Category Archives: Golf

Australian Open Golf Tourney

Posted on by robandlinds

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When you think of the Australian Open you immediately think of tennis — or at least we do. Turns out they also have an Australian Open golf tournament, who knew? Apparently, this tournament was well-recognized across the world in the 70s and 80s and some considered it to be the fifth golf major of the year.  Big names like Jack Nicklaus won the tournament in 1964, ’68, ’71 ’75, ’76 and ’78. This years tournament was at Royal Sydney, just down the road in Rose Bay (east of the Sydney CBD), which is just a stunning area. There were a few big names in the field so we thought it would be worth checking out. To date, it’s been one of the few things reasonably priced in Sydney at $35 a ticket!

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Rob was smart enough to record the tournament and we made it on Australian National TV! Our heads were tiny specks on the television but (hey) it still counts! It was on the 9th hole (par 3) – where McIlroy hit a bunker shot.

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Some of the notable players were Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Stuart Appleby and of course Rod Pampling. We were there for the 4th round and got to see McIlroy and Scott battle it out in the final group. Scott had tons of chances to close it out but ended up losing his one stroke lead on the 18th hole when he bogeyed and McIlroy birdied for the win. Couldn’t have asked for a better finish!

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We were able to get some good footage of the 18th hole here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6njOWPFCRYs&feature=youtu.be

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Weekends AWAY!

Posted on by robandlinds

Rob and I went our separate ways this weekend – Rob went to Bluey’s Beach with the guys and I had a weekend away up on the Gold Coast with the girls (Annie, Keth, Sian and ME!).

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The day before leaving, my colleagues informed me that every year around this time the ‘schoolies’ get out for summer holiday – which means the Gold Coast bars and pubs will be filled with 18-year-old boys (think freshman year spring break in college). Now that isn’t all that bad, but after doing some googling I found it’s quite a big deal and is something to be avoided. ‘Schoolies’ even have their own website!! http://www.schoolies.com/. Fortunately, for us 20-and-30-somethings looking to relax on the beach with a good book, it wasn’t as bad as I would’ve thought. Sian and Keth were smart enough to know to stay off the main drag. It was such a lovely weekend … and was perfect … until we found out our flights were cancelled and we had to drive to Brisbane to catch the next flight out.

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Rob spent the weekend at one of his workmate’s family beach house – which was a four hour drive up the coast at Bluey’s Beach. The guys were able to get two rounds of golf in (surprising since it was pouring rain in Sydney that weekend) and even had a very close encounter with a huge kangaroo named Ben (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVU7lG4nx60&feature=youtu.be). Rob also caught an awesome sunset at the Rekky Club.

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Success!

Posted on by robandlinds

We had such a fabulous time during our 2 weeks in the states. Thank you to all of our family and friends for making our trip so wonderful!

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It was a busy few weeks with an engagement party, 2 stunning mountain weddings, a Broncos game (Rob’s first ever regular season NFL game), a Rockies game (Todd Helton’s last home game)…

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…plenty of day hikes in the mountains, walks and runs, golfing, story telling, Tim Tam Slams…

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…birthday celebrations, brekky/lunch/dinner/coffee catch ups with friends, wedding venue ‘shopping’, shopping in general, alcoholic beverages, BBQs…

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…minding the kids, awkward O’Keefe family photos (see below)… the list doesn’t stop…. But it was all worth it! All said and done, we stayed at 8 different places over the course of 16 days! A special thanks to The Ralph’s, Al, Jeremy, Maria, Kristen and The Schneider’s for giving us a pillow to sleep on during our time at home.

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And thank you for those who made the trek to Ft Collins for our engagement party – during some of the worst flooding Colorado has seen in years.  Luckily, the skies cleared and it turned out to be a lovely afternoon at The Ralph’s in FoCO!!  Thanks for hosting, Mom/Mum/Maureen and Dad!!!

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The Schneider’s Wedding

Posted on by robandlinds

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Adam Schneider and Christie Hughes had their wedding at the amazing Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa. The entire weekend was spectacular; the Colorado fall colors were brilliant, the September weather was perfect and the people made the event that much more special.

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They really went all out for this wedding. It was one of the larger weddings I have been to with over 250 guests including my mom and brother. The best part of the wedding was seeing all these guys who I haven’t seen in years. Although could have gone without seeing Birkel…

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This was the first wedding I’ve been to that had a late night snack. Schneider and Christie were long gone before the snacks because they snuck out early.

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They eventually kicked us out of the reception but not before we got a
picture of the “last group sanding”. Kevin and Jackie Schneider were the MVPs of the last group. After a long night of dancing, it was time to lay down…

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Big bro, little bro

Posted on by robandlinds

It had been over a year since I saw Luke last and he sure looked different from last time I saw him. Deeper voice, peach fuzz mustache, hair in weird places, and almost taller than me…. key word ALMOST.

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I introduced Luke to the sport of AFL and got him his own “footy”. We started a new tradition called footy in bed where we basically chant “footy in bed” over and over and watch footy on TV in bed..

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Despite being the middle of winter when Luke visited we had some awesome weather. In the 70s every day and even got some beach time in Manly.

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We took a few days off and had a long weekend up in Hunter Valley,
wine country. Luke and I used a golf voucher Chris got us and played lots of tennis to get Luke ready for try outs. He crushed me… Luke had a rough time at one of the pubs there, we were asked to leave the area where we were sitting because Luke wasn’t 18, the legal drinking age in Australia.

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Towards the end of his trip we made it to Bondi beach and went to my favorite ribs spot, Hurricanes, thanks to yet another gift voucher, this one from dad. The ribs were awesome but not the cleanest of meals!

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It was great to have Luke visit and see where we have been living the last few years. We had an awesome time!

Long Weekend in Port Stephens / Hunter Valley (again)

Posted on by robandlinds

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For Christmas my dad got Linds and I a voucher that included: para-sailing, sand boarding and whale watching. This was a great excuse to get back to Port Stephens which was the first holiday destination Linds and I went to 2 years ago when she first arrived.

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On the way back from Port Stephens, we made an overnight stop in Hunter Valley where I used another voucher for a free round of golf @ the Vintage (while Linds was busy fishing the keys out of the locked car). It was a beautiful day – thanks Pops!!

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