Sherril's husband Don is a Past Chairman of TPC and it had been 12 years or so since he had attended the tournament. So, this year, Annee & I were Joining Don & sherril, along with his brothers & wives: Warren & Mona from Winnipeg, and Jerry & Cici from Victoria for a 10 day visit to J-ville. We had a beach house rented at South Ponte Vidra Beach and two cars waiting for us. Don had arranged clubhouse passes for the whole week, so we could get in every day for practice, as well as the 4 day tournament.

Chairman Don

We arrived in J-ville late in the evening due to some weather delays, and finally found our rental house on the beach at South Ponte Vidra after midnite. After taking in some sun on the beach Sunday morning, we all spent the afternoon with Sherrill's son Joel and family in the afternoon.

Warren, Jerry, Don

Monday thru Wednesday the gals went shopping and the guys went to check out the new 17,000 sq ft $40 mill plus clubhouse at Sawgrass and watch some of the early arriving players practice. By Wednesday all the key players were in residence and I finally got to see Tiger, VJ, Phil, Sergio, et al up close and personal. Even tho I'm not a golfer or a golf fan, it was exciting to see all the big boys in action.

During the whole week we tried to eat at as many rib and seafood places as we could. We took in Barbara Jeans and Caps on the Intracoastal Waterway and Conchs down in St. Augustine. One morning Cici and I spent an hour touring the old Castillo de San Marcos fort in St. Augustine that dated back into the 1600s and was built to guard the town. I had first visited it when I was 12 years old and it hadn't changed since I first saw it.

The Castillo

Thursday was kickoff day for the TPC so we were all in full attendance. We would follow different players for a hole or two then follow a different player. But, the most fun I had was "people watching" since there were 50,000 + spectators there every day thru Sunday. On Friday I caught up with Chas Davidson from Richmond, who was down for a few days of golfing.

Jerry, Warren, Don

By Sunday the TPC race was down to Phil Mickleson and Shawn Ohair in a neck and neck race to the 18th hole. On the 17th, Shawn blew it with a bogie 5 and Phil collected the BIG check.

Monday we were up at 3AM headed home. It had been a fun week with the whole Rose clan, but I was anxious to get back to the last 10 days of turkey season. A week of golf was enough for me for a year!