ARE GPS SYSTEMS OVERRATED... SORT OF!

My good friend, Gary Leloff, who does not like GPS systems, always says: "If you don't know where you are going, don't leave home". When traveling, if he is going t a new place, he always takes a map, as in Atlas map. I should have been listening! Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Seattle to take my youngest daughter, Anya, to join the University of Washington and her golf team for her first semester as a college student and her experience as a college player. We rented a car and then proceeded to use the "Hotel Finder" service offered at the airport... sort of like "Google Maps" or "Map Quest". I found the name of the hotel I was looking for pretty quickly ("Silver Cloud") and printed the directions. When the little smart machine "asked" me if I wanted I map, I pressed "no". We left the parking lot, took I-5 as directed by our printed directions anbd began driving.

We had been in Seattle the previous year, courtesy of the University of Washington, for a campus visit as well as to meet other teammates. That time, we had followed someone with directions to the same hotel. One year later, the highway scenery looked similar, but I missed seeing the huge BOEING factory and thought I had missed it while having a conversation with Anya. But I kept seeing different landmarks that I did not remember seeing the year before, nonetheless, I thought nothing of it and I was not really paying attention to the highway signs because I knew I had several miles to go... I should have!! After seeing a big dome, I realized that I was just entering Tacoma, WA and had gone about 35 miles in the opposite direction! Oops! It turns out that there are 10 "Silver Cloud" hotels, nine in Washington and one in Portland, OR and had erroneously chosen the one in Tacoma, WA. It's a good thing we did not have an appointment that afternoon!

I'm not alone in here... It reminds me of Suzanne Peterseen's swing teacher. Last year, while the Women's U.S. Open was being played in North Carolina at Pine Needles Golf & C.C., near Pinehurst, NC, her teacher jumped in his Ford Explorer, dialed "Pinehurst" in his GPS System and followed directions. About four and a half hours later, Suzanne called his cellular and asked him how close was he, he said, "I'm just about 5 minutes away". Not quite, he had chosen Pinehurst, GA and was exactly 400 miles and 6.5 hours away from Suzanne! Her lesson would have to wait until the next day. Or how about the English journalist that came to cover The Masters? He hops on a plane and after a 7 hour flight, as the plane is making it's landing, he senses something is truly wrong as he sees the area covered in snow! Yes, he was 1,200 miles from his destination, instead of purchasing a ticket to Augusta, Georgia, he had purchased one to Augusta, Maine!

I don't feel so bad now... but ... neither do I think that maps are overrated as much as I used to!