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I opened the shades of our Airbnb, appeared exterior and paused. “Didn’t we park our rental automobile proper there?”
Former PGA Tour member Edward Loar as soon as instructed me, “If it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true.” He was referring to mini-tour occasions, however the identical might be stated for cheap Airbnbs. Mark Baldwin had simply missed on the 3M Monday qualifier, and we would have liked to get a home for the next day’s Colorado Open. As typically occurs, we hadn’t deliberate very effectively. Mark scrolled by way of the web site and stumbled on a three-bedroom dwelling simply 20 minutes from Inexperienced Valley Ranch, dwelling of the Colorado Open. It was solely $96 an evening—an apparent crimson flag. We scoured the opinions, and so they appeared fairly good total. We double-checked the placement of the course. “There needs to be one thing incorrect,” we repeated to one another. However with time not on our aspect and searching for one thing price range pleasant after a $2,000 one-day journey (entry price, flight, resort, automobile) to the Monday qualifier, we pulled the set off.
We landed in Denver and headed for our rental automobile at Avis. Mark is a most popular member, one of many few perks of being on the highway on a regular basis. The digital board pointes us to identify N15. Ready there was a Kia Optima, fairly fundamental transportation that was fantastic with us. The one uncommon factor was the state of the automobile; it was in tough form for a rental automobile, with quite a few scratches, a damaged door deal with, and a small crack within the windshield. Mark took footage to make sure he wouldn’t be held accountable for the injury already on the automobile when he returned it.
As quickly as our GPS confirmed we have been inside a mile of our rental home, we shortly realized why the nightly price was lower than $100. Dilapidated buildings lined the streets, and the remaining houses have been sagging. We pulled as much as our home on Thrill Road—not making this up—and it didn’t get higher. The grass was shaggy, there have been weeds alongside the home, and the yard had two couches thrown within the nook with rubbish luggage on them. Mark and I shared a superb giggle as we pulled as much as our dwelling for the week. Eclectic Airbnb homes are one thing we’re used to. The home didn’t have a driveway, so we parked on the road instantly in entrance. Out of behavior, I took Mark’s golf equipment out of the trunk and introduced them with us. The within of the home was in wonderful form, though the kitchen was crowded with a clothes washer and dryer. With a protracted day of touring and an early tee time for the next day’s pro-am, we went to mattress early.
The buzzing from my alarm woke me up at 5:30 am, and after showering and dressing, I went to the kitchen the place Mark was making espresso. That was after I slid again the curtain to look out onto the road.
“Our automobile is gone,” I stated out loud. Mark laughed and stated, “No manner. No manner. No manner.” I began laughing and went exterior to research. Did we park on the incorrect aspect of the highway and get towed? No, there have been automobiles on the identical aspect we had parked. Did we break some metropolis ordinance? No, the one signal seen was road sweeping on Thursdays and it was Wednesday. Our automobile had most positively been stolen. Mark and I simply shook our heads in amazement.
I referred to as 911—I first tried 311, however nobody answered—and the operator ran the license plate by way of the system and confirmed what we already knew; it was now formally stolen. The operator stated an officer can be out as quickly as one was obtainable.
Within the meantime, Mark’s 7:30 am tee time was creeping up on us. With no automobile, we checked the Uber scenario. We agreed that if an officer didn’t pull up quickly, Mark would head to the pro-am, and I’d keep again to deal with the police report. However quickly after, an officer rolled up. She knowledgeable us that Kia’s have been being stolen nearly 4 to 1 over another automobile. (A fast Google search reveals there’s a systemic flaw that permits them to be pushed away with no key fob as soon as a felony smashes their manner inside.) She prompt that we ask for one thing apart from a Kia after we returned to Avis. She handed us a report quantity, and we referred to as for an Uber.
For your entire journey to the course and more often than not earlier than teeing off, Mark was on maintain with Avis. When he lastly reached an operator, he allow them to know the scenario and reserved a alternative automobile.
After the pro-am—Mark received a pores and skin price $475—we acquired a trip with one in all our taking part in companions from GolfTec, one in all Mark’s sponsors, who generously put us up in a resort for the remainder of the week.
We arrived at Avis (once more), however the digital board didn’t have Mark’s title this time. He headed for the again of the lengthy line. After ready practically thirty minutes, he acquired as much as the counter to clarify the scenario. As quickly as he defined the scenario, the clerk stated, “Kia?” Mark nodded.
We secured our new Chevy Malibu, returned to the Airbnb, shortly packed up our belongings and headed for the resort.
It’s simply one other setback, and colourful story, alongside the winding highway that we name “The Grind.”
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