Welcome to....

ALABAMA!!!!

Well...today was the day! We finally hit the road and left the wonderful Headquarters of the AJGA and were on our way to our first tournament site in Loxley, Alabama! The drive went off without a hitch and at about 2:30 central time we rolled into a very private and beautiful Steelwood Country Club! 

Before we get into the rest of the events for the day, let's backtrack to last night for just a bit. So I know that I mentioned we were headed to the laundromat and I was sure there would be interesting stories to be told. Well, Team 3 did not disappoint! The picture below shows us all having a good ole time hanging out with random locals! We took along two girls from Team 4 and they were great to have around! The most interesting part of the night was when one girl from Team 4, Kelli, pulled her clothes out and realized that they had shrunk! While they were still wearable, it was a noticeable difference...especially when compared to the other girls! I think we all learned some valuable lessons last night! haha

But now, back to this afternoon! When we arrived at Steelwood, we were greeted by our Tournament Director, Andrew (Greenie) and Assistant Tournament Director Matt. I can already tell that this is going to be a great week as we are going to learn a lot, but also have a ton of fun! The first thing we did was take a tour of the clubhouse. This was AMAZING...it looked like it had been plucked straight from a old Southern Plantation...it was absolutely beautiful! I will hopefully get the chance to take a couple of pictures tomorrow or Friday and will put them up ASAP! The picture below is one of the female operations staff members (myself, Camille, and Kiley), just outside of the clubhouse and overlooking the large lake that comes into play during the last 3-4 holes.

After taking a tour, we worked to unpack the trailer and set up our headquarters for the week. This will be located in the clubhouse, overlooking the view in the picture...I think I can take that! haha We then went on a ride-around and viewed all 18 holes on the golf course. We literally drove the entire course without stopping, from hole 1 to 18. Let's just say that I have never been on a course that is so isolated and so refreshing...I could use this course as a personal retreat any day!

After the ride-around, it was time for us to head out for the day!

We then headed to the hotel to check-in and relax for just a little bit before dinner. Tonight, we went to Mellow Mushroom, which is a really good pizza place down south. Everyone was able to order their own 'exotic' types of pizza, while me and my lactose-free buddy Alexis (our Communications Assistant/my roommate this week) ate some pretty darn good food as well! I had an amazing Parmesan Chicken Sandwich (without the Parmesan, of course) and I can't wait to eat the last part for a snack tomorrow!

After dinner, almost all of the team decided to take a trip to the local Bass Pro Shop as some team members were looking for water proof shoes to wear out on the course since we are working in the dew almost every single morning! The boys had a lot better luck with shoes than the girls did. However, I am very confident in saying that the girls had a heck of a lot more fun! :) After enjoying the winding nature walk within the 2.5 story waterfall pictured below and admiring all of the clothes within the two-stories, we found some toys to play with in the general store! This was literally one of the coolest places that I have been...we probably could have spent hours just exploring and a bajillion cool things to do! 

Keep an eye out for pictures to be posted either on here or on Facebook within the next couple of days! We had quite some fun partaking in a photo shoot while the boys were paying for their shoes! Never a dull moment when you are travelling with Team 3!

With that, it is off to bed for me! It is a busy day of marking golf courses and set-up tomorrow! Have a great night everyone! :)