The Big Island of Hawaii

Tuesday after Sony, we flew over to the Big Island so I could cover the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. This is by far my favorite event of the year. It's a limited field event and it's held at one of the most beautiful resorts in the islands.
This year was to be the best yet, because we were able to stay at the Four Seasons. This made my life much easier because I could work from the room and we were near all the events I had to shoot.
When we checked in, we were taken to our room... Just off the 18th green!I could throw a golf ball to the green from here.Very comfy.We caught up with our friends Michelle and Chad.And enjoyed a gorgeous sunset from the clubhouse .Beth and Lisa up to no good...Wednesday was the first of two Pro-Ams, and I hit the course to gather some frames.
Gary Player was entertaining a group of Japanese photographers with his Sumo wrestler impression.The Mitsubishi logo looked great against the blue sky and green grass.
Bernhard Langer did an interview with the Golf Channel... Love that shirt!The 17th hole has a great lava/shell sign by the ocean.
Lisa and Aaron relax after a long day... Lisa relaxed so hard, she almost fell out of her chair!Another beautiful sunset with my beautiful wife!Aaron plays with his food... This is the money you could save with Maui Jim!What a good-looking group!Nope, no one had any fun...
Oh yeah, there was a golf tournament too. The course is built on an old lava field.Tom Kite hits on the 17th hole while his caddie Sandy Jones looks onBernhard Langer wears an other great shirt.
On his way to the win!Hawaiian dancers entertain at the trophy ceremony. It was a nice way to end our trip.

Diving the U.S.S. Scrimmage

How do I start this one?... In a pretty strange coincidence, I found one of the Navy ships my dad served aboard. My father was a lieutenant commander during WWII, and was the captain of several Admirable class minesweepers. I was never sure what happened to the three ships he commanded; the U.S.S. Admirable, the U.S.S. Lance and the U.S.S. Scrimmage.
I received an email last year from Ray Boland, a marine biologist who works for N.O.A.A. in Hawaii who said he knew where one of my dad's ships was. He found me through my earlier blog entry about visiting the U.S.S. Hazard minesweeper in Omaha. He told me about an artificial reef off Oahu called the "Mahi" that used to be a Navy minesweeper and it was the Scrimmage. It is a diveable wreck and Ray offered to take us for a visit. We went on Monday after the Sony and were joined by Ray's colleague Hans Van Tilburg who is a maritime heritage coordinator and very knowledegeable of the wreck.
It was a great dive even though the visibility was poor. The wreck is starting to deteriorate and it's not safe to penetrate, but it was still awesome to swim over the decks my dad once walked wearing the mantle of command.

Here is a dive card of the wreck in it's current stateOur dive boat waits at the dock.
Looking back at Oahu.Beth and Ray chat on the way out.Ray gets a shot of me on the deck of the Scrimmage.And over the wheelhouse.Beth swims over the bow.Hans gets a shot of growth on the hull.Ray near the mast.I thought I'd add a few shots from my dad's collection for perspective...
Lieutenant Commander Richard C. CondonThe captain at work.The U.S.S. Admirable - AM 136

Sony Open

My first tournament of the year was the Sony Open in Hawaii. I arrived in Honolulu after a 10-hour flight from Atlanta and got settled in my room in Waikiki. Beth joined me later in the week.
The view from my room at the end of Waikiki beach.
I walked downstairs to enjoy the sunset at the beach.
The next morning, it was time for work. The sun rises over the course at Waialae at the early groups head out.
After the first round, I met up with our friends Lisa and Brooke who work for Maui Jim Sunglasses. We had dinner with Brooke's parents and Sam Greenwood who was working the tournament for Getty.The girls ordered "Sliders" (Mini cheeseburgers) and apparently they were pretty good.
Friday brought high winds and rain. The job is great, but days like this are a challenge.
Rich Lerner of the Golf Channel does a live spot in a squall outside the clubhouse.
Boo Weekley tries to find some shelter behind his umbrella.
Saturday brought back the sun and a great round from local favorite Tadd Fujikawa. Tadd is 18 years old and still in high school. He shot a 8-under 62 to tie the course record. He had a large gallery and seemed to really enjoy the spotlight.I also took advantage of my new iphone and took a few shots. I used the app "Camera Bag" to do some funky conversions.On Sunday, Tadd and the rest of the field faded and former Masters champion Zach Johnson took the Sony Open title.

"Best Of"

This year pgatour.com asked me, Stan and Caryn for our 10-best photos from the year for a feature over the holidays. We had to pick the shots, then write a short narrative about each photo. You can see all of the photos and text HERE

Christmas in Orlando

Christmas is all about the kids, right? We trekked down to Orlando to spend the holiday with the Wiltse's.

Luke is a fast-moving target!

I finally corral him!Luke turns the table on me!Chloe bonds with "Aunt Beth".Christmas eve is all about "some assembly required"!Chloe gets right into the "opening presents" part!Dad is great!Before we left, we got an encore of Halloween. It's just too cute!

Christmas card 2008

Shelby poses once again for our Christmas card.