2011 THP Outing Questions/Suggestions

[JB]

The 2010 Fall Golf Outing & Demo Day has officially come to an end and as many have suspected, we are already starting to plan the next THP Golf Outing & Demo Day. We believe that the PGA National Resort & Spa did an AMAZING job at hosting this event and we are not sure that we can outdo this last event....But we are certainly going to try. 50 people, playing those courses, at that resort was something that many of my dreams were made of. Add to that the THP Dinner and the wonderful times shared off the course and at Demo Day and we were in heaven.

In starting our planning for the 2011 THP Golf Outing, we want to get the feedback of everybody that has attended a THP Outing, hopes to attend a THP Outing, etc... and make it what everybody wants in their trip. We have put together a list of questions and want your honest feedback on this so that we can start to make the calls necessary to get this under way.

1. Time of year to hold outing?

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses

3. What area in FL?

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again?

7. Did you enjoy the contests?

8. Was the price of this outing worth it?

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one?

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)

-Golf Courses Played
-Resort
-THP Dinner
-Demo Day
-i-Bar
-Contests
-Other

Thank you for helping us out with this and we will be monitoring this thread and answering questions for people. We answered the same questions below for people to get some ideas behind our thoughts.

We do ask that we keep this thread STRICTLY about these questions, as well as ideas about the next outing and not have this one turn into a banter thread.

Below are my answers to the questions and some thoughts that may help others decide on what they would like to see.

1. Time of year to hold outing?
I would love to do the outing in October - April, but cost can be a major factor. During those times the cost of FL golf is at its peak and it can be close to double what it is during the off months. I am a big fan of April or September.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses
A HUGE fan of the Stay & Play resorts. It made for so much more time to hang out with everybody and get to know people a little more. There is a level of service that you get from a nicer resort that we are willing to pay for. However we are open to either depending on what people think.

3. What area in FL?
We are completely open to this suggestion as long as there are some incredible golf choices. Areas that come to mind are Orlando, Tampa, North FL (Jax), Naples, Sarasota, etc..

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area
Not sure this would even be a question if we did not enjoy ourselves as much as we did. We believe the resort did an amazing job all the way around and are completely open to hosting it there again. Heck it could be the "Outing Location" for all we care, that is how much fun we had.

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)
I love TC's idea and look forward to hearing others thoughts.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again?
Leaving this one up to you Guys & Gals

7. Did you enjoy the contests?
See above

8. Was the price of this outing worth it?
Again, totally your call

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one?
See above

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)

-Golf Courses Played
-Resort
-THP Dinner
-Demo Day
-i-Bar
-Contests
-Other

For me it was the Resort and the i-Bar. That is where the stories come from and the resort was just so good at handling us from a layout perspective and amenities perspective.

Thanks everybody, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on each question and the next outing overall.

 

[White Rhino]

Here are mine:

1. Time of year to hold outing? Whatever time of the year the humidity is the lowest

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses? Both have their merits but I did enjoy all the conveniences and pampering of the resort lifestyle.

3. What area in FL? I'll leave that to those who know Florida best but i would say some place that is easy to travel to via plane and the resort is not too far from the airport if possible.

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area I have no problem with either one here

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day). 3day. The one thing "lacking" in this outing was enough time to get to talk with everyone.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again? Was very nice and yes I think it should be.

7. Did you enjoy the contests? Yes and I think there could be more such as longest drive, closest to pin, best score relative to handicap.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it? To me it was and next to 9-iron, I believe I travelled the furthest and might of spent the most.

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one? Are you nuts? I will definately be there!!

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come) Getting to meet great people, and play on some great courses.

-Golf Courses Played
-Resort
-THP Dinner
-Demo Day
-i-Bar
-Contests
-Other

 

[Canadan]

I'd love to see something up near Jacksonville, aka drivable from Cincinnati (RxG, carpool? lol)..

The whole package wrapped up does a great job of keeping everyone in the same area, which I feel like would make it far easier to group up and have fun.

I love the idea of a 3 day. I have every intention of saving some time off for the next event..

As far as timing.. anything after mid september and before it starts to get hot (june?) would be ideal. I don't mind heat, but I don't love it haha

 

[TC]

well, i think a stay and play in necessary. especially with the amount of folks that should be in attendence.

i hadn't really thought of jacksonville before but that may be a good spot for an outing, although i think that orlando would be better, just for the fact that there's plenty to do if folks wanted to bring their wives or partners, who don't necessarily golf.

i love the idea of a 3 day event, with demo being on friday. it was a great way to mingle and have fun but i felt as though it was rushed. plus it would be nice to tee off earlier in the day b/c i for one, would love to be playing 36 a day!

if you guys want to offer a dinner, it will be greatly appreciated and a ton of fun. if the budget doesn't permit, perhaps we could rent an area (kind of like the sportsbar downstairs at pga national) and we could just have the space, everyone orders what they want and pays for their own dinner and drinks and we could do the contests and whatnot at that time.

highlights of the trip for me was catching up, laughing, and late nights with everyone, and i can assure you, that will not happen if we don't go to a stay and play type place.

 

[solidkjames]

If resorts are going to be the main draw I would like to rotate to new venues. I know doing demo days would be tougher but places like St Augustine with the world golf hall of fame, TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Pinehurst is incredible (been there before and staying in the 107 year old stick built hotel is awesome), Sea Pines and Kiawah Island at Hilton Head have amazing courses, the Greenbrier in WV would be neat and several others throughout the eastern seaboard are highly rated. There are some pretty awesome resorts that could be rotated from year to year if feasible but I agree a resort experience is hard to duplicate.

 

[Hawk]

1. Time of year to hold outing? Tough one. I think April is the best for weather. I think we got pretty lucky that we didn't get rained on. Also, for the northerners, it is a great time to get away from the transitioning weather. I think it needs to be during the "off" season to keep costs down. Late April worked great last time.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses I think I made my point in the outing thread, but Stay & Play was great. Another benefit of it was that the non-golfing spouses had plenty to do during the day.

3. What area in FL? Naples/Ft Meyers, Orlando, or West Palm. Good airport access and a plethora of golf courses. I particularly like SW Florida for the Gulf.

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area I loved PGA National and hope to get back there. That said, I'd love to try another place.

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day) 2 days would probably work best for me.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again? Yes and Yes. It was nice to have an "official" dinner. It could be fried chicken for all I care.

7. Did you enjoy the contests? Yes. My favorite was the putting contest because everybody was going crazy at the close putts.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it? Yes. I would probably spend a little wiser if I could go back in time, but I'm not complaining. The value for the room/golf/service was great. The food and drinks were a bit pricey, but the price was worth the convenience and setting.

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one? I'll do whatever I can to make it. Tough to predict life when you have a family, but I made the last two

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)

-Golf Courses Played
-Resort
-THP Dinner
-Demo Day
-i-Bar
-Contests
-Other

Golf courses and iBar. I had the two most fun rounds of my life and had way too much fun partying it up at the bar.

......

 

[Canadan]

TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville

Gaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! I'd fall over with excitement hahahaha!

 

[ddec]

1. Time of year to hold outing? - If you are going to do it twice a year, I would say Spring and Fall.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses - depending on the size of the outing. If they are going to be the size that we just had, I would say stay and play. I loved not having to leave the resort, that was a big bonus.

3. What area in FL? - WHO CARES ITS FLORIDA!!! I wouldn't mind maybe being near orlando, but thats because its easier to fly in and out of for me.

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area - PGA National was great. I know its probably a lot more, what about Sawgrass or Bay Hill?

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day) - 2 days seemed like it went fast.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again? - Yes. The food was great. Getting to sit down and talk to people in a quieter setting was nice.

7. Did you enjoy the contests? I did. It was fun watching Bulldog drain that putt. Also watching 9i win the Taylormade pack was like watching someone win a car on the price is right. Same goes for 1T when he got a divot mat.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it? Yes, free flights down helped.

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one? I want to come back down, I had a blast, so did Jenn.

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)
- really hard to explain it - the golf was great, but I will remember this outing for much much more. I loved hanging out at the ibar, sitting on the balcony, doing putting drills with SethO, handing out with OneT, Yoccos, Fildini, Spank, Uncle Daddy on Saturday Night. The dinner was great, it was great atmosphere. Demo Day was a lot of fun, it was great talking to people about their swings and equipment. THE BEAR TRAP - enough said.

 

[RxGus]

1. Time of year to hold outing?
Spring + Fall would be the two best options for me personally. I am forced to take time off and time during the summer is the toughest to come by. I LOVE the idea of doing two outings a year but I worry about the cost for people who don't live nearby. Instead of trying to host 2 MAJOR outings a year, it could be beneficial to set the "big" one (either spring or fall- I vote fall) and then have the minor one be more informal/inexpensive.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses
See above- I loved the service that we got at PGA national but there is no way I could affored a place like that twice a year. Perhaps having a "smaller" outing in the spring that is a more muni course feel would be a nice balance. If I could skate a weekend of hotel flight and golf <$500 I would be much more likely to be able and make a second outing. To be clear- I FULLY support stay and play for at least one of the two outings

3. What area in FL?
Beats me. I don't know florida very well... all I care about is that there is golf and that there are awesome THP people to hang out with

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area
I would be fine either way. I want revenge on the Champion but I don't want the courses or they resort to loose their hype. Perhaps if we found 2-3 stay and play resorts that people liked we could alternate through them. Give enough variety to keep people interested and still get to revist the Champ at some point. If we go to two formal outings a year, we could also consider keeping PGA as the primary outing and then rotating the smaller/off season outing to various other locales

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)
3 days- hands down. With the cost of traveling I chose to stay two extra days at PGA- for people who travel a long ways it is much nicer to be there for a while. It would also allow for some more kickback time by the pool/etc during the day that didn't really happen this past outing.[/COLOR]

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again?
Loved it- don't change a thing (besides me winning prizes this time)

7. Did you enjoy the contests?
I would have liked to see some "on course" contests but I know how difficult those are in such a large group. I really enjoyed the putting contest and hope more things like that could be incorperated.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it?
It was for me... but as mentioned above I couldn't foot this bill twice in a year. I don't regret a penny I spent though and I am still scraping up some cash and looking in couch cushions to buy some new toys

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one?
I hope that I can make it to the next one as well. Timing will be a big part of that but as long as we have appropriate warning (or set in stoen dates- 3rd weekend in september) I should be fine. See above regarding the cost and trying to attend 2 outings a year

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)
People, People, People- I loved getting to BS with a lot of "new" faces and sharing stories and jokes at the bar and on the course. We could have played the most beat-up muni and I would have had just as much fun


Some additional thoughts:
I would love to see at least one more launch monitor at demo day. I know they are expensive but there was just too many people that wanted to hit on it and not enough time/battery power for everyone. Having the drivers available on both days (during the putting day) would help too- spreading out the time that people are able to use it.

 

[Tmex]

1. Time of year to hold outing?
I think April/September is good in my book. Gives us enough time in between to recover financially and start planning.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses
While the stay & play was a little more expensive I love how it turned out. Meeting all the wonderful people I did went hand in hand with the stay & play. Not sure I could have done it without this option. If you could make it an option for some that would be cool but Im not sure that would even be possible. PLus I really think they would be missing out on the experience as a whole. It might even turn out more expensive when you factor in transportation for staying offsite.

3. What area in FL?
No idea! I've only been to WPB (this trip) and Orlando. I liked Orlando but it was muggy when I was there haha.

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area
I loved the PGA National. The cost was high but nothing I didn't expect. If there is a resort that can provide the same level of service and amenities but less $$ that may help some of those that couldnt make it this time. It also might help some of us that plan on making the next one but need time to save money wise.

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)
I would love to do 3 days but I really think that might be on the verge of cutting out a lot of people. We stayed friday night till monday afternoon but I didn't like the feeling of cutting it close on Monday. I would hate to miss one of those days because of time constraints and I think a few people would be in that same boat. Having the demo/golf was a perfect combo because it gave us time to try out clubs and take on course if we could. I just wouldn't want to have to cut out early because of cost or time and miss out.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again?
LOVED IT!!!!!!!! The food was fantastic but the company was the best part. Got to know a few people I didn't have the chance to golf with and I really loved that part.

7. Did you enjoy the contests?
Yes I did! Cool stuff and lots of winners.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it?
For me it was. As long as we are givin time to plan (like this one) it works out well. One more day may have hit the wallet really hard but if this were the set up next time, I wouldn't see any issues with the cost.

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one?
I'm planning on it. Cost and # of days is the only thing that could stop me.

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)
To me it was the people. That was definitely the highlight, the I-Bar and Bear Trap provided so many memories. It's a must to have another place we all can gather to share our stories with one another. It was awesome to kick back after the rounds and just shoot the breeze.

-Golf Courses Played
-Resort
-THP Dinner
-Demo Day
-i-Bar
-Contests
-Other

 

[Puttin4Bird]

1. Time of year to hold outing? Fall, maybe even October. If it's the 1 event of the year people will save money not going to 2 and people who were going to go in September will still go in October even if it's another couple of hundred bucks.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses- definitely stay and play. Being able to wander back to our rooms after our tank hit "FULL" was priceless!

3. What area in FL? Orlando- quite a bit cheaper to fly into for just about everyone involved.

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area- I'd say research some Orlando resorts after you guys get moved and go with that or something real close.

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)- I like the idea of the demos split up personally, that is just so much to take in at once the way it was. I can see this working out though so either way would work for me personally.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again? YES!

7. Did you enjoy the contests? Loved it! I felt like I was on the 1999 Ryder Cup team when Bulldog nailed that putt!

8. Was the price of this outing worth it? YES, every red cent.

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one? 100% in. If my wife wouldn't shoot me in the face I'd order my plane ticket now!

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come) The highlight for me was the dinner, everyone was there, even the wives who didn't golf and it was so cool to have a semi-formal deal like this to get ready for after our golf was done. Everything was awesome but this was my single favorite part of the whole deal. For a little while nobody was worried if they didn't shoot as good as the next guy or if their clubs were right for them or if they'd have enough balls to finish the round or anything. We were all there and all enjoying each other's company. BEST. DINNER. EVER!

 

[JB]

If resorts are going to be the main draw I would like to rotate to new venues. I know doing demo days would be tougher but places like St Augustine with the world golf hall of fame, TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Pinehurst is incredible (been there before and staying in the 107 year old stick built hotel is awesome), Sea Pines and Kiawah Island at Hilton Head have amazing courses, the Greenbrier in WV would be neat and several others throughout the eastern seaboard are highly rated. There are some pretty awesome resorts that could be rotated from year to year if feasible but I agree a resort experience is hard to duplicate.

Unfortunatley ALL of our official outings will be held in FL. We cannot transport this much equipment to other areas. Fortunately there are plenty of great places to host this kind of thing here.

 

[the Belbs]

Here are my answers:
1. Time of year to hold outing?
I thought that September was a little too early to have it. Early October would have been better for me, as September is usually packed with things like year ending tournaments in golf and Softball.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses
Stay and Play is great, but it was a tad expensive. That being said, $150 per person per night for a hotel, and golf of that caliber is a great deal. Knowing now what we didn't know then we could have stopped somewhere and purchased "items" cheaper than getting everything from the resort. (makes me sound cheap I know)

3. What area in FL?
No idea! This was the first time I was in Florida since I was 11. I'll leave that up to people more in "the know". I agree with WR, places closer to airports are better for me. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale because it saved us each $200 on the flights. (and we also came from pretty far away)

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area
I'd go back to the PGA Resort again, but wouldn't mind trying something different either.

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)
3 Days next time for us for sure. Flying all day Friday/Monday then golfing all day Saturday/Sunday was exhausting. Plus time to do your own thing would have been great. I know that Sarah wanted to go shopping, and there wasn't a lot of time for that.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again?
Dinner was a great idea and both Sarah (Who signed up on THP as "Flashy" yesterday) and I really enjoyed it.

7. Did you enjoy the contests?
With the raffle, not withstanding... wasn't there only one contest? I'd like to see more contests if possible.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it?
Overall, the cost of the 2 day outing for us was over $1600(not including alcohol). That is a lot to play golf for 2 days. We had a great time, but putting out that kind of money makes us hesitant to do that again real soon.

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one?
I think we will make it to another one, but I can not see us coming to more than 1 a year, cost is just to prohibitive.

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)

I think the highlight for us was the golf, and also meeting all kinds of great people. We have never golfed on courses like that, and it was a nice treat.

 

[ddec]

1.
2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses- definitely stay and play. Being able to wander back to our rooms after our tank hit "FULL" was priceless!

I'm not sure I know what you mean...when our tank hit FULL haha

 

[ddec]

Unfortunatley ALL of our official outings will be held in FL. We cannot transport this much equipment to other areas. Fortunately there are plenty of great places to host this kind of thing here.

with as much equipment you guys brought, bringing it anywhere outside of a driving area would be a logistical nightmare for you.

 

[PiratePenguin]

Couldn't attend this one, but I'll throw out a few answers:

I would like to see an option for those who cannot stay overnight but still want to attend at least one day of the event. I have commitments on Sundays, so while I could stay on a Friday and spend all day Saturday I'd have to be back home for Sunday.

Location: anywhere near Jacksonville would be awesome (I'm not biased), or Orlando, Daytona, Ocala, Gainesville... places I can drive in less than 2 hours.

 

[Smallville]

If resorts are going to be the main draw I would like to rotate to new venues. I know doing demo days would be tougher but places like St Augustine with the world golf hall of fame, TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Pinehurst is incredible (been there before and staying in the 107 year old stick built hotel is awesome), Sea Pines and Kiawah Island at Hilton Head have amazing courses, the Greenbrier in WV would be neat and several others throughout the eastern seaboard are highly rated. There are some pretty awesome resorts that could be rotated from year to year if feasible but I agree a resort experience is hard to duplicate.

It's been mentioned many times that it needs to be in Florida for the logistics of the demo days. People keep suggesting other areas, but it's like beating a dead horse because it's not going to happen. I want it to be in the Midwest because it's centrally located, but that's not going to happen either.

EDIT: Beaten to it!

 

[ddec]

The Golf hall of Fame would be pretty cool. Especially if we did a 3 day thing, where 1 day you could demo and check out the hall.

 

[Kmac]

1. Time of year to hold outing?
I think the best time is what affords everyone the best price and the best weather. I think it would be better for the group as a whole to avoid the peak season for the sake of cost.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses
I loved the fact that everyone was at the same place. No cars were needed. Everything was within a walk. Certain people could drink and not have to worry about driving. Some people could still choose to ride the elevator up and down in a state of thanks'ed. I really think the stay and play was a great set up. The staff was amazing and made it all worth it.

3. What area in FL?
This I'll leave up to JB and GG but I do think Orlando sounds like a good place to start with. Some of these smaller airports only have limited flights.

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area
PGA National was awesome. Really blew me away how nice it was and if we went back Id have issues with it at all. But variety is the spice of life, so something new might be fun too.

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)
I love the idea of 3 days. Friday all day for demo day sounds so much better then having to rush through it and then golf all tired. I think this is the key to having it run a little smoother and not so fast.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again?
Dinner was great and I did enjoy it. I think doing it again should depend on cost vs not doing it and letting people order their own food.

7. Did you enjoy the contests?
Contest was fun but hopefully it wont be rigged next time by Duey. I kid duey!! Free stuff is always fun.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it?
Every penny!

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one?
Maybe. lol

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)
Meeting and seeing everyone from THP was awesome. That and the demo day with all the pre-release stuff was my highlight. Golf was a close second with points deducted for wind.

 

[SethO]

1. Time of year to hold outing? I like either fall or spring. Whatever gives us the best chance for great weather.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses I vote Stay and Play.

3. What area in FL? Wherever is fine with me.

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area Either or.

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day) 3 days for sure. Demo day can be taken at our leisure and certain people can take shifts helping people with stuff and etc.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again? I enjoyed it very much even though I ate oh so much.

7. Did you enjoy the contests? Contests are very fantastic.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it? Very much so.

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one? YES Yes and YESSS!!

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come) Meeting people and playing with old friends and new ones. Putting faces with names and always having a place to hang out (iBar) was very nice. This outing was more all inclusive than the last one IMHO.

 

[9-Iron Man]

Here are mine:


1. Time of year to hold outing?

I have to agree with WR. The time if year when the humidity is low. We got used to it fairly quickly, but coming from no humidity to knock you on your butt is a bit much for the system. That being said, we ended up LOVING the September weather.

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses

I like the idea of the Stay & Play especially at the resort environment. PGA National was a great venue as it offered so many things. As a person who does not usually indulge in such things it is nice to do something different like a resort.

3. What area in FL?

This does not really matter to me. I'm no expert on FL, so to me any place would be nice. Getting to WPB was fairly easy in the end, so I guess the big stipulation for me would be ease of travel and keeping those costs down as much as possible.

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area

As I said before, PGA National was an awesome venue. Truly caters to just about every need. That being said, I would not be opposed to trying a different venue. It is fun to mix things up. Perhaps as time goes on, a rotation through different resorts could be started?

5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)

As the person who travelled the farthest I stayed the couple extra days to maximize our stay. Therefore, I have no problem with staying the extra time. Having the demo and rounds of golf all on the same day did make for some long days, and in all honesty was one of the causes my game went down hill. To me the exhaustion of doing so much lead to me just getting tired and my game progressively went down hill as the rounds wore on. I think it would be a good idea to break things up a bit more. Especially once you factor in the heat as well.

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again?

You bet and absolutely!! It was fun to meat up with everyone and enjoy the company and the great food. And the food was awesome!!

7. Did you enjoy the contests?

I sure did!! However, I was one of the winners. I realize that for people who didn't win it was a bit of a drawn-out affair. Everyone likes to win prizes, but I know from past experience (I usually never win anything, hence my shock when I won) that watching other people win isn't always fun.

8. Was the price of this outing worth it?

Absolutely! We had a total blast. We had never done anything like this before and to be able to do everything we were able to do (play champion level courses, enjoy the incredible FL weather, etc) was something else entirely. Plus meeting everyone was REALLY cool. We've got some incredible people here and we had lots of fun with everyone.

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one?

Come hell or high water I will do everything I can to attend the next outing. We're not ones to take lots of vacations, but this event was right up our alley. Barring some unforeseen incident, you can count us in for 2011, no doobt aboot it!! Haha

10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)

There are quite a few, so I'll just mention a couple. First off, meeting everyone. I am usually quite apprehensive about meeting new people, but that just was not the case here. We've got some amazing members and meeting them face to face was very cool. Second, I have to say was winning the TM Prize Pack. As I said before I usually don't win anything, so winning the prize I really wanted (although all were super cool) was just the icing on the cake for me.

 

[solidkjames]

It's been mentioned many times that it needs to be in Florida for the logistics of the demo days. People keep suggesting other areas, but it's like beating a dead horse because it's not going to happen. I want it to be in the Midwest because it's centrally located, but that's not going to happen either.

EDIT: Beaten to it!

I'm aware of that smalls but from the sounds of things the demo day's was not remotely the highlight of the trip. If you got to go to a place like Pinehurst for a weekend of golf to play on the courses there getting to hit a larger selection of clubs wouldn't seem that big of a deal. I was just making a suggestion based on the best resorts not so much location. But if Florida is the only choice then definitely Sawgrass or St Augustine would be awesome.

 

[Hanks]

here's my .03

Fall
Stay/Play
Orlando
Could do PGA National again (twists arm)
3 days
THP dinner was great, could do again if budget allows for it
Contests were fun
Worth every penny
Will always try to make it if possible
Golf courses/Golf and Demo day were great....convenience was a huge factor

 

[Danilo]

1. Time of year to hold outing?
Anytime... but this was a pretty good time of the year to do it...

2. Stay & Play vs find your place/golf courses
Stay and Play, otherwise you don't have everyone to hang with... plus, I'd rather not drive anywhere, and better for everyone that does not want to rent cars...

3. What area in FL?
PGA NATIONAL!!

4. PGA National again vs another resort or area
PGA NATIONAL!!, or something that offers everything they did... good rooms, multiple courses, multiple ranges, pool, having bags loaded on carts ready to go for tee times...
If it can match PGA NATIONAL, then yes... if not... I'd rather be at PGA NATIONAL
5. 3 days vs 2 days (tcalloway1 came up with an idea of having the event run 3 days with the 1st day being a full day of demo day)

3 days would be awesome... some of us did 3 days, and it was worth every extra penny!!

6. THP Dinner...Did you enjoy it? Should we do it again?

YES! Dinner was great to sit around and eat/talk to everyone! it was quieter than iBar, and the food was awesome!!

7. Did you enjoy the contests?

What contests I was only aware of 1 contest... The putting contest that Bulldog took. If there where more (mentioned in the orig. outing thread...) then I was not aware of it at all!!

8. Was the price of this outing worth it?
Was not too bad... the only thing that was expensive really was food... everything else was great prices!

9. Would you come again or will you make it to the next one?
Sign me up!!
10. What was the highlight? (or what would you have thought your highlight would have been had you come)

Playing golf on those awesome courses!!! Spending time with a ton of new people!!
Watching Bulldog sink that 100+ foot putt!! the list would be pages long...

 

[Danilo]

I'm aware of that smalls but from the sounds of things the demo day's was not remotely the highlight of the trip. If you got to go to a place like Pinehurst for a weekend of golf to play on the courses there getting to hit a larger selection of clubs wouldn't seem that big of a deal. I was just making a suggestion based on the best resorts not so much location. But if Florida is the only choice then definitely Sawgrass or St Augustine would be awesome.

Demo day was a huge part of it... almost everyone was trying out new clubs, and the fact that you got to use some of em during your rounds was great!!