It's been a little while since we last checked in, and that's because I've been quite busy. Last week, Matchstick put on The Expedition, a four-day training camp for adult golfers, with golf pro Liz Breed.
And boy, was it more than I ever imagined.
Liz arrived late on Monday night, largely due to the fact that my tired brain had incorrectly calculated the time difference between her home in Brooklyn and our home here in Portland. But a quick jaunt back to HQ and a waiting bed later, she was rested and we were on our way to Astoria Golf & Country Club the next morning.
We jetted out to the coast on Tuesday, along with Matchstick's Brandon Lyons, to play a practice round at AGCC. Liz wanted to get a feel for the tournament course, and I'm always trying to find an excuse to go and play my favorite track in the state.
I shot an amenable 84 to beat Brandon in match play, and the coast provided reasonable weather to play in. But more on that later.
Finally, on Thursday, it was time for campers to coalesce at the sight of our training, the illustrious Wildwood Golf Course just north of the city here in Portland. A group of 12 people — seven women and five men — were in town to get concentrated training from Liz while enjoying one of the best courses in the city.
What followed was something that I, admittedly, was not expecting.
As the days went on (and the weather continued to improve, thank goodness) the group started to come alive. Not just in golf, but as a social experience I hadn't considered when Liz and I first began to discuss the idea of a training camp way back in late August. Folks were excited. They interacted independently and without shyness with each other, quickly making friends on the course.
Of course, Liz and I had planned some bonding time as part of this event. On consecutive nights, we had a group dinner at a restaurant across the street from Matchstick, a party here at Matchstick HQ, and a dinner/hang sesh at a cool bar elsewhere in North Portland. But on the course, the communal vibe was up to the campers and boy, did they set it high.
The highlight for me came at the end of Day 3, when Wildwood blocked out the tee sheet for us starting at 3 p.m. As a group, we ventured out onto the front to play Muni Madness, a game that turns every hole into a Par 3.
Nobody in the group had played this Wildwood classic before, and a phone call earlier that afternoon from Wildwood GM Ryan O'Meara — who I've played many a Muni Madness round with — helped inform some of the kookier placements of the moveable tee markers.
And so we played Wildwood in a whole new way with each other: I set markers at the bottom of No. 2, up a hill so steep they need an extra tall flagstick just to make it visible to golfers at the bottom.
We then promptly turned around and hit 20 yard flop shots from the top of the tee box on No. 3 back down to that same No. 2 green.
We set markers on the forward tees for No. 4, and then hit across a lumpen hill and the cart path to try to land short sided on No. 3.
We hit from No. 5 fairway, back across the creek and its own tee box, to land on No. 4 green. T
Then it was from No. 6 tee box — the steepest climb on the course — to No. 5 green, having to miss the carts parked below it.
I even set up tee markers on No. 7 fairway and angled them up to No. 8 green, a huge rise of a shot some 115 yards upward, over a ravine that usually eats golf balls during normal play.
Through all of this, the joy, the ribbing, the conversation, and the familiarity was flowing. We left Wildwood buzzing, and ready for Day 4 at Astoria.
And then the rain came.
In true Oregon fashion, when we left Portland on Sunday morning, it was calm, balmy, and lightly overcast with peeks of sunshine. If you're from the Pacific Northwest, you can guess what happened next.
As we gathered to tee off on No. 1 at AGCC, rain clouds started to hover and the wind picked up. First off the tee was myself and Matchstick's Director of Business Development Nile Johnson. A few holes played normally, despite the 18 mph winds that were hindering (or helping too much) on every shot.
And then, by the time we finished No. 6, the rain came. Wild sheets of it you could see from the many elevated tee boxes on the course looked fantastical, almost like the kind you see in movies where it's clearly generated by some kind of enormous contraption.
It was, honestly, ridiculous. We had rain gear, of course, but nothing can sustain that kind of drippage for that long. Let's put it this way: nobody was on the course except for the crew from The Expedition. Even the local Coasties weren't that crazy.
And so, as Nile and I made our way to the tee box on No. 17, I received a phone call from Liz.
"I think it's too wild out here for them. They all just made the turn and they're going to call it a day," she said, clearly disappointed they couldn't get a full round in.
I said I understood, and I'd be there shortly.
Upon arriving to the clubhouse, where AGCC's Jared Lambert had provided a full lunch menu, everyone was in good spirits. Nile and I were soaked to the marrow, but inside Expeditioners were warm, fed, and plied with spirits to their heart's content.
But we still needed to get prizes out to folks, since full rounds had not been played.
And so, as a group, we headed back out onto the course to play No. 10 and No. 11. The former as a KP and putting contest hole, and the latter as a long drive hole and a group hole.
And as if to sum up the entire experience, you can guess what happened next; the wind subsided, the clouds cleared, and the skies turned into that cotton candy sunset that you only get following the kind of storm that makes even the most hardened fisherman turn back to port.
At the end of the day, as we said our goodbyes in the parking lot, it was clear nobody really wanted to leave. We meandered about, with folks coordinating plans for future rounds — including the generous raincheck that Jared had given the whole crew to come back and play the club. Hugs were exchanged, photos were taken, and a group psyche up in a big circle complete with jumping and hootin' was had.
We parted ways that Sunday evening, but The Expedition group chat is still going strong. Folks are coordinating plans together, exchanging golf stories, and photos of them already back out on the course in their respective hometowns. It was more wonderful than I imagined, and an experience I hope I get to be a part of again soon.
Here's to golf, to friends, and the people we find along the fairway.
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