The Official Tour Blog of Cobra Golf

Dec 07, 2009 - 12:26 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 twelfth in a series of updates from his travels.

December 2, 2009 We toured around Al Asad Airbase today. Al Asad is the largest U.S. military airbase in the western province of Al Anbar. The base is located roughly 100 miles west of Baghdad. We were told Al Asad means “The Lion” and that it was once housed part of Saddam’s Air Force.

The base has a 15-mile perimeter and because of the vast openness surrounding it, attacks have been infrequent of late. It seems the knuckleheads will still try and shoot something in there but our folks have made it very difficult to do so. There aren’t many places to hide outside the wall.

Our first stop took us to see the medical choppers and meet the guys who flew them. I tried to get in one, but the model they had seemed to be a bit tight. Budget cuts I guess.

I got a couple pictures holding an unloaded weapon. I am sure these troops don’t ever get sick of that. Kind of like golfers wanting to hold our drivers I guess. They were quick to make sure I didn’t have my finger on the trigger. Somehow they could tell I had only been hunting twice in my life and I was not to be trusted with any type of weapon. Now I know what people feel like when they grab my club and I mention something about not leaving it with “dummy marks!”

Next we were off to meet the MP’s on base. With no area to hit balls, we were forced to improvise. Bobby had them get plywood and they brought back a piece that was 1 inch thick. I don’t care how big a stud you are, golf balls are not going through a piece of wood that thick.

Then they found a slightly smaller piece that was only 3/4 inches thick. Typically, this is still a bit much but it was all we had and Bobby kind of figured what the heck, let’s hit it until it goes through.

Bang! The first ball goes halfway into the wood and sticks. They loved it. The dryness of the wood made it possible to hit it through. The second one stuck again. The third one went right through. What a wuss, huh?

True to form, I started a chant to see who wanted to see Tom Watson hit it through the wood. They did, and of course he had no qualms about trying it. Being a smart man, he hit it through Bobby’s hole and then Corey Pavin did the same. We can make a hole faster than they can but they can sure get it in the hole quicker. Maybe that’s why they have won 876 odd tournaments. But don’t forget, “Chicks dig the long ball.” At least that’s what I’ve heard.

Our second clinic of the day started on a soccer field with the boys hitting balls at a commercial dumpster 75 yards away. Two went in out of the 200 that were hit. I only hit five so I didn’t bring the odds down very much. Pavin hit one in and Watson hit one in. After just four days with Bobby and me they had converted into long drivers and forgot how to hit wedges.

We then moved to the top of a roof on a nearby building so we could hit some balls where the folks could see them. Even Captain Pavin could have knocked it off the soccer field.

The roof top was a lot of fun and there were plenty of targets. This time they included light poles, helicopters, tanker trucks, an office building and a couple guards. There is nothing quite like hearing the roar of a crowd after you have picked out a light pole from 150 yards and hit it. Who cares if I have never won on tour? I am now complete.

Our week was coming to a close and we had one more stop to make. The folks in charge wanted to take us to the top of the ridge that overlooks the base. All you could see in every direction was brown sand and rocks. Sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of all this nothingness was a green oasis. There in the midst of all that yuck was a sea of flourishing trees and water. It made me think once again of our troops and what they stand for.

THIS BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN NOVEMBER 27.