Just like many retired athletes, Dan Orlovsky has become hooked on golf.
And as most retired pro athletes do, Orlovsky has the means to take golf trips to some pretty sweet destinations. In fact, he told GOLF’s Subpar co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stolz on this week’s podcast that golf trips are his second favorite thing in the world, behind hanging with his family, of course (good save).
“I don’t know what it is,” he said. “It’s a very peaceful feeling.”
As the episode was taped, he was just returning from a trip from Florida’s Streamsong Resort, but he said his favorite was a jaunt to the other edge of the country, Northern Wisconsin.
“We did Whistling [Straits] and Erin Hills,” said Orlovsky, now a football analyst for ESPN. “I liked Erin Hills better. That’s my favorite walk ever. We popped off Erin Hills — we did 36 there. We pegged in at like 3:30 in the afternoon. And so this was in June. So we were getting done right around 7:45, 8 o’clock. Summer sun, golden hour, played really good, walked 18, saw the plaque from Justin Thomas.
“And I just remember turning back around from the plaque and looking at the sun and being like, ‘There’s literally nothing better than this.'”
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That’s not to say his trip to central Florida and Streamsong wasn’t fun. Orlovsky said he and the seven other buddies he was with were blessed with fantastic and not-too-hot weather. And despite the early point in the year, his game showed up.
Orlovsky also said he happened to have a pretty good round at North Carolina’s iconic Pinehurst No. 2 But, as he continued, he definitely wasn’t the best golfer he saw that afternoon.
After his round, his group headed for the resort’s par-3 course, the Cradle. After one time around the nine-hole track wasn’t enough, they decided to go for another lap.
“So we get to the first tee box and there’s like this group of like 12-year-olds, 13-year-olds, 14 or something like that,” Orlovsky remembered. “And they’re like, Hey, we just got done playing too. We’re tied. Can we play one hole and we’ll get done?”
Orlovsky said his group gladly obliged, but then asked what kind of scores the pre-teens were shooting.
“One kid disappointingly goes, ’76’ and I’m like thinking what? And another kid, ’73,'” he said. “And we’re like who’s the best player? And they all point to one kid we’re like, ‘What did you shoot?” He’s like, ’70.'”
Then the group realized they were playing from the same tees as they were. They watched them all hit shots to within 10 feet on the first hole.
“Long story short, we end up playing with them,” Orlovsky said. “We’re like, ‘We got to play with you guys.'”
Turns out, the kids were some of the best players in the world for their age group and all lived in Pinehurst.
“That was a super, super fun golf trip,” Orlovsky said.
For more from Orlovsky on his love for golf and his favorite players on the PGA Tour, be sure to listen to the full podcast below.