3 Mikes and a Bill

Posted Jun 15,2009

Our nephew, Jeremy is a collector.  He's not a pack rat or anything like that.  He's one of those special people who collects friends.  Jer spent a few years living in Tucson, Arizona and, never being able to stay away from a golf course, he met a few guys who like to play golf.  Did I tell you Jeremy is in advertising and promotions?  Well, part of his psyche is always promoting White Pine National (God love him!), so oftentimes when he played golf with his friends, he wore shirts with White Pine logos on them.  The friends would ask questions and Jer would entertain them with stories about his crazy family and his 2 uncles that built a golf course in Northern Michigan.

The way we hear the story the golfing buddies were interested in coming to Michigan to see this family owned and operated operation.  (But, somewhere in the back of my mind, knowing Jer's stories, I really think the comments were more like, "We've got to see this!")

So, for 3 years now, the talk has been about coming to Michigan to play golf and this weekend it happened.  3 Mikes (honestly!) and a Bill flew from Tucson to Detroit, where Jer picked them up, packed them and their clubs in his pick-up truck and brought them to Hubbard Lake.  By the time they arrived it was dark and I'm sure those guys wondered where on earth Jer had brought them - no stores, no traffic, no cactus and, for the most part not much of anything but dark and trees.  Saturday morning they arrived for their tee time, fired up and ready to bring this place to its knees.  Saturday afternoon, when they came into the clubhouse for lunch, they said they were a little sore, but headed out for another round.

Saturday night, at dinner they enjoyed their meal and decided to head back to the house to rest up for the next morning's round.  When they checked in to play on Sunday morning, they were doing a bit of stretching, but still had great smiles and a lot of enthusiasm for this long awaited Michigan golf trip.  Sunday afternoon, after lunch and as they began their 4th round of the weekend, they were rather quiet, but out they went.  We had a few strong showers Sunday afternoon, but they found shelter under trees or bathroom roofs and finished their final round at about 7:00 Sunday evening.

They came into the clubhouse quietly, with their eyes glazed over, mumbling things like, "I did it" and "I can't believe I did it", but after dinner they seemed to perk up and as we bid them farewell, they were smiles from ear to ear.  At dinner I suggested they had one check mark for their bucket lists, eventhough the oldest in the group might have been 45 (puppies).

The bottom line is, yes, Jeremy does collect friends and he has great taste in friends.  What nice guys, and, thanks to Jer, we've got 4 new friends, too.

Come back soon, guys!

Mike, Jer, Mike, Mike and Bill