I landed in San Francisco at 9:30am
after a 14 hour flight from Sydney, Australia on December 21st… But
I had departed Sydney at 4pm on the 21st. Sitting at the gate
awaiting my final flight of 2015 to Palm Springs, I wondered exactly how much
distance I had covered this year. I traveled outside North America for the
first two times of my life, played a full college and amateur schedule, tested
the waters on the PGA Tour, and spent only a handful of days at home. Thus
prompted this blog post… A review of 2015 as seen from 30,000 feet!
Just for fun, I went back on every
flight I had made (including connections) this calendar year, and totaled the
number of miles covered on each leg of the journey. For those interested, I
also included a quick explanation for why I found myself in this particular
part of the world. So here goes:
SF->Hawaii->SF = 4,700 miles
First tournament of 2015, the Amer Ari at the Waikoloa Kings
Course in Hawaii. Someone has to do it, I guess…
SF->Palm Springs, CA->SF = 900 miles
Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, CA. If I recall
correctly, our team shot a half-decent 20 under final round here. Made the trip
back very nice!
SF->Cabo San Lucas->SF = 3,000 miles
Querencia Cabo Collegiate. Continuing the trend of tournament
destinations that make all of our dorm-mates jealous.
SF->Palm Springs, CA->SF = 900 miles
Easter weekend and some golf with the family in La Quinta…
SF->Pullman, WA->SF = 1,700 miles
Pac12 Championships at Palouse Ridge, Washington State’s
course. A few good memories here… Yeah maybe more than a few.
SF->Charlotte, NC->Dallas/Fort Worth->SF = 5,200
miles
NCAA Regionals in at UNC Finley GC, followed by a stop in Fort
Worth, TX for the Ben Hogan Award ceremony at Colonial CC. Picked up a W and a
berth at Nationals at UNC, and a top-3 finish at the Hogan Award!
SF->Bradenton, FL->Atlanta, GA->SF = 5,600 miles
NCAA Nationals at the Concession Club in Bradenton, FL. Can
we re-do day 1??
SJ->Phoenix, AZ->Columbus, OH->Chicago, IL->SF =
4,900 miles
Two birds with one stone here… I moved my US Open Sectional
qualifying to the Columbus, OH site so that I could do that and attend the Jack
Nicklaus Award ceremony at Murifield Village GC. The field was stacked with PGA
Tour pros- I played one group in front of David Lingmerth, fresh off his
victory at the Memorial the day previous!
SF->Chicago, IL->Kansas City, MO->San Diego,
CA->SF = 4,600 miles
Palmer Cup at Rich Harvest Farms just outside Chicago. We
made an unplanned landing in Kansas City, as our intended flight path was
blocked by thunderstorms in the Midwest.
SF->Washington, DC-Greenbrier, WV->Washington, DC->SF
= 5,800 miles
The Greenbrier Classic at Old White TPC. The Greenbrier
Resort really felt like an oasis in the middle of nowhere… Because it kind of
was! Not easy to get to.
SF->Atlanta, GA->SF = 4,600 miles
PGA Tour Barbasol Championship at RTJ Golf Trail in Opelika,
AL. This doesn’t include the hour and a half taxi ride to Opelika from Atlanta…
SF->Portland, OR->Eugene, OR->Seattle, WA->SF = 1,700
miles
Pacific Coast Amateur Championship at Eugene CC (sound
familiar? Site of the 2016 NCAA National Championship! Strategic planning.)
with my teammate Viraat Badhwar.
SF->Chicago, IL->SF = 4,100 miles
US Amateur at Olympia Fields CC just outside Chicago. I’m
starting to like this place… Starring the Daddy-Caddy!
SF->Pittsburgh, PA->Chicago, IL->SF = 5,000 miles
Walker Cup Practice Session in Latrobe, PA.. Home of the
great Arnold Palmer. One of my fondest memories was drinking an AP sitting
across the table from the real AP…
SF->New York, NY->Manchester, England->New York, NY->Chicago,
IL->SF = 12,200 miles
Walker Cup and Fighting Illini Invitational. Started with a
tour of the NYSE and 9/11 Memorial in New York, followed by the most incredible
golf experience of my life at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club. Then flew
straight to Chicago to meet my Stanford team for the first college event of the
year at OFCC. It’s official, I like that golf course.
SF->Portland, OR->SF = 1,200 miles
Pumpkin Ridge for the Nike Collegiate Invitational… And a
tour of Nike World Headquarters as well!
SF->Atlanta, GA->SF = 4,600 miles
Alpharetta, GA for the US Collegiate Championship at the GC
of Georgia. Somehow backed myself into a win here…
SF->San Diego, CA->SF = 1,000 miles
The Gifford Collegiate Championship at La Costa Resort. Make
it back-to-back-back-in wins!
SF->Palm Springs, CA->SF = 800 miles
Some more sunny, 36-hole golf days with the family in La
Quinta for Thanksgiving break.
SJ->LA->Brisbane, Australia->Cairns, Australia->Sydney,
Australia->SF->Palm Springs, CA = 17,800 miles
This was a trip to visit my teammate Viraat Badhwar in
Australia; we began in his hometown of Brisbane (and I got to witness the
course where V honed his buttery little draw… Not a left-to-right hole on the
property!), visited Cairns for a day to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef, and
ended in Sydney and a spectacular round at New South Wales GC. Then I met my
family back in the desert for some more 36 hole days over Christmas and New
Years.
Add those all up, and you get:
4 countries
14 states
58 flights
90,300 miles (the Earth’s
circumference is approximately 25,000 miles, so this year’s flying was the
equivalent of flying around the world nearly four times…)
*note- this blog post was, in fact, written on an airplane…
by Maverick McNealy
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