Today...is a great day!!!

For the past 12 years or so, I have been on the contact list for a research group that finds people for focus groups. In the past, I've been on studies for Klondike bars, gatorade gum, and cell phones.

So, earlier this week, I get this email from Flagship Research looking for people to participate in a golf study for $50. There are 2 focus groups that I have been dying to get on: a Beer focus group and a Golf focus group. This one is like the holy grail of focus groups.

I didn't know what I'd be doing at this group but it didn't matter because it was free golf at a country club. And they'd be paying me a $50 cash incentive for my time.

So, I show up early and check in. They give me a free Titleist hat and 2 sleeves of golf balls that they insist I use for my round (at about $4 a ball, the value of my "incentives" started adding up). They say we will be getting filmed answering questions about our equipment and golf in general.

The first group goes out around 9:45am. There were a lot of no shows so they put me in the second group. We waited for about an hour to tee off and they still wouldn't let us off. They said they wanted to leave at least 2 holes in between groups. Not a problem. I was still going to play golf for free AND get $50 for it. I didn't quite understand why they needed so much room in between groups.

So we go through the first 2 holes playing terrible and then get to the third hole. As we were walking up to the tee box, a cart pulls up. Who's driving, you ask? None other than Phil Mickelson, the #2 golfer in the world. He gets out and says, "Hey guys, I'm here to help out your game!"



As he's walking up, we go through the introductions, shake his hand and then he calls down his cameraman, Ron. We look behind us and some guy in camouflage comes out of the bushes on the hill (pretty cool!) Anyway, we hit a drive with our driver and he has us hit one with a new Callaway driver. The first guy hits his ball great and then screws up his shot with the Callaway. Mickelson takes the driver back and says, "We can't help you out today."

My turn. I hit my drive pretty well but in a bunker. I then hit the Callaway pretty good but it hits the trees overhanging the fairway. The next two guys are older guys who hit the Callaway driver much better than their own. As they were walking back to the cart, Mickelson hands each of them a driver and says, "You try this out for the rest of the round, and if you like it, keep it." Me and the other guy were a pretty bummed we blew it.

We drove up to our second shot, and realized there were about 10 people there hiding behind trees (producers, ball spotters, GPS distance markers, etc.) They tell us our balls would be waiting for us when we came back down the next hole. Mickelson comes up behind us and asks me and the other sap who didn't get a club to try out this other club. He says he thinks it will help better than the one he had us hit before. I hit mine perfectly down the fairway. The other guy screws up his shot again. As I walk back to the cart, I was told the same wonderful words, "You try this out for the rest of the round, and if you like it, keep it." YES!!!!!!!!!!!



Not only do I get to play at a country club for free, I get paid $50 for it, get a free hat, $25 in free golf balls, get to meet Phil Mickelson, and get a $425 driver FREE...from Phil Mickelson.

To top it off, before my boss went home for the night, he offered to buy me breakfast tomorrow at the Family House of Pancakes. Today was great!!!!!!!!