I met Phil Kessel today

So for the summer, I got a job working in the backshop at Maple Downs Golf & Country Club, a private course north of the city, just north of Dufferin and Teston.  My fellow co-workers and I received a pleasant surprise when we found out that none other than Phil Kessel showed up to play, with 3 of his friends.

The story goes like this: Phil and 3 of his friends were supposed to play Eagles Nest (another course close to mine) today, but they had a tournament going on today, so they had no room for Phil's group.  So Eagles Nest phoned my course, spoke with the Maple Downs director of golf, and he made an exception to allow the group to come play today (it's strictly members only at Maple Downs, so the director had to approve this).  So they showed up at around 3PM (my shift started at 4), and were out on the course shortly afterwards.  I got to work at 4, and went on with my day as usual, until the guys mentioned that Phil was on the course.  The rest of the day for me was essentially spent in anticipation, waiting for Phil to get off the course so we could all meet/talk to him.  Needless to say, not much work got done.  At around 7:00, they got off the course.  We went up and took their golf bags, and cleaned their clubs as per usual.  They were all really nice guys, and we chatted with them for about 10 minutes while we cleaned their clubs.  Phil was talking about how his putting was pretty terrible today, and I struck up a conversation with him about how I had 5 3-putts in a row on the course last week (not my finest moment, but hey at least I could relate with the guy).  He then posed for a couple pictures with us, after my friend/co-worker nervously asked him if he would mind taking a couple pictures, and after that they were off.  It was a pretty awesome experience, I must admit.  I knew that Phil was a shy kid, after seeing him get drafted, and his dealings with the media in Toronto, and I could tell he was a bit shy around us too.  But he was nice enough to stay and shoot the shit with us for 10 minutes after his round, and we all really appreciated his company.

One other thing of note: The driving range at Maple Downs runs parallel to the first hole, on the left (that is, if you hit your ball left off the first tee, your ball will be in the range).  The other guys at my course told me that he hit his first tee shot way left into the driving range.  Since I was responsible for picking the balls on the range today, I found and am now in possession of Phil Kessel's first golf ball.  It's not that special of a ball, but I still thought it was pretty cool.

For a day that started out with me feeling sick and debating on whether or not I would be going to work, it ended up being a pretty solid day.  I'll post the picture that was taken with Phil, myself, and my other co-workers once it gets emailed to me.