A few weeks ago I attended one of my favorite pre-summer time activities which is an annual golf trip outing to the Reno, Nevada area.  I am a relatively new-comer compared to the rest of the gang that joins this event.  I’ve been attending only for the past 4-5 years while the event itself celebrated the 20^th anniversary this year.  I’m so blessed and privileged for these guys to continually invite me back as we always have such great fun and it’s a terrific few days of relaxation and to escape the rat-race of the business environment.

We’za nota in da bigga city any longa’

The tournament is a well organized four days of activities which includes a lot of golfing and, of course, socializing (which is my favorite activity frankly).  It’s typically a group of 50-75 guys that rent out a few four-bedroom vacation condimiums for the extended weekend.  For this year’s event we played three consecutive days.  The first day we played at Plumas Pines Golf Course (http://www.plumaspinesgolf.com/).  The next day we played at Whitehawk Ranch Golf Club (http://www.golfwhitehawk.com/).  And then the last day we played a best-ball format at Plumas Pines again.  Although it was the same course, playing the best-ball (a.k.a. “scramble format”) made it different, interesting and fun.

#Winning and a Man-Down

While the first two days of golf is certainly fun, every year my particular group really likes to focus-in on the Sunday, best-ball, scramble event.  This is where we typically shine and this year we did not disappoint!  Ever since I’ve been attending this event we have had a consistent group of the same four guys but this year one of our dear members could not make the tournament, unfortunately due to other obligations, so we had to truck-on without him in his honor as he would have encouraged.  None of the three guys, including me, in our group is a great golfer but somehow, for whatever reason, we seem to come up with a great shot in the best-ball format.  It was amazing and we shared the first place prize for the 2014 Scramble event!

It’s a strange competitive dynamic that my group of three golfers possesses.  We are are reasonable people and not overly competitive but our commonality is that we each to do our best.  This particular format is fun because all golfers encourage each other to make a good shot, and I guess that’s where my threesome of golfers is so successful.  We sincerely want each other to success and it’s genuine.  While we might poke-fun of each other a bit as we play the round but the teamwork of the group really is evident in the results look at these guys.  My team seems to really shine at the right time and that’s quite rewarding to participate in such great coordinated teamwork.

Heaven in the Hills

This particular year our fearless organizer, Ed, sprung a wonderful surprise on us.  On Saturday evening he had the whole group of us gather in the parking lot of the Whitehawk Golf Course.  We had no idea what to expect.  All he shared with us is that we would have to drive somewhere.  So about 20-30 cars and trucks caravanned on our way to who-knows-where.  You must remember that the area we were in at the time was extreme wilderness so we had no idea what we were in-for.

A little bit of fancy in the wild outdoors

After a little bit of a drive, and going extremely into the back woods, we arrived at the beautiful Sardine Lake (http://www.sardinelakeresort.com/index.html).  It was absolutely gorgeous!  It’s a relatively small lake but it’s situated in the most awesome of environments in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.  For about an hour or so after we arrived at the Lake in our vehicles, the group spent this time enjoying the wonderful weather, beautiful environment and friendly conversations.  But after a long day of golf, it was time for us burly guys to eat!  And eat we did!  The restaurant is surprisingly (at least to me because of the extreme location) high-quality and the service was simply outstanding.  Many of us had prime rib however, as you can see from the picture to the right, they served a wide variety of items includes fish, chicken or vegetarian meals.  Sardine Lake is really a great place to go if you are looking for ‘a little fancy’ while you are still in the ‘rugged out doors’.  It is truly a remarkable experience and worth experiencing.

Lucky 21!

This year’s event was the 20^th consecutive year.  Some of the people, places and faces have changed but these guys have kept the tradition going all these years.  I am already looking forward to next year.  Just when you think you have experienced everything then something new seems to amaze you.  I personally had a wonderful time, once again, at the event and I’m certain that everyone else did as well.  I’m already counting-down the days until the 21^st Annual!!!!