Just another Day

Just another day in the Low Country with a little golf, good food and friends.  The weather was better than forecast.  We missed all the rain, had  fair temps with light winds.  The SD, GWH and I played the Golden Bear Golf Course at Indigo Run.  While the score weren't super low I managed to walk away with 9 skins, and had to buy the post round beverages. I had a hot putter for a change.  If the weather cooperates we'll play there with the wives tomorrow.  The SD managed to find a bunker on 15 of the holes.  Needless to say that put a little damper on his game.

Hope all is well back home.  Saw that it will be very warm on Tuesday.  In fact warmer than here.  Then it will cool off again.

Talk to ya later,

CC

Greetings From The Low Country

Made it to HHI without incident.  We had stopped in G-town to see one of the Rabbit Wrangler's baseball games but it was canceled due to a wet field.  But I got credit for attending anyway.  We drove to Columbia, SC from G-town and only had a three hour drive on Friday.  We got here so early we had to kill time before we could get in out unit.  But, the weather was bright and sunny so we we had lunch close to the beach.  We really enjoyed that after the Spring we've had in Ohio.  The rest of the time here looks like it will have a chance of showers everyday, but at least it will be a warm rain. 

The SD and the GWH are anxious to tee it up and try to get some of my gas money.  I don't plan on co-operating with them, so we'll see what happens.  Base on my quick review of Golfnow.com it looks like green fees are pretty competitive right now.  I'm seeing prices and courses around here that I've never seen before.  Sounds like the local economy hasn't fully recovered.

Hope all is well with you all up North and you were able to get in some golf.  Congrats toTrina M who won the women's club championship at South Shore in Las Vegas (for at least the fourth time).  Her hubby will have to build a new trophy case for all the crystal.  We should all have that problem.

Talk at you later,

CC

On The Road Again (Wille Nelson)

You know the song, and that's what we are.  It's time for the annual trek to Hilton Head Island and relaxation in the low country.  Plus the weather has to be better there.  But, according to the forecast not a whole lot better.  There is some rain predicted, but it is at least warm rain.  We will hook up with Mr./Mrs. GWH and Mr./Mrs. SD.  I'm sure we'll all have a good time.

Don't know what transpired yesterday since  was at HMGC for the TDGA Spring Advisory Bd. mtg.  My play was erratic:  Double bogey par all day.  HMGC was in good condition and the greens were fairly quick considering they had been punched 8 days ago.  We missed the rain and I hope everyone else did too.

See when I get back.

CC

Tough To Drive!

It was even tough to putt with a constant 30 mph wind.  That's what we found out yesterday when six of us teed it up for a quick round.  As it turned out my group called it quits after 11 holes because the weather looked like it was going to get really nasty.  Better dry than wet was our motto, but we shouldn't have worried since the rain went around us.  Anyway JJ won the lion's share of the money, but made a quick exit claiming some bad soup was giving him gastric problems.  Twinkle Toes started claiming the same thing and also left (but collected his money first).  I'm not sure what was going on, but I know they both had mushroom soup for lunch. 

Thursday may have been our only chance to play for a few days.  The weather is taking a turn towards cold again for the next week.  Plus throw in some showers and it doesn't sound like fun. 

It is hard to not get caught up in the news these days.  I woke up this AM to the breaking news about the bombers and the manhunt.  This whole thing seems surreal, almost like a bad movie.  I'm glad they got a least one of the suspects.

Let's think sum and warm weather.

CC

What A Week!!

It is only Thursday and it has been quite a week so far.  The bombing in Boston was horrific and a reminder of how dangerous the world really is.  Life can be changed in an instant by senseless acts of violence.  Then we have a major industrial explosion in Texas and a nut job sending ricin laced letters to public officials.  Wonder what is next?

We may get to play some golf today.  But, that is not really important when you put it in perspective.  But it is a diversion.  I remember 9/11.  We all were kind of numb that day, but played anyway.  It took our minds off of how our world changed on that day for a few hours.

See ya,

CC

Thank You!!

A big thank you to the golf god(s) for not allowing Tiger to win on Sunday.  Better yet they treated us to a really exciting finish between two tough competitors.  And, history was made by Adam Scott who became the first Aussie to win the Masters.  Even Jason Day hung tough after a couple of hiccups.  I felt bad for Snedeker who played so well for so long.

I attended the TDGA rules seminar last evening.  Guess what the main topic was?  Well, actually we talked about the rules as they related to playing the ball as it lies and the cases where you are allowed relief.  I learned a few things that were unclear to me.  The evening ended with a lengthy discussion about the Tiger ruling.  Needless to say there was a lot negative feelings about how the situation was handled.  Several news articles were handed out and it was surprising to learn how the Masters Comm. has show favoritism towards the royalty of the game in the past.  You can access Global Golf Post for a very interesting discussion of the situation (go to www.globalgolfpost.com for April 15).  There were several local area golf professionals present, and to a man they thought Tiger should have voluntarily withdrawn.

Now if the rain would quit we could get to playing some golf.  This weather is maddening.  Maybe it is just normal and we were spoiled last year.  Anyway, there is a lot of pent up demand waiting to be fulfilled.

CC

The Rules

I'm always amazed at the lack of understanding of the rules of golf.  One of the more straight forward rules is the rule for a hazard and everyone has more trouble with it.  I'm not going  to say anything more than the Masters Competition Committee and Tiger should both take a good look in the mirror.  I can't wait to go to the TDGA rules seminar tomorrow night at HDCC and hear the discussion about what happened on Friday.  I'm know the presenter, who is an outstanding rules official, will have a lot to say.  For those of you who don't know Gerry L., he is one of a few people who has scored 100% on the examination for officials, and highly respected by the USGA.  He was Tiger's walking official several years ago at the US Open.  For those interested I believe the seminar starts at 6:30 PM (check the TDGA web site).

No golf again this weekend.  I guess we're paying  for last year's early start.  Brad told me that Eric says we are at least three weeks behind in Spring growth.  The coming week now doesn't look that promising.  A lot of rain in the forecast.  With some luck we might squeeze some play in.

I'm sure most of you Know Ed Van Leuven (PGGA) passed away earlier this year in Florida.  It wasn't publicized in the Perrysburg area at the time, so it was under our radar.  The family is holding a memorial service for Ed next Saturday at St Rose at 11 AM, with a lunch to follow at BCC.  I did not know Ed well,  but thought highly of him, and was sorry to hear of his passing.

Hope to see ya at the training table,

CC

The Heater

Do you remember the movie Major League?  There was a great line towards the end of the movie that goes something like "OK Ricky give him the Heater."  No.  Well that's what came to mind when I left the house for the links yesterday and remembered my Christmas present form the Nurse.  She gave me a propane heater for the cart.  I thought Saturday would be a good time to give it a try.  I'm glad I did.  It didn't keep us totally warm but it sure helped.  It never did reach the high forecast and the wind was biting cold.  Couple the heater with a cart cover and we would have been toasty.

Anyway we teed it up with Dr. AH deciding it was too cold and he went home to watch his MRS. play through on #2.  We filled out our group with Bill I (aka The Appraiser).  Since it is still early in the season filed skins seemed the right format.  The GWH showed off again and putted way above his past reputation and won a couple of bucks.  I'm sure this won't last.

The FGG was surprisingly quiet yesterday.  I guess ABE was in Europe.  I only heard Slap Shoot whoop it up once, and that was on the backside.  I did see them draw lots to see who partnered with the LR Dr.who had a cart cover.

I checked the long range forecast and we should see warmer temps the next two weeks.  They're are predicting a few thunder storms.  Never thought I'd be glad to hear that.  The wind was really stong this AM.  We had white caps on the lake.

See ya at the training table.

CC

It's Official

The season kicked off yesterday with the normal cast of bandits showing up.  I was a little late so the LR Dr. stepped up to the plate and was captain for the day.  As is normal he had to rearrange the teams three times as stragglers kept rolling in.  He finally paired up 11 of us for a friendly game of 2BB and the fun commenced.  Not has much changed from 2012.  LTG, JJ, Par, and Bob D walked away with 1st place.  What was amazing was Bob D shot 76 with a lame foot.  He had some kind of toe surgery and was limping around pretty noticeably.  How he managed that score is a big question mark.

It didn't take long for the first rules question.  When we came in The Pilot, OTR, TGWH, and Jim M. were having a lengthy discussion on how many provisional balls you can have in play at one time.  It seems The Pilot was having a little trouble with #17.  I'm not it was ever resolved but the discussion was pretty humorous to say the least.  OTR said he hasn't had as much fun since his golf trip to Florida a couple of weeks ago.

Since we are now posting scores these rounds will count for the qualification requirement for the JRSR Championship.  You will still need 7 rounds to be eligible for the championship.  Shouldn't be a real problem since the tournament is in August.

While riding down #6 fairway a phone in our cart rang.  It was the club calling us wanting to know where we were.  The phone (not ours) belonged to a guest who forgot to take it with him after playing.  They sent one of the bag room staff out to retrieve it.  I'm not sure how you forget your phone.  But it should serve as a good reminder for all of us to check the cart when we finish to make sure we have our belongings

No SOTD winner, $10 more was added to the pot.  See ya at the training table.

CC

PS - Kudos to Eric and his staff for the great early season condition of the course.

Aggressive

That's what the geese are getting to be.  About 5PM yesterday I walked in our kitchen and glanced onto our deck and was amazed to see two big honkers walking towards the slider.  Maybe they thought they were invited for dinner.  I must have spilled some corn on the deck when I fed the birds/ducks in the AM, and they found it.  There's no other explanation that makes sense.

Saturday was nice enough to play golf and quite a few teed it up.  The SD was missing inaction due to another nose bleed the evening before.  The GWH took up where he left off last season.  He continued to play above his head.  Personally I think he has been playing all winter at his own course and keeping it quiet.  Dr. AH just looked on in amazement most of the time.  The FGG (playing behind us) were making an awful lot of noise.  Something about ABE and Slap shot being paired up again, and Slap shot playing  way below his handicap.  All I know is that OTR was doing a lot of mumbling.

No winners in the SOTD, but it wasn't for the lack of trying.

The weather looks good for Thursday.  See ya at the training table.

CC