I golf weekly at De Bell in Burbank, CA., which happens to be up in the foothills of Burbank/Glendale, and full of wildlife. While standing on a teebox one day, happened to notice a mountain lion about 25 yards away laying in the shade. It was moderately sized, but large enough to make me skip the tee shot!
This photo is of what used to be the 8th hole, a 310 yard par 4 which is clearly driveable. I'm holding the pin and standing behind my drive; my friend Bob is standing next to his approach shot from about 75 yards out...we both made our puts, his for birdie...mine for eagle.
I often explain to people that the best thing about golf is that, unlike other sports, every once and a while you hit a shot that is equally as good as a pro. The goal is simply to hit more and more of those 'pure' shots every round. Few people will ever experience dunking on Shaq (or dunking a basketball period), hitting a Clemens fastball 400 feet over a centerfield wall, or pulling a Ray Lewis on some innocent receiver coming over the middle. But every once and a while you will flush a 7 iron, and whether that means the ball travels 110 or 180 yards, if you hit it pure, and it went where you intended it to go, you just
played it like a pro. None of us has a short game like Phil, but once every blue moon I'll hit one stiff from the beach...
...btw, my cell phone doesn't work on this particular coarse due to the foothills, which is a
BEAUTIFUL THING...
