Woke up at the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Dallas at Las Colinas to this view! Here is my latest blog update including the highs and the low point so far. Playing TPC Fourseasons Resort Course this afternoon…   (Facebook Link, Andy Reistetter, 10/19/13)

BLOG Update- Saturday, 10/19/13 Dallas, Texas

Saturday Morning, October 19th, 11:38 am Woke up at the Four Seasons Resort & Club Dallas at Las Colinas!

The Five Diamond Award of the Four Seasons Resort & Club Dallas.

Every day has been a good day on this “Journey to Olympic Golf” but today will be extra special. I am playing the Four Seasons Resort Course which has hosted the Byron Nelson Championship for the last 31 years. This place is amazing and there is no question what “Five Diamonds” mean in terms of comfort, service and “being home away from home.”

After the sendoff at TPC Sawgrass, Atlanta and St. Louis I did not think this Odyssey could get any better but it did. Staying with and visiting with Jack Fleck and his wife Carmen was a memorable life experience. As much for the golf but just to be around two lovebirds late in life really inspired me as to how much being in a loving relationship can mean in one’s life. I will have much to share on what Mr. Fleck shared with me in later writing and video interviews.

Andy Reistetter with U.S. Open Champion Jack Fleck and Head Golf Professional Jeremy Moe at Hardscrabble CC in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Jack too me out to Hardscrabble CC on Thursday morning and I met another great guy- Head Golf Professional Jeremy Moe. I have a great video of him and Jack and an interesting thing about Moe is that he plays hickory clubs and recently won the National Hickory Open. The highlight of the day and trip so far was presenting a replica 1904 Olympic Golf Gold Medal (which I received from the folks at Glen Echo CC) to Mr. Fleck. It seemed fitting to me that a man who won the U.S. Open at a club named Olympic and did not have the opportunity to play golf in the Olympics really deserved to have that medal, if only with some recognition from me.

Do not speed through McCurtain, Arkansas… they are waiting… you will get a ticket!

No question about it though I experienced the lowest point of the now week old journey Thursday afternoon driving from Fort Smith, AK to Dallas, TX unfortunately through Oklahoma. I was distracted talking to a friend on the cell phone (hands-free by the way) and  was speeding through a little town called McCurtain, OK and deservedly so was pulled over and received a ticket. I drove about 50 feet and paid the $129 fine at the “Municipal Building.” Then, safely I pulled over to do a phone interview with a Jacksonville Times-Union reporter but when I restarted my journey the GPS told me to go onto the Indian National Turnpike. I went 30 miles in the wrong direction with no exits. I was tempted to do a U-turn but did not want to get another ticket!

I am late for my tee time, have to run!

CLICK here for an article on Byron Nelson, Golf’s Legendary Gentleman…

Standing in the presence of the great Byron Nelson!

And I found it! How could I not staying at the Four Seasons Resort & Club Dallas in a villa overlooking the 18th green of the TPC Four Seasons Resort/Las Colinas Course for three nights? The HP Byron Nelson Championship has been in existence since 1944 when Byron Nelson won the inaugural event. Since 1983, when Ben Crenshaw won, it has been played on the TPC Las Colinas Course. This is the heart of Byron Nelson country and his heart and spirit permeated my visit!

The above article captures all aspects of my visit. After a week on the road visiting Atlanta, St. Louis and Fort Smith the three-day respite was welcomed and needed. This was the first day in the ‘Texas Triangle’ of Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. I had no plans for Mexico and Central America other than crossing the border at Nuevo León.

My time in Texas was a key to formulating the exact route of the ‘Journey to Olympic Golf’ and the pursuit of the ‘Olympic Spirit of Golf.’ Stay tuned for all the details in the days ahead…

I am looking for 100 new friends in the next 100 days to make a $100 donation (or any amount that you are able to make) to The First Tee. Each day I will be reliving the original “Journey to Olympic Golf” and hope to find a new friend in golf. Is that you? Please join me in giving back to the game we all love.

CLICK here to make a donation to The First Tee.

Please select ‘Andy Reistetter’s Journey to Olympic Golf’ on the drop-down menu for the question ‘What inspired you to make a gift today? This is for tracking purposes only, Andy does not receive any part of your donation or anything financially from The First Tee organization.

There are interesting incentives for making your donation to the First Tee…

PLEASE click here to make a donation to The First Tee.

Thank You!

Wednesday Morning, October 16th, 7:05 am Leaving St. Louis Heading to Fort Smith, AK to visit Mr. Jack Fleck

The Olympic Rings at Glen Echo CC

What an inspiring way to celebrate my birthday! Staying at the historic Union Station Hotel in downtown St. Louis and playing golf with my hickory clubs at Glen Echo CC where golf was last played in the Olympics in 1904. I woke up, got dressed in my knickers and went down to the lobby asking which way to the train out to Glen Echo just like those golfers who were here in 1904 to qualify for the Olympics!

I can’t tell you how connected and in tune I feel with the “Olympic Spirit of Golf” being here and coming from an Olympic weekend in Atlanta with Olympian Dennis Berkholtz.

Andy Reistetter with Olympian Dennis Berkholtz in the Bobby Jones Room at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Now it is off to see a really spiritual guy, Mr. Jack Fleck, 1955 U.S. Open Champion. This trip, “following the sun to the southern hemisphere” is partly inspired by the man he beat in a playoff at Olympic Club- Ben Hogan. I plan to present Mr. Fleck with the replica Gold Medal given to me by the Glen Echo CC. If golf was played in the Olympics during his playing days he surely would have made the team! From Glen Echo CC to Jack Fleck!

Pictures tell a story, pictures with captions bring you closer to the “Olympic Spirit for Goflers”

[Show slideshow]

With Jack Fleck and his Olympic Gold Golf Medal.

My time in St. Louis was fabulous! The “Journey to Olympic Golf” began with playing hickories at Glen Echo CC, site of Olympic Golf in 1904. Now I am heading south pointed to Rio de Janeiro, host to Olympic Golf in August 2016. I don’t have a clue on the specifics of the trip. My only night planned is the next one at the home of Carmen and Jack Fleck in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Beyond that it was anyone’s guess.

I first met Jack Fleck and his good friend Ed Tallach at Torrey Pines in 2008 at the U.S. Open, Tiger’s last (for now) win at a major. We chatted for a few minutes and took a picture together. The next I saw him was at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, then the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco that honored him and Billy Casper for the life achievements in golf and their U.S. Open victories there. I would also see Jack and Ed at The Masters Tournament. Sadly my visit in Fort Smith would be the last time I saw Jack Fleck. I missed him last year at the Masters and Billy this year. Life is way too short.

CLICK here for the Tribute to Legendary Golfer Jack Fleck.

I remember a long time ago back in the 1990s reading about Jack and his new books. I cut out his advertisement for golf lessons in Arkansas and hoped one day to travel to Arkansas and get a lesson from him and that is exactly what I did on this portion of the ‘Journey to Olympic Golf.’

CLICK here for the Jack Fleck Golf Lesson for Andy Reistetter.

Jack knew me well at first meeting and he knew my swing well at first glance kidding me that he “hoped it was a dogleg left!”

Long live Jack Fleck on the Big Course above and love live his spirit, somehow to be included in the “Olympic Spirit of Golf.”

CLICK here for the Big Wide Open Sky Driving through the Ozarks in Arkansas.

I will always remember the beautiful time I spent in Arkansas with Carmen and Jack Smith. Their grace, hospitality and spirit is well represented by the sky that day I drove through the Ozarks in Arkansas.

My visit was too short, only a one-nighter, but if you are going to travel 18,471 mile in 100 days and pass through 14 countries there is no time to let the moss grow beneath your feet.

I was headed for the Texas Triangle, Dallas first, then San Antonio and Houston. I had a feeling I was going to get lost in there and maybe never emerge to continue my journey. As it turns out the direction of my odyssey south of the border would be focused in the abyss in the heart of Texas and a chance meeting would accelerate JTOG to warp speed!

Stay tune y’all!

I am looking for 100 new friends in the next 100 days to make a $100 donation (or any amount that you are able to make) to The First Tee. Each day I will be reliving the original “Journey to Olympic Golf” and hope to find a new friend in golf. Is that you? Please join me in giving back to the game we all love.

CLICK here to make a donation to The First Tee.

Please select ‘Andy Reistetter’s Journey to Olympic Golf’ on the drop-down menu for the question ‘What inspired you to make a gift today? This is for tracking purposes only, Andy does not receive any part of your donation or anything financially from The First Tee organization.

There are interesting incentives for making your donation to the First Tee…

PLEASE click here to make a donation to The First Tee.

Thank You!

Three Amigos- Ed, Jack & me at the 2012 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club where Jack and Billy Casper were honored.

Torch and I loved driving down Route 66! With Kammy who manages the Visitor Center.

The incredible sky that driving through the Ozarks.