Third report for September 2016

OK. Twelve days into the ninth (9th) month and just the third entry. No apologies here for the sparse reports. My schedule is full and all sorts of work has me busy as a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest.

We have missed A LOT or IOW ‘much’. One of my English teachers in high school had a problem with ‘a lot’. She would go ballistic & break into a full-blown cow bashing the user of the term ‘a lot.’

Anyway, in the swirl created by haste we have missed opps SO FAR in September for National Spooning day (9/6), the seventh (Bob’s birthday), Double Nines, 9-10 we got and 9-1-1. Nine eleven is OK because this was the 15th anniversary and there were ‘specials’ on telly aplenty so wait til next year. Besides, the Longtime Loyal followers have heard the stories more than once.

SO WHAT HAVE WE MISSED OGO ?

Today I played golf in the first annual Saint Michael's event. BEAUTIFUL day, sunny, not blazing hot, a good group I will describe in depth in a minute and a venue second only to Crag Burn where I played in the 1986 NYS Mid-amateur. The Pete Dye course is right here in McK, challenging but fair and blends into the landscape splendidly & supremely. And it was a good test. The course was difficult but for a scramble it was just perfect. You all know by now that ‘perfect’ is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to achieve but IS POSSIBLE (NOT ‘doable’).

In fact, today's image is the magnifique & monstrous clubhouse as seen from the ninth teeing area.

Chris was a BIG hitter and fairly accomplished player but unseasoned to put it nicely. By that I mean not schooled in the finer points of the games etiquette. I will not elaborate as it is getting later & I have another big day planned & shaping up for tomorrow.

He simply smashed a number of fine tee shots which helped the team out a lot. I MEAN on a number of occasions.

The rest of his game was good and with some practice could have gotten to the next level. But he is in the Family mode with younger children so his other life demands & priorities are certainly understandable and one should always Respect that. In fact, I won a meaningless door prize (for me anyway) and I offered it to the table afterwards and Chris took it for his daughter saying she would use it.

Dan was a Dallas Fire fighter nearing retirement and had just messed up his back. I mean within the last day or two. He was on some kind of meds, couldn’t or wouldn’t have a beer and wouldn’t hit full shots only chipped & putted. Which was fine so we alternated taking his long shots. Dan wore a new blue & mustard SDSU ball cap and my first thought was he was an Aztec but I thought it thru.

SDSU could also be South Dakota State which it turned out to be. Dan was a ‘Jack Rabbit’. When he informed me of the schools mascot I countered with that didn’t exactly inspire fear in an opponent like a gamecock or a lobo or a war eagle. He agreed and then tangental stories followed and are kindly omitted.

Ken’s club’s were in a Georgia Bulldog bag, shiny, new & decorated. He was an alum, class of ’78, a larger black man with a full white head of curly hair escaping from under his cap AND full white beard which was a striking image.

He wore dark sunglasses all day and contributed his fair share.

For my part I was pretty steady & consistent. I drove the ball well with only a couple of exceptions. On a couple other occasions I hit absolutely perfect tee shots. I threaded a needle on a tricky little par four, around the corner & using a steep hill to drive the green listed at 276 yards Thank you very much. We were putting for eagle but made a rare two-putt birdie on a par four.

The greens were the nicer bent grass but showed signs of excessive play and poor maintenance by players not repairing ball marks. This was evident on many of the greens which was a sad testament to the members caring for their course.

And speaking of putting, I rolled in two very long putts as the final putter of the group. It was so nice to strike the white dimpled spheroid smartly, watch the ball roll true, on line & on pace, curve gradually towards the hole and then finally disappear dropping out of sight. So I had the genuine opportunity for two (2) good, solid first pumps and it was GREAT.

The only area I was disappointed in early on was iron play. I missed some easy shots early with my irons but later in the day I started striking them more soundly & smartly so I cannot truly say that all day my irons ‘s*cked’.

That’s it.

I am falling asleep. Off again all day tomorrow so I can get caught up on projects such as house, yard, garden(s), artsy-fartsies, studio, garage, etc, etc.

Maybe catch up on my reading. In addition to the Paul Johnson 998-pager and the UML Bible nearly 1000 pages of highly technical reading, Virginia dropped off or ‘donated’ Emily Post’s 15th edition of ‘Etiquette’ which rings in at just short of 750 pages. Yeah, I could be reading a lot for some time.

I am sure there is some sort of hidden meaning or point she is trying to make but I am not sure exactly what it is.

Hey, I’m a guy. Not a guy’s-guy thatta way …

Adios, aloha & chow for now.

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