Hello on a rainy fall Monday from the Illinois Valley Country Club!
The fall rains have begun and we will be having to pull the pump out of the river very soon—ugh.
In this week’s action, we had a nice group of about 10 guys show up Monday evening for skins. Donny had a heck of a night with a KP on #13 and a skin to boot. Joel got a skin on #11 and Todd took the last two skins and won the KP on 16. Graham, Roland, Colby and Troy battled it out, tying various holes to keep the skins money safe for Todd and Donny. I might mention that Donny has played the local amateur senior tour and has gotten to play in Shasta, Klamath Falls, Medford, Myrtle Creek, Redding and a few other private clubs with his new buddies from Southern Oregon and Northern Cal. He comes home with some nice stories and descriptions of beautiful golf courses.
On Wednesday we had a large group of 12-two person teams show up for our weekly mini-tournament. James was on fire with two KPs and a long drive. He and Danny came in after most of us had arrived back to the clubhouse. Three teams were anxiously awaiting the scores as we were sitting at a three-way tie at 31. When Danny and James presented their card, a collective groan went up as they posted a 29 net. We figured we would all split the second-place money but Huey and Jeff came in even later with a 30. Also winning money were Troy with a long drive on #14 and myself with a close chip on #15 to secure a third shot KP on the par 5 from the back teebox (I might mention that I finally got out of the “tunnel” with a decent shot through some little branches and ended up clear down by Chuck and Dorance’s stump). This mini tournament Wednesday is really fun, we change the format each week with scramble and best ball so far and this week will be alternate shot or “Chapman” format.
On Thursday, the ladies had two groups show up with Meghan, Jamie, Jaime and Sherry posting a 41. Two girls from that team left because of darkness so a 41 is a pretty decent score for the other two to carry. Emily, Kasey, Sue, Tasha and Amy posted a 35 but darkness on #9 kept them from being able to start the hole on the regular teebox, so they didn’t play the first 150 yards of that hole (still a great score).
On the First Friday of Fall Friends and Family Fun at Five , we had a large group with about 12 guys, two ladies, Grey & Ashton representing the kids and Odie & Tundra representing the wild animal kingdom. The caliber of golf was not as exciting as the turnout of players as there were very few birdies for skins. None on 1 or 2; on #3 me and Scottie were the only pars for the next tie. Finally Scottie chipped on in on #4 for the first birdie and skin—Todd having put his tee shot on the green for KP but failing to make the birdie putt. On #5, Chris put his ball on the green on his second shot and rims the cup missing his birdie but made the only par for the second skin. On #6, I chipped in my shot from the fringe for birdie but Todd made a nice 8 foot putt to wreck my hopes at a skin. On #7, the cup was on the edge of the green in the middle of a slope, Chris hit a dribbler shot from the fairway that somehow made it onto the green but the break on his putt pulled his ball away from the hole. Scottie had a curving ball heading right at the hole but his also got pulled by the break and he missed his par putt too, causing a hole with no birdies and no pars from a group with a decent bunch of golfers yet. Nobody hit the green on #8 so we carried over the KP as a third shot KP onto #9. As it was getting dark, a few of the players with no chance of winning a skin, returned to the clubhouse, leaving a few of us on the green. There was nobody on the green for the 3rd shot KP so we were picking a place to do a chip-off when we heard a voice from the darkness yell “FORE!” It was Jake, finally having found his ball. The ball landed on the green, giving him the 3rd shot KP. He hit a nice putt and tapped in for par, the final skin on a rough night for guys used to making birdie.
**This weekend is the Club Championship Saturday and Sunday, dinner following Sunday’s round. There will be a gross champion whose name will be placed on the annual Club Championship plaque. The net champion will have to be satisfied with a balloon bouquet and a piece of pie.
