If one is searching to define the “Olympic Spirit of Golf & Golfers” what better person and place to start with than Bobby Jones and his home, Atlanta? Dennis Berkholtz and I visited his grave site in the historic Oakland Cemetery and then went out to the Eastlake Golf Club where the young lad learned to play golf under the watchful eye of Stuart Maiden. I did an interesting video on the sense of Bobby Jones on the back lawn of the Eastlake Clubhouse that was unfortunately not properly recorded. No guarantee an Olympian knows how to operate a video camera!
We then drove over and played the Highlands Course at the Atlantic Athletic Club where Bobby moved with the club in 1967. I had been there for the PGA Championship two years earlier to see Keegan Bradley win his major debut in a playoff over Jason Dufner. I was also at Oak Hill CC outside Rochester, New York earlier in 2013 to see Dufner come back to win his own PGA. The Highlands Course was extraordinary and the greens a dream to putt on!
It was a short visit to Atlanta but very beneficial with both an Olympics and Spirit of Golf connection. I felt like I was off to a good start to combine the two and get a sense of the “Spirit of Olympic Golf” that has laid dormant on this earth for over a century.
Tomorrow, on Monday morning, I head northwest to St. Louis, a drive of 550 miles that will take a good 8 hours. I was invited to play Glen Echo CC, host club of Olympic Golf in 1904 and stay at the historic AAA Four-Diamond St. Louis Union Station – a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel for two nights. More on that in Days 4 & 5.
Little did I know that I would be getting a phone call on Monday morning with an offer I couldn’t refuse.
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.
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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.
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Thank You!
Visiting Bobby Jones grave with Dennis before heading out to Eastlake and AAC.
Visiting the clubhouse at Eastlake in the presence of Bobby Jones.
With our host Jim Teate in the Robert Tyre Jones, Jr. Room at AAC. Fabulous course, fabulous club!
