Work Party

The long-awaited ritual ‘Sanding ‘o the Greens’ happened. The grass has already begun to spring up. If the weather cooperates, our greens will continue to be right up there with the best in the area.

Blue Lake Golf Monthly Member Scramble

Scramble Results for 10/26

1^st Place Team Buckingham, Jim

Jerry Campbell

Sarah Williams

Russ Haussner

2^nd PlaceTeam Kepner, Greg

Dede Haussner

Doug Miller

Nettie Blair

3^rd Place Team Baylor, Wayne

Doc Robertson

Billy Blair

Norma Burnley

Items of Interest

New Yamaha golf carts have at long last been delivered – and are they spiffy. They were ordered with a few amenities, like with windshields. With the new will come new rental fees – Just as beer has gone up, expect to pay a little more when a cart is rented.

The ladies hosted their annual 4 ball event during the month. A lot of work went in to making the tournament a success. See the WGA section for the workers and volunteers.

The greens were over-seeded and sanded the 23^rd. The one downer is that with the early morning dew, the sand a seed adhere to the ball. Once the dew has evaporated, the balls roll fairly true.

Hole-In-One: Rumor has it Jim Buckingham made a hole-in-one on Number Six, Friday, the 17th. Sadly, there is a witness problem. It's true he was playing with Dougiepoo, Gary Cassell, Eduardo, and Charlie Henley. But please, dear reader, examine that fivesome; with the exception of Charlie, having such a crew as witnesses is tantamount to playing by one's self. Dougiepoo wears glasses as thick as coke bottle bottoms, Gary "Anybody see my shot?" Cassell is a constant ball searcher, and Eduardo can't see his ball once it passes the front edge of the tee box. See the dilemma?

Thankfully Charlie was there to redeem an otherwise cloudy event, and we can confidently say "congratulations" to Jim.

Kepner's MGA “Ask the WGA”Crew

A bunch of men and women MGA/WGA played together Thursday, Oct. 16, in a "Best Ball" format. Greg Kepner ran the tournament. Wife Tommy with the able help of Mary Beth and Pat Baylor ran the kitchen. Paul Castiglione was working in the background during play making sure no one was dehydrated, lacked pick-me-ups or juice and coffee. Thanks go out to Greg and his exemplary coterie of cookers and gofers who all together made the day a delight.

Winners

1st Shane Clanton-Kathy Castiglione,

2nd Bart Patterson-Nettie Blair, and

3rd CL Newsome-Sally Lavine.

Doug Miller, Greg avers, was a big help doing the score cards.

Remember to check the web site. It’s updated almost every day.

C&C

October 8

Hosting Staff: Ken and Janet Mayne, Don Baretincic and Sheryl Miller.

The attendance was 32 with ticket sales of $85, but while not the largest group ever, it was a quality group. We even had the Haussners back from their annual aestivation, and already they have been duly credited with bringing cooler weather with them.

The announcement that Bob Westbrook was in Austin Heart, and Joan Baretincic was in ICU in Austin as well, sent a chill throughout the room.

Prizes were 1.) a gift certificate to Francesco's, 2.) a gift certificate to Starbucks, and 3.) a pumpkin lamp ready to be used to festoon the holidays and make visitors go "ooh and ah" when they visit. Marilyn won the pumpkin to the delight of hubby Art, Kathy Chapman (fiancé to Glenn Salem) chose the Starbucks voucher. Lucky lady too, she won last C&C as well. Lou Ann won the meal at Francesco's, promising to take Don with her if he vowed to behave.

The food was especially delicious, and the side board was loaded down with a variety of tasty dishes including salmon, casseroles, meat balls, and bread of several kinds. Yep, there was tea to drink.

The hors d’oeuvre table had boiled shrimp, dips, and even some corned beef with horseradish sauce on the side. Someone brought jalapeño poppers, and taquitos, all delicious. The dessert table sported two signature pies John Foster made. One was chocolate, just like this writer's mom used to make. Cookies, carrot spice cake -- all yummy.

The emcee -- this writer -- managed to get through the evening without food being thrown.

A side note: Ken and Janet were asked to help with the hosting job some time ago but alas, events intruded. Joan had to be in the hospital and even though Don helped with the decorations, he had to be with Joan. Dougiepoo had a date in Mexico killing doves. That left Ken and Janet, who hosted the first time, to do the heavy lifting. What a couple!

Bill Curtis and staff at the Pro-Shop

MGA Recap

2008/10/2-3

Championship Tournament: The web site has complete details of this tournament. Mac McConahy is the new MGA champion. He won going away. Congratulations go to him for such a fine display of golf. Check the web site for more info.

2008/10/09

It was a Nassau format, the first following the championship. Attendance was sparse; only 17 showed. But the day was perfect for golf.

Shane Clanton won front and total; Billy Blair won the back nine. Shane got away with $26, Billy $13.

Our Nine Holers participated under the watchful eye of Larry Meyers. The man rides roughshod over these octogenarians in a truly rude manner.

John Foster is OOH (out of here). He's heading back home to Midland. Today, he made some decent shots -- the man's got a game. BTW, he found his ball today, a ball hit Wednesday that, wonder of wonders, lodged in the large oak to the right and near the Number 7 green. Sharp eyed Bart Patterson glommed onto the ball even though it was high in the branches. An old bombardier/navigator Bart's good that way. On a hunch, when John left at the beginning of the tournament to go to his tee box, he swung by the ball-eating tree, and lo and behold, it was there. Nature sometimes gives back. Go figure. The man's lucky.

We're going to miss John and that sweet wife of his, Joann.

During the meeting following lunch, V.P. Pac Burnley announced that MGA officers were needed for next year. He put into a motion the names of Jerry Robinson as president and John Buford as vice president. It passed by acclimation. These men will take over in January.

Food today was prepared by some great cooks, Arlene Wieland and Ruth Draper. Oh, yes, their hubbies helped. The food was Mexican: homemade enchiladas, salad and dessert. The guys were ecstatic.

2008/10/23

The tournament, an eclectic format, attracted 20 of MGA's most ardent golfers. It was a tad cool at tee time, which accounts for the fact only the tough ones showed up. Let the record show Gary Cassell was first in line to sign up and pony up $3. Does that mean he's the toughest of all? Hmm. Gary is not usually so prompt; leading us to surmise our boy has adopted a new schedule emphasizing the importance of timeliness. Maybe a new leaf is being turned...

Winners were Bill Morgan who finished first. Jerry Robinson was second and Bill Young third. The cash? Bill got $16, Jerry $10 and Bill Young $6. These men are to be congratulated for their fine play.

Eduardo and Donatelli (Eddie Wells and Don Webb) decided to tee off again on the back nine from the white tees, at least on Number 5. A no no. It cost them two strokes and pushed them down into the second tier of finishers. Tsk, tsk.

Our Nine Holers participated under the watchful eye of Paul Castiglione. We thank Paul, who frequently plays with them, suspecting he does so just to keep track of their balls and to moderate the overweening influence of tyrant Meyers. They're not as accurate as they were in their salad years. They need help. Paul supplies that.

Doc won again. Second place was -- guess who? Why it was the squire Larry Meyers himself.

After the tournament, Brian enlisted a crew of helpers to over-seed the greens and dust them with a coating of sand. Then he will drench the greens with lots of H₂O -- water, Pac. That action washes the sand into the existing grass and covers the seed, soon to germinate. Blue Lake consistently has the finest greens all year, but especially during winter. With all the hard work, it's no wonder.

Bob Westbrook is doing fine, board member Bill Murphy reports. He (Murphy) disclosed, too, that new carts will be here next Thursday.

2008/10/30

This medal play tournament was not so well- attended; only 14 men played. But those not playing missed an opportunity to play in arguably the best weather in the land. Starting at about 55 degrees, the course soon warmed up. No wind and clear sky make for fine golfing. There was one tiny factor that took away from a perfect outing -- the newly seeded and sanded greens. Balls did not roll right, and as they rolled, the seed and sand would adhere to them. Dougiepoo had already glommed onto this because those in his foursome said each time he chipped right up to the hole, thus minimizing the danger in putting on sandy greens.

Mike Cameron found conditions perfect for him and soon found himself in the zone. He could do no wrong. With the exception of one hole, his first 5 holes were either pars or birdies. Even though he could not keep up such a torrid pace over the entire 18 holes, he maintained his edge and ended up winning first ($11). Doug Miller was in second place with a gross 75 ($7). That's 5 under his handicap! Shane Clanton was playing well, too. He shot his handicap in winning 3rd place ($4). Our congratulations go out to Mike, Dougiepoo, and Shane for their fine play.

Christine, aka Dirt Girl, and her eager and resourceful recruit Nettie Blair were on the course -- working! It's true. They have undertaken a project to install on each tee box concrete bases using pre-cast stepping stones as a footing for the sand reservoir and the trash container to sit on. Having a concrete base for these items will be a major improvement because the trash basket and sand container will no longer have to sit in the dirt. Moreover, it will keep the fire ants that find habitable the ball washer area from taking over. What a deal!

Not only Christine and Nettie were working, Art Greene and Red Stewart were similarly inspired and were busy modifying the cart storage area to accommodate the new, taller Yamaha carts (delivered the 23^rd). The higher overhead beam clearance allows the carts to be driven without obstruction into the parking slot. To gain the clearance the overhead beam had to be cut away a few inches, just enough for the Yamaha’s roof, a bit taller than the EZGO roof. These men were helped in their task by golfing groups that passed by offering suggestions and pointing out potential omissions Art and Red might otherwise miss. Art and Red were very happy to have these comments and suggestions. Hey, what are friends for?

No matter what anyone says, from a distance Bill Murphy looks like a real golfer. OK, we know some smart aleck is going to pop up and say, "Yeah, but that's just and illusion; that image disappears when you get close up." Crass, eh? We still think he looks good -- even if it is at a distance.

Luther withdrew from the tournament after confronting a series of calamitous events. Sometimes one's game for no ostensible reason falls into the toilet (a technical golfing expression) and simply cannot be resurrected. To his credit our boy, seeing the incidences pile up -- balls hitting trees, rocks, ricocheting under bridges (it's true) becoming lost -- pulled up stakes to prevent further psychological damage and went back to counsel with Manager Marc. (We understand Marc was sympathetic.) Don't get excited; his score, a phony number, was manufactured to appease the computer beast.

The new carts are very good looking; they even have windshields. Bill Murphy who ramrodded the project says a cart fee increase is in the offing. "Inflation," he explains.

WGA Recap

The big item this month was the event on the 21^st, when our Blue Lake WGA hosted 4-ball (and it did not rain).

We had 28 participants. Those from Blue Lake who won golf balls were:

1. Nettie Blair

2. Kathy Castiglione

3. Christine Nicknish & Sally Stemac

4. Charlene Newsome

Also awarded a logo ball for participating are:

· Doris Strand, P,J, Eisele, Martha Baker & Sally Lavine

Thanks to our tournament chairman Sally Stemac … congratulations!

· Also thanks to Martha Baker…I know she helped with pairings, etc.

· Thanks to Lou Ann Webb for getting the carts organized

· Delicious soup…thanks to Nettie Blair and Charlene Newsome

· Always helpful food preparers and kitchen staff…Sharon Bowen, Donna Stevens, Sarah Williams, Janet Maynes, Gloria Lomax, Marilyn Greene & Judy Patterson.

· Christine for cookies…not sure who made all the other desserts

· Thanks to Mary Ann Brogan for scoring

· And thanks to our super spotters…Ken Mayne, Billy Blair, Bob Winn & C.L. Newsome

· Hope I have not forgotten anyone…

Golf Club Board

Our web site contains all this information and much more. Go to àwww.bluelakegolf.com