This Guy Never Misses

My nephew gave me this animated golf lamp for Christmas - press a button and the golfer putts, hits the ball which always goes in the hole, and the crowd cheers. Sydney has loved it since she first saw it and every time she comes to our place she wants to play with it. She knows Pat is taking her picture here so she's looking kind of self aware wondering if she's doing something wrong. Cute. (Stole this post from my wife"s photo a day blog)

Incredible story about a golf protege not named Tiger

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1197420&=yvmtf

Golfer Dudes

Cory Rasmussen and Mark MacKenzie - This picture was taken in 2005 when we were in Phoenix on a golf trip. We golfed several courses and enjoyed some great Mexican food. The highlight of the trip was watching the Edmonton Oilers play the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale. We almost got thrown out of the arena for heckling former Oilers goaltender (then a Coyote) since we were seated just a few rows behind the net. The Oilers made a thrilling comeback tying the score with less than a second remaining and eventually won in a shootout.

The guy who gave me my start

That's me on the left with brother-in-law Randy Oler who was the guy who coaxed me into going for a round one fateful Sunday afternoon. Randy is one of those guys that can't sit still so he dragged me off to a busy course where I demonstrated that I was far from a competent golfer. Still I managed a few (very few) good hits and it was the start of a love/hate relationship with golf. Nine years later my skill level has improved to the extent that I find the game a lot more enjoyable but every golfer is always striving to get better. I remember how long it took to break 100 and then 90. I flirt with 80 once in awhile now but still haven't broken through that barrier.

Professor Hickey

This old geezer is my boyhood pal who is now a university professor in California. Eric is a professor of Criminology who literally wrote the text book on serial murderers and their victims. He has appeared on several television programs to provide expert analysis on serial killers. We broke away from the lush life at the Bellagio in Las Vegas with the wives long enough to get in some rounds of golf. Although quite the new to the game, Eric played pretty well although the bunkers ate him up a few times. He was just getting used to a new set of clubs.

Nathan practices his mighty swing.

Some of Nate's first swings (he's five years old in this picture). Although he may look a little unorthodox here, he still managed to give the ball a pretty good ride. Not long after this lesson we hit the local pitch and putt.

Samson

Sam the man practices his swing into the net. Sam is quite a natural athlete and also plays basketball. Here he is learning to grip the club properly under the watchful eye of "Papa".

Getting the posture right.

Here is Jonah, our oldest grandkid getting some backyard instruction from me. He is the oldest son of my oldest daughter Jenny who has five lively boys. The three oldest have their own clubs and got their first taste of real golf this past summer after playing some mini-golf in previous years. Jonah's younger brothers Sam and Nate are also novice golfers. They're gonna be good kotter!

Couples

Although my wife Pat is not a golfing enthusiast, we do have some golfing couples in our family. From left: Daughter-in-law Cindy with her husband and my oldest son Rob. Next is Allan Taylor with his fiance and my youngest daughter Emily. We continue to encourage our women to take up the game with somewhat selfish motivation. This picture was taken at the 2007 MacKenzie Cup Tournament at Whitemud Creek.

Family Tournament

Some of the participants in the MacKenzie Cup. 1st Row are 2007 champs Quincey and Mike. 2nd Row: Me, Curtis, my arch rival Cory, Mark and Darin. At rear is longtime family friend Art Murray who brings along his sons to our tournament every year. Cory and I battle each other for bragging rights throughout the year and we especially enjoy playing skins. He had the edge in 2006 but I managed to edge him out last season. Whenever we face off, it's a tossup who is going to win. Trash talking is a big part of our rivalry.

Teaming Up With The D-Man

Darin Keewatin and I won the 2006 MacKenzie Family Cup eking out a one stroke victory over Mike and Quincey. They got their revenge in 2007 when they defeated Darin and me in a putt-off after we were tied for first place. Darin and I are looking forward to reclaiming the Cup in 2008. Darin and I work together and have become close friends. I re-introduced him to golf after a long hiatus following some less than pleasant outings back in High School on a rough small town course. His play has improved dramatically over the past 2 yrs. Oh, ok - his driver still sucks.

Winners Everyone

From left: My nephew Mark who I teamed up with to win two Coquihalla Cups (2 man best ball) tournaments; son-in-law Quincey who I teamed with to win one MacKenzie Family Cup; son Mike who teamed with Quincey last year to win the MacKenzie Family Cup; and son-in-law Curtis who is the only person to ever win the MacKenzie Family Cup solo in its inaugural year before it changed to a two-man format. Quincey is a current longest drive champion and I have been fortunate in owning the closest to the pin title. Mike won longest drive in 2006. Curtis really hits the longest balls but struggles to find the fairway.

Royal Links in Vegas

At the Royal Links in Vegas in 2007. This course duplicates the best holes from Great Britian. My caddy Eddy helped me post a pretty good score incuding a birdie on the "road hole" recreated from the Old Course at St. Andrews. By the way, Eddie's tip has to be a minimum 100 bucks. He told me caddying brings him in about 40 grand a year and he supplements his income by bouncing at the clubs at night. He figured out my game in three holes and knew exactly what club to pull out of the bag for me. Eddy had to be about 40.

Introduction

I played a lot of team sports when I was younger and ignored the sport of golf until my brother-in-law dragged me out to a course one weekend. That fateful day took place when I was 49 years old and marked the beginning of my addiction. This site will emphasize some of my golf exploits and share experiences related to my favourite sport. I hope that some of my golfing buddies will stop by and add some flair to the site.