Back Of My Neck

I think we all remember the song Hot Time Summer In The City where the back of his neck feels gritty.  Well that's what it felt like on Thursday morning.  I'm not complaining about the heat but it was a bit hot and humid.  Since the stag was in the PM we played in the AM.  At least 8 showed up, but only 7 really played.  I'm not sure what I was doing, but I don't think you could really call it golf.  It was more like lunging with a quick release.  The skin money was concentrated in half the field.

I'm starting to think we're in south Florida with these evening thunder storms.  The course is starting to show the effects of these constant monsoons.  No standing water, but certainly soggy conditions.  Hope we catch a break and get the fireworks in without a big storm to spoil the party.

The Nurse and I have the grand dog for 10 days.  It is always a treat to be awakened by a big black, furry thing breathing in your face a 5:45 AM.  But, she is such a good natured dog you really can't get too upset with her.  The fireworks and thunder do bother her, but she is too big to be a lap dog (she tries). 

Have a good weekend,

CC

Done In Again

The scorecard playoff did us in again.  I don't mind losing, but hate it when it is by the scorecard.  You can play well for 17 holes, but have a tough time on #6 and it all goes down the drain. 

Tom T (aka T Square) decided it was his turn at the SOTD and took half the pot with five snake eyes.  Fortunately we still have $80.00 left.  To the best of my knowledge there are only two JRSRs left who haven't won.  I won't embarrass them by publishing their names, since they are getting really sensitive about it.

Don M was at the club for lunch and a little range time yesterday.  He was looking good and hitting the ball pretty well.  For the those who don't know, he was one of the founding members of the JRSRs back in 1996.  I hope he won't be a stranger and will come  to lunch more often.

Remember Thursday is Stag Day.  We will play in the AM.

CC

Well Deserved

A well deserved honor was bestowed on one of our own yesterday at the club's annual meeting.  The SD and the Mrs. were named Members of The Year for 2013.  This was in recognition of their contributions to the club over the years and most recently his efforts organizing the prime rib dinners we have enjoyed over the last three years.  Congratulations.

The SD and the GWH didn't fare as well on the golf course on Saturday.  They continued to extend their losing streak.  I have no other explanation other than to say the pendulum always swings the other way.  It is really interesting since they start and finish strong.  It is the middle 14 holes that give them trouble.

One of my pet peeves is slow play.  In my opinion this got out of hand on Saturday.  I give Brad a lot of credit for trying to keep things moving.  There is no reason an Old Pal Match should take ssubstantially longer than a normal game.  For some reason you say Old Pal and everything slows down.  This is from a bunch of guys who complain about slow play on any other day.  Why people don't practice "ready golf "  is a mystery.  And, when you are holding the entire course up DON'T SIT BY THE GREEN AND RECORD YOUR SCORES!  At one point there were four groups on the same hole.  I think we can all agree that shouldn't happen.

The weather has definitely turned to Summer.  Just in time for the Fourth of July.  This week should be a warm one, with the occasional thunder storm thrown in to cool things down.  Hope every one's AC is in working order.  Don't forget the sunscreen.

See ya,

CC

PS - If you were at the club Friday night I hope you noticed how busy it was.  Between Twilight Golf, Floaty Friday, rehearsal dinners and normal dinning the place was packed.   Give credit to Todd and the staff everything worked pretty smoothly.

Really!!

That was my reaction when I heard the winning score on Thursday.  Being Captain I thought I picked a fairly difficult format;  2BB on the odds, and 3BB on the evens.  We weren't very good but not totally awful.  But the other teams must have been on steroids.  Maybe there were some best rounds of the year.  I know there was a career best from the LR Dr. (74),  but we weren't even on the same planet.  Poor OTR couldn't compensate for the sub par play of Dr AH, Twinkle Toes, and yours truly.  This happens again and we're going to have some random drug testing.

Here's the medical report:  TTS was seen at Pizza night, and went to Kroger's for ham loaf fixings.  He says he tires easily but is getting better each day.  Jim E. had his second knee done on Tuesday and is doing really well.  He thinks he could be back on the course by the end of August.  We'll see.  He might have been on the joy juice when making that statement.

Summer is here.  It is pretty hot today, and it is supposed to be that way for several days.  At least we'll get some roll in the fairways.  I'm sure we all would like an extra 10 yards off the tee.

You'd better pay attention to the small dogs and babies.  We saw a coyote walking on the course the other day.  This was in the middle of the afternoon! 

CC

Soggy

All the rain finally caught up with the course.  LTG and I played our Old Pal match  on Sunday with the course as wet as it has been all Spring (yes technically it is still Spring).  I guess we should have expected it after some of the storms that have come through lately.  But I digress.  We won't talk about the results.  Suffice it to say we always catch our opponents on their best day.  It was close for quite a while, but we couldn't overcome the strokes bunched together on the backside.  Plus my putter took lessons from Phil's on our last hole to extend the match.

Speaking of Phil, wasn't the US Open great theater!?  For all his heroic play Phil just couldn't pull it off in the end.  I don't know anyone who wasn't rooting for him.  You just had to love Merion.  For a course that was supposed to be a pushover no one broke par.   Made some of the best pros in the world look pretty bad.  I know they sure screwed up my pool picks and took me out after two rounds.

Looks like some good weather this week.  Hope to see you at the training table.

CC

The Phone Call

I was sitting at home yesterday minding my own business and watching the US Open when the phone rang.  Most of the time when it rings at that time of day it's some solicitation or a JRSR informing me they have won the SOTD.  Since we didn't have carts I figured it must have been a solicitation.  Wrong.  It was LTG.  So naturally I assumed he hit the SOTD again. Wrong again.  He just wanted to confirm we were going to play golf Friday afternoon.  And he let casually slip he made an ACE on #17.  I knew he was playing with the LR Dr. and Bill N.,  but I thought they quit at #9.  Anyway I hustled over and joined them for a drink.  There was no SOTD winner, so they pot continues to grow.

It looks like we're back to normal after the storm from Wednesday night.  The range is open and carts are allowed on the course. 

See ya,

CC

That Was Some Storm

That was some storm that came through last night.  For once the weatherman got it right.  You know it is bad when you get the phone call in the middle of the night from the emergency warning system.  I had been watching the weather on TV but was still surprised when the phone rang.  The Nurse was already in the basement with her phone and purse expecting the worse.  Fortunately nothing happened but a lot of rain, and I do mean a lot.

I didn't play yesterday, but a briefing from LTG..  TZ was a big winner in the field skin game.  Tuesday saw the Lr Dr. play captain.  He chose the teams and still couldn't win.  His format, 3 BB of 4, was a tough one.  It was hard to believe that minus 14 was the winner.  Especially from four chops.  I guess BD was really hot and shot 74 (bogeyed a four par 3's).  Hard to beat that when your partners are getting a boatload of strokes and "Frick and Frack" it all the way around.

Rumor has it that  TTS was baking a cake on Wednesday.  Can cookies be far behind?  Also I hear he plans on coming to lunch on Thursday.  Hope he makes it.

The US Open is off to weather delayed start.  Hope this weather clears out soon.  Does anyone know the ruling if you embed your ball in a wicker basket on the pin?  If not, ask me at lunch.

See ya,

CC

The Unthinkable Happened

Dr AH and I were able to put a major whopping on our friends again.  That's two weeks in a row that we dinged them.  It could have been worse, but the SD chipped in on 18 for par.   I think we're pretty much back to even for the 2013 season, but still behind if you include last year.  Dr. AH was the hot player and seems to have benefited from taking the week off for a wrist/thumb injury. 

Heard the Belmont garden walk went well and the club raised $800 for plantings around the club grounds.  Plus there was a big crowd for dining Saturday night.  It's hard to believe some had to wait for a table.  Throw in the wedding and the club had a good Saturday.

After today the weather looks good for golf.  Remember the Invitational is this week, and Thursday is the practice round.  Make sure you check the SD's email for our schedule.  Also heard twinkle Toes and TZ won their Old Pal match in 19 holes (against some flat bellies).  I guess TZ really picked up his game over the last six holes.

See ya,

CC

They Still Haven't Won

There are still three JRSRs who haven't won the SOTD.  One came close yesterday, but again there was "no cigar".  So the pot has started to grow again.  Of course it helps to have a big group rolling each day.  Such was the case on Thursday.  Even though the weather didn't look promising, we still had 11 players show up to take their shot at winning the gold.  I made the mistake of not playing takes all.  You guessed it.  I was on the team that would have taken it all.  But you know the old saying - "pigs get fat and ....".  OTR was our our captain and played really well.  Plus TZ and Twinkle Toes were hot when it really counted.  Even my game contributed at the right times.  It really was a team effort.

We had a new player join us.  John W (aka Sky King) was introduced to our daily fun.  He was heard mumbling something about being another pigeon.  We tried to reassure him that his day would come.  I'm not sure he bought into the concept, but am guessing he'll be back.

I talked with TTS the other day.  Actually I had short visit with him.  He's looking good although still pretty weak.  I tried to impress on him that he should follow the doctors orders and not overdue it.  We all know how patient he is.  Any way he'll probably be ready for more visitors soon.  I know St. Gwen will be.

Talk at you later,

CC

Another One Returns

We heard rumors that Bob K was coming back to the club, but until yesterday he'd had been a no show.  It take him long to establish he was another force (aka sandbagger) to be dealt with.  I won't call it beginners luck since he has always been a good stick,  but to win on your day back was a bit of a surprise.  Anyway welcome back Bob.  We continue to have big groups (which is great), and it makes for good competetion.  It was also good to see the Used Car Salesman join us.

Twinkle Toes had one of his sons visiting and he brought him to lunch.  The son is certainly a whole lot better looking than Twinkle is.  But, I don't know whether he can "trip the light fantastic". 

The Nurse and I went to pizza night yesterday.  There was a big crowd there.  Let's hope it keeps up for the rest of the season.  The pizza was pretty good too.

OTR played in the new Tuesday Golf League and said that paid better than our group.  Sounds like he's found a new group of pigeons to pluck.

The rest of the week looks good.  See ya at the training table.

CC

It Never Fails

When you have all your rain gear it never rains.  Such was the case Saturday for the Member Member.  It sure looked like it was going to rain;  the radar said it was going to;  and it felt like rain.  But after loading all the gear in the cart it never rained.  But the course was very wet from the rain the evening before.  They let us play lift, clean, and cheat.  For most of us that didn't make any real difference, but for OTR and Dbl J it must have helped.  How else can you explain them lapping the field!  They posted a great score and walked away with the marbles.  Congrats to another pair of JRSRs.  Just goes to show that seasoned veterans can still play.

Sunday dawned with another cool morning.  The Nurse and I played with Mrs. Dr AH and TM.  We called it quits after nine holes due to lack of interest, cool breezes, sprinkles, and my desire to see the end of the Memorial Tournament.   And my poor play also contributed to a lack of interest.  But, I'm glad I watched the tournament.  It was definitely a pretty good finish.  I was happy to see Matt K. win. 

I hope the wind will quit blowing like we're in a perpetual hurricane soon.  I know we go through this every Spring, but enough already.  Plus, can we put some growth retardant on the rough.  We have been spending too time on searching for balls.  Besides it's June and we are supposed to be done with these conditions.

Did you look at the numbers for the SOTD?  Between payouts and the current pot we have passed the $3000.00 mark.  That's in less than four seasons.  I have a summary by winner that you can see, but won't publish it in case the IRS is paying attention.  Call for an appointment.

See ya,

CC