Not taking your clubs on a visit to Idaho's Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort Hotel and the adjacent Circling Raven Golf Course is like going to Venice without your camera. It's going to Arizona without sunscreen or Las Vegas with no money. It's just unthinkable. I did it this weekend though, to work on a story about tribal involvement in golf and check out progress on the resort's new extension - its seventh and by far its most impressive (and besides, the course doesn't open until March).

I've been away again; didn't actually travel this time, just had three major deadlines for other publications and basically shut myself away in the office until they were all met. I did a review of last year's Open Championship for the official Open Championship publication, wrote up the PGA Merchandise Show for 'Cybergolf' and last night finished a profile of Scotland's Martin Laird which will appear in 'Colorado AvidGolfer' in a few weeks' time. I had the pleasure of meeting Laird in Scottsdale, AZ., in December when we spent a couple of hours talking at the Estancia Club where he is a member. He seems a very down-to-Earth, well-grounded young man (28), and is set for a big year on and off the course - he'll play all the WGC events and the four majors in 2011 after moving inside the world's top 50 by the end of last year (he's currently No. 41) and being among the top 30 money-earners on the PGA Tour in 2010. In June, he gets married to Meagan Franks whom he met during his four years at Colorado State University.
Anyway, today we have another guest blogger - Paul Trow from London.

Western Washington finished 17th at the Ameri Ari Invitational at Waikoloa Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii yesterday, shooting a final day 301 to complete the three rounds on 21-over 885.

Although still not quite firing on all cylinders, Western did move three places up the leaderboard at the Ameri Ari Invitational yesterday, shooting a two-over 290 on the King's Course at Waikoloa Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii to complete two rounds on eight-over 584.