Friday, August 31, 2007

Bathing Beauties and Colorful Duo




That would be Danielle's two girls, Naomi and Leah. Naomi is the older sister, something I am sure she is repeatedly telling Leah.

Wanders and Wonders

Wander and Wonder

WAPO's lead story this morning is telling us that the DOJ is investigating whether or not AG Gonzales lied. Hmmm, we are spending good money on something we already know? What was that Wisconsin senator's name who used to pass out awards for really bonehead grants made by the Federal Government, like a million dollar grant to determine if day follows night or night follows day. (I googled it: the Golden Fleece Award; follow the link for the name of the senator...)

More later...

More Wanders





Parents and offspring: Kevin Johnson at #6 with Pops Curt; Sydney Sherer finishing her tee shot at #1 with good old Dad, Mark.




FedEx continues in Boston with Tiger, Phil and Vijay in the same group. I think Phil is going to have a hard time finding someone to talk with. Oh oh. Vijay started with a double bogie. A couple of pars for the other two.

At home now. Pam and Eric at the golf course where it is lovely. Could use a little rain to green things up a tad.

Reminder: Manager's Scramble and Skins start at 8am tomorrow. Should be fine golfing plus a few out of towners joining the fray, like for instance Ralph O'Malley who's in for the Fields-Wininger Scramble on Sunday morning.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

More Senior Flighted Tournament




Rex Hudson after his 3 iron shot from 140 yards finally dropped into the cup at #4 for an eagle.

Friday morning comments on Thursday's play:

-Diane Bird opened with a birdie on #9.
-Wayne Pearl continues his sterling play with a C Flight leading 41.
-Rex Hudson used his eagle and an all around fine day of golf to take the lead in the B Flight.
-Jack Lents stayed close by getting consecutive birdies on #7 and #8.
-Jack Butcher had a couple of unusual birdies to keep him close in the A Flight.
-Dale DeLong and Walt Bowens shot the daylights out with a 41 and a 43 to lead their flights.
-Pam Byron and Clyde Wake had super days as well with a 44 and a 45.
-Mike Anderson opened with a double bogie on #1 and then shot one under the rest of the way to hold second place in A Flight.

Final nine holes, and a pitch-in luncheon, next Thursday. Nine am start time with a putting contest to precede the tournament play.

Senior Flighted Tournament Results Day One

Results of this morning's play. Comments a little later... (all sorts of magic out there today)


Lakeview Golf Course



2007 Fifty_Plus League



Flighted Tournament



Tournament Dates: August 30 and September 6






Leaders after nine holes



A

BIRD, MICHAEL

34


B

HUDSON, REX

38


C

PEARL, WAYNE

41


D

BOWENS, WALT

43


E

DELONG, DALE

41






HOLE PRIZES



#3

Wayne Pearl



#7

Rex Hudson



#8

Dave Trinkle



#9

Ken Hudson












Player

Week 1


Seed

A Flight



1

BIRD, MICHAEL

34


4

ANDERSON, MIKE

36


5

KAVANAUGH, AL

37


6

BUTCHER, JACK

37


2

BYRON, JUNIOR

38


3

WALKER, JOHN

41







B Flight



5

HUDSON, REX

38


1

TRINKLE, DAVE

39


3

LENTS, JACK

39


6

HUDSON, KEN

40


2

MCATEE, TOM

42


4

CHAPMAN, JOHN

44







C Flight



3

PEARL, WAYNE

41


1

BROWN, DAVE

43


4

CORNELIUS, MORRIS

44


5

STRANGE, DAVE

44


2

SWAYZE, RICHARD

45


6

STREEPY, LEROY

dnp







D Flight



4

BOWENS, WALT

43


3

POTTS, SAM

45


1

SHAW, RAY

46


7

BATEMAN, WILMA

49


9

WALLACE, VIC

50


6

RAYHILL, CARROLL

dnp


8

LANNAN, DON

dnp


5

BATEMAN, JIM

dnp


10

HARPER, VIRGIL

dnp


2

LAMAR, GARY

dnp







E Flight



1

DELONG, DALE

41


7

BYRON, PAM

44


11

WAKE, CLYDE

45


6

FOSTER, GEORGE

46


9

BARBER, DICK

47


2

BIRD, DIANE

48


4

ELLIOTT, BOB

50


3

NORRIS, BOB

51


5

GRAY, JOE

52


10

SHEETZ, CHARLES

54


8

SWAYZE, ALLEN

dnp

Thursday's Players are Full of Grace

And so it goes. The capstone of the Senior League is about to be placed with the first nine holes of the Flighted Tournament getting underway this morning at 9am. Seniors, bring all your games, A, B, C and D. For today you go up against players at your own skill level. No handicap to figure; just get out there and shoot the daylights out.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

More Mystery Golfer Then and Now



Our own Sam Potts, June 24th Mystery Golfer. Let me see, Sam the young man of sixteen? fourteen? The gentleman Sam next to that very young man is from earlier this summer here at Lakeview after Senior League play.

Mystery Golfer Marty


Mystery Golfer of a very few days ago: Number One Son, Marty. Looks like a photo of him at Wild birds Unlimited in the not too distant past.

Middle of the Week Stuff

On Abscessed Teeth

For one, they are no fun. When Dr. Weir's charming assistant, Tammy, saw me come in with a bottle of water in one hand, she knew immediately it was an abscessed tooth. This was at 2 pm yesterday afternoon, Bedford time, after my morning of living with my little friends who were having some kind of party neath one of my teethies. It turns out that the bacteria that cause the infection and the pain were producing gas which swelled up, expanded, whenever I introduced anything warm into my mouth, like the usual delicious morning cup of coffee or later my own saliva; and contracted with the introduction of anything cool to cold. Thus the saving grace of the ever present bottle of water. Of course, you quickly become aware of how much of a weenie you are: you know the pain is coming; you know you can stop it with cold water; and you by golly make sure your mouth is full of cold water before the pain arrives. Way before the pain arrives. What a bore and a bother it all was but you sure weren't going to let that cold water get very far away: it got in the shower with me, it went on a walk with me, it drove to Bedford with me (I packed spare bottles in case I needed them); it joined me in the dentist's chair and yes I did tell the good doctor that he would have to excuse me if I suddenly reared up and got myself a drink of water.

In the end, we did find the dastardly culprit and blasted it with novacaine and then drilled a couple of holes in the tooth to vent the offending gas. And set a date with another good doctor, this one in Bloomington, to do a root canal. No fun but I have been down this road before and it beats losing a tooth.

Republicans and Fun or Non Fun

The NY Times has a front page article on the woes of the Republicans what with all the scandals of the past, well let me think now, is it months? or more like years? I think years. Scandalous behavior everywhere one looks. From the article:

“The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness,” said Mr. Reed, sounding exasperated in an interview on Tuesday morning. “You can’t make this stuff up. And the impact this is having on the grass-roots around the country is devastating. Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons who have total disregard for the principles of the party, the law of the land and the future of the country.”
Buffoons you say?! Total disregard for, among other things, the law of the land? My oh my. Bad time to be a republican. The article does list the many undesirable behaviors of the past several years that have been visited upon a whole slew of republicans but fails to mention the root cause of it all, that guy in the wh, until deep within the article. Possibly the worst president in history. You think that may case the grand old party some grief somewhere along the line? Deserved grief, for sure.

(I have to stop cause I think I hear republicans out there trying to figure out some way to get a few more bacteria to come a visiting my mouth, to give me a little something other than politics to think about... Think I'll see if Diane wants to watch a movie - we got two in the mail today, one with Gong Li which has to be good - she'll take my mind off of political shenanigans, in a new york minute.)

Senior League Note

THURSDAY'S FIFTY-PLUS LEAGUE 2007


Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Note: The Thursday start time for the first nine holes of the Individual Flighted Tournament is as scheduled >>> 9am.

Wednesday's This and That

Governments and Politics

-China and it's cyber police: Kind of cute what they are doing now: a couple of cyber police officers will show up on screens every thirty minutes suggesting that users be on their toes and aware of the cyber security force. Big Brother is being obnoxious.
-Just say NO! Note to all of our reps in the halls of Congress to the president's request for $50 billion for Iraq fiasco. That war now costing $3 billion a week. That's the treasury part; there's the blood part too.
-Idaho's Senator Craig in deep do-do. If he would just come out and level with people... The Idaho Statesmen of Boise has investigated his sexual orientation for eight months? Mitt Romney quoted in the article as saying "...that people who are elected to public office continue to disappoint..." and "...frankly, it's disgusting...." I would certainly agree with him there though I'm thinking of matters a little more weighty that one's private behavior in the sexual realm.
-Japanese government very influential in high speed and low cost availability of internet access throughout Japan. Government action in regulation opened up fierce competition which has allowed an explosion in internet speed and a reduction in the cost of fast internet access. Wow! Go read the article. And if you're like me, without broadband access, the hairs on the back of your neck with stand up a little because of what we haven't done. Come on, America, we're better than this. Let's start showing it!

Having fun here but I gotta go get my selfins to the golf course.

Comments on Tuesday's Play

This and That on League Play



-Phil Eyler came in with the only sub par round (34) and got himself a birdie on #9 to get there.
-Short Jeffers opened with a triple bogie on #1 and then birdied four of the last five holes to get back to even (golf goddess let him know that he is only human by letting him get a bogie on #7 - darn that little bitty hole...).
-Keith Parsons also had his best round ever with a 41 and Bill Carrico has a pretty good round too (43) and that vaulted them into first place in the Team competition.
-Trenton Kidwell made a hurried call to the clubhouse wanting to sign up for the long drive competition just after his drive on #6 passed his Dad's by some twenty yards. Next week for sure, Trenton?
-Mike Kidwell's long drive of last week remains the longest in the competition. Come on, guys, you can do better than 284 yards, can't you?
-John Drake stumbled a little on #1 with a quadruple bogie (okay, maybe more than a little bit...) but recovered nicely with a three over on the other eight holes to remain in contention for the top spot in the Individual competition.
-John Foddrill came out and played golf on both Saturday and Sunday and finds himself in first after his play last night.
-Chris Hogan spent some time with Kevin Johnson at the driving range at the Oaks Monday night. That too paid dividends.
-Junior Byron shot a respectable 36 and got a birdie and hole prize on #9. He was looking for a repeat of his Monday evening scoring when he shot a 32 (welcome toLakeview's Club 32, Junior!). He attributes it to going back to his long putter.
-#9 gave up five birdies yesterday; #4 gave up six.
-congrats to the flight leaders after week one: Phil Eyler, John Walker and Doug Denson, Mike Albertson, Tony Wease and Scot Arthur, John Foddrill, Chris Hogan, and Keith Parsons.
-and in case you haven't noticed, top spot on both competitions, team and individual, remain hotly contested. Next Tuesday should be a dilly of a day at Lakeview with the galleries packed with spectators to see who is going to come out on top.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Tuesday Shot of the Day

Results are up for both the regular season and the flighted tournaments. No new leader in the Long Drive competition - Mike Kidwell's drive of last week still numero uno. The highlights:

LAKEVIEW GOLF COURSE Tuesday Men's League August 28, 2007 Event 21









Leaders






Team CARR/PARS

776

Individual FODDRILL, JOHN

1442









Hole Prizes:






#3: Bob Gilley




#7: Dave Wininger




#8: Mark Jones




#9: Junior Byron












Low Net Scores: Keith Parsons (26), Jordan Divine (27)

Low Gross Scores: Phil Eyler (34), Short Jeffers (35)


Average Gross Score 41.02 Prior 42.09 42.39 42.69 42.03

Average Net Score 33.52 Weeks 34.95 35.08 34.92 34.37

The Pain of it all...

Dang it all! All this good news coming out of our capital and a little break in the weather and other good stuff and my mouth goes into a lets-hurt-mikey-mode. Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. Goldarn tooth is killing me... Only way to keep the pain at bay is to keep the affected tooth bathed in cool to cold water, or iced coffee, the anti pain drink of choice at the moment. Off to the dentist at 1pm today. More than likely an infection, something I've had twice before in the last thirty some years, the first time ending with a tooth yank, the second time with a root canal and a tooth cap. The over the counter pain pill suggested by the dentist's office hasn't touched the pain yet. No great hope for it to do so. Ouch. Quick, more coffee.

Did finish Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress yesterday. A charming little book that gave me a new appreciation of all those millions of Chinese people who had to live through the Cultural Revolution of the '70's. And the ending has a nice little twist that will knock your shoes off. Worth the read and I am looking forward to what the movie adds or subtracts from the book. Now on to The Road.

We have a guess on the young half naked mystery golfer posted earlier. And no it is not Larry Hembree though that's a pretty good guess.

Got to get ready to go to Mitchell. Hope they have the magic that will take away the pain.

Tuesday Men Look to Shine and Hit the Ball Long and True




Bird's eye view of the golf course sent by Marty. Don't know the date. Parking lot looks full though don't see that many golfers. Must all be in the clubhouse (smile...).

Eric will be manning the clubhouse this morning so be sure and stop in and say hello on your way to that early golf match.

It is Tuesday and the Tuesday Men come down for the first of the last two weeks of the season. Still a horse race with the top spots up for grabs. Anything can happen and probably will. And then there is the Long Drive Competition. Mike Kidwell has kept the lead throughout the week (not surprising, right?) and looks like conditions are again favorable for the long ball hitter - dry and hot. Might even get several more contestants today. And then there is the Flighted Tournament, that eighteen hole dilly that closes the season. Think you can beat your handicap buddies? You are all bunched together with low gross score for the two weeks taking home the prize. Should be fun.

Gotta head to the golf course for a bit. Expect I'll be back in a little bit - haven't checked in on the world yet.

Monday, August 27, 2007

First Requested Mystery Golfer





The year is 1984 and the place is Ft. Myers. Anyone care to guess who it is?

More Mystery Golfer Then and Now




That would be me, one of the Mystery Golfers of May 31st, somewhere in Germany in the summer of 1961 where I had gone after graduating from Notre Dame. The sequence went something like this: graduation from ND early in June; say good bye to family and Diane and drive off with a friend to Brooklyn; move to uncle's place in Greenwich Village and hang around for several weeks; take slow freighter to Amsterdam in latter part of July. Hang out in Frankfurt near where big brother is stationed with the army; return to States in October after receiving my 'get-your-physical-notice' from the draft board; get serious with Diane while investigating other ways to serve; propose to Diane and sign up to go to US Navy Officer Candidate School. (Hmmm, got to stop this somewhere...)

The other picture is right here in Loogootee at the golf course after making eagle at #2 with the Boyz a few weeks back.

Holy Cow Monday with Gonzo Leaving

The truth will out and that may come sooner than later with Rove and now Gonzales resigning. I am absolutely stunned with the great things that have been happening this hot month of August.

More later from home; Pam out here waiting for me to vacate the clubhouse.

Monday Monday

Sports

-Ochoa does get her third win a row at the Safeway Classic. Going home now to take a break. This is one cool operator who is definitely in a zone with her golf game.
-Stricker wins the Barclays with a very impressive close of four birdies in five holes. K.J. Choi had taken the lead with long putts of 45 and 50 feet. Nice putting but the golf goddess was smiling on the Stricker Man.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

League Results

Community and USG League results are posted. Highlights for the Community League:

Community League Week ending August 26, 2007 Event 15















Season Ending 18 Hole Team Tournament Leaders after Round 1:













Pts

Norris and Wake



26

Burch and Bradley


24








Leaders





Team: BROOKSHIRE/SEAL


291

Individual: WAKE, CLYDE

521

Round of the Week: Matt Tucker - 1st par round ever! 35








Low Net Scores:





Women Colleen Bird (33)



Senior Clyde Wake (31)


Men Kent Summers (29)


Junior Matt Tucker (29)










Low Gross Scores:





Men Jon Boyd (35)



Women Kim Jones, Kay Sheetz (47's)

Senior Bob Walton (43)



Junior Matt Tucker (35)










Low Net Team NORRIS/WAKE 66

Sunday Funnies

Books

Cormac McCarthy wins a British prize for The Road, which also won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Diane has just finished this book and found it excellent - both of us have enjoyed his writings, especially his Border Trilogy which included All the Pretty Horses, the one that got us started as big Cormac McCarthy fans. If you are a reader of books and haven't read any of this man's writings, then you have a real treat in store for you. Suggestion: get thee down to the library or over to your local amazon.com website and get yourself any one of Cormac's books, find a quiet room, and have a super time being transported to a different time and place by this master wordsmith. BTW, I started The Road but put it aside when Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress arrived in the mail. It's next in line...

War Deaths

Thers at Firedoglake blogs about the body count in the Iraqi War and laments the fact that we really don't know how many Iraqis have died. Thirty-seven hundred and something Americans, at least seventy some thousand Iraqis but maybe over half a million Iraqis. Americans want a stop to the killing; WH says go forward, just need a few more months or ten years, maybe twenty-five.

Sports

-Lorena Ochoa up by one heading into the final round of the Safeway Classic. Can she make it three in a row?
-Colts breeze; caught a little of the game in the fourth quarter last night; Blue #12 and #15 were playing catch.
-Brady Quinn plays some more for Browns, again is impressive. Go Browns (not against the Colts though...).
-Steve Stricker leading The Barclays. Missing Tiger. A playoff without the #1 golfer in the world? Must not be a real playoff then.

Heading back to the golf course. Eric had the clubhouse this morning; expect to see more of him there (what a great idea!). Pam at the controls at the moment. Diane had her Community League round with Lucas this morning, early, then took Lucas and me down to the Cabin. Kerry Stoll and Lisa Ader among the many good folk there enjoying a hearty breakfast. Lisa encouraged me to keep after her hubby and her brother; I assured her I would. Larry, the brother, is easy to keep after. Yesterday was one of his Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde days on the golf course. For instance, he finished up his 18 hole adventure by parring both holes #2 and #3 but actually hit six atrocious shots and only two good ones. Of course, those two were desperation shots that somehow found the bottom of the cup and thus became more fodder for the legend that is Larry Hembree (smile...).

Ok, see you over at the golf course.

More Then and Now with Mystery Golfers






Wilma Bateman was our Mystery Golfer on May 31st. Here she is in a very recent pose out at the golf course and one not so recent. A long and lean lady then and now.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

French Movie Worth Watching

Watched the rest of the French movie (Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring). Excellent and charming though charming is a kinda funny descriptor to give to a story of good and evil, the good being mixed up with a little bit of devilishness and the evil being mostly about greed. In the end it comes out to be a little bit of a love story and a large bit of a tragedy. Gets a rating of five from me.

Mystery Golfer Update



A little then and now with the likes of Joe Doyle, our June 5th mystery golfer. We knew that young and handsome soldier was in there somewhere. The dates of the pictures: 2007 and around about 1955.

Kevin Byron Sinks Long Putt to Seal Win for Sherer Team

Saturday Scramble

Kevin Byron sank a longish putt on #9 this morning to get the Mark Sherer Team to six under and get them a one stroke win in the Manager's Scramble this morning. The results:

1. Mark Sherer, Tyler Walton, Tony Wease, Kevin Byron (-6)
2. Dave Wininger, Larry Hembree, Curt Johnson, Josh Huff (-5)
3. Greg Potts, John Foddrill, Lee Wininger, Mike Arvin, Ward Smith (-4)
4. Mike Bird, Joe Allen, Karry Stoll, Tom Holt (-3)

Skin Match

Players: Mark Sherer, Josh Huff, Larry Hembree, Dave Wininger, Mike Bird, Tony Wease, Tyler Walton, Karry Stoll, Ward Smith, Curt Johnson. Skins: Josh Huff with a net eagle on #2 and Tyler Walton with a net birdie on #6.

Saturday Golfing at Lakeview

Saturday Scrambles

Last year's Grafton Scramble had about twenty players. Would love to have thirty-two of them this year. They shotgun at eight this morning; Manager's Scramblers go off five minutes later. Expect plenty of room.

This and That

-The French movie which is in two parts that we started watching yesterday, is very good. Will watch the last hour of the near four hours later today. (Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring)
-Received in the mail a new book and have started it: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Movie on my queue at Netflix; want to finish the book before the movie arrives.
-Wilbon on the Michael Vick story. I have not been reading up on this story, just catching a headline now and again, though Wilbon makes the point that Vick is going to be more widely condemned for killing dogs than he would have been for wife beating. About right in our society. Dog breeders had better watch out; no thinning allowed. Of course in the beef business, or any other livestock business, the undesirables go to the slaughter house. And in countries where dogs are part of the people diet, Vick would just be part of the food production business. Oh well, so it goes, Michael. Guess there's nothing for you to do but grin and bear it.
-Reggie decides not to make a NBA comeback. Not the body that's holding him back but rather his mind set. Good for Reggie making the right decision. Does remind me of the glory days of the Pacers though. Just a couple of years ago.

Time to get ready for the golf course. See you at that place just up the road and around the corner in just a bit. Bring your short game as there is no problem in getting up near the green with the dry and hard fairways.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Saturday Golfing at Lakeview


Picture: Early evening traffic yesterday. I was sitting with Bub Brown and Pup Bradley enjoying the last remnants of the day; the clip clop of the Amish horses was much preferable to the roar of the land freighters.

Should be a little busy at the golf course around 8 am tomorrow. We have the Graftons coming in for a nine hole scramble starting at 8; should be about 32 of them. The Manager's Scramble will start shortly after that with somewhere between 10 and 15 players. Gonna be a lot of good golfing right there under our noses. Don't forget to pick up the birdies and eagles lying all over the place...

Of course, lots of golf between now and then. Don't expect much change in temperature with the setting sun though there is a difference; it still remains hot and humid up to about the time night finally falls. Then it's too dark to play. Of all the lousy luck...

Diane is back form town, wandering the aisles at the stores trying to figure out what she needs. Got the rest of a French movie to watch once the supplies are all unloaded and put away.

Search Feature

Did you know that this blog has a search feature? Clyde Wake was in here yesterday and Eric was helping him find pictures of the mystery golfers which are buried in the blog's archive. We took the hard road and went to the archive in the different months till we found the one we were looking for. I knew there was a better way and of course it's right up there staring us in the face: the blog's search feature. As with most search features, it's as simple as typing in the word or phrase you're searching for and then sit back and let the computer do the work. Works like magic. It is magic! Go ahead, try it out by typing your name in the space provided.

Tuesday Men's League Flights

The Tuesday Men's League flights for the season ending flighted tournament are posted on the website. As in the past, the flights are based on a weighted average handicap. That average is calculated by taking 60% of the current handicap and adding it to 40% of the average handicap for the year. Also, as in the past, dollar prizes will be given out to the first and second place finishers in each flight.

More Hot and Hotter

Weather

A little bit of hot during the summer months is to be expected. But don't you think we're almost to the point of excess here this August? Need an extended break from the hot, humid days which have been followed by hot, humid nights.

War

Respected Republican Senator John Warner calls for the start of draw down of troops by Christmas. Wavering Republicans given cover? Might follow? Can now find spine and gumption to do what is right? Hardly likely. Would be nice to hear again from our own senator, Richard Lugar.

Gotta get to the golf course. More later.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Learning More About Vietnam, Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans

Andrew X. Phem does an outstanding job in writing of his life and travels in Catfish and Mandala, a two wheeled voyage through the landscape and memory of Vietnam. He moves through time and space to tell the stories of his early life in Vietnam, his life in California and his travels around Vietnam on a bicycle. We learn of Vietnam when he was there as a youngster during the early '70's; we learn of Vietnam in the late '90's. We learn of the trials of trying to fit into an American society that had very mixed feelings about his countrymen; we learn of his rejection by the people in Vietnam when he returns two decades later and comes back with an American sheen, one that is not so welcome in his birth country. I was touched by his portrait of a very poor country, one which he traveled on the cheap (by design) and in doing so saw maybe more of the underside of that society than what a tourist might see or be exposed to. His travels through Vietnam take up the bulk of his writing but the stories of his family life, and especially the tragedy that was Chi, hold everything together and in the end bring it all back to the starting point. A book of discovery, of opening up.

Heading back to the golf course... Maybe the evening hours will bring a little relief form the day's heat.

Senior Skin Game

This game is over and the winners are:

Skins
Hole

Score
DELONG, DALE

4

3
BIRD, DIANE

7

1
BYRON, PAM

8

2
WAKE, CLYDE

9

1

Complete net scores by hole are up on the web site. Congrats to the four winners. Twenty-two players showed up to give it a go. The next two Thursdays are given over to the Flighted Individual Tournament and are scheduled to start at 9am. But... If the weather continues to be hot and humid with temperatures in the 90's, we will move the start time back to 8am. We'll make that decision early on Wednesday so you will have plenty of notice.

Things of Note for a Thursday

Politics

-We are not a free and open society and we will not open our records to you. So go suck watermelon. WH claims Office of Administration is not subject to FOIA. More overreach by some of our public servants.

-Vietnam remarks by America's leader stir Democrats. I was particularly struck by the little sidebar in the linked article:

THE VIETNAM WAR
Ran from 1959-1975
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) defeated US-backed Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
Estimated four million Vietnamese civilians killed
1.1 million communist fighters killed
200-250,000 South Vietnamese troops killed
58,200 US troops killed or missing in action
Note the estimated millions of civilians killed. Looked for a similar figure in the Iraq War - not there. Four million... As a species, we fail miserably in something we like to call humanity. War sure is stupid.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Wednesday Wrap

First a reminder: Tomorrow the Senior League is hosting a nine hole skins match. Participants will play their own ball and have their own handicap and fork over $5 for the skin pot. At the end of nine holes, any low net score on a hole gets a skin. Play starts at 8am. So come on out and join the match and the fun.

Today at the course: Jordan and Josh Hawkins dragged their dad, Phil, over for nine holes. Jordan and Josh are accomplished golfers; Phil gets the mantle of the novice. Expect he had fun; I did notice that he was hitting the ball pretty solidly by the sixth hole...

At home: Enjoyed Ingmar Berman's The Silence. Enigmatic film dealing with sisterly love. Lots of nudity and made in 1963; I figured this particular version never made it to the American theaters, at least not in the early '60's.

More Marty and His Granddad

Striking resemblance. One 1936, the other 1986.

More Tuesday Men Notes

It's early on a Wednesday morning, the coffee is brewing, and I'm fresh as a daisy (smile...).

League Notes

-Things tightened at the top in both categories though Templin/Nolan in the Team and John Drake in the Individual remain on top. Gonna be a fun last two weeks.
-Long Ball contestants that signed up for all three nights are: Kevin Johnson, Doug Denson, Steve Downey, Terry Padgett, Jr Byron, John Foddrill, Mike Kidwell, Tyler Kidwell, Mark Jeffers and Bryant Trambaugh.
-Other Long Ball wannabees can sign up next Tuesday night or even wait for the final Tuesday.
-At least two balls were longer than Mike's but not in the fairway. Mike has the longest so far at 284 yards. He is also praying for rain, rain, rain, and then some more rain followed by a super grass growth. (Mike, please stipulate long soaking rains during the evening hours, please...)
-Tyler Kidwell, without a second thought, went for the whole enchilada on #1 and made it to the other side of the spillway, barely.
-Short Jeffers returned to zero handicap status; Kevin Johnson reached that plateau; Mark Potts remains well below with another routine 32. Terry Butcher and Phil Eyler drop out temporarily.
-Heard of at least four chip ins during play yesterday, including Skip Ackerman's blast from the sandtrap on nine for par. Mark Potts chipped in for eagle on four and Dad Greg followed suit for a birdie at nine.
-Birdie leaders: Dave Wininger with 30; Phil Eyler with 26.
-Par leaders: Mark Jeffers with 113; Mike Kidwell, 103.

More hot on the way today. Golf early and late.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

More Tuesday Men


Pictures:
Trenton Kidwell at #9; Scott Arthur teeing off at #7.

Tuesday Shot of the Day

Tuesday Men's League reports are up. Super night for Buck Holland (gross 38, net 25), Mark Potts (gross 32) and Kevin Johnson (33). Mike Kidwell has the long drive so far, about 284 yards. The highlights (more later):

LAKEVIEW GOLF COURSE Tuesday Men's League August 21, 2007 Event 20









Leaders






Team TEMPLIN/NOLAN

734

Individual DRAKE, JOHN


1400









Hole Prizes:






#3: Bill Carrico




#7: Mark Jones




#8: Kevin Johnson




#9: Curt Johnson




Long Drive Leader Mike Kidwell


284 yds (at 201 yard line from pin)









Low Net Scores: Buck Holland (25), Phil Hardwick (29)

Low Gross Scores: Mark Potts (32), Kevin Johnson (33)

Average Gross Score 42.09 Prior 41.80 42.39 42.69 42.03

Average Net Score 34.95 Weeks 34.65 35.08 34.92 34.37

Tuesday Men Come On Down Please

Tuesday Men take center stage today. And with just three weeks left in the season, do I see a little light at the top of the standings? Do George Templin and Don Nolan have any advantage at all with a 34 point lead? And how about John Drake on top of the individual standings with a 37 point lead? I imagine the odds are in their favor but this has been such a volatile year with several teams and individuals having shared the top spot, I would not be surprised at all to see a few more changes before the bell rings three weeks from tonight.

Terry Butcher and Phil Eyler start the day with big zero handicaps, Short Jeffers just one off. And where have all those young guns gone? I'm reminded of the college basketball players going from the 30 something season to the NBA where they play what must seem like every night. And no break for classroom stuff and strolling around the campus. What a shock to their system the Bigs must be! Am sure that we have not heard the last of Mitch and Weston and Trenton by a long shot.

And speaking of long shots... Load up your big driving stick and take a shot at the longest shot in the long shot competition that starts today. This will be a running competition through the rest of the season. Contestants wind up and hit the ball as far as they can off of #6 tee box. If it's the longest of all come Tuesday evening, September 4th, then you will be declared our long ball champ of 2007. Of course, you won't want to forget that your ball has to be somewhere out there in #6 fairway, not in the lake or over in #4 or on the median or the dam.

A little rain right now, but nothing like the record rain falls they had in Indy, Fort Wayne and South Bend yesterday afternoon. Ok, best get ready and head over to the golf course, see what's going on...

Monday, August 20, 2007

More of a Good Thing




Pictures: Sunday evening at Lakeview: Colleen and Opa strolling down #5; Colleen relaxing on #4 green; and a casual Ian who took the top two pictures while golfing with Opa and his mom and dad.


GeoPolitics

Good article by Peter Baker of WAPO on the attempt by Bush to spread democracy around the world. Article's closing lines, by the author of the book that helped inspire the attempt:

"I give him an A for bringing the idea and maybe a C for implementation," said Sharansky, now chairman of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center in Israel. "There is a gap between what he says and what the State Department does," and he is not consistent enough.

The challenge Bush faced, Sharansky added, was to bring Washington together behind his goal.

"It didn't happen," he said. "And that's the real tragedy."


And of course the world didn't get behind it very much either after seeing Bush's efforts to bring democracy to Iraq. Who wants democracy at the end of a gun? What were these guys thinking!? Oh, I remember, they were thinking since we were the number one military power in the world, we had the moral duty to make the world a better place. And if that meant going in with guns, well so be it. Ah, America, beacon of hope for millions around the world.

Sports

-Ochoa wins easily at Canadian Open. Boosts her earnings to $2,636,590. Not peanuts and I'm sure she makes a bundle from off course activities and endorsements but next to the earnings of her male counterpart, it's pine nuts. (Any idea what Tiger has earned so far this year?)

-Kevin Johnson in town for a couple of weeks. You might try to catch him at the golf course and play a round with him. He finishes up PGA School this December. He promises a round of 30 for himself and a 38 for his dad, Curt. (It's public now, Kevin. Should add a little motivation to make it happen.) Expect Kevin to join Tuesday Men for league play tomorrow... Wonder if we could get Mark Potts down for another go at it? Would be a good pairing.

-Tuesday Men's League has a Long Ball Competition starting tomorrow. First of three Tuesdays where contestants' tee shots on #6 go for the long ball competition. Will mark the long ball location for each event and go from there the next time. Longest drive over the three days gets the pot of money. You got a long drive in you? Sign up and go for it.

-Tuesday Boyz go to Hidden Hills tomorrow. Start time is 8:30 our time. I think Junior is going up, maybe Ray too.

-Community League starts its final two weeks which includes a Team Tournament. BTW, Jeff Brookshire definitely benefited from his little golf goddess' presence yesterday - shot a 36. Best ever, Jeff? Meanwhile, Lucas Bird had the round of the week for the Community League with a sterling net 29 for the youngster who in the process beat his Oma by a stroke, 50 to 51.

-Wayne Souerdike shot a par round of 35 in the USG League last week. One of Wayne's best rounds of the year. (You have shot par before, haven't you, Wayne? Expect you have but don't know for sure. Excellent round in any case!)

-'nuff for now... Go play golf, it's good for you.