Tee Tattler

Happy fall from the Illinois Valley Country Club!
Last week I described a visit to Hoover Dam, this week I tackled the Beaver Dam. We have a nice little dam on the freshwater pond that allows us to store water that we can pump up from the river in the summertime. It also collects water that runs off from town, around the park and most of the run-off on the south side of town. The Kerby ditch runs through the course and for a great many years there was a nice culvert that directed water from the Kerby ditch to the pond through a gate valve that also allowed water to bypass the pond and go down the Kerby ditch to…Kerby, of all places. Over the years, the gate valve has rotted away, along with the whole bottom half of the culvert. Jakob White took his excavator and dug up the whole works to discover this and we will be replacing the whole thing at some point this winter. Well, the issue is that in the winter, the Kerby ditch can become very full with all of the runoff from town and the water goes right into our pond where it is slowed and the silt will settle out into the pond, decreasing its storage. In recent years, I have removed the stop boards from the dam, allowing the pond to run more freely. Well, a beaver has decided that it’s his job to keep the little dam in permanently and he has piled sticks, mud, seaweed and anything else he has found to block the ditch, and he has done a really good job of it too! Grey, Ashton and I climbed down in the mud and got quite a bit of it removed, let’s see how fast the beaver clogs it back up! As a side note, the Fish and Game people have proposed some work they would like to do in that area that will both make it easier to manipulate the gates and provide much improved fish passage and habitat. They also have some ideas regarding scenic beauty on the course itself.
In real golf news, the Wednesday night fun group had seven teams show up for a 2-person scramble for $5 entry fee and $5 KPs. Tracy and I teamed up and she was more help than she could believe. Upon finishing, we were at 28 net score, with three teams at 27 so we were happy to think we would get a few bucks back. I was thinking that this might not be so as Todd and Donny had a chip-in from Donny on #6 for birdie and Todd sunk a very long putt on #8 for birdie. Eugene readded the score and found that they actually had 26 net—oh well…
On Friday evening, we scurried out early to try to beat the darkness and the rain. Bruce got out of parent-teacher conferences early so he showed up along with Jim and Jakob, Kaelyn with Jakob, and Grey and Ash with me. Jakob won the first skin with a par on #2, Jim parred #3 with a nice set of shots. Bruce got his skin on #7 with a few nice shots and a putt. And Kaelyn put a surprise shot onto the green on #8 for her first KP. She then sunk her long putt to win her first skin as well! As darkness fell, we hustled and got in right at dusk.
Some of the other regular players went to Dutcher Creek; Poke, Troy, Graham, Todd, D’Lynn and Mattie showed up to ride with D’Lynn. Poke got KP on #7 with a long 7-iron, D’Lynn got 2 skins, Todd got 2, Troy got 2 and Graham got 1. They played 18 holes and report that the greens over there have recovered from being punched and sanded and are lightning fast. Everyone had to work afterward so they had no dinner report on the way home.
And on Sunday evening, with the rain threatening, only Todd, Troy and Graham showed up for a dollar per hole. Graham says he shot a one-over 37 and Todd shot well too. Troy was not as good as the other guys but Graham says they beat the rain and all had a good round and good company too—always positive attitude and upbeat, that Graham!
The ladies had no report but I did see a few of them out there at times, I’ll push them to play this week because I know you’re all sitting on pins and needles anticipating their news!
The practice green has now filled mostly in and the little broadleaf weeds are now apparent so I will be out attacking them this week and probably be ready for the first mow by late this week.
**Watch for a Turkey shoot tournament later this month, it will be posted on the reader board.
And remember, kids always play for free at Illinois Valley Country Club!