Bits and Pieces

-Lots of couples at the golf course yesterday, including Shirley and Short Jeffers who closed up shop for us.  Shirley also brought in some homemade brownies and reminded me that one was for Diane.  Just want Shirley to know that Diane was eating one of them thirty minutes later.  I waited for an hour - had some dinner first - but if I had known how good they were a little sooner - they were absolutely scrumptious! - Shirley was exactly right in reminding me about sharing.  Would have been tempted mightily to keep on going with the lot of them.  Yummy.  Thanks, Shirley.

-Other couples: Ken and Sharon Frye, Maggie and Ed Schnarr, Frank and Susan Fee, Junior and Pam Byron (sorta together), Jim and Leanne (golf babe) Love, and Walter and Mindy Henrichsen. 

-Morning scramble at 9am tomorrow - as usual.  Not so next week - Summerfest will be at Lakeview with an 18 hole scramble.  Got your team yet?

-The lady pros are playing just across the border over in Springfield, IL - State Farm Classic.  Michelle Wie is loving the back nine and not loving the front nine through eleven holes of her second round.  Minus six on the back, plus two on the front.  She's seven back of the leader, M.J. Hur who's at minus eleven.

-My Golf Babe of the Day: Na Yeon Choi, another young South Korean who's playing well over in Springfield.  In fact, she just tied for the lead with M.J. Hur.

Tip of the Day: Be decisive (or, don't hesitate once you've made your swing decision).  Found myself short of my target three different times yesterday during league play because I let hesitation get in the way of my decision.  That would be a bit of lack of confidence in my swing decision and a resultant backing off and getting a 70% instead of the 100% desired result.  Fortunately, I was able to get up and down on two of those three shots, but it also left me chipping instead of putting, putting always being the more desired activity.  In short:  Once you make your decision, execute with full confidence and ban all thoughts to the contrary from your mind.

Thursday Match Play League Notes

Jim Bateman, at 10 under par, leads the Individual Handicapped Tournament at the midway point.  Jim shot a 44 with a net 31 on the day and is up on Susan Fee by 2 strokes, Pam Byron by 3, and Junior Byron by 4.  Junior had the best score of the day both for gross and net, an even par 35 gross which included two birds and five pars, and a net of 29.  The Batemans continue their fine play, easily handling the course team, Paul Weisheit and Leroy Streepy, by a score of 12 to 2.  After eight events, they have a four point lead in the team standings over second place Frank and Susan Fee, and 16.5 points over the team of Wayne Pearl and Junior Byron.  Mike Bird continued his par shooting, getting eight on his card in a round of 36 and held onto first place in the individual standings with a nine point advantage on Jim Bateman in second place and a thirteen point advantage on Wayne Pearl in third.  Hole prizes for the day went to Junior Byron at #7, Wayne Pearl at #8 and Ken Hudson at #9.  Average gross score for the day was 46.93, up .3 of a stroke over last week.

Thursday Match Play Results

Results for this morning's play are posted.  Jim Bateman still on top of the Individual Handicapped Tournament at -10.  Susan Fee and Pam Byron two and three back. 

Thursday Match Play Leaguers - Come on Down!

Week 2 of the 4 week Individual Handicapped Tournament.  Jim Bateman is in the lead.  He and Wilma also have the lead in the team competition.  They go up against the course team this morning, being filled by Leroy Streepy and Paul Weisheit.  Bring your clubs and your A games and expect to have a bit of fun in the sun.  I'm looking for a hole-in-one out there - is it your time?

Tuesday Men: Week 2 of Individual Handicapped Tournament and Event 8

Kevin Byron is still on top of the Individual Handicapped Tournament after a round of 44 and a net 33.  His 18 hole score of 59 leads Bric Parker and Mike Kidwell by two strokes and Dennis Brosmer, John Drake, Greg Potts, Rob Sterling, and Dave Strange by three strokes.  An additional 17 players are within 8 strokes of the leader and well within striking distance with two weeks to go. Mark Potts and Mike Kidwell returned to form last night, Mark firing a low gross round of 33 while Mike, after a fix from the pro down in French Lick, fired a second best 34 and a net 28 which put him in a tie with Bric Parker for low net of the day.  Doug Denson contined to play well, coming in with an even par 35 which will get him to that magical zero handicap for next week's event.  Mark Potts led the birdie parade with five while Junior Byron and Derek Gilbertson each came in with three.  Mike Arvin had the only eagle of the night, that at #2 after his drive cleared the creek, jumped the sandtrap and came to a stop five feet in front of the cup.  Doug Denson had the most pars with 7; Short Jeffers and Rob Rollins had 6.  Two teams shared the low net team score with 61's: Curt Johnson and Bric Parker along with Joe Allen and Mike Kidwell.  Hole prizes were claimed by Terry LaMar, Mark Potts and Mike Kidwell on the par 3's while Scott Arthur, John Drake and Joe Allen made long putts.  Group average gross on the day was 42.12, up .4 from last week's average.  At the top in the standings: John Drake and Tom McAtee in team competition; Doug Denson in individual competition.

My Golf Babe of the Day

Photo: My golf babe of the day: Leanne Love, who was out playing with her hubby, Jim, last night.  She and Jim squeezed in after the majority of the Tuesday Men got started (actually, just Mike Arvin, Mark Sherer and myself left to head out) and a group of four from the Community League who were out tempting the golf gods to do something with all the rain in the area.  Other than a few widely scattered and inconsequential sprinkles, we all played dry.  Well, other than the times we splashed a golf ball with an errant shot.  Note:  I wonder if Leanne is on contract with Mizuno?  If that's one of their drivers, I bet she is.

Tuesday Men's League Results

Results are posted here.  Kevin Byron holds a slim two stroke lead over Mike Kidwell and Bric Parker after 18 holes of the 36 hole Individual Handicapped Tournament.  It's a three stroke lead over a host of others.  What fun!