Throughout the ages man has looked for answers to some of the world’s greatest questions. Questions like what is the meaning of life, is there a god, who invented liquid soap and why, and, perhaps the most important question of all, what is the greatest MGC trip ever planned.
I’m sure you have already guessed what question will be answered in this post finally putting this burning mystery to rest. However, you may be asking what makes me an expert to answer such a lofty question. I’m glad you asked and the answer is as simple as this: I am the only person who has attended every MGC trip and I have planned or helped plan all of them. Although it is still a subjective choice, my credentials and experience should carry some weight, but you can be the judge of that. So, without further ado, let’s get on to the winners.
3. Austin (MGC08)
Coming in at #3 is the 2008 trip to Austin, Texas. What can I say… this trip was all about location, location, location. Thanks to our diabolical event planner, Brett, he found the perfect place for “our kind of group” right on 6th Street in the center of the action. But that isn’t all. Not only did we stay at The Lodge on 6th Street, but the hallway outside of our rooms opened to the inside of the bar on the ground floor. WTF!?! Yes, you heard me right. We could lean over the balcony and actually talk to folks inside the bar or wave them up to join us in our rooms, which happened fairly often. Word of our adventurous crew quickly spread and a constant stream of folks coming and going through our humble abode soon followed. From the room that had a full glass window looking in on the living area, which we affectionately labeled the terrarium, to the oddly placed bicycles on the walls and the multitude of bedrooms placed in the oddest places, this was by far the most unique place we have ever stayed.
So, awesome lodgings, check! But what else set this trip apart? Well, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the nightlife of Austin. The bars and restaurants on 6th Street and the surrounding areas were top notch, with everything from trendy dance clubs to hookah bars, and it was all walkable from our self-proclaimed headquarters at the Lodge. We spent a good portion of our non-golf time carousing around the city and we were not disappointed.
As far as firsts go, we unveiled the first MGC logo on this trip and provided logo golf balls and cigars to the crew. We also scheduled a pretty cool special activity for Saturday, wakeboarding at the Texas Ski Ranch in New Braunfels. This 70-acre ski resort uses a cable system to pull you around a man-made lake, offering various jumps, slides and ramps. Although only a couple of people actually made it up and skied around the lake, I think everyone enjoyed the day.
On the downside, oh yeah, there is always a downside, we unfortunately were required to clean the rooms to salvage our deposit. Well, you can imagine the state of the rooms after five straight days of partying—not pretty. Although hung over and worn out, we gave the cleaning job our best effort, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t see a dime of that deposit.
2. Denver (MGC15)
Next up, MGC15 in Denver comes in as my #2 best trip. As the 10th anniversary of MGC, this trip was jam packed with activities from start to finish, including our first-ever welcome reception, a Rockies baseball game, dinner at the historic Buckhorn Exchange steak house, where Rocky Mountain Oysters were consumed, and our frequent gatherings at the World of Beer conveniently next door to our hotel.
Scotty has a separate blog on MGC15 at “Best Urban Adventure, Ever“, so I won’t go into too much detail, but the pièce de résistance of this trip was the X Games Urban Adventure Race. This 12-hour scavenger hunt spanned across every district in Denver, using a mobile app to guide us through 90 different challenges. Starting out at Gary Lee’s Motor Club & Grub, we kicked things off with a bag of goodies and a heated boat race. Soon teams were racing through the city on their B-cycles chasing after clues, using pirate moustaches on friendly passersby, and performing numerous drinking challenges, all related to past MGC events.
Some of the highlights include putting together puzzles of infamous pictures from previous events, giving piggy back rides to all the waitresses at the Tilted Kilt, singing “She’s Lost that Loving Feeling” to a complete stranger at the Terminal Bar, wearing crotchless panties (under our clothes) throughout the whole race, forming a human pyramid, dancing Gangnam Style at the Wrangler gay bar, riding a bull in the middle of 16th Street, and getting heckled by bums as we rode our B-cycles through some of the shadier areas of Denver.
The Urban Adventure culminated at Fado Irish Pub in Denver’s most energetic area, LoDo. This massive event was such a success that we declared everyone a winner and called it a night.
1. Scottsdale (MGC12)
And finally the grand winner is… Scottsdale in 2012. Scottsdale is already known as a golf town and is one of the best golf destinations in the United States. With Arizona State University nearby, it also has a really cool college town vibe with plenty of nightlife to satisfy our needs. So, we were already dealing with a stacked deck by choosing Scottsdale. What made it even sweeter is that we stayed at the McCormick Ranch Resort, which had huge villas with plenty of bedrooms and amenities for all. It also boasted two golf courses on the premises and made it really easy to wake up and get on the course – plenty of time to sleep in.
All that said, those things didn’t actually make it the top trip in MGC history. What did is the James Bond Challenge. Sounds cool, huh? Well, it was off the chart cool! This was the first year we introduced the concept of gaming to our trip itinerary, meaning a kick-ass competition where points are won or lost by completing activities on the trip. To kick this off, we created the James Bond Challenge, an all-day, five-mission event that covered all aspects of the James Bond persona.
Click to view PDF
Below is a brief description of each mission and you can view the full description of activities and points by reading the PDF to the right.
Mission 1 – Adventure
This mission combines an agent’s thrill seeking personality with your physical prowess to make the daring climb and summit of Camelback Mountain. With sheer red sandstone cliffs and its telltale hump draw, the Cambelback climb through Echo Canyon will get your heart pumping and your muscles bulging.
Mission 2 – Guns
While the ability to land a hat on a hook from 10 paces away is a somewhat impressive feat, an agent’s true skill is in his ability to take down an enemy with his trusty Walther PPK while imbibing a vodka martini (shaken not stirred).
Mission 3 – Cars
Although you won’t be driving an Aston Martin or Lotus Esprit, this mission will put your elite driving skills to the test. Only those agents with cat-like reflexes and nerves of steel will survive this challenge.
Mission 4 – Lifestyle
Like Bond you are considered a “man’s man”, so this mission is all about being suave, sophisticated, and smart, using the time honored art of seduction to infiltrate three enemy-controlled establishments and complete this mission undetected.
Mission 5 – Gambling
As an expert card player and gambler, this mission will pit your experience and skills against all comers in the ruthless world of high stakes gambling at the infamous Casino Arizona.
The day started out bright and early with a two-hour climb through Echo Canyon, which was probably the coolest climb/hike I’ve done, and I’ve done my fair share. After a great workout and some pretty awesome sights, we then met up at one of the largest gun ranges in the country to shoot three different guns, including a machine gun. After our paper foes were riddled with holes, we ventured over to Octane Raceway to race the most advanced go-karts in the world. After strapping in and racing several competitive heats, we had our mission 3 winner.
The lifestyle mission was a little more complicated and involved various challenges at a number of different bars. We started things off with dinner at the Rusty Spur Saloon and then an impromptu bull riding challenge between three of our folks (I can’t remember why they were selected). After drinking, socializing and laying down our best James Bond smack, we ended up at Sugar Daddys and danced for several hours to an 80s tribute band. Sadly, we were too pooped (and drunk) to complete our gambling mission and we called it quits right there.
My description probably doesn’t do this trip justice, but I can tell you that everyone thought this was one of the coolest things they had ever done and it is now the gold standard by which all MGC trips are judged.
Honorable Mention
Although they missed the cut, I thought it worth mentioning two other memorable trips. The first is MGC10 to Tampa, which brought us the fabulous sights of Mons Venus, several interesting altercations from Washman (aka Mr. Furious), our first NFL game and the accompanying tailgate bonanza, the fantastic dinner at the legendary Bern’s Steak House, even though some jackass got kicked out (we will not name names, but you know who you are), our very own British accountant, and the only time we have ever played 36 holes of golf in one day (and the last).
The second is our whitewater rafting trip to Colorado. Due to extenuating circumstances, we were not able to do our usual fall golf trip and decided to brave the Arkansas River for a whitewater adventure instead. With camping overnight next to the river and perfect weather, this turned out to be an adventure of a lifetime and nobody drowned;)