again with a soft smile). I say, "That sounds good too". He proceeds to get himself a drink and just mingle with the guys.

Overall, the experience was great...Mr. Palmer is very much at home at Bay Hill (as he should be). He acts (and the others treat him) like an ordinary guy who they know from the club. He is always conscious to walk around and speak a bit with everyone. It was very weird though to think I not only played some golf holes with Mr. Palmer, but kicked back and had a few drinks!

Much more I could say about the day, but I'll leave it that for now...great locker room stories too that I most likely shouldn't post here!!!

FL-John