Colonial: Day I

Welcome to Inside the Ropes for 2019 and the Chuckie Schwab Challenge at CCC in FW. The horses are at the gates and others still lining up. The field is strong, the weather arguably good at best or certainly questionable. The forecast is for cloudy skies ALL day which is s relief and comforting considering years past sunny and blistering hot.

PREVIEW: Day I

So the group today is Kevin Na, Ted Potter (Jr) and Jonas Blixt. This will be the third time for being with Na and he is PIA to watch and follow. Very slow and a tiny little bugger. Blixt I have heard of and must ask Ted is he is related to phenom Harry and if he is the Jr version, who was Poppa?

8:05 AM out. More after the round and some shopping. Window shopping mostly in the University Village namely Pottery Barn for ideas and inspiration and J Crew for fashions.

RECAP: Day I

Just a B-L-A-S-T and some pretty good golf.

The weather forecast was ‘cloudy all day’. Again, so WRONG.

We started at 12:33 and there were a lot of clouds but very humid and eventually the sun did come out making the needle move to uncomfy.

The loyal Fanbase was clamoring and insisting ‘sunscreen’ even when the sun was not out which defied all logic I am familiar with so I shut them up and found some SP55 that applied like that white carpenters glue.

But I WAS protected.

My scorer was Janet. A nice enough lady but kind of difficult to warm up to. This was her third time out and she was going pretty much by the book so I just let her go and grew more comfortable and at ease when she was wandering off. Like I wanted to ax her if she was an athlete because she had quads like a weightlifter and overall tone and shape was sleek & toned. But I didn’t.

Unlike Debbie, she lacked the confidence to ‘volunteer’ additional information. I did see Debbie after the round and we chatted a bit. She exuded class and today Janet I think will be doomed to perpetually search for it.

GOLF ??

Of course.

Kevin Na was as I remembered. Annoyingly slow lining up putts even under 18 inches. He gave me a signed ball and I saw a little kid walking with his very pregnant Mom and gave it to him.

She said ‘What do you say William?’

He did say ‘Fank you’ and I told him my name was William but I liked Bill better. He appeared amazed by the ball. Or maybe that a stranger was talking to him.

Ted Potter, JR introduced himself before the round with a word and stuck out his hand. ‘Ted’.

OK. His faced looked smushed or deformed but I didn’t say anything. It almost looked like a birth defect but he was probably just born ugly. His biggest handicap was he was left-handed which was hard to watch someone all day that was on the wrong side of the ball.

The biggest and most pleasant surprise was Jonas Blixt. On the first hole, number 10 for us this day, he came from behind as Janet and I were introducing ourselves and said ‘Hi. Jonas.’

I was a little shocked and taken aback but lifted my shades and took off my cap and introduced myself as ‘Bill. Good luck today Mr Blixt and play well.’

‘Thank you.’ rather shyly and turned on his heel and walked away.

The Swede had a solid game and played the best in the group finishing at -3 for the day. Never in trouble, in the fairway, hit the greens and putted well. He had a most peculiar quirk in his pre-shot routine and after the round outside the scorers tent when he came out to give me an autographed ball I was able to ask him about it. AND he told me in detail what and why he did it AND it made PERFECT SENSE. IOW, a GREAT tip very similar to something I had tried to develop and experimented with to consistently have a strong left-hand grip each time.

As he explained it, the top of his left hand held the club out and the back of his hand was pointing straight up. He would hold the shaft of the club ‘parallel to the ground’ (IOW ‘horizontal’). He then demonstrated how a lot of other players achieve the same thing but his way was better I thought.

I AM HAVING TROUBLE VISUALIZING THIS.

It doesn’t matter because you don’t play anyway so why are you even axing?

Then I axed him (being from Sweden) if he played hockey.

‘Yes I do. It is the best sport’ and we agreed on that.

‘Hockey players are the best athletes on the planet.’

‘You played?’

‘I did. It was great. There was nothing like scoring a goal.’

‘Yes. Who do you like Boston or Saint Louis?’

‘The Blues. I don’t like Boston. And you?’

‘I don’t like Boston.’

He turned and I appreciated him taking the time. I had the feeling that we could have talked for some time.

‘Good luck this week and the rest of the year. You have a Fan.’

‘Thanks. I appreciate that.’

Jonas Blixt.

DID YOU GET TO SHOP?

Short answer … sort of. Saw a faux coral at Pottery Barn I will probably go back for. It was $99.95. Huge, white and it would be a great back drop for tropical fish carvings. I can justify the expense.

J Crew was a big let-down. Nothing there of fashion interest. I was looking for a very specific type, color and style shirt and they did not have it and I even had someone try to help me.

Getting late here now and another late time tomorrow before being off Saturday. Not sure what the plan(s) is for the OFF day.