There’s really exciting news to start this week’s report, as Liezl and I have just returned from a very special event celebrating breaking ground on the Els Center of Excellence here in Jupiter.
This was an incredibly exciting day not only for me, but also for Liezl and our children as we watch our dream of creating a world-class Center, focused on improving the lives of those impacted by autism, start to become a reality. We want to thank everyone who has helped make this happen; in particular, we wouldn’t be at this stage without the help and support of the local community. It’s a proud moment and we want to build and get the Center up and running as quickly as possible. In the meantime, if you would like to find out more, please click here.
Now, just a few words about the WGC – Cadillac Championship. Doral is always tough, but this year the ‘Blue Monster’ really showed its sharpest teeth, especially in the second round, which was the most challenging day I can remember in quite some time. The scoring average for the day was 76, with not a single player managing to break 70, which is almost unheard of outside a major championship.
With the golf course playing firm and fast, with a bit of wind and some tough pins thrown into the mix, obviously you had to be right on top of your game to stay anywhere near par figures. Not many managed it. The fact was, if you were even slightly off you got punished. It was a tough week. Not much more to say, really. You just move on…
…in this case move on to a celebration dinner at our house, where we could get together with friends, sponsors, partners and donors in advance of the Els for Autism Pro Am, in association with Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado. It was a really good night. Then on Monday morning straight after the Center of Excellence groundbreaking ceremony, we all got together for the Pro Am itself at PGA National Resort.
This was the sixth playing of this annual event and as always we had a bunch of keen amateurs teaming up with maybe our strongest ever line-up of Tour Pros. For their support my sincere thanks go to Thomas Aiken, Greg Chalmers, Graham DeLaet, James Driscoll, Rickie Fowler, Branden Grace, Justin Hicks, Thongchai Jaidee, Martin Kaymer, Justin Leonard, Matteo Manassero, Steve Marino, Will McGirt, Louis Oosthuizen, Pat Perez, Nick Price, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Kevin Streelman, Michael Thompson and Michelle Wie.
Thanks also to our sponsors and partners and to PGA National, the most generous of hosts and a magnificent partner to the Els for Autism Foundation these past six years. Seriously, thanks so much to all of you. We couldn’t achieve any of this without your support.
I’ll write again very soon. In the meantime, follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy
