Oh, it's Your Birthday? Here's a Free Round of Golf.

My birthday was yesterday. I like Halloween, so I can appreciate my birthday being two days later. But in reality, my birthday is mostly associated with election day.

More presidents, senators and governors have been voted into office on the day of my birth than I care to remember. And I hate to say it, but it's always a bit annoying to drag myself down to the polls and stand in line to vote on my birthday - but hey, that's what being an American is all about.

I'll tell you what wouldn't be annoying to do on my birthday though - play golf! I know, it's already 38 degrees in the morning here in the Constitution State and it's topping off at around 53 in the afternoon, but I would still enjoy to get out there and play - especially for free.

Well, free golf on your birthday isn't out of the question, no sir. I was perusing through our Twitter followers the other day (twitter.com/golfstinks) and came across a Twitter handle entitled twitter.com/FreeRoundofGolf. A few clicks later and I was on freebirthdaygolf.com - a site run by (it appears) a guy named Mark Hainsworth.

Mr. Hainsworth has compiled a list of 320 golf courses that will give you a free round of golf on your birthday. Sound too good to be true? I thought so too...There had to be a catch. But so far, I haven't found one.

I signed up on freebirthdaygolf.com (requires only a first name and email address) and waited for my confirmation email, which I received promptly. I then was able to download a PDF document listing the 320 courses (complete with working links to the birthday specials).

The courses are listed alphabetically by state (most courses are in the US, with a few in Canada) and I scrolled down to Connecticut. Turns out my state has only one course listed: Eastwood Country Club, a 9-hole, regulation sized golf course in Torrington, CT. I clicked on the link and sure enough, I was taken to a page on Eastwood's website that explains you get a free round of golf to be used within one week on either side of your birthday.

So, what did I have to do to take advantage of Eastwood's generosity? You can see for yourself HERE. But basically, I filled out a form (this time I had to provide my address and phone #, but still no credit card) and immediately was taken to a page where I could print my free birthday golf voucher (see photo)! What's more, since my birthday falls between October and March, I am able to redeem my free round through April 30 2011!

OK, I know out of all the courses in CT, only one is on this list - and it's only a 9-holer. But I don't think I care - free golf is free golf! My second home state (where my wife is from) is New Mexico, where there are three courses listed and two of which I know are awesome 18-hole tracks. Go ahead and check if there are courses in your area. Or, if you know of a course not on the list, I'm sure Mr. Hainsworth would like to know.

Perhaps if there's enough interest, more courses will start offering little incentives like free golf on your birthday - which should hopefully entice more people to play golf in the first place. So hats off to Mr. Hainsworth for compiling this list - I plan on using my free golf voucher next spring.

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