My name is Bryan.  My wife and I bought a home in The Villages in late 2020.  We live in our home state of Minnesota during the summer and fall, then "summer" again in the winter in Florida!  I learned to play golf early in my life from my dad.  His best piece of advice, given to me in the middle of my backswing, was “Swing hard just in case you hit it”!  He likely heard Babe Ruth use that phrase for baseball but thought it would be useful for my golf game .... while I was hitting!  I never forgot it.  That's good.  It wasn’t until many years later I truly understood the meaning of that advice. 

Each and every time I stand on the first tee box here, I experience the same emotion – gratefulness.  On my worst day, this place is better than most.  I go into each game wanting to do well.  I go home from each impressed with the character of the course and the people I meet.  Sometimes I get paired up with three other golfers that are new to me.  In all my time here, playing nearly 100 times a year, with hundreds of “strangers”, I’ve never played with someone who wasn’t happy.  That’s remarkable.  

I reached the milestone of playing every exec course in the spring of 2022 with rounds at Hill Top and Silver Lake.  You'd think with all that experience my game would be at a high level, but I'm just an average golfer, scoring 6-7 over par playing from the golds.  From the black tees, I'm happy when I get a bogey.  In the fall months when the prices are lower, I'll play the Championship courses.  It helps my game to use the driver more often and hit approach shots from the fairway - playing 18 holes also helps my stamina on the executives too.  And I've played a few courses outside the bubble too, but I'm a "homer" so I like our courses best!

I've played more golf in the last year than in the previous 50.  I'm having a great time doing it.  I hope this website reflects that happiness and provides some helpful information and laughs, and perhaps some motivation for you to swing hard..... just in case you hit it!