Comdpa's Trip to the States
 

I see you are posting again, Justin. That means you must have arrived all safe and sound in Singapore after your trip to California. :)

Where did you go and what did you do during your stay? Who did you see? What did you learn?

Yes I am safe and sound Sir...

As mentioned to some of the members of this forum, this trip was actually a company incentive trip and was on very short notice.

If I had to give a theme to this trip, it would be "Chill Out"

I have a younger sister working in Long Beach, CA, so it was great to be able to catch up and hang out with her.

Besides catching up with family, I also managed to catch up with jr33 and ballturf whom I had the pleasure of meeting during my first trip to California last summer.

jr33 is a truly fantastic guy whom I had the pleasure to aid on and off along with ballturf during the course of my stay. His hospitality and generosity made me feel like I was a celebrity.

If you guys live around Mission Viejo (jr33) or Menifee (ballturf), you could meet these guys to play, practice and tongue wag. They are passionate golfers and they know what they are talking about!

I also did manage to spend a morning with Gregg McHatton GSED at Angeles National Golf Club. I got an hour's lesson with him where I specified that he taught me the pivot components indepth.

The rest of the morning was spent at the coffee shop where he spoke fondly of Mr.Kelly as well as some other PGA guys that he trained before.

Also managed to get a coffee in with Patrick Dempsey who is the 2002 Re/Max Long Drive Champ. The guy is big as a horse and had a trailer to boot. The trailer was chock full of the latest gear and he is a big believer in custom fitted clubs. No, I did not utilise his services.

Other than that trip to LA, I did not really travel around much save for a trip to San Diego where I had the pleasure of meeting cisco, practicing some with him and giving him a couple of pointers.

cisco is a talented golfer and things clicked really quickly for him - he sure made me feel as though I had the proverbial "Magic Bullet."

I was also looking forward to meet our new member Fred Brattain to discuss hitting, but unfortunately his work committment meant that that is a meeting to be postponed for the next time.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Doug Ferrell, another of our longtime members. We had a great meal together at iHOP where we wolfed down buttermilk pancakes while I took in Doug's fabulous stories - the man knows the golf swing and its history.

My only regret is that I did not have more time to prepare for this trip and time to stay longer; else I would have been able to meet more of the TGM brotherhood.

My only consolation is that those I did not get to meet, I managed to speak to over the phone. Amongst them are Ted Fort GSEB, 6BMike, Greg Smith GSEM, Michael Brown (aka mabramb) and Denny Alberts GSEB.

America is truly the land of dreams - I would love to be able to come here on a more permanent basis - one day, it will happen!

Thank you all!

If Ever On The Other Coast...
 

....NYC, it'd be a pleasure to buy you a coffee and chat a bit. In the short time I've been on this site, you've been very generous with your time and knowledge. Would love to repay the gesture sometime. Glad you got some "face time" with your TGM brothers, good for the soul and the game.

HoganFan,

As mentioned to Yoda, I have "Georgia on my mind..." :)

The Real Story of Comdpa the States
 

IHOP PANCAKES CONTEST
JR33 4 pancakes

Ball Turf 6 pancakes

Doug ?

Compda 8 pancakes

The winnner and the Master of Pancake eating From Singapore. The S L I N G E R

Stuffin' It Down With Comdpa
 

Have you not heard of the Eight-Pancake Stoke with Syrup and Maximum Fork Delay (I-H-O-P-8 )?

:D

Max Fork Delay...
 

I assure you Yoda, my number 1 Accumulator was working overtime to git' at em pancakes.

Dougie had only 4 pancakes and he must have been thinking: "Where does he put it all?" Haha.

Like Mr Kelly says "Garbage in, garbage out."
You need quality fuel to run the Machine....:)

Besides pancakes, I had the most lovely burritos thanks to cisco (Shrimp Burrito) and jr33 (his mum's home cooking was terrific). Ballturf took me for a superb Grande Tostado.

I also had grits...which I absolutely adore. However they were instant and..."no self respecting Southerner uses instant grits." - From "My Cousin Vinny"

But I am sure, Yoda and Yodasluke will be kind enough to take me for real Southern food when we meet...(hint hint)...:p

Size does not matter...
 

Oh ballturf, you had to tell em! Haha.
I told you "size does not matter, what matters is that you get the job done."

Waitin' For Justin
 

The Cracker Barrel...

The Old Timer's Breakfast with Grits...

Nirvana!

So..........
 

You met Pat Dempsey. NEAT guy. He made me a set of clubs which I adore. Also a VERY talented musician, by the way. He and I spent several afternoons sitting around and chewing the music as well as hitting balls. He is VERY long. Range balls (and not new ones) flying 345 in the air routinely. Kinda scary for us short guys. Pat also loved meeting my monsters (4 Border Colllies - my other passion).

Anyway, Justin, glad you are safe and sound, drop by when you next hit the states. We WILL get it together.

Obi WunPutt