| Prince Edward Island – Home Of BB PEI And Now...My Heart - Conclusion |
Page 2 of 2  Derek Gillespie Has Fond Memories Of The 15th Hole This is the hole where Derek hit that great shot into the circle on the green in a GIR challenge and Nicole’s heart went a-flutter ;). When leaving this green, Blair made a comment that he thought the designer had designed the green upside down. Haha. Number 16 was host to the flop wall challenge in Episode 6 and the “seed” challenge in Episode 8. It was also the first elimination hole for Derek and Gerina in Episode 9. A funny thing happened on this hole for our group – 3 of us that day played the wrong ball. Now, how often does that happen! No, we weren’t drinking – yet! Number 18 is a nice closing hole (if you like sand), heading back to the resort, and thankfully the 19th hole ;). It is a 374 yard dogleg left -- one of those risk/reward holes where you can play it safe, aiming slight right, or trying to go over the fairway bunkers on the left to cut off the hole. According to Mark, Robert drove the green on this hole in a practice round. I would have paid money to see that! The 18th came into play a lot on Big Break PEI: - Episode 3: Kim was eliminated on this hole in a playoff with Brian. - Episode 4: Caroline holed out from a bunker in a “closest to the pin” challenge. - Episode 6: This was the final hole in the Aaron/Brian elimination challenge and the last Big Break hole Brian ever played. - Episode 8: 3 out of 4 possible locations were chosen for the elimination challenge between Aaron, Gerina, Derek and Blair - 100 yards from the rough between two bunkers, a 68 yard shot from the fairway and a sand shot from one of the many bunkers around this green. Aaron eventually lost to Blair from the sand and then tried to dig himself to China.  The 16th Was The First Elimination Hole For Gillespie And Gerina Mendoza Well, our golf trip down Big Break PEI lane was almost over and I have to say I felt 1) battle-tested on a course that looks much easier on TV than it does in person and 2) much closer to the contestants I interview every week after facing a few of the challenges they faced in their battle for their Big Break. Later that evening we enjoyed a lovely meal in the Rodd Mill River Resort restaurant with Mark and two women who were instrumental in bringing Big Break to PEI – Louise Arsenault, General Manager of Rodd Mill River, and Mary Ellen Dougan, Director of Sales & Marketing, Rodd Hotels & Resorts. I was dying to know how Rodd Mill River was chosen as the Big Break PEI venue after the Golf Channel decided that PEI was a possible option for them… “We brought the Golf Channel in with the mind set that Big Break was going to Crowbush,” said Dougan. “We really didn’t think anything other than that, so we took them to Brudenell first and their response was, ‘Mmm…yes, this could work.’ Then we took them to Crowbush, and it was, 'Nope, doesn't work for us’”. Yikes! And Golf Channel went back to Orlando. So the Rodd Mill River people, who weren’t about to give up, said, "You've got to come up once more to see Rodd Mill River.” Thankfully the Golf Channel complied, and according to Dougan, “When they came to Mill River, it was instant - 'This is our place - it works for us - the course works for us - the resort works for us.’” And the deal was signed that day! I wasn’t surprised. When I heard they had to close down the resort for 2 whole weeks (no members allowed) and needed to host 62 Golf Channel people who needed a ton of space for tech rooms, interview rooms etc., Rodd Mill River made perfect sense.  The Home Hole At Rodd Mill River Is A 374-Yard Par 4 Which Robert Read Actually Drove In A Practice Round For The Event It is a quality resort that has the privacy and amenities the GC wanted, while providing them with the freedom to film on any hole, any time, any way without locals and tourists getting in the way. I learned that noise plays a factor in choosing a venue. In fact, on the 5th hole, they had to turn off the fountains in the pond as they were making too much noise. After hearing that, I can understand why the winds at Crowbush might have caused a few decibel issues for the camera and sound crew. ☺ They say good things some in small packages, and to me, PEI fits that bill perfectly. We were there for 3 days and sadly had to leave too soon. As much as we love our Vancouver, Charles and I didn’t want to go home yet. A funny thing happened as we tried to leave the island for the Halifax airport. Our GPS unit, which we fondly call “Billy Bob” due to her accent, wouldn’t let us leave by the Confederation Bridge. It/she kept sending us to the ferry terminal even when I told her to avoid ferries in her “route calculations” because the ferry would never have gotten us to Nova Scotia in time for our flight. After giving up and using an old fashioned map from a garage, we joked that perhaps Billy Bob didn’t want to leave PEI any more than we did. ;) Oh, and by the way…I never swore once (out loud) while playing the Rodd Mill River Golf Course and I never ended up in a bunker. So, I kept my part of the deal and God kept his. Now that’s what I call a par! ☺ About the writer: Gayle Moss is a freelance writer and prolific blogger about “all things golf”. After blogging daily for Golf For Women Magazine’s website (until they ceased operations in the summer of 2008), 2 years writing her own blog, Golfgal-blog, and many years ghost-writing for her corporate clients on technology and business, Gayle learned that the thing she loves to do, next to playing golf, is writing about it. Gayle is an avid follower of the PGA, LPGA, Champions and European Tours. She’s an active participant in golf forums and is probably best known for her post-episode interviews of Big Break and Highway 18 contestants. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 604-671-4516  |
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