True story.  I thought I was meeting my friend and former colleague Alden for a cup of coffee this morning, something we try to do every three months or so.  Instead, Alden showed up with Annette, whom I also once worked with, and the two of them presented me with a certificate labeled the "Cupid Award."  It was signed by both and cited me "For fulfilling [the] role in bringing together the lives of Alden and Annette just as it was meant to be, just at the right time."
    Alden and Annette were oozing mutual love at Starbucks this morning.  They announced that they are going shopping for an engagement ring this week.  My role in all this was totally involuntary.  Four years ago Annette, former director of admissions at a small local college, had some organizational issues.  Alden, an internal organizational consultant in the corporation I worked for, had the right skills for the job.  It only seemed right that I put them together for purely professional reasons, but it took one or two presentations - Alden is very smooth, Annette a good listener - for them to fall in love.

    I probably know more about golf course real estate than I do about affairs of the heart.  If I can help bring two people together without trying, maybe I can help others find their home on the course.  Please give me a try by registering here and by also considering a subscription to our newsletter, which we will launch in the coming weeks for the reasonable price of $39 annually (six information packed issues).  If I can provide any advice, please don't hesitate to contact me (contact button at right).

    I could never hope to hit a 95 mph rising fastball.  Or move a 300 pound lineman out of the way in football.  Or beat a pro basketball player in a game of one on one (if he was really trying).  There is no sport I can think of where I could do anything as well as the best professional...except in golf.

    Perhaps you've read about Jacqueline Gagne of California, a 46-year old who maintains a seven handicap.  In the first four months of this year, she made 10 holes in one, all verified by the local newspaper in Rancho Mirage, CA.  The odds, according to a piece last week in the Wall Street Journal , are about 12 septillion to 1.  That would be a 12 followed by 24 zeroes.

    Most of us would kill for just one of those aces, but Ms. Gagne's feat reminds us that, for a moment, rank amateurs like us can be as good as Tiger or Phil or any of them.  And the odds are something less than 12 septillion to 1.