In October of  2011 my closest buddies and I set out for a golfing trip to Orlando, Florida. It was our first time there as a group and we wanted to make the best of it. Besides the fantastic golf courses we played we also saw a NHL hockey game in Tampa and a NFL game between the Buc's and the Saint's. In all it was a unforgettable trip.

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One of the golfing highlights was our round at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Golf Course. This course is an important stop every year for the PGA and has been won by all the greats including Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and multiple times by Tiger Woods.

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Our friend John O'Leary is the head pro there and was able to get us on.

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Once home I wanted to do something special for the boys to commemorate the trip and came up with the idea of painting one of the most iconic holes at Bay Hill, the Par 3 Number 17.

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John was kind enough to email me some photos and I set out to finish the piece. I printed 10 copies, one for each of us, one for John and finally I gave one to my home course of Clovelly.

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The question then was "What do I do with the original"?

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I thought about it for a bit and figured let's send it to Mr. Palmer and then see what happens.

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Knowing that Mr. Palmer was a pilot of his own aircraft I also enclosed in his package a copy of  Gavin Will's "The Big Hop" about Newfoundland's role in early aviation history. The idea was to make a connection between the painting and where I was from.

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I didn't think about it much until a letter arrived a few weeks later.

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Needless to say, for a golf lover such as myself, this is a pretty special thing.

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My buddies are convinced that my painting is probably hanging in the mower maintenance shed somewhere.

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Maybe one day I will visit and find out if it is.

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