I've read through over 700 Ambush entries so far. I just went through almost 100 itineraries taking place in the month of May.

If you're wondering what I'm looking for in picking a winner--I think Darrell Scott says it best in his entry below: "We have a group of 16 diverse golfers who come together to share a few days of golf, food and drink with our motto: 'Best of Friend--Fore the Love of Golf.'" Remember, if I don't catch up with you and your group this year, there's always next year. 

For the August issue, I'm considering the following:

Mitch Katz of Tega Cay, South Carolina: This will be the 20th anniversary trip for most of the people in this group. We are a group of 16. I think this is my ninth year (Tampa, Myrtle Beach, Biloxi, MS., the Trail in Alabama, Mesquite, NV., Treetops, MI., Whistling Straights, Williamsburg, VA.--maybe a little out of order). We always go around the same time of year, end of May or early June, because our wives don't give us grief since Father's Day is right around the corner. This year it's Pinehurst on May 29 through June 1. We'll play No.6 on Thursday, No.4 Friday morning, No.1 Friday afternoon (followed by a cookout outside our villa that Friday evening), we'll play No. 2 on Saturday, and finish up with No.7 on Sunday. A great bunch of guys who have a great time together. (Last year, David Lee drove a pink ball through an elderly couple's kitchen window while they were having breakfast. We all chipped in $5 to pay the $100 tab for the broken window.) It's all about the golf (with some cards and beverages in the evenings) and for many of us, we consider Pinehurst "The Mecca" of places we can go. Hope you join us!

Troy Feldpausch of New Boston, Michigan: Every year my buddies and I get together in "Mid-Michigan" for a weekend getaway. No wives, no children, no girlfriends, no discussions of work. We always leave the Thursday after Memorial Day (the courses tend to be empty) and play 99-holes in three days (and drink about that many drinks each). There's a resort area known as Canadian Lakes in Mecosta, MI. (www.stivesgolf.com) that has access to three awesome 18-hole courses (Tullymore - #14 on the Golf Digest list of public courses, St. Ives and the Royal Canadian Country Club) and a nine-hole course (The Highlands) that is one of the most fun courses you'll ever play (drivable par 4's, lots of wildlife, breathtaking views). Another great thing is that the courses are all close to the house we stay at--we can crawl home if necessary. We've been doing this trip for 15 years, and every year it gets better. Since I got a hole-in-one on this trip in '07, the only way it could get better would be for Golf Digest to "Ambush" us this year. We typically have 12 guys on this trip, so it makes for some great pairings.

Tom Messmer of San Diego, California: Myself and two buddies, Tim O'Neill and Mike Cornelius, are going to Pinehurst for all of our 40th birthdays. We arrive in Pinehurst at the Manor Inn on Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day). We leave Saturday May 31st. Basically we plan on gambling, drinking and eating all while playing golf 36 or 54 holes a day.

The lineup:
Monday is Pinehurst #5, Tuesday is Pinehurst #6, Wednesday is Pinehurst #7, Thursday is Pinehurst #2 and  Pine Needles, Friday is Pinehurst #1 and Pinehurst #4, Saturday is Pinehurst #8. We will also try to do replays in the afternoons of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We just aren't sure what courses will be the least crowded. There shall be plenty of good cigars and good scotch that we would love to share.

Dick Payne of Lakewood, Colorado: We're staying in the North Tower Villas at the Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach. We arrive on the 25th and play the next three days, leaving on the 29th. There are four of us. On the 26th, we play the Love Course. On the 27th, we play the Fazio Course. On the 28th, we play the Norman Course. On one of the days we will have a putting contest for year-long bragging rights. This is only our 2nd annual trip (first was Hilton Head). Any putt left short is a "wommie" named after Womack, one of our foursome, for obvious reasons.

Darrell Scott of Eagle Point, Oregon: Our group is going for number 10, as in our tenth get together.  We call our group "Boondoggle" and for the last few years we've met in Sunriver, OR., just south of Bend, OR. We have a group of 16 diverse golfers who come together to share a few days of golf, food and drink with our motto: "Best of Friend--Fore the Love of Golf". We have a majority of us who work for Kraft Foods, but over the years, as we went from 12 to 16 players, we've brought in a few family and friends to fill in. We take pictures and video and send them to one of the guys who creates our own DVD from the two previous years, which gets thrown into a DVD player to inspire us before we start play. This year we have two homes in Sunriver, rented from May 31st through June 4th. We will arrive on the 31st to play Quail Run in LaPine, Oregon and then Sunday we play 27 holes at Sunriver's Meadows Course. Monday we go to Sisters, OR. to play Aspen Lakes (one of our favorites) for another 27 holes and then Tuesday mid-day is capped with a round of golf at Crosswater at Sunriver. Our Champion's Dinner is at an Italian restaurant called Marcello's, where we celebrate the team winners and recap some great times from the rounds of golf. We love this game. We have golfers from scratch to 36-handicaps who love to play and be together.

My only parting shot: If David Lee is in my foursome, and he puts a pink ball through an elderly couple's window, he's going solo on that repair bill. All pink balls should be forwarded to my favorite LPGA player, Paula Creamer.

--Matty G.

In the June issue of Golf Digest I answered Sam Stassi's Travel Trouble about getting the right rental car when taking a golf trip in Ireland.  Here are a few more questions and answers:

From Mike in Springdale, Ariz.:

In your magazine's story on South Alabama, "The Real Deal," the writer mentioned golfers using up their multi-round vouchers. We're going to that area in June, and I was wondering if the vouchers were a good deal, and where I might be able to purchase them?

I kicked the question to the writer of the story, Golf Digest Senior Editor Pete Finch. Finch got the answer from Mike McArthur, who runs the Gulf Shores Golf Desk.

McArthur's answer:

"Our area has a good population of long-stay winter guests (i.e. snowbirds), who spend January, February and early March with us. Over the years, the golf courses have developed multi-play passes for their use. While anyone can buy them, they're intended for the snowbirds, as they all expire at the end of February.

For your reader, summer is families on beach vacations. Most of our golf courses offer tiered rates throughout the day, and groups with juniors will find family golf and junior programs available at each facility.

If the group already has its lodging set, we can bundle multiple rounds over several days and build a golf-only package. This pre-paid golf itinerary will save them a bit over the walk-up rate and keep them organized. Please refer them (and any further inquiries) to golfgulfshores.com or call (888) 815-1902 for additional help with stay-n-play or a golf-only package to Alabama's Gulf Coast."

From Barbara in Sebastopol, Calif.:

How would I go about finding a good tour operator for golf in Ireland?  Are they ranked or rated anywhere?

I asked Blair Leburn, who used to work at PerryGolf.  He's now a hired gun on our sales team who has traveled the world playing this crazy game. Leburn signs his e-mails "Weeman," which I'm guessing is in reference to his height, but he hits the ball on a string about 299 yards off the tee. I'd say 300, but I don't want the Weeman to get a Bighead. Here's what Leburn suggests:

"The top-five tour operators for golf in Ireland are as follows. Each one listed below has been around for more than 10 years. Their longevity in the business is proof of dependability." 

(In no particular order):

-Irish Links
-Jerry Quinlan Celtic Tours
-SWING
-PerryGolf
-Golf International

From John Michael in San Jose, Calif.:

In the "Endless Summer" article in the June issue, it states that the Bend, Ore., airport is "20 miles away" from Bandon Dunes. Bend is in fact about 250 miles away from Bandon Dunes, on the east side of the Cascades. The airport in North Bend is just above Coos Bay and about 20 miles away. BIG DIFFERENCE, travel guy!  With gas @ $4/gallon, I don't need your driving directions.

Good catch, John Michael. And you're right; you DON'T want my driving directions. I can get lost trying to find my refrigerator. I appreciate you calling this fact to our attention--the exact names of the airports, and not the gas prices. That fact cuts into my Manhattan social budget every 350 to 400 miles.

Golf Digest's Chief of Research, Sue Ellen Powell, offers an official response:

"I looked up the airport location in North Bend and how far it was away from the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. It's 24.61 miles. We say, 'The Bend airport is 20 miles away.' We needed to say, 'The North Bend airport is 20 miles away.'

"There is a Bend Municipal Airport that is 265 miles away, but this airport is not even listed on MapQuest.  The resort lists the North Bend airport on their website."

Keep all good catches and Travel Troubles coming. If these gas prices keep going up, I'll be answering them from my trips on a train.

--Matty G.

The only tree at Chambers Bay is in the news. We care about Chambers Bay because it's the new municipal course in University Place, Wash., 15 miles from Tacoma, that will host the 2010 U.S. Amateur and the 2015 U.S. Open.

We care about the tree because it's a landmark at Chambers Bay. When Robert Trent Jones Jr. and his team built Chambers Bay they moved a lot of sand and knocked down an old rock quarry, but they kept certain things that they felt added to the character and charm of the property. They kept the Douglas fir on the 15th hole. As you look out across the property the tree is the only thing on the landscape between the course and the Puget Sound. Bald eagles broke off the top of the tree and use it as a perch overlooking their fruitful hunting grounds. Much like the 67-foot cypress tree right of the 18th green of Pebble Beach, if it were no longer there, it would be a significant loss.

I was at Chambers Bay few weeks ago doing research for my Away Game in the July issue of Golf Digest. Last week a senseless vandal took an ax to the Douglas fir. I contacted a public-relations rep for Chambers Bay to find out the status of the tree. As this country wrestles with the subject of health care, Chambers Bay is taking tree care to the next level.

Kristin Schaner, of KemperSports, provided this update on the Chambers Bay fir tree (based on a conversation that Pierce County's Tony Tipton had with KemperSports superintendent David Wienecke this afternoon):

Over the weekend, metal bracing was added to the tree to structurally stabilize the wound area. In addition, excess soil was removed from around the tree to help uncover the tree roots in preparation for a 2- to 3-inch application of compost around the base of the tree. The compost will help ensure the tree receives a consistent amount of moisture and nutrients while it is recovering from the damage. Supplemental watering will also commence with the existing irrigation system until a specific water system can be set up for the tree. 

The wound itself is being allowed to go through its self-healing process, which entails letting the tree sap naturally cover the wound to prevent moisture and disease from entering the wound. After a period of 2 to 3 weeks, a high-strength epoxy resin will be placed in the wound between the tree braces and the tree itself to fill the void.

Additional discussions on the care of the tree, after the immediate repairs are finished, will focus on the appropriate amount of water and nutrients that should be provided to the tree. We are also examining how much specific tree testing will be necessary to monitor the health of the tree during recovery.

--Matty G

My worst day on the job might involve bad weather, a delayed or missed flight, a bad rental car or caddie, fried airport food, a chatty neighbor on a long flight or, the worst case scenario in my opinion--lost luggage. 

Over four weeks ago I was on my way to reporting an upcoming Away Game in Washington and my golf bag never arrived (they lost it!). My clothes arrived, which is a good thing, but the contents of my golf travel bag, in addition to what is my toolbox (my clubs), was two pairs of golf shoes, a pair of sneakers and my best rain gear (it rains a lot in Washington). I should mention the sentimental stuff like a Turnberry ball-marker, a Carnoustie head-cover for my driver and my collection of good gloves that all fit like, well, a glove.

American Airlines said the bag was in Los Angeles (they found it!), and they were handing it over to Alaska Airlines because American's DC-80s were grounded for inspection, and Alaska could get it to me in Tacoma the following day.

In the meantime, in order to play the scheduled 36 holes, I bought golf shoes that tore chunks of skin out of the back of my heels (I'm still applying Neosporin and Band-Aids), rain-gear I didn't need even though the forecast called for rain, a glove that didn't yet fit like a glove, and used a decent rental set at a future U.S. Open site. When I returned to my hotel, my clubs had not yet been delivered.  Which was a shocker. I called to get an update. Both American Airlines, and now Alaska Airlines, were not sure where the bag was. (They lost it again!).

I could go on-and-on about my frustration, the different sets of clubs I've used the last four weeks to play world class golf courses, the amount of time I've spent filling out paperwork or being on hold waiting for a human to respond to my latest, "Hello…my name is Matt Ginella, I lost my bag ___ weeks ago and I was checking on the status of the search." But let me try to cut to the chase:  My bag is still lost. 

My "case" has been turned over to American Airlines Central Baggage in Texas. They're using a "Worldwide Tracer" to scan all airline entries of lost luggage. So far they "do not have a match to my bag description."

Never mind my travel bag has my name stitched on the side in big blue letters, or my business card is in the clear plastic pouch, I'm thinking my golf bag, thanks to American and Alaska Airlines, might be somewhere in Alaska, or even worse, no longer in America. Right now the only thing between me, some sort of "compensation" and building a new set from scratch, is time and this "Worldwide Tracer."

After 10 to 12 weeks of filing the lost luggage paperwork, which they have you do after your bag is missing for five days, I'm told I will get a letter from the claims department letting me know how much THEY value MY bag of stuff. Of course I tried to make each item in that bag sound as valuable as it actually is to me, and my golf game. 

After all this is THE bag.  The one I've been assembling for years. My Club Glove was personalized, my Adidas golf bag was brand new, my driver is the one that does the best job of keeping my worst shots on the map, my irons were custom fit by Taylor Made in Carlsbad, my wedges would be my money-clubs if it wasn't for my favorite putter that I've left and come back to three times in the last seven years. Full disclosure; I could use an update on the two rescue clubs, but I have a shoe-fetish, and all three pair of shoes were the Top Gun of their kind in my closet.

Pardon the rant, but this is a subject near and dear to my heart and can't be too far from the big beating muscle in the center of the chest of all golfers. According to me, I think the total value of the bag by the time I got through with the list of contents was $3,400. 

Is it all worth that much? I don't know. I would argue this; the value of a golf travel bag with the things I've described above and for the reasons I've mentioned is actually: Priceless.

Will this Worldwide Tracer come back from six down with seven to play and win this match? I don't know that either. I'm guessing I get a check for three figures and some sort of formal apology the second week of July.

Oh, the travel troubles we weave when at first we try to take a golf trip. 

My colleague and another angry golfer (and frustrated traveler), John Hawkins, called me the other day.  He flies Delta as often as I fly American. He told me he was divorcing Delta and wanted to know how I liked American. I offered him American and all of my miles for Delta and all of his miles.

American Airlines can trace this--I think we both might turn to Jet Blue.

--Matty G

PS--I wrote about lost luggage in the section of Travel Trouble in the April issue. At the point of staring longingly at an empty conveyor belt in Seattle and realizing my bag was lost, I tried to play by the rules. I'll let you know how much American Airlines compensates me for the rental sets per day and how much money I receive, assuming I'm forever stuck with lost sticks.