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weren't sure we wanted a our Bangkok stories to get out, even though they weren't that scandalous. That book languishes in our computers.
Derek plays left-handed and I can't remember him ever taking a practice swing. He just walks up and hits the ball, usually a long way with a little fade. Hank Haney, the pro who coached Tiger Woods, once came to Thailand to do some promotions and he gave a presentation at Derek's course. He tried to get Derek to switch to playing a draw, but that didn't take.
Derek worked at Highlands but then got offered a general manager job at Lotus Valley in Bangkok. Now he's back down there with his wife, Nok, and their two small children. We've played tons of golf together, spent hours talking about golf and life, and drunk way too much in bad bars. We've made lots of people happy in those bars because we have the same philosophy. We figure it's our job to give the people who work there one good night and some relief from dealing with drunken jerks. We laughed, bought drinks and wildly overtipped everyone, including people mopping floors.
Oh yes, we always took a car and driver, because we are not totally stupid. Derek is really good at his job.
This story broke me up. One of the big problems on a crowded course is
slow play and Derek and the caddies came up with a brilliant plan. When a group was holding up the course, Derek would go out but he wouldn't even talk to the golfers. He would start yelling at the caddies. The caddies were in on it and would try to look contrite as he berated them for letting their group fall so far behind.
This wasn't easy, because they were trying not to laugh. The golfers would feel sorry for the caddies and speed up. Genius!
He's one of the best people I've met here and it's not because he gets a lot of free golf shirts and gives me some whenever I go visit, although that's a huge point in his favor.
Doug Moeller was a guy I knew in college and he was kind of a party animal. I worried about him. Would he make it in the real world? We skied a lot together and after college he talked me into flying to Germany, renting a VW Beetle and cruising through Europe.
I think we were the only people crazy enough to go to Octoberfest in Munich without bothering to book a place to stay. Doug solved it by talking a couple of girls into letting us sleep on their floor.
In Zermat, Switzerland, we wanted to ski on the glacier but didn't have enough money for the tram. Doug began talking to a group of Polish students and soon we'd formed the International Student's Society and got a group rate. It was a learning experience for me as I'd grown up in Detroit where people told Polish jokes and made fun of Hungarians, Italians, Chinese, and every other minority.