I'm in Morocco! ...And Tired

What an adventure the last 30 hours of my life have been! I started on Wednesday at 6:00 a.m. in Pine Mountain, Georgia, with my last-minute check-list before making the journey up to the Atlanta airport shortly before 7. Things went smoothly as I flew from Atlanta to JFK Airport in New York with a one-hour layover in Charlotte. I got into JFK with just the right amount of time to comfortably claim my bags and get back to the ticketing counter of Royal Air Maroc to re-check my bags and sign in for the flight to Morocco. Then, at 5:45 Eastern Time on Wednesday, I took off for Morocco. My plan was to try to knock myself out with a Nyquil-like medicine and sleep through the 7+ hour flight. Unfortunately, I didn't execute the plan as envisioned. I slept very little, but somehow was excited and awake when the flight landed at 6:00 a.m. (Morocco Time) in Casablanca, Morocco. The process of claiming our bags and going through customs took ages, and it was well past 8 when we boarded busses for a three hour drive from Casablanca to Marrakech, the site of the first Egolf Event here in Morocco. It was noon before we arrived at the hotel to check in, and I figured that I might as well just force myself to stay awake the rest of the day so that I can try to reestablish a normal sleep cycle tonight. After settling in at the hotel, I took another shuttle for the 25 minute ride out to the golf course and had a short practice session before playing the front nine. It's been a good day, but I am ready for a great night of sleep! I am heading to bed as soon as I finish typing this, and I think that I will wake up in the morning feeling refreshed, on schedule, and ready to go!

The country of Morocco is really interesting. The ride from the airport to Marrakech revealed many locals tending to scraggly herds of sheep, goats, and cattle that were grazing in very sparse, rocky pieces of land. Small groups of living establishments dotted the landscape, but it would not be accurate to call them "houses." Many of the buildings that seemed to serve as peoples' homes had a roof over only one small room. It seemed like a very impoverished land between the airport and the city of Marrakech. Marrakech is a fairly large city that seems to have some modern or even "western" features, but I get the idea that the vast majority of the locals are not able to take advantage of any modernities that the city may offer. I'm excited to (very safely) explore a little of the city and learn a bit about it. I will share more and some pictures soon.

My top priority, of course, is to prepare and be ready to play well in the two golf tournaments while I am here. I feel that I am off to a very good start in that regard. While I wish I had been more well-rested today, I do believe that I maximized my practice time and that my choice to stay awake through the day will be rewarded in the form of a non-jet-lagged, well-rested feeling when I wake up tomorrow morning. Tomorrow I will play the whole golf course and spend a little time sharpening all the areas of my game. Saturday I will play in a Pro-Am associated with the event and do all of my final preparations before the tournament begins on Sunday. The practice facilities are very limited at this particular course, so I will have to find creative ways to reach my weekly goal in terms of practicing my wedge play, but I am determined to that. My putting has felt great leading into this event and continued to do so today. I think I am in good form right now and believe that a couple more good days of preparation can have me ready to perform very well here in Morocco.

It is exciting to be here. I am looking forward to discovering more about Morocco, and I am even more excited to start pursuing my first international win. This is going to be a fun time all-around, but I am being certain to stay focused first and foremost on the task of preparing well and playing great golf. Keep it here for good news about golf and exciting information about Morocco. I'll be back with more and hopefully some pictures tomorrow or Saturday at the latest. Thank you for following!