Pre-weekend - World Amateur Handicap Championship

Well it's the time of year that i really really look forward to (when i can afford it). The Myrtle Beach Golf Holidays World Amateur Handicap Championship (hitherto forward referred to as the "world am" because damn).  You can keep up with their blog HERE. So the World Am is a great huge tournament comprised of over 3000 golfers who descend on Myrtle Beach every year to play for glory. It's a great deal if you're an early registrant. I believe it was $575 this year. That's 4 days of golf guaranteed, donuts and coffee at the courses, swag bag (you can see it here), and 4 night of free food and drink at the 19th hole expo put on at the Sheraton Inn conference center.

Saturday:
Decided to leave around 4am... actually got on the road closer to 5.  Truth of the matter is... traffic around Baltimore is a whole lot more manageable at that time of day. Actually i was past DC well before the sun came up. Holy crap I was making good time. FYI the Virginia Visitors center and the North Carolina Welcome Center are both very good places to stop. They're just far enough from each other to give you a much needed break, and they're very clean and secure. Neither have gas stations though - be forewarned. One stop for gas just after the NC station and i made it to Myrtle with no issues. Actually, it took me longer to go the last 10 miles because of MB traffic on 501.

I decided to stay at the Sheraton conference center, just so i wouldn't have a lot of travelling to do. Be forewarned... there is an $8.00 +tax fee to park here each night. Doesn't matter if you're staying at the hotel or if you're coming from outside, you have to pay to park. That's ridiculous IMO. Paying upwards of $100 per night AND you have to pay for your car to be on premises?? Not again, i'll tell you that. When i stayed here about 6 years ago, i didn't have a car so i didn't realize that was happening. Nobody mentioned it on the phone either while i was making the reservation,  so i was pretty surprised.
I had a nice burger and some beers for dinner, but was pretty much exhausted from the drive, so i called it an early night.

Sunday:

Went to the PGA tour superstore to register. Up early, got there right when they opened and the line was already super long. Got my swag bag and decided to hit the XR16 driver again, against my own driver --- still not up to snuff. It's the only swinging i've been doing since friday... My cut is so out of sorts, i just don't feel right over the ball. Hoping that just goes away. Not going to think about it anymore. Either way, despite being 2 inches longer physically, the XR can't hold a candle to it. Oh well. Still searching. good for the confidence though, to know i'm still playing the best gear for my game. warmed up and took a 3 ball comparison.

Getting ready now to take a walk to Broadway at the Beach - where the opening party is going to be. I might take an umbrella... looks a little overcast out but meh, live a little. I could use the walk and the shower i suppose. haha. It's been a good day so far. met some cool people too and will probably meet more tomorrow. Going to wrap up here and get out hoofin' it. Go have a cigar at the tinder box and chill out the rest of the day. Tomorrow is going to be epic... here's to a good start!