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June 16, 2008
The upscale Life
Had a really upscale life this weekend.
Friday night Jess & I headed to the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club for a blind wine tasting. Hosted by Christina & Steve, we were trying to narrow down their wedding wine selections. We tried 3 whites and 3 reds, and narrowed it down to 2 of each.
The whites were the Oyster Bay Sauv Blanc, the Gray Monk Pinot Gris, and a Hardy's Riesling-Gewurtztraminer blend. I actually didn't like the Sauv Blanc as much as if I knew I was drinking it! The Pinot Gris was quite nice, although I misread it as a Chardonnay (understandable, given their similarities). The Ries-Gewurtz blend I thought was awful, although others liked it. In the end we settled on the Sauv Blanc and the Pinot Gris.
The reds were all pretty good. The first was a Cedar Creek Pinot Noir, which both Jess & I read as a Gamay Noir. The 2nd was petite Syrah from Australia (I think) and the last one was an Argentinian Malbec. I believe we chose the first and third, as the Pinot was nice and light, while the other two were both a bit heavier, but most people preferred the Malbec. The Syrah had an interesting bouquet which I think turned off some people - it was a bit smokey with hints of cocoa.
Afterwards we hung out at the yacht club for dinner and caught up with Steve, Christina, Malcolm, and an old University friend of theirs, Beev. It was definitely a nice evening. We also made plans to hang out with Malcolm the next day. We hit the range in the morning, and then headed to the Burrard Marina to go for a sail on Malcolm's boat. It was the first time in a long while I've been on a sailboat, let alone helped out with everything that goes on. We went out to nice weather - mostly sunny blue skies with some cloudy, but lots of wind. Malcolm taught us (or reminded us, in Jess' case) how to unfurl and raise the jig and mainsails, steer, and do all other things needed on the boat. We pulled out of the Marina and into Burrard Inlet. We went in a westerly direction, and then south towards Kits/UBC, and then turned back to the marina. Had a really nice chat with Malcolm - his wife Lesley is doing field research in the Yukon this summer, so he's been on his own since his 30th birthday. Awesomely relaxing afternoon - being out in the middle of the inlet, surrounded by mountains on one side, a massive park on another, a beautiful city to the south, and then ocean and the distance mountainous islands to the west... makes you realize just how beautiful our city is. I think I'm becoming more and more of a water person - as a child I was always a mountain kid, skiing and biking and living on the North Shore. After Kendrick got me kayaking, I realized the most beautiful places in the world are best viewed from above half a foot above the water.
Sunday morning I got up at the crack of dawn and hit Northlands with my dad. We teed off at 7:10am, and joined another twosome, Tom & Kevin. It was a glorious day, and was not busy at that time of the morning, so we made good time. It was my first round out, and I was surprised how well I was striking the ball. I didn't score that well, especially on the front, but it was mostly a rusty short game and the uneven lies, especially on 4-7, that caused me problems. I made a great par on 10 after hitting my tee shot left and short. A 4 iron from 170 cut right over the flag, and I made an easy 2 putt par. A few great drives were followed by some poor wedge play, but I finally birdied 12, the easy par 3, and 17, the eagle-able par 5. 18 once again got into my head, but it didn't matter, as I've resigned myself to never parring or birdying it. My dad was playing alright, although he had some drives that went awry - I really think it's the balance on that driver that is off, because when he borrowed my driver he hit really well.
After golf we had a quick lunch and then went home to watch the US Open. Tiger was the focus of the week, as his knee surgery following the Masters had put him out until this tournament. Thursday was his first walking 18 since the April tourney, and he was in noticeable pain following many of his drives. He stormed up the leaderboard Saturday afternoon, finishing birdie-eagle to go -5 over his last 6 holes and jump 1 stroke up. Sunday was a glorious day of golf. Tiger and Rocco were back and forth, with no clear winner until near the end. Rocco had a couple of great chances to win it, but was only able to force Tiger to make birdie on 18 to force a playoff. Tiger had a 12 foot sliding putt that he calmly holed, and the place erupted. My friend Tristan was there for all 4 days and said it was probably the craziest sporting event he's been to. So of course, being the US Open, the playoff would be a Monday 18 hole stroke playoff. I managed to catch most of it at work, and it only heightened what was already a memorable golf tournament. Tiger was up by 3 after 10, and it seemed futile. But 2 bogies by Tiger and 3 birdies by Rocco had him up after 15. A bit more jockeying, and Tiger needed another clutch putt on 18 to force a sudden death playoff. Back to 7, which had plagued Rocco throughout the week. Tiger made an easy par, and Rocco rolled his par putt just wide for Tiger's 14th major win. He stated that this one was the best one yet, and I don't think anyone would disagree. After finding out he had stress fractures in his knee throughout (even without that to challenge him) this will probably go down as one of the greatest wins in golf history. Tiger is arguably the best golfer this world has ever seen, and is also arguably one of the greatest athletes in the history of the world. This is a controversial statement, as a lot of people don't even consider golf a sport, but if you think of the amount of torque a golf swing puts a body through, and how the game has changed over the past 10 years, it is clearly a physical activity. Tiger's knee is 100% the result of his golf swing, and the physical and mental strength exhibited this weekend puts him near or at the top of any athlete list you can come up with. Although I don't always cheer for him to win, it's always a pleasure knowing we're watching history happen again and again.
Posted by Justin at June 16, 2008 8:58 AM