By John Egnot
Manager of Media Relations

OK, so I’ve never tried this before, this blog thing. Apparently it’s a pretty big concept nowadays. It seems like everyone is doing it. People all over the world are putting their lives in writing up on this big thing we call the Internet.

I like to think of myself as pretty old school. So, I’m really not even that comfortable with the word ‘blog’. To me, this sounds like one of those buzz words that comes along every once in a while that everyone says to sound cool. You know, words like ‘radical’ and ‘gnarley’. If you’re not quite preparing for your 24th birthday yet, maybe it’s things like ‘phat’ and ‘tight’, or my personal favorite, ‘chill’.

So here goes. Am I now free to call myself a ‘blogger’ or a ‘bloggist’? Maybe an ‘amateur blogging enthusiast’. Anyway, I’ll give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe this will become a monthly thing?

Monday, April 3 – 3:30 a.m. – The alarm-clock radio goes off. At this moment, I know that the 2006 AJGA season has officially begun. The days of sleeping in until noon on the weekends had come to an end. Time to catch a plane to my first event, the Medicus Preseason Junior at Black Bear in Eustis, Fla.

6 a.m. – Tournament Directors Scott "Scooter" McNevin, Greg Smith and myself finally get through security at the Atlanta airport and attempt to order breakfast. Somewhat weary, Scooter spills the contents of a huge fruit cup all over the floor, drawing the ire of a host of breakfast kiosk workers. Greg and myself pretend that we don’t know him.

Wednesday, April 5 – 1:15 p.m.– After a couple days of setup and preparation for the tournament, Scott, Greg and myself have an opportunity to tee it up on the tournament course. Sporting a set of rental clubs, I step up to the first tee, not having played a round of golf since Thanksgiving. As a result, with a fairway wider than Lake Okeechobee, I shank a driver (if that’s possible) to the right, out of bounds. Greg tops it, Scooter sends a screaming line drive down the middle.

This is why we don’t play golf for a living.

2:45 p.m. – After finishing four holes, we’ve decided that enough is enough. Although, we were a respectable even-par as a group (in a scramble format).

Sunday, April 9 – 5:30 p.m. – After a very successful and smooth event, we head to dinner to grab some food and watch the final round of The Masters. Two giant flat-screen televisions side-by-side featured The Masters and a NASCAR race. And, of course, the sound was on the NASCAR race (I quickly remembered we were still in the South).

6:45 p.m. (9:45 p.m. East Coast time) – Weary from a long day of travel and work at the golf course, Scott, Greg and myself are miraculously resuscitated by an incredible steak dinner at the home of Longbow Golf Club General Manager Jay Larscheid.

8 p.m. – Weary from eating a gigantic steak, I finish off an ice cream and brownie dessert mix and slowly falter into a magnificent food coma.

Thursday, April 13 – 1:30 p.m. – I’ve been on the golf course at Longbow for about a half hour now, taking pictures of the Junior-Am teams. It’s a hot one in the Valley of the Sun, with temperatures topping out at 95 degrees, the hottest day in April.

Friday, April 14 – 3:30 p.m. – As forecasted the night before, an intense wind storm hits as players finish up their first rounds. Dust from the desert clouds the mountains that surround the course and doesn’t settle until Saturday evening. The AJGA staff scrambles to secure tents, banners, tables, garbage cans and anything else not bolted into the ground.

Sunday, April 16 – 6:15 a.m. – It’s Easter Sunday, and each staff member is given two enormous Easter baskets filled with every type of candy and chocolate bar you can imagine. We all engage in a 15-minute gorging process, then prepare for the final round.

7 p.m. – The tournament is over, and the staff is wrapping up course breakdown and putting the last pieces of equipment in the trailer. There’s one problem though. There are still about 25 bags full of candy in headquarters. Since many staff members are flying back to Atlanta, the five driving back (myself included) would transport the shipment of candy back home. The contents of all the bags were dumped in a giant box and conveniently placed in the middle of the van.

Monday, April 17 – Tuesday, April 18 – All Day – On the drive home, myself, Scott, Greg and Tournament Directors Brian Gaydica and Jeremy Freyman take shifts driving, sleeping and force-feeding chocolate.