The Official Tour Blog of Cobra Golf

Nov 28, 2009 - 05:06 PM

Cobra Staff member and Golf Entertainer/World Long Drive Champion, Dan Boever, is visiting Iraq on a goodwill tour to meet with the troops. This is the ninth in a series of updates from his travels.

November 28, 2009 Tuesday started to the sound of machine gun fire. Yeah, just a normal day for me off in Southwest Missouri. I have come to expect seeing a lot of things that are out of my daily norm. As I peeked out through my curtains I could see a fog hanging over the lake and I ran out to get some pictures. It was so beautiful to see. I almost forgot for a few seconds I was 7,000 miles from home.

We started our day at headquarters meeting again briefly with General Anderson and then we got to go to General Odierno’s office to get a short brief on the progress that has been made in Iraq over the past two years. The passion in General Odierno’s words were very moving. I really just sat there dumfounded at being in his office listening to him. He ended the meeting by presenting us with a gift, and few times in my life have I felt more humbled.

We then drove to meet up with two Black Hawk helicopters to start our journey for the day. It would consist of three stops southeast of Baghdad. I gotta tell you, it was a bit freaky seeing the gunners sitting there looking out the windows with machine guns ready. We all just sat and looked out across the city and then the countryside as we flew about 20 minutes to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Hammer. Shortly before we got to Hammer we flew over an area that could have passed for an area right outside St. Louis. I looked and saw a river and lush green fields. Corey Pavin said when they were there two years earlier they never would have flown directly over Baghdad. He said they would have had to fly way out of the way and do a bunch of zig zags. I am very glad for the change.

As we got near Hammer you could see the wall that surrounds the entire location. It is a massive complex and I can’t imagine anyone jacking with them out there. I picture it next to impossible to sneak up on that place. When we landed at Hammer we met the leadership, ate and then headed to the driving range. The range is a big open field with some signs measuring distance every 50 yards.

At one point I was going to go out and try to film the balls landing but thought maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. I really caught myself watching where I walked on much of the trip. It is not like I was out in the dangerous areas but I wasn’t gonna take any chances.

We all hit some shots and the troops again had the chance to listen to longtime greats Tom Watson and Pavin do their thing. They are both so approachable for the troops and I have really enjoyed seeing them interact with all the men and women in uniform. As we ended our clinic, fellow world long drive champion Bobby Wilson took a shot at hitting a ball through the driving range sign. The width of the sign wasn’t a problem but we both learned a valuable lesson in physics. If there is a plastic cover over the wood, you probably don’t want to try and hit a ball through it. Check that, you definitely don’t.

The Black Hawks were headed back so we said our goodbyes and headed out to our next stop at Camp Carver. The time we spent at this next location proved to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. I will have more to come about the studs at Camp Carver. Thanks for following along.