Phi Alpha

I just returned from a trip to South Carolina to meet an RPI fraternity brother. For those readers who are not from northern New York State, RPI does not refer to dead fraternity brothers (that would be RIP) but to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy New York. I met Jim for the first time when rushing Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in my freshman year of college. That was back before electronic calculators and after the introduction of electric typewriters for those of you who feel more comfortable placing dates on a timeline. Jim was either attending RPI at the time or just hanging around the fraternity waiting to come back to RPI. I graduated from college on the five year plan that included attendance at three different universities prior to graduation. Jim decided not to cram four years of education into five years and took seven years to finish college. I would recommend this plan to any student except those for whom I am paying the tuition. College is a wonderful time. As you get older you realize the time went by much too quickly.

Jim and I have been friends since that first meeting. His wife, Ann, was a sorority sister of my wife at the SUNY at Albany. I was part of their wedding party which was held in the wild and crazy town of Wayland, NY. If any of my readers knows where Wayland, NY is before rushing to Google Maps, they will receive a wonderful prize from the Pondit. Both Jim and Ann are the two people I know who most resemble what they looked like while in college. Ann gets more credit since she finished college on the boring four year plan. In fact as I write this, I am going to ask Jim for a photocopy of his diploma. He might still be working on that undergraduate degree and thus be disqualified for the still looking like statement I made above.

While in South Carolina, Jim and I played five of America's Top 100 Public Golf Courses in five days. Jim plans on playing all one hundred. I am setting my goals on playing the one hundred cheapest golf courses in America. In June and July I drove across the heartland to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and back. I played eleven different golf courses in ten states in thirteen days. I spent maybe $400 on greens fees. Thanks to Jim's quest, I spent $575 in just two days in South Carolina. By the end of the trip, I was liquidating my 401 Plans. Really, it was worth the cost. Reconnecting with old friends is always great. Ann flew in from California to join us on the third day. After Hilton Head and Kiawah Island we spent the last few days in Surfside Beach just south of Myrtle Beach.

Here is another travel tip from the Pondit. Driving from Myrtle Beach to Westchester County, NY in one day is not recommended. Listen to Paul Simon…. "Slow down you move to fast, you've got to make the morning last."

Here are a couple of photos:

Jim and the Pondit in the fairway looking toward the Ocean Course clubhouse on Kiawah Island.

The Ocean Course flag. If you are a golf course with green fees over $300 a round you get a flag. That is a USGA rule.

This is not Jim and Ann. We played the Harbortown Course at Hilton Head with this wonderful young couple from St. Louis. This is the famed eighteenth hole at Harbortown.

After finishing our eighteen holes at the Ocean Course, Jim and I made sure we got the most of out of our green fees by spending two hours at the clubhouse bar and then coming back for dinner in the evening. We were saddened to learn that drinks and dinner were not included in the greens fees.