I was at a charity golf outing for the Bryon Riesch Spinal Cord Injury Research foundation yesterday. As I walked up to hole 13 at the Western Lakes golf course, I see it is a 168 yard par 3, with the pin basically in the center of the green and a slight tailwind, and proceed to hit the purest 8 iron I've ever hit. From the moment it left my club face, I knew it had a real good chance. I watched it stay on line, hit about 5 yards short of the hole, take a bounce and roll for a little bit and then I saw the ball disappear. It was an absolute rush to see this. I was elated beyond description.

After the round is over, I went to the clubhouse and bought a bunch of drinks, and bid on some silent auction items (I get to go backstage to meet Styx in person for the 2nd year in a row!! ). As we all sit down to dinner, the director grabs the microphone and says that he just got off the phone with the lawyers and that they are happy to announce that I won a 2005 Mustang Convertible, a trip to Scotland to play St. Andrew's, and some other prizes!!!!!!!!! (I believe that's justifiable use of multiple exclamation marks. ) It turns out that all players in the event were covered by an insurance policy that they bought to pay out prizes on an ace. I'll be signing the affidavits soon, and should have all of the prizes shortly thereafter. I'm still in a haze. Oh, and to be certain, I bid like there was no tomorrow in the regular auction. There is no way I want that karma train pulling away from me.

I'm obviously ecstatic, but I would especially like to thank everyone in the foundation for putting on a great event, and facilitating the prize package payout. I would like to thank them very much for everything that they did. Rest assured, I will be coming back time and time again.