More Friday golfers: the family

Oma firing one down #5 fairway. Ian is the spotter.

Lucas showing excellent form after an errant shot off of #5 tee box.

Having a little fun on #5 green.

Heading home with Ian having traded his clubs for the camera.

Some of today's golfers

Eric and his #1 son, Lucas.

Lucas, Eric, Ian and Diane posing at #8 tee box.

Bloomfield Belles covering three generations.

The guy who went west several years ago resurfaced today. Remember Ron Wilde? Still an excellent golfer.

Happy Thanksgiving

And thanks to all our friends and fellow golfers for the many moments of good cheer and friendly competition.

Some of the boys

Butcher, Hudson, Lents and Hudson taking care of business out at the golf course yesterday. They were finishing up 18 holes on a sunny Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Wednesday sunshine and time for golf

Looks like plenty of sunshine tomorrow and a halfway decent set of temperatures. Eric will be out mid morning to get things started and to mow the greens. Better get your golfing shoes all shined up and show up for another several shots at that elusive hole-in-one. I'll be out later in the day after a midday visit with a beautiful young lady at the dentist's office.

Thanksgiving week schedule

During Thanksgiving week, as weather permits, we'll open the course by 11 in the morning and close at dark which is just after five now. Of course, the latest forecast is pretty dim for Monday and Tuesday. Maybe by mid week and later golfing conditions will improve. Or maybe the forecast will change to dry with temperatures in the fifties and sixties.

Thanksgiving week at Lakeview

Looks like the weather is going to warm up a little during the next several days. Not so much today - just up to 40 sometime in the early afternoon. But tomorrow and during the week, temperatures in the high 40's and the 50's. Just might be half decent golfing weather. Expect to open the course for play by 11 each morning over the next several days, earlier if the freeze from the night before isn't all that bad. Gets dark fairly early now so expect to close shortly after five. Might get a round or two in and after the non golf of the past several days, that should be hunky dory and then some. Right?

Eric is hoping for a little rain for the greens and there is some predicted for next week. Maybe he'll get his rain and the rest of us will get some golf.

Weather woes and Putting stretches

The weather isn't cooperating, yet... In the meantime, something to think about from about.com: Stretching exercises to do so that you can become a better putter by practicing longer. Lord knows I need both the better putting and the exercises to keep me from stiffening up after a surprisingly short time practicing with the short stick. The short article does make it sound like work and to date I keep away from the sore muscles by practicing for short periods several times a day - my living room putting green is very handy. Do like the back massage part of the routine - might try that. Might try each of them - I'm reminded of Sam Snead's very long and successful career and the fact that he was extremely limber well into old age (whatever that is!). So, go stretch, practice your putting, and then dream of hitting your approach shot close enough so that all you have left is a gimme putt.

Golfing doldrums

Yesterday's sunshine amounted to about ten minutes in between banks of clouds. And the temperatures never did get to 40. What a disappointment. Today? Lots of sun but cooler yet with the thermometer just creaking by the mid thirty mark. Bummer. Starting to get withdrawal symptoms. Maybe tomorrow?

Sunny day ahead of us

Mostly sunny with a high in the low 40's and a wind somewhere between 10 and 20 mph. Might not be too bad a day for golf. Maybe most of the course will be leeward (?).

Did you catch the tv shot of Tiger at the Tampa Bay game yesterday? Fore Right links to this Geoff Shackelford Q&A with Bob Smiley, the author of Follow the Roar, for a little more of Tiger.

Leafy patterns at #9

If you look closely, you can see the paths some of us golfers made to the pin in holes of making a putt or two. Photo was taken yesterday afternoon.

Seniors golf in mid November

Dave Strange and I joined forces with Jack Butcher, Jack Lents, Kenny Hudson and Rex Hudson this afternoon and played nine holes of nail biting, number crunching golf. In the end, Jack Lents walked away with the most quarters while the two person teams of Mike Bird and Dave Strange and Jack Lents and Rex Hudson beat up on Jack Butcher and Kenny Hudson. The two Jacks and the two Hudsons were completing eighteen holes of golf on a not-so-bad Thursday in November. Sun actually peeked out a couple of times.

Thursday Senior Game

Looks like we will get a break in the wet weather tomorrow. Let's have a nine hole Senior game at 1 o'clock. Expect I'll be back in town from my early morning visit to Bloomington to have a tooth yanked.

Golfing blogs

Here are a couple of golfing blogs that might be worth a visit every now and then:

- Jason Sobel from espn.com. Writes about first tee jitters as experienced by several amateurs with Tiger Woods looking on. I can imagine that that would be a little daunting, but, what the heck, just get yourself in that special 'I'm all alone in the world' place, rear back and stripe it down the middle, maybe with a little draw just for fun.

- Bob Smiley and his Fore Right blog. He started out this year with the intention of following Tiger throughout the season and writing a book about the experience. Well, Tiger's season was cut short by half but it was still a career for most professional golfers with four wins to start the season and an Open championship to finish it. The book is now in the bookstores: Follow the Roar. Smiley's blog subtitle: A Golf Site for the Everyman.

Anybody out there got one they particulary like?

Man with many sticks

Golfer tackling his world with a few sticks and a lot of determination during yesterday's not so welcoming weather.

Saturday Golfers

Father and son, each named Ken, came out Saturday morning and played some golf amid the fall foilage. It was a bit breezy and a tad cool - best place to play would have been #5, where the woods offered a lot of protection from the wind and the cold.

Staying warm on a cool Saturday

Eric finishing up yesterday morning after mowing the greens and pushing dirt around and improving drainage up at #4 green.

Mr. Ed Happy with Friday Golfing

Not too many golfers out in the windy and cooling conditions on Friday. But that didn't stop Mr. Ed from coming out with his buddy, Sean, and giving it a go. Here he is apparently quite happy with his tee shot on #9.

Lady golfer rolling up her sleeve...

...and getting ready to smack the bejeebers out of a tiny white orb. Dear friend waits patiently.

Ed, Maggie and the Fall Colors

Ed and Maggie were out taking advantage of the still mild temperatures. Here going up #4 fairway, they are responding to Jim Bateman's hello from #8 tee box.

Bird, Lents and Bird Win Senior Super Shamble

Thursday's senior game turned out to be a backyard scuffle between Diane Bird, Jack Lents and Mike Bird on one hand, and Dave Strange, Denny Wagoner and Wayne Souerdike on the other. Diane Bird rolled in a twenty-five foot birdie putt on number one to stake the Bird-Lents-Bird team to a lead that they never relinquished, finishing the nine holes at one over par and a three stroke win.

Thursday Senior Game

Senior game tomorrow morning at 10am. Nine holes for starters.

Blue Heron Unfazed by Golfer Jack Lents

Note the blue heron in the lower right of the photo. He wasn't about to be bothered by golfer Jack Lents as Jack hits a second shot towards number two green. Jack was in the midst of playing eighteen holes with Ken Hudson, Jack Butcher and Mike Bird on a lovely, sunny, warm election day. After voting, of course.

George Templin and Mark Jones Spark Win with Birdie Putts in Tuesday Scramble

The Tuesday afternoon scramble had four teams of three with George Templin, Mark Jones and Mike Bird winning with a score of minus four. George Templin had the hot putter early, sinking 10 foot plus putts on his team's first three holes, numbers six, seven and eight. After pars on the next four holes, Mark Jones slammed home another ten foot plus putt at number four to get the team to four under. Don Nolan, Curt Johnson and Terry Butcher came in at three under for second place while Karry Stoll, Jim Murphy and Dave Wininger finished at two under. Dave Strange (the Younger), Dave Strange (the Older) and Doug Denson suffered through bogeys on #6 and #7 and came in at even par. For George Templin, the win is a third in a row in Lakeview scrambles following wins a week ago and last Sunday afternoon.

Monday afternoon golfers

Jim and his son on #9 tee box. They finished up as the sun slipped over the treeline and the temperatures droped dramatically. Brrrr.

Sharon coming down #8 fairway. Kenny is off to the right and wanted to know what I was doing. I told him I was taking photos to submit as possibilities for the cover of the REMC annual report (think you have to have your suggestions in by Nov. 15th). He and Sharon both laughed though I think the above one of Sharon would be just jim dandy.

Sunday light at 6

For those thinking of golf Tuesday afternoon, the above photo shows the gloaming at the golf course at six in the afternoon (evening?) last night. A four o'clock start with an hour and a half game would be more than okay. Teeing off at six on your last hole would be stretching it. Temperperatures will be okay with the sun up but they do drop once it slips down behind the trees at #3 green. Expect Doug will let us all know about the start time. Don't forget to vote first.

Sunday Afternoon Scramble

The guys gathering for a 2 o'clock scramble put together by Mike Arvin.

George and Karry reacting to a near miss (wouldn't it be more correct to say 'near make'?).

Mike, Vic and Dan watching intently to a putt that refused to fall.

Travis (and Karry) watching Joe's par putt on #9 that turned out to be the winning putt.

Vic Wallace, Dan Steiner and Mike Arvin realizing that their last chance for a par on #9 was going awry. That gave them even par for the nine holes, one stroke behind the victorious team of Karry Stoll, Travis Bullock, Joe Doyle and George Templin. That makes two in a row for Joe and George, who were part of the winning team last Tuesday night.