2016 Recap: 12 months, 12 winning rounds.

Contrary to what you may find elsewhere on the internet, 2016 was an awesome year.  I was able to play over 100 rounds of golf at some of America's finest destinations with some of America's greatest people.  I even got a couple of Canadian rounds on the books.  Check out 2016's winners for round of the month below.

January 2016:  Streamsong with Mayo and Ogle.

The year started out  strongly with a journey to Florida for the PGA Show and some golf with Ashley Mayo of Golf Digest and Sean Ogle of Breaking Eighty (The second  best golf blog on the internet)  36 at Streamsong was hard to beat.  Ashley and Sean are even tougher to beat.  

Fantastic use of the sandy terrain at Streamsong Red.

A lot of pictures happen with this threesome.

February 2016: Wolf Creek with Ashmaeb.

Wolf Creek is just about as memorable of a golf course as one can find the U.S.  In a winter month vacation, Maebs and I brought the Instagram heat to Wolf Creek.  Be sure to click on any of the course links for more photos and stories.

AshMaeb goes deep in Mesquite

The difficult par 3 8th at Wolf Creek.

March 2016:  Spanish Oaks.  Can't keep a good Texas caddie down.

On a trip to Texas, I was paired up with an all world caddie at Spanish Oaks, his yardages were spot on and his knowledge of the course shaved countless strokes.  I even canned a few long putts that I would have otherwise misread.  

The 17th at Spanish Oaks.

The caddie made the difference in March.

April 2016: Consolation Round: 2016 Golf Digest TYPHI.

After Cody Ross and I suffered a tough loss in a playoff at the Think Young Play Hard Invitational, it was time for T-Rex to take on the Links at Bali Hai in the consolation bowl.  Sarah Moodie, Jeremy Lusk, and I hit the links hard indeed.

In case you're wondering why T Rex didn't get invited to this year's @usopengolf at Oakmont. He missed qualifying by 134 strokes. #TRex #RainDelay @littleballbigball @smooderoo

A video posted by Patrick Koenig (@pjkoenig) on Jun 16, 2016 at 9:21am PDT

The 3 putt penalty hat lacks style and functionality

May 2016: Pinehurst No. 2 with Payne Stewart

I was never fortunate enough to have met the man in person, but the spirit of Payne Stewart lives on.  There is no place where this is more true than at Pinehurst No. 2.  The site of Payne's first US Open Victory and iconic victory pose.

To the left: Payne and I discuss pre-round strategy.  Above: I fail to properly execute pre-round strategy discussed.

June 2016: The Massacre at Merion

This one was an easy victory for Merion as it is without a doubt one of the most special places that I have ever visited in the world of golf.  In an epic Merion showdown, it was the women vs the men.  Although the women were fantastic hosts, they took no mercy on Sean Ogle and I, scoring a lopsided victory in what would later be called "The Massacre at Merion."  Even though we suffered a crushing defeat, Sean and I would consider the loss a victory.

Our group at Merion

Bobby Jones completed the Grand Slam of Golf on this very hole.

July 2016: Friar's Head with Captain Joe, Ashley Mayo, and Jeff Blind

As I look back on 2016, it would be tough to remember a round more enjoyable than this one at Friars Head.  As Ashley Mayo reminds us, it's not where you play, but who you play with that makes the difference.  This round had both areas covered in style.

The 9th tee box at Friars Head is special.

So many birdie push-ups.

August:  Water Balloons at Manzanita Golf Course.

My good friend Joey the Cat was turning 30 and it was time to celebrate.  What better way to beat the heat, but with water balloons.  I kicked things off with a splash here in Oregon.

When teeing it up this summer it is important to take steps to prevent heat stroke and heat related illness. Here I demonstrate an uncommon remedy. #beattheheat #waterballoons #jtc30 📷: @muchable

A video posted by Patrick Koenig (@pjkoenig) on Aug 10, 2016 at 2:19pm PDT

Behind the scenes action shots taken by Andrew Herrold.  Even though I was soaked on the 1st tee, my pants dried quickly and the rest of the round was a blast.

September: Robert Trent Jones and the RTJ golf trail

With a full line up of golf bros and endless golf, the RTJ trail in Alabama really felt like one endless round.  Perhaps the best value in all of public golf, the trail is a fantastic destination for any group of die hard golf buddies.

Birdies on 18! Riding the RTJ golf trail hard. pic.twitter.com/VmL7CCA5Ju

— Patrick Koenig (@PatrickjKoenig) September 4, 2016

I would card one of my better rounds of 2016 at Grand National's Lake Course with a 72.

October: Golfing next to the President at Olympia Fields. Chicago Cubs win the World Series

Few people in the world get the chance to play golf with an active President.  I am currently not one of those people.  However, I did have the privilege of playing golf on the same course at the same time with Barack Obama at Olympia Fields.  Later on, the Cubs would win the world series.  It was a good trip to Chicago. 

POTUS Obama tees off as I play the other way at Olympia Fields.

Pretty sure it was my lucky ballmarker that broke that goat curse thing. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/JIRhtuHeNC

— Patrick Koenig (@PatrickjKoenig) November 3, 2016

November: $9 solo mission on Thanksgiving at Tuscan Ridge

While playing golf with friends is fantastic, heading out to the course as a single can be just as satisfying.  After paying a modest $9 greens fee, it was just me, the grass, and my golf ball as I worked up a Thanksgiving appetite.

A look back on the 3rd hole at Tuscan Ridge.

On course deals for #BlackFriday #Round4 pic.twitter.com/7bnv50wlcc

— Patrick Koenig (@PatrickjKoenig) November 25, 2016

December: The Club at Estancia

When my plane landed in Phoenix my wife informed me that it was snowing in Seattle.  Although, I missed my wife, I didn't miss the weather.  The next day I would be teeing it up at Estancia in 70 degree desert conditions.    Between our fantastic hosts and Tom Fazio's visual assault on my golfing senses, The Club at Estancia delivered one of the year's most enjoyable experiences.  

Like any good New Year's post, I will close with a vague and immeasurable New Year's resolution.  "Play more golf in 2017."

The short 11th at Estancia

Looking back on the 12th hole

Santa Pants!

After a long off season for Santa Claus, he decided to hit the links one more time before the big Sleigh ride.  With an 8:30 tee time, Santa headed out to Chambers Bay for some Christmas eve birdies.

Because Santa is a big time celebrity around the holidays, he receives many high fives, and joyous smiles from his fans.  Santa was even encouraged by a local neighborhood girl to "hurry up" as she was aware of the big job Santa was responsible for in the evening.

The Santa fist pump is second only to the Tiger fist pump.

Because Chambers Bay was built for the local community, not just golfers, Santa was able to spread holiday cheer on just about every hole. After some birdies and a jolly good time, Santa high tailed it out of Chambers bay just in time for his annual sleigh ride.  Thanks to everyone at Chambers Bay for hosting and Happy Holidays to all!

Santa got in a quick 18 before loading up the sled today. Don't worry kids, Santa got this one up and down for par. #Santa #GettingSandywithSanta. 📷: @buman31 @thebengarrett

A video posted by Patrick Koenig (@pjkoenig) on Dec 24, 2016 at 3:51pm PST

Santa goes for the green on the short par 4 12th as the 15th green lights up the background.  

The Hammer 2.0

As an avid watcher of golf on television since the late 1980's, it was nearly impossible for me to avoid The Hammer X Driver infomercial.  Widely hailed as the best golf commercial to ever air.  The infomercial below is a thing of true golf glory.

The Hammer's pitchman is 6 time World Long Drive Champion Jack "The Hammer" Hamm.  In the original infomercial below Jack screams and yells as he bombs drives over mountains.  What a golf animal!!

After admiring Jack Hamm's technique for years, I decided to take my game to Chambers Bay and put Mr. Hamm's moves to work in my own Hammer infomercial.  What you are about to witness is 100% real.  No gimmicks or camera tricks have been used.  We even interrupted Instagram star, Karin Hart's busy schedule to get her take on the Hammer.

"Phase 2" Tiger

With about 500,000 blog entries, online posts, and articles written about Tiger Woods since he last hit a competitive golf shot, let's face it, you're still gonna read one more.  Here is my take on The Big Cat.

As a 36 year old, I grew up playing golf and watching Tiger Woods... and when I say watching, I mean screaming loudly at my TV as I watched him pull off shot after shot of magic.  Even as a youngster, with very little frame of reference, I knew this was an amazing time to be alive.  In fact, I would yell those very words at my television.

If you take some time to watch those shots, you will find that Tiger was apparently able to will the golf ball into the hole with his mind!  Did you see that putt on 18 at the 2008 US Open?  How could you "Expect anything different?"  What about that chip at the 2005 Masters?  Or when he raised the roof at the biggest party in golf?  Tiger is not simply "Better than most," he is the best. 

Bob May remembers this finger point well.

Rocco Mediate felt the sting of this scream.

I mean, you'd have to be a damned fool to believe that Tiger Woods will not win another golf tournament, or another major, before his time is done, right?  Unfortunately, over the past several years, Tiger has given us reason to doubt.  We have all seen the timelines, the injuries, the missed cuts.  The fall from grace and the time away from the game was tough for Tiger fans.

Things headed the wrong way for Tiger Woods at the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay.

Not all Victory Red days, end in victory

But even as the 898th ranked player in the world, I continue to believe.  There is a reason that Tiger still continues to command a tremendous audience.  There is a reason that "Tiger hits a chip shot" will always outperform "Pampling wins on the PGA Tour for the 1st time in 10 years."  The last time we saw a comeback of a similar magnitude, he came in T4th at The Masters.  We all know deep down, you simply can't count this man out.

I think most of us can agree that with this recent injury, that would have ended the career of any normal athlete, the days of total Tiger domination are beyond us.  But with a long pause, I believe Tiger has taken the appropriate amount of time to consult with the golden rule.

“You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.”

— Golden Rule

Even though there is a bit of humor in that last quote, I can't force myself to believe anything else.  The world's most glorious golfing mind has certainly found a way to embrace his age, leverage his ego, and tap into his tremendous passion to win.  I am very excited to watch it all begin to unfold this Thursday and I am more than ready to yell "What a great time to be alive" at my TV again.

The Devil's Nas-Saw

Every Halloween, Satan himself heads out to West Seattle Golf Course to host The Devil's Nas-Saw Tournament.  How does Satan set up a golf tournament?  Well, he sets up one of the most ridiculous, tipped out, pin tucked, terror inducing golf tournaments in the United States. "The Saw" has terrorized golfers in Seattle for the past 20 years.

Normally, West Seattle plays 6800 yards to a par 72 from the back tees.  For the Devil's Nas-Saw, the par is increased to 75 and the yardage is stretched to 8,000.  The course rating is 86.9 and the slope is a modest 182!  You will play 300 yard par 3's, 480 yard par 4's and the first hole is your standard 618 yard "Downhill Ride to Purgatory."  Over the tournament's history, 81 is the lowest recorded score.  

The Devil himself (PGA Professional Colin Gants) kicks off the tournament.  The Devil's main rule: No whining in Hell.

The format for the golf tournament is straight up stroke play.  However, set your expectations accordingly, birdies are about as common as a zombie with a heartbeat and 4 putts are standard practice.  The course is also extra muddy, so don't expect any roll out on those drives.

These Goblins are eager to host any golfer foolish enough to enter the West Seattle Golf & Graveyard.

Some 70 yards down a maintenance path you will find the Devil's tee box on the 4th hole.  "Good luck getting home in 3, you short hitting heathens!"

The 3rd hole, "Hell's Canyon," is a 243 yard par 3.  Good luck getting it through the chute on #12 tee box.  This would be a tough pin location from the hole's usual 120 yard distance.

Any time you make a par at the Devil's Nas-Saw you feel as if you have accomplished something special.  Nice par, now prepare for "Death on Rainier."  Satan keeps the pressure applied on just about every hole.  The only let up is when you get a boxed lunch and a brewski at the turn.  The Devil's chili was also delicious.

Here is Satan spicing up ‘Little Alcatraz,’ The Blair Pitch hole location from 2012.  Colin Gants recalls: "You had to hit it inside the bathroom and hole out near the urinal.  We had some dry ice going and scary music.  It was awesome but way too hard."

It's a Halloween massacre on the Devil's leaderboard.

Good times await your 2 iron approach on the "Burning Man" 5th hole.  Satan has tucked just about every pin.

“Driver and a sand wedge? Nope; now it is a 450 yard dog leg that will kick your ass”

— Satan

One of the Devil's Nas-Saw's traditions is the Blair Pitch Project.  The BPP is a mysteriously located 19th hole that can yield scores ranging anywhere from a 2 to a 12.  In year's past, the hole has been located on bridges and guarded by mole traps and barbed wire.

This year, the 135 yard hole was tucked in the corner of the golf course behind a fence.  Go long on "Stairs to Egan's Citadel" and you are O.B.  Come up short and you will face a flop over the fence to save par.

In the shot of the day, my tee shot struck the flag on the fly and ended up at about 7 feet.  Suck on that one Blair Pitch, I ain't afraid of no ghost!!

"No whining because remember, in Hell...  All hole locations are illegal."

The 2011 Blair Pitch Project hole location.  Yes, that is the hole down there in the middle of the bridge.  "The Goblins will be choking on all of the balls you hackers are hitting into the ravine."

Costumes are encouraged at "The Saw."  Here we see evidence that Batman and the Head Banger are indeed friends with Satan.

In the end, the winning score would be a mighty fine round of 82 in a field filled with single digit handicappers.  The score of 82 by Elias Tunison was just one off of the all time tournament record of 81 shot by Mike O'Keefe in 2009.  Either way, the Devil wins again.  

I would wind up with a 95 myself while managing to make only 5 pars.  Sahalee Club Champion, Ben Garrett. would record the only birdie in our foursome on the day.  That birdie would come on the 16th hole; one of three somewhat "regular holes."  

Even though the The Devil's Nas-Saw is painfully difficult, it is easily the most fun a 4 handicap can have shooting in the 90's and I shall return next year for more torture.  I think I have the skills to break 90.  

A big thanks to Colin Gants and the West Seattle Golf Club for spooking up Seattle and creating a fun and unique golf tournament.  Congratulations to the winners and Happy Halloween to all!

gottaGolf presents: Stadium Links at Turner Field

When Clint Jarvis over at gottaGolf invited me to join the crew for a round of golf at Turner Field, I thought he had his sports mixed up.  Clint was indeed being serious as a company called Stadium Links is transforming ball parks and football fields around the country into golf courses.  Clint had also assembled an all star crew of social media "Influencers" for our 8pm Saturday evening tee time. 

• Karin Hart - Karin is an accomplished Instagrammer and amateur golfer.  
• Ryan Rustand -  Better known on the internet as Coach Rusty, Ryan is a Golf Channel Academy Instructor and trick shot artist extraordinaire.
• Fiamma Felitch -  Fiamma is an aspiring LPGA star and former Big Break standout.
• Joshua Kelley -  Remember that video of the guy popping a champagne bottle with a chip shot?  That's Josh, he's good, real good.
• Chelsea Pezzola -  Chelsea is riding the road to the LPGA Tour and doing some modeling along the way.

Karin and the gang would warm things up at Atlanta's Top Golf, doing whatever this is.

After rocking some trick shots at Top Golf, the crew would head over to Turner Field, to play some baseball with golf clubs.

gottaGolf founder, Clint, starts things off on the 1st hole at Turner Field.

Mr. Holein1Trickshots, Joshua Kelley would not find his hole in one, but he would find the green.

Chelsea Pezzola mixes up baseball and golf, in the classic basegolf pose.

After a successful outing at Turner Field, we headed out to Big Canoe Golf Club for an encore round of golf on an actual golf course.  Coach Rusty and the team hammered out some trick shots and we rolled in some birdies.

Big Canoe features a ton of drastic elevation drops. Here we see, Justin Estes bomb one 300+ and almost take out Karin Hart and Coach Rusty on the fly.

When @gotta_golf has @holein1trickshots, @karinhart, and @coach_rusty do trickshots at @topgolfatlanta. 🔥⛳️ BOOM!! #topgolf #gottagolf GO DOWNLOAD THE GOTTA GOLF APP!!!

A video posted by Ryan Rustand (@coach_rusty) on Oct 16, 2016 at 2:28pm PDT

The rules for Stadium Links golf are simple.  Each hole has a specified green that you are hitting to out on the field.  If you hit it on the green, that's a par, miss the green, that's a bogey.  If you hit it within the circle around the pin, that's a birdie.  Stadium Links also gives any golfer that makes a hole in one a cool $100.

Chelsea Pezzola and Fiamma Felitch do some Turner Field golf modeling.

That sand in the outfield is real sand.  A nice touch.

Karin Hart hits a ground rule double with her 9 iron.

The gottaGolf boys are excited about the tee shot on the 9th hole.  Hats off to Karin Hart for capturing the magic.  A bigger hats off to Clint and the gottaGolf team for hosting a fantastic outing.

That's Karin Hart with the hand off from the golf cart, Coach Rusty proceeds to do his thing and Clint finishes things off with some tracer technology.  Be sure to visit gottaGolf and get in on the action today and make your very own tracer videos.

Playing Golf with the President

When I headed out to Olympia Fields for a much anticipated day of 36, I had no idea that I would be teeing it up along side the President of the United States.  As I prepared to tee up my tee shot on the 1st hole, I noticed a significant group of people teeing off on the 10th hole.  "You see that circus over there?" the Starter said to me.  "That's the President."  I looked over towards the 10th hole and watched Barack Obama hit his drive down the fairway.  I decided to head out onto the course with him and hit my drive down the first fairway.

After making what would be my only birdie of the day on the 3rd hole, the secret service approached me.  "Did the President make birdie there? Because I just did!"  I asked excitedly.  Not amused, they frisked me, scanned my golf bag, and made me prove that my camera was indeed a camera and not some sort of dangerous device.

The 3rd hole on the North Course at Olympia Fields

The President lines up a par putt on the hole adjacent to me.

When the President plays golf he doesn't just grab a couple of buddies and head to the local muni.  Every tee time an hour before and after the President's was blocked off to give the President a buffer.  I imagine it would be some sort of federal offense to hit into the President anyways.  Barack was traveling with about 30 secret service agents and any group within 3 holes was searched and scanned.  I was lucky enough that our holes would intersect a couple of times.  

Obama has called himself "An honest 13" and from what I could tell, this handicap appears to be accurate.  The President also plays left handed and very briskly.  On the 15th hole, I got my best look at the Presidential golf swing.  He doesn't spend much time over the ball and makes a pretty good move at it.  He pulled one into the woods on the right, it ricocheted off the trees and back into the fairway.  As his caddie gave him the all clear, we joked that one of his agents probably just threw it back into the fairway.

Obama's tee shot on the 15th hole.

The Secret Service is always watching.

A larger group of members and guests had formed as The President finished up on the 18th hole.  Not being one to disappoint, he headed over for a rousing round of hellos and handshakes.

Obama did make a bogey on 18 but was all smiles.  He clearly has the temperament for a good golf game, just not the time.

I am still working on securing a spot in Obama's foursome, but being on the same course at the same time was a very cool experience.