A Story to Tell

My man was out of town last week. I think the Long Island Newsday paper does a good job telling the story. (Yes, Long Island, NY).

Trio camp in van for chance to play Bethpage Black
BY TIMOTHY ROBERTSON | Special to Newsday
11:33 PM EDT, May 7, 2009

They've spent three nights in a car with little rest, spent $1,200 on flights, hotel and food, and upset their wives - all for a round of golf at one of the country's more difficult courses.

Hoping to play Bethpage Black before the pros arrive next month for the U.S Open, Martin Pepper, Joe Deane and Brad Gentry flew from Texas to Long Island on Tuesday.

For three days they've waited to hear that the Black course was dry enough to play.

"You got to be a golfer to understand it," said Deane, 27, a Fort Worth resident.

Although they paid for a hotel room, the scruffy trio waited in their car overnight Wednesday for an opportunity to play Thursday. They chose to wait again in their rented minivan last night because if they move it, they lose their place among the seven other cars waiting for the weather to clear.

"We're weeping in tears when we hear the rain come down," Pepper, 27, said.

The group planned this trip for four months.

Last year, the trio considered flying west to play the Torrey Pines course ahead of the 2008 U.S. Open but couldn't get a tee time three months before.

"This could be the best vacation if we get to play, or the most disappointing if we don't," Pepper said.

They shower at the hotel but sleep in the car. "That shower. It changes your life," said Pepper, a Houston resident and the lone bachelor.

Gentry, 28, said he doesn't want to leave without a round on the 29th-best course in the U.S., according to Golf Digest.

The men said they heard that Bethpage management wants to see them play a round.

"If not, we have a crazy story and people will think we're idiots," Deane said.

Article found here. Stay tuned for more details straight from the source.

(And way to go me, for staying by myself all week.)